Building comparison
head to head
Half-Life 2vsHalf-Life Deathmatch: Source
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source asks more than Half-Life 2, and the gap is reads.
Half-Life 2
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Landmark FPS built on physics puzzles and tight gunplay.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Tests raw aim and movement speed in fast classic arena deathmatch.
Half-Life 2 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Half-Life Deathmatch: Source leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Half-Life 2Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 8
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source leans clearly harder on execution.
Half-Life 2
Gravity gun and shooting demand precision.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Aim, bunny-hopping and snap reactions decide duels
Reads1 vs 4
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source leans clearly harder on reads.
Half-Life 2
Combine AI scripted, non-adaptive.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Predicting human movement and spawn timing matters
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Half-Life 2
Almost no randomness.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Fixed maps and item timers, little randomness
Optimization3 vs 4
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Half-Life 2
Linear progression with no builds.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Weapon spawns and map control are learnable systems
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.