head to head
vs
Half-Life 2vsSlave Zero
Half-Life 2 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Slave Zero leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Half-Life 2Slave Zero
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 2
Slave Zero leans harder on variance: Level events fixed once learned
Optimization3 vs 4
Slave Zero leans harder on optimization: Weapon use and route knowledge give modest edge
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.