Despite it's flowbreaking moments, Lost Coast is a small but great game that knows when it has warned out it's welcome.
Lost Coast has no premise or story. You simply start up the game, setup your controls and settings, and begin at an amazingly beautiful beach surrounded by water and rocks. It turns out that Lost Coast was made by Valve to show the players the maximum power of the engine that powered Half-Life 2. The water looks amazing, the sun looks as bright as ever, and you can practically look for fifteen minutes at that amazing first visual.
When you are done gasping around you will notice that there is a dialogue box found in American comics like Batman or X-Men lying around in front of you. It turns out that a Valve employee starts talking to you and giving you some rather interesting information of how they designed and made Lost Coast.
The dialogue boxes are everywhere in Lost Coast if you just keep following the right path. Speaking of which, when you are done with that first dialogue box you will notice a funny man wearing a captain's hat in front of you, across a bridge. He will start talking to you and you're on your own from then on.
At this point, you will explore the Lost Coast and encounter enemies that stand in your way. After a good while you are high above the ground and the location and consistency of the platforms seem to be messed up. Be prepared for some quicksaves...
After these frustrating moments you will be tasked of solving small puzzles but the answer seems to be kind of impossible to find if you didn't knew the solution already... which give even more frustrations. It's really a pity because at the time before the puzzles I liked Lost Coast so much. In any case, a battle to the death awaits you in a church that again shows the engine's magnificent lighting effects.
Call it a beginner's FPS, call it a free ride, call it what you want because it doesn't matter. Lost Coast is a memorable addition to the Half-Life train that is fun for almost everyone who has an hour spare time, depending on how fast you find the puzzles.
TOTAL SCORE: 80%