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Played up to "We Got Hostiles" so far (on Hard), taking a break because I don't want to play through it in one sitting.
A few things I've noticed;
Overall design of the levels is improved, it now looks like a place where people actually work. Thought seems to be given to the purpose of each room. And the lighting is really well used.
Crowbar is a little overpowered, it's a lot easier to hit Headcrabs in mid-air with it than in Half-Life. You can take out zombies by just dancing in and out of range and smacking them on the head (though the flares littered around the start are more effective)
Houndeyes are a lot more dangerous now, they seem to move faster and the charge time on their attacks are shorter. The effect when they hit you is pretty cool as well.
HCEU are slightly more smarter than the Combine soldiers, they duck in and out of cover and fire short busts.
Vorts are the most annoying to me, they usually port in 3 at a time so if you get caught in the opening it's painful. Again the charge on their attack seems slightly quicker than in Half-Life, though you can still LoS it if you're ready for them.
Voice acting is better than expected, the guy doing Kleiner is spot on, Eli not so much.
I'm impressed, so far, but it's still the same game underneath.