Valve will soon present to the world a game called Half-Life: Alyx — not only will this be the first full-fledged part of the cult shooter series after more than ten years (and considering that this is a spin-off, there haven’t been any for 20 years), but also for the first time in its history we will be given the opportunity to immerse ourselves in virtual reality. It’s difficult to say whether the work will pay off Valve and will there be a story Alix Vance playable to one degree or another, but today we won’t talk about that.
Half-Life is one of my favorite franchises, each part of which I respect in a special way. When a huge part of the community no longer hoped for the imminent release of new chapters of the story about Gordon Freeman, another came to the rescue – a talented, but not too numerous handful of mod makers. Single cards or sets of cards, full-fledged stories in the same setting or a completely new one, or attempts to diversify the gameplay of the original – and this is only a small part of the fan creativity that has accumulated over all 15 years. Ten of the coolest projects, in my opinion, created by fans of the Half-Life universe on the engine Source – both for the second part and for the episodes, both already released and unfinished or abandoned – I offer below.
MINERVA: Metastasis
I’ll start with the most famous project of its time, thanks to which the young level designer Adam Foster received an invitation to Valve and even managed to work on some of the studio’s projects, including Portal 2.
Tie "Minerva"is this: we, once again putting on a HEV-suit and grabbing a crowbar in our hands, set off at the request of a remote interlocutor under the code name…"Minerva", to a mysterious island inhabited by zombified corpses and Alliance soldiers who have deployed a super-secret and highly guarded complex with a nuclear reactor in its depths. In fact, we have to destabilize him. As expected, the task will not be easy, but it will be worth it. First of all, because of the rather picturesque design of locations and interiors, in which it is interesting to wander and shoot alien opponents. The author tried to get closer to the style of the original HL2 and the architecture of the combines depicted there, but he went too far with the gameplay, turning each level into endless meat. Already at the first level you will be able to feel not only the ferocity of the doctor’s tame dogs Brina, but also a serious shortage of supplies and first aid kits. Therefore, fans of the classic action game “Minerva” will find it boring and difficult, but for those who are attracted not only by the gameplay, but also by the quality of the picture, I recommend the creation of Adam Foster.
Dangerous World
We continue our journey from simple https://sun-palace-casino.co.uk/ to complex. One of the easiest, but still ingenious ways to create a mod for Half-Life 2 is to fit its plot into the general chronology of the events of the original. In other words, start a spin-off. It could be the story of a random rebel who was causing a stir in the area City-17 a week or a year before Freeman comes out of stasis (as in the fashion Precursor, for example), and some banal story that answers the question “Why isn’t there a game where you’re like a fungus??", which puts a screw on the chronology of HL2 events and episodes in principle, but whenever possible, references are made to the surroundings of the original. Slovak mapper TiiM went further and, practically without straining, connected my own story Frank Harrison with Gordon and Alix’s escape from City 17, described in Episode One – that’s how it turned out Dangerous World, an almost perfect spin-off, which, without pursuing the goal of copying every corner of the cards of the first episode, wonderfully conveys the atmosphere of inevitable collapse and skillfully imitates the original.
Of course, in addition to copying the locations of a destroyed city and an underground parking lot infested with zombies, Tim added a couple of jump scares, as well as two extremely original moments where the stories of Gordon and the new protagonist practically intersect with each other – in one, Frank sees how a train on fire flies past an underground station controlled by harvesters and gets into an accident, and in the other he watches how a couple of HL2 protagonists depart on the last train from the city, True, an explosion The citadel will only happen when we try to escape, which slightly contradicts the official chronology. In DW, there is also some episodic interaction with minor characters from the original game – first with Barney, who helps us fight our way to random residential building, and in the end – with a robot Dog – thanks to him, we find the jeep from the second episode and escape with it.
Another part was planned, in which we would probably see a more detailed development of the “relationship” between Frank and the Dog, and also find out how that car from the chapter “Bridge Builder Freeman" ended up at the other end of the quarry, but the Slovak wizard at some point canceled the project, thereby leaving the ending of Dangerous World open, and then resumed work again, while stating that no deadlines or news about progress would be announced. One way or another, the spin-off is worthy – maybe a little short in places, but the variety of levels and gameplay solutions more than compensates for everything.
Nightmare House 2
In the Western community of halfers at the beginning of the tenth Hen Mazolski, aka WeCreateStuff, was quite famous largely thanks to his duology of horror mods Nightmare House. At first it was just a set of cards, according to the plot of which we find ourselves in an abandoned house, where we are subjected to massive and targeted intimidation and encounter many pianos in the bushes, but we never find fuel for our car.
The second part raises the bar of quality and, let it not trade horror in the spirit F.E.A.R. for something more creative, but continues to captivate with its surroundings and fairly vigorous plot development. After the events of the first part of NH we find ourselves in fool, somehow we pull off the straitjacket and set off to look for a way out. Along the way, a certain doctor is trying to contact us Romero, helping us get on the right path. At some point, a SWAT team intervenes and suggests sticking together, and here the classic technique of almost all horror films begins to work – the closer we are to the exit, the more fighters die in the end. One gets his head blown off and kills a colleague, while the other is devoured by zombies in the chaos. In general, it’s fun, but very scary. Even for amateur modifications.
The only mod on this list that does not bring any new unique story, but performs another, no less important task. Of course, in just over fifteen years, the physics of weapons and their arsenal, effects, shader graphics, as well as artificial intelligence in Half-Life 2 have aged quite a bit, despite the fact that the Source engine was updated right up to 2013 and now looks very fresh. Now fans are trying on their own to expand the capabilities of a fairly open and easy-to-learn base, and MMod, introducing many changes to the gameplay, including rewriting shooting mechanics and many game effects from scratch, is a clear example of this. Possessing a good amount of customization, MMod is capable of bringing out all experience from playing Half-Life 2 to another level. Shooting is no longer as easy as it used to be, damage has a much more significant effect on the player’s health level, and new effects like improved HDR and vignetting can take away a dozen FPS from you – but this is probably a question of your computer configuration. If you need a mod that updates slightly outdated gameplay, MMod is at your service. By the way, it is compatible with both HL2 and episodes, as well as with some modifications, and is constantly updated, which is undoubtedly a plus for its authors.
G-String
Like the previously mentioned Nightmare House 2, the project G-String from Japanese fashion maker MyoHyo, she’s the same Eyaura, strives to create its own unique universe, and not rape the one already built by Valve. The differences are noticeable from the very first launch – we find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic future, in a dilapidated city Tokyotwise, in which, like Half-Life, there is a clear division into strong and weak, rich and poor, slaves and masters – only, perhaps, even more terrible. The main character by name Mio is a genetically modified person with unique abilities such as pyrokinesis, telekinesis, slowing down time and moving in space – in other words, an outcast from society. The times are difficult – most of the world was flooded, and all the survivors found refuge in North America, in cities with architecture recreated based on patterns of Japanese and Korean popular culture. Mio realizes that she is in for a fight with something powerful, and therefore sets out on a long journey through the most seedy corners of Tokyo, hiding from patrols and watching where the world is heading.
The plot of the G-String is somewhat reminiscent of the story of Gordon Freeman, however, from the way the modification looks and plays, you can’t even say that it’s fanfiction based on the famous series. Each new location instills in you the spirit of dystopia, deprivation, the collapse of civilization and the struggle of the world, or rather its remnants, with itself, although from time to time we find ourselves in brighter and more populated locations, where the most large-scale mess takes place in the entire game. And now it’s time for cliches: G-String is, in principle, a different project, a different world with different conventions. Even the weapons are made in a futuristic style different from the original, and opponents equipped worse than combine soldiers are killed with almost half the clip of a machine gun. Of course, the project is full of shortcomings, but it is important to note that Eyaura is currently working on a newer version of the project and it will be released on Steam soon. That is, it will be possible to compare the beta version of 2011 – and quite extensive for its status – with what will be released in the end.
