100 Half-Life 1 Mods: page 3

Conundrum 2

Conundrum 2 takes place in a mysterious complex that has appeared thirty miles south of Black Mesa. The researchers discovered a secret dimensional room in it, which has locked itself before it could be explored. You play dr. Gina Cross, who was chosen to get to the room and solve the puzzles that are locking it. Even though the story is weak, the events make a much bigger sense than in the predecessor.

The map design has received significant improvements, because a lot of maps are architecturally more complex and contain more details. I especially liked those that contain modern architecture, because a lot of effort was put in them. The puzzles remained diverse and were pretty interesting to me. In addition to jumping challenges, pushing objects, avoiding traps and finding hidden paths, you will walk over invisible bridges, navigate a maze with a fixed camera, and have to do jumps on the terrain, which changes constantly. Most of the predecessor's problems have been eliminated, but there are still places where you take fall damage, and (fortunately rare) illogical triggers. To help overcome obstacles, the game offers tips that, in my personal opinion, are placed on too easy puzzles, but are absent on the harder ones.

Battles are rather rare and limited to Xenian opponents. Since there is enough ammo for human weapons, and there is also ample supply of medkits and batteries, I recommend playing on Hard. As far as appearance is concerned, it would be difficult to say that the game stands out from the average, although some surfaces are covered by nice and sharp textures. The exceptions that stand out are maps with modern architecture, where destruction is extremely well presented. I needed about 1 hour and a half to complete the mod, and I needed substantially less help than in predecessor.

Cthulhu

Cthulhu is a scary modification inspired by the books of H.P. Lovecraft. The latter created the Cthulhu Mythos of horrible extraterrestrial monsters, which can make you mad if you only look at them. The story takes place in 1928, and you play Ranulf Stafford, an occult researcher. Your adviser Sir Henry wants you to meet him in his country house. When you get there, you discover that Henry was abducted by the Occultists, but he was quick enough to reveal their goal. The story is interesting, you uncover it by reading books and listening to your monologue while driving in a car.

The levels are dark and mysterious, and they provide a good view on the world in the Cthulhu mythos. Unfortunately, the quality of the maps didn't impress me. There are too many dark labyrinths, rooms are too simple, there are no secrets and awards for people that like to explore. On the other hand, you can't overlook that they contain quite a few traps, scripted events, jumping challenges and well placed advancement paths. The enemies are pretty diverse and consist of Occultists armed with various weapons, extraterrestrials and other monsters. Since most of them are only skinned standard enemies, some of them have trouble moving and attacking. The biggest stand out are definitely the knife-armed Occultists.

Against such a diverse range of enemies you can fight with an extensive set of weapons, which are quite awkwardly arranged in the slots. Along Stick and knife you also wield a pistol, a double barrelled shotgun, a machine gun and a rifle, and there are also molotovs and dynamite available. A notable specialty are magic weapons such as, for example, a snake conjuring stick and spellbooks. The latter are extremely powerful not only for attacks, but you can also regenerate your life with them (fairly buggy). Unfortunately, they drain your sanity with usage. If you empty the latter, you will go mad and the game will be over. Fortunately, it restores itself on certain events. Ammunition for classic weapons is plentiful, the same applies to just right amount of healing packages.

Appearance wise, the models are really nice, but the layout of the map elements didn't impress me. There is also a recorded speech in the game, and the background music is also turned on some occasions. To finish the mod, I used about 4 hours and a half on Medium difficulty. If you get stuck, a walktrough is also available in the modification folder.

CWC MapPack

CWC MapPack is a modification made up of interlinked maps of various authors. Since the topic was not defined, it is a very varied package, which unfortunately does not have a story.

The mapping quality varies greatly, but unfortunately there is no map in the package, which really excited me, because each of them has some disadvantages. Some are architecturally too simple, others contain illogical architectural elements. Some exaggerate with the number of enemies, others frustrate with unclear paths forward, which will make you run around in circles, etc. Since the transitions between the maps have not been accurately defined, they can be pretty crazy and sometimes even buggy, so save regularly. Frequent saves are recommended also because of the numerous bugs and places without exit. The mapping theme encompasses internal and external maps, and Xen is also present.

The enemies were taken from the original game, their number and positioning are dependent on the individual author. Difficulty of some fights is just right to be enjoyable, and in some cases you can get rid of the opponents in an alternative way. Ammunition is plentiful on Medium difficulty, and the same applies to healing packages and batteries. I disliked very much that the first map did not offer me a crowbar, but I got it later, unfortunately, almost at the end of the modification.

Visually, most maps did not impress me, but of course there were some exceptions (Kane) that had a nice layout of elements, lighting and also scripted events. To complete the map pack, I spent about 2 hours and a half playing it.

Dav Sub

Dav Sub is a direct continuation of the Dav Train mod. In the latter, you managed to avoid G-Man's evil plan of erasing your memory by escaping with the Osprey air carrier. During your escape, an attack helicopter begins to track your aircraft and damages it critically. You survive the crash, but you are now stranded on enemy territory and will have to find an alternative mean of transportation that will allow you to escape.

The map design follows the recipe from the predecessor and upgrades it, offering a much more interesting gaming experience. Architecture is again good with quite a few details, but unfortunately, the maps still contain unrealistic long and curved corridors, which are somewhat claustrophobically narrow. There are a lot more side paths and alternative paths to the goal, which give the impression of nonlinearity. As in the predecessor, there are virtually no puzzles. There are quite a few occasions in which you will need to find a keycard to unlock a door. When you back track, maps can change, and new enemies appear. I thought the included flooded levels improve the experience, but they could be made much more interesting. I also liked numerous very well executed scripted events, which enrich the gameplay.

The way to your destination will again be hindered by combinations of soldiers, female assassins and various monsters from Xen. The positioning and abundance are again very good, with the cherry on the cake being hard fights inside the submarine. It's a pity that the pace of the action fluctuates too much. The weapon set is more diverse this time, but it is still limited to human ones. Ammunition and healing packages / batteries are numerous enough to play on Medium, but I do not recommend a higher difficulty due to the challenge inside the submarine.

The visuals of the game mostly do not stand out, but I liked that the background music was sometimes switched on. I spent about 1 hour and a half of gameplay to complete the game.

If the game crashes in the hlsub2 map, the solution is to find out in which direction you need to look to trigger a crash, and then simply don't look there at next reload :P.

Dav Train

Dav Train takes place after Gordon rejects G-Man's offer of co-operation. Gordon gets placed in a locked cell on a train and is transported to a secret base where his memories will be erased. During the stop he successfully kills his guard and escapes from the cell. Outside, he will not only be challenged by angry soldiers, but also numerous Xen monsters which roam the area. You will be mostly fighting with four types of opponents: soldiers with machine guns and shotguns, Vortigaunts and Alien Grunts. Due to their number, good positioning, cover and clever map design, the fights will be full of action. Teleportation and well-placed machinegun nests will take care of additional surprises. Your weapon set is limited to human ones, but there is enough ammunition for them.

The levels consist of almost exclusively internal maps, which contain offices, corridors and warehouses. Some initial actions also take place on wagons. The map design is fairly good with quite a few details, but unrealistically narrow passages and certain wrong proportions ruin the impression. The course of the game is mostly straightforward, but certain parts of the maps are open enough, therefore you do not get a sense of linearity. There are some side paths with loot, but be careful when breaking boxes, as they sometimes explode and injure you. The game visuals do not contain any surprises, but I really liked are the interesting scripted events, in which the opposing factions are fighting each other. On the difficulty of Medium, I used about 30 minutes to complete the mod, but you can squeeze additional 15 minutes out of it by playing on Hard.

Deliverance

Deliverance takes place after the events in the Half-Life: Uplink demo. By aligning the antennas you've contacted the outside world and found out that the government wants to mask the Black Mesa incident as a terrorist attack. You have also learned that the army has captured two of your colleagues and that they are forcing them to develop a super weapon based on the Black Mesa research. Your task is to infiltrate the complex and save those scientists.

Maps take inspiration from the original, but they are well-adapted so you do not feel like you are playing something already seen. Architecture is good, quite diverse and contains many details. The only exception are certain empty and boring corridors and stairs, which can ruin the good impression. The maps are well connected to each other, and you will often have to make a detour to get to the destination, and sometimes even back track. There are also some secrets where you can find goodies and secret weapons. Gameplay is quite diverse, because you must solve interesting puzzles and overcome some jumping challenges. The key part of the game is certainly accompanying two scientists to their rescue.

Most of the enemies come from all kinds of soldiers who often have the aid of machineguns, and at the beginning, even a tank and a helicopter. The Xen creatures are somewhat rare, and mostly involved in fights with soldiers. The most memorable types of Xen enemies are the Headcrabs, which will surprise you numerous times and, of course, the annoying Snarks. Opponent positioning is good, and there are also some sneaky surprises. The difficulty curve is not good in my opinion, because the overwhelmingly difficult game start is followed by a fairly easy middle, with tons of ammunition and health kits. Later, almost at the end, the difficulty increases slightly again. If you manage to get through the beginning, you'll definitely enjoy the game more on Hard than on Medium. Another minor problem with the game were the scientists, which were responsible for some frustrating moments. In some cases they can be left behind, but sometimes I had to become a human shield to absorb the damage, and this did not make me happy.

The visuals of the game do not stand out too much, but the scripted events are extremely well executed. If you overlook some rude surprises, you will definitely love them, as they greatly enrich the game and give the feeling that the complex lives and something is happening in it constantly. I also loved the modified speech. I needed around 1 hour and a half to complete the game, and completing both endings. The idea of the split is interesting, but I did not like the execution. The maps for the endings were taken from original, the difficulty difference was too big, and the harder of them was bad (sad).

Destination Black Mesa

In Destination Black Mesa, you play Gordon Freeman, who is instructed by G-Man to capture dr. Elia Vance. The latter is supposed to be located in the northern part of the Black Mesa, in which fierce battles between beings from Xen and human forces are still being fought 18 hours after the defeat of Nihilanth. In addition to the classical weak canon fodder, there is a bunch of Vortigaunt and Alien Slaves in the maps, which are very often involved in battles with all sorts of soldiers. Both of the types can suddenly appear in an area and surprise you: Xenians with teleportation, and soldiers abseiling from Ospreys or blowing up the doors. Fights can be quite good, as opponents often ambush you, and sometimes you will also have to run away as enemies can infinitely appear in an area. The threat is further increased by machineguns and helicopters. Your armament is very modest as far as the types of weapons are concerned, but there are many bullets and healing packages available, so that you can reach the ending at Medium difficulty without major frustrations. It will take you 1 hour and a half to do it. Unlike for other modifications, I advise playing Hazard Course only to the most persistent players, as it's brutally difficult.

Most maps are nicely designed in terms of architecture and excite with a bunch of details and good lighting. There are also some of them that leave only an average impression, but this is improved by numerous scripted events. The maps are well connected, and several times you will return to a certain area by another route and continue through a newly opened section. The puzzles are extremely diverse and interesting, and they contain a lot of skill challenges, pushing buttons, and sometimes you will also need to find a hidden way forward. Unfortunately, all of this has a few huge problems. The biggest one is that the modification relies on the original Half-Life too much. Thus, some sections are almost complete copies of original maps, but are slightly modified, and the same applies to puzzles. With a little more originality, it could be an extraordinary mod, but it gives too much of the »already seen« vibe, and I tried to reflect this on the rating summary. Another thing that bothered me, were forced explosions that can badly damage you, and paths with no return, which can fortunately be avoided by loading automatically saved games.

E7 Black Star

E7 Black Star takes place in a secret Russian laboratory complex called Facility E7 which is also known as Black Star. You play a political prisoner in the E7 complex who is testing a prototype of the new protective H.E.V. 5000 suit. Poor security protocols enable you to escape from your supervisors and hide in the ventilation systems. The mod doesn't include a meaningful story, but the game gives you missions while playing, which turns out kind of funny.

A rather unusual approach was used in mapping. Most of the places in which you are playing are gigantic. This often creates a remarkable impression, which quickly fades when you see how the placed objects repeat themselves. The approach is not only used within the premises, but also with the full sections. Most of the game takes place inside the laboratory complex, and in a few maps the technology is perfectly intertwined with nature. There are a lot of jumping challenges, which are not frustrating, and there are also some stealth missions. For many of the puzzles you are required to find a particular object or security card in no given order. This greatly increases the non-linearity of the levels. Players with a urge to explore will be richly rewarded, as you can discover as many as 7 bonus levels, which, unfortunately, do not impress architecturally, but they are an excellent opportunity for regeneration of bullets and life.

The enemies are taken mostly from the original and expansions. In the first part you will mostly be threatened by the monsters from Xen and the machineguns. Later, the scales are tipped to the side of all types of soldiers and female assassins. The game has a huge problem due to too large maps (lol :). The fights are too sparse, and there are practically no puzzles in-between. As a result, the first part with Xen monsters plays like a Walking Simulator, while in the second part the soldiers cause crazy difficulty jumps. Playing on Hard is therefore not recommended, even if you are able to collect more than enough ammunition and other goodies for Medium. Weapons are taken from the original, but players who like to explore will have more options compared to those who will just run through stages.

The game looks quite impressive due to sharp textures, detailed models and level sizes. Strong color schemes work perfectly for some places, but look strange in others. There are some scripted events that transform the layout of the maps, which I really liked. Certain events are associated with video sequences that help you to find the places that change. In some places, the background music also contributes to a better atmosphere. To complete the mod, I needed about 4 hours of gameplay, most of which was boring walking around. Too bad ...

Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness takes place after Gordon's successful escape from Black Mesa. After the events he gets enlisted into the Alien Counter-Insurgency Bureau organization, which is trying to protect the Earth against potential new threats from Xen. Your mission is to eliminate the mysterious dr. Smith (G-Man), who tries to take advantage of the portal technology and take over the world with a personal army of Xen monsters. If you have ever seen a spy movie (eg James Bond) or played a game with this subject, then you will quickly familiarize yourself with the story.

The maps are very diverse and contain enough details for the game architecture to be quite visually pleasing. I really liked the parts in which human elements are combined with extraterrestrial ones. Additional visual enrichment of some places is achieved by good color schemes and numerous scripted events. The areas are very well cross-linked, which contributes to non-linearity. The game also contains quite a few traps and time-limited events that, with other challenges, provide a pretty varied experience.

The set of enemies includes both soldiers, as well as female assassins and monsters from Xen, and everything is spiced up by machinegun nests. The positioning of the enemies is very good, so prepare for fierce fights that are made even more difficult with help of scripted surprises. The difficulty curve rises well, so there will be enough action to the end. During play, your enemies also talk to you, which is done through an extremely skillful montage of existing voices. The weapons selection is varied, but taken from the original. There are enough bullets around, and amount of medkits / batteries is just right to play on Hard. On this difficulty you will spend about 1 hour to complete the mod.

Escape

In Escape you are playing a scientist named dr. Jim West, who works in the anomalous materials section of Black Mesa. The day begins with an experiment as usual, but it soon turns into a nightmare when something goes wrong. Half of the Black Mesa research center is destroyed, and creatures from Xen appear everywhere. Your task is to save yourself and your colleagues, but the situation gets complicated when the army gets involved. In the first part, you will mostly fight against the Xen monsters that consist of all kinds of zombies, Headcrabs, Bullsquids and Vortigaunts. The latter stand out in particular because they are not only well placed, but are also surprise you by teleporting at certain events. The second part is dominated by all types of soldiers who are equally well-placed, and have the support of machineguns. Your arsenal is very limited, as you have only a crowbar and a gun in the first part, and only later you get a shotgun, a machine gun and explosives. Ammunition is fairly limited, but it should be enough for Medium difficulty. The same applies to medkits. Note: you can't collect batteries, as you do not wear the H.E.V. suit.

I had mixed feelings about the map design. On the one hand, the maps contain tons of exceptionally simple rooms without details and boring corridors; on the other hand, some sections are extremely detailed, have fantastic lighting and layout of elements. On average, the visuals of the mod do not stand out, but they are slightly improved by some scripted events. Levels are mostly interior maps (among them being also a Blue Shift link), and several times you will also get to the surface. Your path through the game will be mostly linear, although you will find some side paths here and there. Puzzles consist of rare jumping challenges, button pushing, train rides, crawling through vents and driving with lifts. It sounds diverse, but during playing I had the feeling that the tasks repeat themselves.

I spent about 1 hour to finish the mod. I would also like to point out that the ending battle crashes Half-Life if you reload a savegame, so avoid saving.