100 Half-Life 1 Mods: page 5

Conundrum

Conundrum takes place after the final fight in the original in which Gordon Freeman defeated Nihilanth. Stranded in Xen he decided to enter a random teleporter, which has taken him back to Black Mesa. Here he found scientists who wanted to escape from the complex but did not dare, because the facility was flooded with soldiers. Gordon decides to help them, and in the process, discovers a mysterious room which teleports him into the land of the Egyptians, full of monsters from Xen and soldiers. Even though the story sounds very promising, you will soon find out that it does not make sense, and that you cannot call some place Egyptian just because it has sand and pyramids ...

The architecture of the maps is extremely basic and simplified: there are plenty of flat surfaces, empty corridors and rooms that are just cuboid spaces. External maps are not much better, and the same holds for caves. In each of the levels you will have to solve a puzzle, fight a battle, or do a combination of the two, then move to the next level. The puzzles are quite diverse and include swimming, jumping challenges, button pushing, orientation, searching for hidden paths, traps, ladder climbing, etc., but also have a huge number of flaws. Let me list a few examples: to open a door, you must go to a specific corner of the room, which in no way indicates that it contains a trigger; some teleporters lead to certain death, which can't be avoided without trying; a jump into the water is sometimes softened, sometimes it kills you; some jumping challenges force you to take damage, etc. With such many inequities, fun quickly disappears.

On the way to the finish line you will be obstructed by practically all opponents from the original, which includes both soldiers and creatures from Xen. Due to the abundance of ammunition and medical packages, I recommend playing the game on Hard difficulty. That way fights will be much more interesting, but beware of the final boss at this difficulty. The appearance of the game does not excite, because the textures are too monotonous, and the impression is not improved by the buggy video sequences. Here and there the background music pops in. To complete the mod and the Hazard Course introduction, I spent about 2 hours playing it, and in the process I had to use the official game walktrough several times.

Nuclear Winter

Nuclear Winter takes place 7 years after world wide conflict in which the united communist and Muslim forces conquered all of Asia and Europe. In 2017 this alliance successfully executed a nuclear attack on North America by using advanced cloaking technology, which was later followed by an invasion with land forces. Although North America was severely devastated in the attack, they managed to organize an armed resistance and hold off the advancing enemy. In the modification, you play a corporal named Adrian Shepherd who takes part in the resistance. The story is full of clichés, but I kind of liked it. You discover it through video sequences, conversations with NPCs, and through the activation of radio stations. Given the seriousness of the situation, the custom speech should have been less humorous, but the voice from radio stations was executed perfectly!

The levels are fairly diverse and consist of external (canyons, dam, city streets, railway, etc.) and internal areas (hydroelectric power station, military base, tower, zoo, etc.). The maps are architecturally good, with some having very nice lighting and color schemes, but in general they could contain more details and more alternate routes to break up the linearity. Unfortunately, some sections are almost completely dark, which will cause you several problems during your advancement, because the built-in night vision is useless for longer distances, and you do not have the flashlight. Links between thematic parts are otherwise quite good and give the player the feeling of a homogeneous experience. To advance, you will often have to solve creative puzzles, break parts of a map, dive, drive trains, climb ropes, and so on. Some challenges also have to be performed under time pressure, which will surely be a frustrating experience for a lot of players.

As already hinted in the story, most of your opponents will be of human origin. Most of them are special forces armed with machine guns, and a few are snipers and female assassins. Their ranks will be strengthened by heavy machinery, among which you can find machineguns, tanks and helicopters. The selection of opponents does not end here, as the author successfully integrated victims of nuclear radiation. Unlucky humans have thus become zombies, and animals from the zoo have been mutated into all kinds of monsters from Xen (LOL :). Enemy positioning is great, and they are also pretty numerous, including the start. Although the difficulty is mostly high, the game has some tremendous difficulty spikes that are annoying.

The weapon set is very diverse and includes weaponry from the Opposing Force expansion, but unfortunately, the ammunition is pretty strangely distributed. Shotgun shells are practically non-existent, while the sniper rifle, crossbow and M249 have tons of ammunition. With the exception of the aforementioned jumps in difficulty, you should not have much problems finishing the game on Medium difficulty, because the supply of medkits and batteries is pretty well calibrated. Occasionally you will also be assisted by a team of fellow fighters, with the medic being a priceless addition. I reached the end of the mod in about 2 hours of play time.

Hidden Evil

The game takes place in an alternative timeline, which begins when Gordon Freeman is killed by Alien Grunts in Black Mesa. With the help of technology, you are resurrected. Additionally, scientists found alien DNA on your body and decided to create their own version of Alien Grunts from it. The creatures created in this way become your allies in the fight against terrorism, and they are also able to communicate with you (all fans of the Alien series will quickly recognize where the inspiration comes from). In one of the missions against terrorists you are captured, and thus need to escape and destroy the facilities that produce chemical weapons on your path to freedom. The tasks are given to you during gameplay, and you get additional ones from your extraterrestrial friends.

The set of levels consists of external and internal maps, which are quite diverse. The visual impression is satisfactory, mostly due to the use of variable textures, but it has to be mentioned, that they could be often placed much better. The details are relatively modest, and the same applies to architecture. The visual impression is slightly corrected by the numerous scripted events and some external maps, which I liked for some unknown reason. Playing takes place mostly in a linear way, but there are parts where you can finish your goals in any order. The set of gaming mechanics is fairly varied and introduces welcome gaps between the fights. In addition to activating switches, destroying machines, driving with trains, finding hidden paths forward and protecting the NPCs, you will have to undergo a number of skill challenges, often under time pressure. I spent a lot of time searching for goodies, especially for the H.E.V. suit, which is located at the very beginning of the game (in the second stage).

The opponent ranks consist of a small portion of mostly powerful creatures from Xen, who often get involved in spectacular battles with terrorists, and most of them will attack you on sight. Although Alien Grunts should be friendly, you will soon find out that you can't rely on this fact. There are also crazed Grunts among them, and this can not be detected until they attack you. The vast majority of the remaining opponents consist of all types of soldiers, which are armed to the teeth, and often have the support of machineguns, artillery, female assassins and even helicopters. Their numbers are very high in almost every map, and in some levels they will also continuously spawn out of the thin air (very disturbing), so some areas will look like slaughterhouses after brutal battles. There are a lot of ambushes, and soldiers are not afraid to throw grenades and launch explosives. Your arsenal is extremely varied and largely unchanged from the original, the absence of the crossbow zoom stands out the most. Although ammunition and healing packages / batteries are abundant, you will have a lot of problems at any difficulty above Easy, because it certainly looks like the game hates you. At this difficulty, I managed to finish the game in about 2 hours.

Paranoia

Paranoia is a total conversion for Half-Life, in which you play a major of the Russian special forces - Spetsnatz. The story begins with the terrorists attack on the industrial complex Udarnik, located somewhere in Siberia. Together with your comrades, you get the task of eliminating terrorists and protecting civilians. Once inside the Udarnik complex, it is revealed that the real goal of the attackers was something else - the KROT bunkers which are surrounded with a dark past. The story was pretty interesting to me and will remind many of the excellent S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: SoC. You reveal the story during playing, and additional information can be read from notes.

The gameplay happens mostly within old Soviet warehouses and bunkers, which are full of tunnels and corridors. Maps are architecturally exceptional, with great detail, sophisticated illumination and extremely sharp textures. Occasionally they are so good that they almost catch up to similar themed older AAA games. It's a shame only that some parts of the sections repeat, so I frequently asked myself during the play: "Um, didn't I see that already?" Progress through the stages is mostly linear, here and there are some side routes or secrets. There are barely any puzzles.

During the first part of the game you will be attacked by terrorists, which are mostly very well positioned. They often hide behind cover, but if you do the same, they quickly toss a grenade at your position. In the second part, the game concentrates on all kinds of mutants, but since they mostly have only melee attacks, they are not really a big threat. There are almost no situations in which you would be greatly endangered, because the number of opponents is very modest. I was very happy to see that you are often accompanied by two NPC comrades, which cover your back and open doors for you.

You will be armed with a series of pistols and machine guns to deal with the enemies, and you can also use a knife and a shotgun for close combat. Grenades and rockets are also available if you require blowing things up. Some weapons have iron sights look which can be turned on with right click, others have binoculars attached to the same key. You use an armor with a built-in visor to protect you from headshots, but it limits the field of vision. A gas mask is also available, but you need to use it only a few times. The ammo is plentiful, and the same applies to static and transferable healing packages, so I recommend that you play on Hard.

The main trump card of Paranoia is not a remarkable look*, but a great atmosphere. While playing, you are constantly in contact with other fighters through the intercom, which is extremely well executed. Ambient music and sounds deep in the abandoned tunnels create such a tense atmosphere that they could be used in horror movies. It's a pity that the tension is almost completely wiped out with an unwise choice of combat music. The latter is perfect in itself, but it breaks the anxiety that the game can build so well. I needed about 2 hours to complete the mod.

* From the sdk folder, you will need to copy the opengl32.dll file into the Half-Life root folder. You will then need to set the file to Read-only mode, disconnect from the Internet, and restart Steam. When you want to play online, you need to delete the opengl32.dll file from the root folder, otherwise you might get a VAC Ban!

Survive in Catacombs 1

The Survive in Catacombs mod was created for the competition organized by GameStar, and it was also released on one of the discs accompanying the magazine. With the exception of the titles between the chapters, the whole game is in Czech, which means that you will barely understand the story if Slavic languages are a mystery to you. From the Hazard Course intro, I managed to figure out that six centuries ago the devil was defeated, and his soul was trapped in the so-called Book of the Dead. This artifact was hidden in the catacombs near the Poltergeist castle, but curious people uncovered it and released the evil.

The mapping quality is solid, but it would be difficult to say that it greatly stands out from the average. The maps are very diverse (catacombs, caves, towns, countryside), but they are mostly relatively architecturally simple. There are too many labyrinths in which the corridors are too similar to the other, so you will have difficulty navigating in them. I was additionally frustrated by the large number of traps (save on a regular basis), which were not even hinted at. There are also places that overload the engine and cause stutter, and one of the map (sic6) has problems switching to the next (sic7) - install the Patch. It is commendable that alternative paths are also included, and there are secrets in which you can find many treats. Certain puzzles were pretty nice, because the solution was unusual.

The enemies in the game are reskinned and stronger Xen enemies. You will be mostly attacked by zombies, Vortigaunts, Bullsquids and Headcrabs. The numbers of remaining enemies are too small to be noteworthy. Opponents are mostly positioned in fixed places (very good), zombies on the other hand might crawl out of the soil and surprise you. Their number is sometimes quite a bit excessive, but don't worry, there is tons of ammo in the mod.

The arsenal contains reskinned non-biological weapons from the original with customized parameters, and one of them is also the quantity of ammunition supplies. You will be able to wear as many as twenty grenades, and the revolver can have over a hundred bullets. In combination with a plentiful supply of healing packages, you will not have a problem playing the game on Hard.

Visuals stand out mainly due to very appealing models, and some very well done interior maps. The atmosphere, which is a result of sounds, darkness and exceptionally well-chosen background music, is sometimes superb. To finish the mod, I needed about 2 hours.

Escape from the Darkness

In Escape from the Darkness you are playing a scientist named Alex Johnes, who gets involved in the incident from the original Half-Life. Since you attended a self-defense program three months ago (play Hazard Course), you definitely do not want to surrender and die. You discover some weapons in your hiding spot, and use them to attack soldiers patrolling outside. Your current objective is to get to Gordon Freeman, who will surely know what to do. The story is enriched by custom speech and video sequences, and gets weirder during your progression towards the end. During gameplay, background music will occasionally turn on, but it's not well chosen and is therefore annoying. To be honest, I would rather see it was not included at all.

The maps are complex and full of details. They have excellent architecture and lighting, and are definitely the main trump card of the game. The terrain is extremely versatile and only rarely contains completely flat surfaces, which contributes to authenticity, but at the same time you will constantly get stuck in it. I was extremely fond of rich vegetation, which is not just a visual treat, but also a hiding place for enemies. The levels are composed of varied external and internal areas, which are very well connected to each other, and they also contain quite a lot of side paths. You will travel through labs, offices, snowy fields, mines, canyons, sewers, etc. The puzzles are quite diverse and among others include destruction of environment, activating buttons, jumping challenges, protecting NPCs, search for well-hidden ways forward, and so on.

During your journey you will be attacked by a varied mix of classic and new enemies from Xen and Earth, and you will also be threatened by helicopters, artillery and machineguns. The positioning of enemies is very good, and the same applies to their numbers. The battles are intensified by quite a few scripted surprises, soldiers in camouflage clothing, and attacks from dense vegetation. This mod uses a different approach to battles as the others do. The weapons are extremely deadly, which increases the sense of realism, but I really didn't like it. Because of this, any fight must be finished as fast as possible, as any delay leads to death and consequently reloading. You have an extremely large arsenal of modified firearms that are more or less balanced. The shotgun has, for example, ridiculously long range, and AK47 is painfully inaccurate making it completely useless. The ammunition is plentiful, and health and batteries are just right for the Medium difficulty. I used around 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the end of the game.

Portrait of Freeman

In Portrait of Freeman, you play Gordon Freeman, who is sent by G-Man to the mysterious Area 51 to help Dr. Albert. At Freeman's arrival, there is an incident in which Area 51 gets invaded by the aliens. This will make it much more difficult for you to reach the goal. Although the story is minimalist, I thought the ideas presented were quite interesting. It should however have been much more detailed to really count.

I really liked the map design, because the maps are architecturally good and contain many details. Levels are well-connected to one another, while the side paths with loot increase the sense of non-linearity. Paths forward are often perfectly hidden and, in combination with very interesting puzzles, force you to really think about the situation. There are several jumping challenges, and there is also an abundance of deadly traps, so save regularly. It is only a shame that some traps can not be avoided without dying ...

In addition to the already varied selection of aliens from Xen, you will be attacked by slow and ineffective zombies, security guards, soldiers, machineguns and helicopters. Interestingly, there are two factions of soldiers who fight each other. Red are your opponents, while those with classical colors are your allies. Positioning of opponents is very good, unfortunately, there are also a lot of rude sneaky surprises. Thus, a bunch of enemies will often be teleported at your position, and will kill you in an instant or at least heavily damage you. Instead of this, I would much rather see the enemies to be more densely populated so the level of action would be more constant. Ammo and health / batteries are slightly too abundant for Medium difficulty, but due to brutal surprises I would recommend Hard only to the most experienced players.

The visuals of the modification are pretty good. New and sharp textures are used in many places, and I really liked some of the light sources and the reflective surfaces. HUD also received an overhaul. There are also intermediate video sequences that take control of your camera, and often the background music turns on. I spent around 1 hour and 45 minutes of gameplay to complete the mod.

Timeline 1

In the Timeline series, you play Gordon Freeman, who is enlisted by G-Man in order to resolve an incident caused by a renegade fraction of Marines. The latter use a time teleporter to travel to the past and help the German Reich win the Second World War. I recommend that you read the background of the story before starting the game (readme.txt), because it is not so well explained during the gameplay. But I must say that the idea seemed very good to me.

Maps are architecturally very basic, initial levels have barely any details, but the situation improves during gameplay, which is commendable. The various parts of the map are interconnected, and there are also some possibilities of non-linear approach. The paths forward are often well hidden, there are also some puzzles. Traveling through time means that you will see diverse venues in which ancient architecture is well intertwined with modern one. I would like to warn you that you should save regularly, as there are time limited surprised, also, one of the bugs I encountered was that an opened door closed itself permanently, because I did not enter through it quickly enough.

You will be mostly attacked by military grunts, which will be sometimes joined by assassins and machineguns. The monsters from Xen are scarce, and when you will be able to fight them, you will see that their set is limited. Fights can be difficult, because the enemies are plentiful and well-placed, also, in certain parts of the game there is a severe lack of medkits and batteries. Your arsenal consists of a limited array of weapons from the original Half-Life, but thankfully, you do not have to worry about ammunition, as there is tons of it - also explosive charges.

Visually, I was not impressed at the beginning, but my experience improved later on. There are several scripted events that contribute to a good atmosphere. I finished the game on the Medium difficulty in about 1 hour and 45 minutes .

Brave Brain

In Brave Brain you play Thomas Redgrave, a research assistant who works in Black Mesa laboratories. After you arrive at work a hour early, you decide to go to the Hazard Course to kill some time and refresh your skills. But something happens during training and the situation quickly turns into a disaster. Since the story takes place in parallel with events in the original, you will be able to meet the heroes from Half-Life and expansions. Sometimes NPCs explain the situation to you, but I would wish for the custom speech to be better.

The map design strongly relies on maps from the original and expansions, and some are even directly re-created. On the one hand, this makes the architecture very good and the maps visually convincing, but on the other hand, the levels lack originality. I didn't like some parts between the maps, because they were too simple, and on some of them lightning was completely off. I was also not keen about the simplistic Xen segment, but it was fortunately rather short. The levels are satisfactorily connected to each other, but I was bothered by too much crawling through ventilation shafts and pipes. Puzzles are not limited to pushing buttons, but also contain several jumping challenges (you also have a long jump module), and here and there you will have to escort and protect the NPCs. In some places parts of the level are also transformed via scripted events, which is very well done.

The set of opponents could be characterized as being classic, and includes all kinds of human and a limited range of Xenian opponents. The enemy placement was mostly unconvincing, as the emphasis was on their numbers, but fortunately, the scripted occurrences of opponents were much better. The latter provide quite a few dramatic moments, especially if you have low life points. A limited range of weapons from the original is joined by a movable machinegun in one of the levels, which I thought was a great idea, but it could have been more refined. Amounts of ammo, healing packages and batteries are just right to complete the game at Hard, and to do this you will need about 1 hour and a half of gameplay.

Breakdown 2: Afterwards

Breakdown 2: Afterwards is a direct continuation of the events in the first part. In it, the soldiers managed to capture you (Dr. Jonathan Wood) and lock you into an improvised prison cell, which was poorly chosen. When you woke up, you managed to escape, but the path to your rescue will not be easy. You are in a completely unknown part of Black Mesa, and thus have limited access clearance, additionally, you have no idea where to go. Unlike the predecessor, the second part has a story, which has some flaws, but regardless of them, I liked it quite a bit. You uncover it with the help of video sequences, monologues and through reading the notes that lie around. Custom speech also provides some information, but I wished it would be recorded in better quality.

The predecessor did not really impress me with the mapping quality, but the second part improved in practically all areas. The maps are more complex, they contain more detail and new textures, they have an excellent layout of elements and lighting, and everything is nicely rounded up by the good connection of parts. The levels contain quite a few alternative routes to your target, there is some backtracking, and there are also tasks that can be done in any order. All this greatly increases the feeling of non-linearity. Playing is very diverse, because the set of puzzles is quite varied and it includes everything from pressing buttons, searching for access cards, guiding NPCs and also jumping challenges. I didn't like that some puzzles were made too obvious, and I also didn't like the innovative, but otherwise boring, car ride.

The set of opponents is quite diverse and contains a vast array of creatures from Xen, among which you will find some reskinned or otherwise modified enemies. The more resilient and dangerous Houndeyes impressed me the most, as they were no longer cannon fodder, but a serious adversary. Later in the game, soldiers with machine guns join the list, and at the very end you will also encounter very dangerous soldiers with shotguns. The difficulty curve is much more flat than in the predecessor, despite numerous scripted surprises and excellent ambushes. The weapon set is very limited and it is gradually unlocked. Unlike in the predecessor, you can pick up the pistol very early. The absence of a shotgun to the very last part is noticeable, and it forces the player to play more tactically. The amount of bullets and healing packages will allow good players to enjoy the mod on Hard difficulty, but to everyone else I recommend playing on Medium. I needed about 1 hour and a half to complete the game.