100 Half-Life 1 Mods: page 9

Night at the Office

Night at the Office takes place at the Parcel Packages corporate building, where our hero got employed recently (play Hazard Course for introduction!). One late afternoon, when the building is almost empty, well-organized assailants break into the premises, and begin their ascent to the top of the skyscraper, taking hostages during the way. The story is full of clichés, and it somehow resembles the movie Die Hard, but I kind of liked it. You uncover it through conversations with NPCs and by eavesdropping on attackers. Too bad that the recorded speech is not of better quality ...

The game is limited to the tower, which has sixteen floors, all connected to the central staircase. You can almost freely move between the floors, as you are only limited by obstacles, locked doors and, of course, armed opponents. Therefore the game is exceptionally non-linear, but this also can cause numerous scripting bugs, so save often. The floors have different purposes, but they could be easily cut in half, as there is simply too much empty space in them. The simplicity of the maps is improved by the good choice of textures, however, the game does not impress visually. Puzzles consist of searching for access cards, some vent crawling and breaking items, but that is basically it.

The attackers consist exclusively of opponents with machine guns, which are not very well placed, but they patrol the floors. Since your health is non-renewable, you will sometimes need to sneak past patrols, at least until you get the first weapon - the axe. With it, you can sneak up on one of your opponents and get the valuable machine gun. You can still pick up a shotgun and a pistol later, but to be honest, they're pretty much superfluous. None of the weapons has a crosshair (use patch in mod folder if you wan't it), and when changing the clip, you will discard any remaining bullets that are still in it, so be careful. Interestingly, killed opponents drop a random amount of ammo. Due to the absence of health kits, it doesn't really matter at which difficulty you are playing, as you will be regularly reloading anyway. I needed about 1 hour to complete the mod.

TWHL Tower

The TWHL (The Whole Half-Life) Tower is a compilation of thirteen maps of various authors, which are presented as floors in a tower, connected via the central staircase. Each of the authors was limited by the building space (floor), but as there were no other limitations, he could do anything with it. The result we got in this mod is surprisingly good and even has some traces of consistency. Each floor contains a specific task (or more of them) that needs to be solved before you can unlock the stairwell door, and move one floor higher through some kind of a portal.

The portal is not only used to restore life points, but also for removal of weapons, making the beginning of each floor a fresh start. Most of the time, you will lose only the crowbar, which you must use to break certain areas of the map, but in some floors, the game will also give you the pistol, the machine gun and the shotgun, as you will also have to fight. At lower levels, you will be mostly attacked by Xen monsters and machine guns, but at the rooftop a bigger challenge awaits you, as it's full of soldiers and even has a helicopter. Sometimes you will also have to run away from your opponents, and in one of the levels, you will have to avoid camera detection, as it will otherwise trigger deadly machinegun fire. Since your life points are regenerated after every floor, I would recommend playing the game on Hard difficulty.

Most maps are visually good, as they contain enough interesting details, and it is also difficult to complain about the geometry itself. Only a few of them slightly deviate in the negative direction, because of the simplicity, but this is quickly countered by those which are above average quality and are a true visual treat (eg Upper Management, Chairman). In general, all the maps are puzzle oriented. The challenges are very diverse and some of them are also very original. You will be searching for hidden access cards and keys, gradually unlocking areas, pressing buttons, activating terminals, collecting items, and there are also some jumping challenges. Unfortunately, the pack also contains some bad puzzles (for example, the teleporting box), but that does not ruin the overall experience. I needed about 1 hour to complete the game.

The Xeno Project 2

The Xeno Project 2 is a direct sequel to the precursor, in which you managed to escape the Xen base by using a rocket. Your journey through the universe did not last long, as you encountered G-Man's spacecraft (looks suspiciously similar to the Star Destroyer from Star Wars), which captured you with its tractor beam. The secret conspiracy of scientists (who adore Xena) allows you to escape from your cell, but the escape will definitely not be easy. Unlike the predecessor, the second part has a very interesting story. You discover it through video sequences and conversations with NPCs that have satisfactory recorded custom speech.

In the first part of the series, we had a mixture of external and internal maps, but in the second part the balance was completely shifted to internal ones. The latter did not impress me in the predecessor, but in this part their quality has increased a lot. Excellent architecture is blended in with a good layout of elements and an exceptional combination of colors and lighting. Many scripted events also contribute to a very good visual impression. The maps are well connected to each other, partly because of alternative routes, which, as in the predecessor, are copies of each other, and there are also quite a lot of secrets. The variety of puzzles is pretty modest, because most of them consist of pressing buttons / switches, but there are quite a few jumping challenges (even in lower gravity environments), all this is further enhanced by traps.

The set of opponents is more modest compared to the predecessor, but still very varied. In the first part you will be mostly attacked by soldiers of all kinds, and here and there they will get the help of machineguns and female assasins. In the second part the Xen monsters prevail. Fortunately, the latter are sufficiently numerous to not slow down the pace of the action. Thus, the fighting is very tough, not only because of the enemy numbers, but also their good positioning and brutal ambushes. Your weaponry is pretty good as it contains almost all weapons from the original, and ammunition is sufficient. A small shock may be the start, in which you must survive without H.E.V suit, but there are enough treats around to get you through it. The goodies are numerous enough for the difficulty of Medium, but due to the ambushes, I would recommend Hard only to the most persistent players. I completed the game in about 1 hour of play time.

Todesangst 1

In the Todesangst intro, we discover that the mysterious G-Man is in fact subordinate to dr. Jack Newell, which is the head of the Black Mesa research and development department. After Freeman finishes off Nihilanth and Xen is seized by humans, dr. Newell wants to use the surviving creatures for his own evil purposes, but does not want to have any witnesses. The first victim of Newell's madness is G-Man himself, with our hero Gordon Freeman being next on the list. Soldiers try to finish off Gordon with the help of Headcrabs, but Gordon is tough and finishes off the monsters with his trusty crowbar. Now it's time for revenge. The story is full of cliches, but it is an interesting attempt to explain what happened after Gordon's return from Xen.

The maps are quite diverse and represent a mixture of the styles already seen in the original. You will be roaming through the corridors, crawling in the vents, try to beat jumping challenges, swimming, activating various machines, driving with trains, etc. There are also some nice traps. The design is solid, but some parts could be more detailed and consequently more memorable. Some paths on the way to the end are well hidden, but be careful when exploring, as you can get stuck in at least two places in the mod.

You will be attacked by a very limited set of enemies from the original, which are relatively well placed. The enemy lines mostly consist of soldiers, the Xen monsters are scarce and not a big threat until the end. Your arsenal is pretty limited, but there is more than enough ammo for the Medium difficulty. The amount of medkits and batteries on the other hand are just right. Occasionally, you will be able to finish off enemies with a stationary machine gun or cannon. You will also need to use them to pave your way through certain obstacles.

The visuals of the mod do not stand out, as it does not offer anything new except some new models. The key feature of the modification are certainly numerous good scripting events that greatly enrich the gameplay. In addition to them, very nice video sequences enable you to track the story which happens in parallel. In some places, background music is used, and some NPCs use custom speech. Unfortunately, the end of the game is so-so and after approximately a hour of gameplay doesn't offer a satisfactory conclusion.

Vengeance

Vengeance takes place a few weeks after the events from the original game, when our hero, Gordon Freeman, has already recovered. G-Man wants you to visit a complex called Mipping Tax, which was built to observe the prisoners from Xen. Unfortunately, a renegade group of soldiers has infiltrated the laboratories. They want the experiments to be stopped immediately, and they already managed to take over the entire western part of the complex. Your task is to get instructions from Mr Johnson on how to proceed, but you can not find him anywhere when you arrive. The story is full of clichés and contains quite a few illogicalities. You uncover it through video sequences and text that you can read on the screen.

The map set contains both internal and external areas, in which you can find some side paths with goodies, and also some non-linear areas. Maps have generally very simple geometry with plenty of flat surfaces, also, very low ceilings stand out a lot. On the other hand, they are densely populated with NPCs, they contain plenty of static elements, and in some cases, they also have a nice color scheme. The unconvincing visual impression is also slightly corrected by scripted events and video sequences. The puzzles are practically non-existent, as you have to only push a button here or there, or do a jump challenge. Among them, there are also some bizarre things: e.g. the door does not open until you pick up the pistol ...

In the first three quarters of the mod, the gameplay is mostly passive, as opponents are very rare, but the situation in the last quarter improves a lot. In it, the number of opponents increases sharply, with more powerful beings from Xen and even a helicopter added to the mix. Even a very poor selection of weapons from the first part gets expanded so that you can successfully cope with new dangers. The amount of bullets is hardly enough, on the Medium difficulty, but the amount of healing packages and batteries is the complete opposite, as their amounts are just right. I managed to finish the game in about 1 hour.

Let me just mention that you get the H.E.V. suit after the train ride, so do not bother too much to get it right from the beginning ;).

Affliction

Affliction takes place in Black Mesa at an unknown time. You start the game unconscious and wounded on a truck guarded by two female assassins. Your H.E.V. suit once again turns out to be priceless, because it rejuvenates you. In another lucky moment an alien bomber attacks your position and allows you to escape. That's all there is to the story of the modification, the rest is just fighting yourself to the goal which you'll reach in about 45 minutes of play time. You will be attacked by a very modest set of reskinned opponents, which contains only the weakest species from Xen and both types of soldiers. Their positioning is good, and there are some scripted surprises, but their numbers are low, and thus the action will only barely meet the needs of better players (even on Hard). There are plenty of bullets and goodies around, especially for those who like to explore, but on the other hand the weapon selection is quite modest.

It would be hard to complain about the quality of the map design, as the levels are mostly visually appealing, they have good geometry and lighting, and there are some interesting scripted events that transform the surroundings or otherwise enrich the gameplay. Parts of the levels are well connected to each other, and you will also backtrack a lot. In the latter case new opponents will appear on the already visited parts, or the maps will be otherwise transformed. The mod relies heavily on maps from the original and other games (for example, Uplink), but does not significantly upgrade them, which is unfortunate - I would like more originality. The puzzles are practically non-existent, as it's already clear from far away how to continue. The exception can be some buttons that look like a light. There are also some rude traps in the game that you can not detect until they trigger.

Back to Xen

Back to Xen is a modification for Half-Life which was released in 1999 and was made by a Slovenian author Janez Brezovnik - go Slovenia! :D. It's a package of seven maps with a simple goal of getting to the end. There is no story.

Internal and external maps are architecturally very basic and covered with concrete or rock texture, details are barely existant. The corridors and doors are claustrophobically narrow, but you will be able to catch some breath in the rooms that they connect. Variation of gaming experience comes in form of ladder climbing, manual door opening and button pressing, but there are no other puzzles. There are also some scripted surprises that can seriously damage you, so save regularly. I also recommend regular saving because of the transition problem between the first and second map: jan1.bsp and jan2.bsp. To solve the problem, open the console, type sv_cheats 1, then map jan2. Since you spawn without items, you should now enter the impulse 101 command, which gives you the H.E.V. suit and basic weaponry. The remaining map transitions work perfectly.

The difficulty of the game is quite unusual and is responsible for a lower final score. The start is difficult and full of action, because you are endangered by extremely well placed soldiers and machineguns. In the next moment, difficulty drops greatly, because the set of enemies becomes limited to those from Xen, which are well placed, but much less dangerous. Headcrabs stand out here, because they are positioned in almost every possible hole and behind almost every box, which can be sometimes pretty annoying. The last part is slightly more difficult again. Unlike most other modifications, the Xen creatures and soldiers have signed a treaty of non-aggression, which creates quite unusual situations. Weapon selection is fortunately properly chosen for the action, but variety is lacking. Bullets and medkits / batteries are numerous enough to play on Hard. You will need about 45 minutes to complete the mod.

Blood Bath

In Blood Bath, you play an 18-year-old named Scott Day-La-Bell, which is awakened from his sleep by a strange sound. As 27 people disappeared in the last few weeks, you arm yourself with a gun and proceed to explore the apartment. Suddenly, you are blinded by an unusual flash of light which seems to put you to sleep. You wake up floating inside a tank, filled with an unknown fluid, and a few moments later, you are fighting for your life in an improvised arena. You can read the rest of the weird story (which seems to be a collage of the biggest B-movie cliches) in the Blood Bath.txt file.

The maps did not really impress me, because they look more or less quickly thrown together, there is plenty of empty space, and the details are very rare. Transitions between them are rather rough, so you do not really have the feeling that everything is going on inside a single complex. However, it must be acknowledged that the impression slightly improves because of the textures selection. Progression is mostly linear and contains fights as well as varied puzzles and jumping challenges. In order to move to the next level, you will have to fight hordes of enemies or bosses in arenas, perform clever jumps over motion detectors, turn off the alarm as soon as possible, push some boxes, be a successful swimmer, etc.

The enemies that stand out the most, are scientists with poisonous injections, which unfortunately have far too many health points and are therefore bullet sponges. I was not impressed by modified Vortigaunts, which lack the ranged attack, and the machineguns with built-in shotguns, which are really bad at hitting things. Your arsenal has also been affected by modifications, with somewhat mixed results. The thing I disliked the most, was the artificially forced delay for the next shot, which will surely also anger other players, which are accustomed to the usual behavior of weapons. Bullets and healing packages are plentiful enough for the Medium difficulty. At it, you'll complete the mod in about 45 minutes of play time.

Zubben

This mod takes place in a research center located on the planet Zubben in the Lepus constellation. After many years of excavations, scientists have made a revolutionary discovery, and have of course notified their superiors about it. The latter requested the excavations to be immediately halted until the U.S.S. Arizona research vessel arrives at the planet with a team of experts to deal with the discovery. You play one of the employees named Gordon Freeman JR, who is awaken from cryogenic sleep at the moment of arrival of the vessel. Instead of scientists, soldiers storm out of the U.S.S. Arizona with a mission to not leave any witnesses. Your task is to get to the communications tower outside the base and get in touch with one of the research vessels circling around the planet.

As far as the map design is concerned, the first impression is very promising. In the first third, the maps are quite visually appealing because of the used color scheme, textures and architecture, despite the latter being quite rough. In addition to the areas within the research center, you will be able to experience quite a lot of Mars-like exterior. The other third is a visual disappointment, due to the chronic lack of light sources. Because of this, you will need to travel through the maps with a continuously lit flashlight and look for well-hidden ways forward in a microscopical circle. The last part consists mostly of weakly, yet well-enough, illuminated exterior, which I again liked. Puzzles mostly consist of jumping challenges, button pushing and terminal activation, but they also contain some very original ideas. In the levels there are also some secret areas with goodies.

In the game, you will mostly fight against soldiers, and a tiny amount of opponents also consists of machine guns and monsters from Xen (mostly Headcrabs). The beginning is very rough, because you have only the crowbar to deal with a soldier armed with a machine gun, who is waiting for you in an ambush. This lines up well with the story itself, but the author could also include the possibility of escaping to make the start less frustrating. The high difficulty is maintained all the way to the end, because the soldiers are numerous and well-placed, and often also appear behind your back in the most dramatic moments. Several times you will also have to jump while fighting, but the toughest is the dark section in which you will need to target opponents by looking at their gun muzzle flash. Your weaponry is fairly limited, but you can expand it with secret weapons. The bullets and goodies are just right for the Medium difficulty, and on it, you will finish the game in about 45 minutes.

Half Secret

In Half Secret, you are playing a chemist named Dyson Poincare, who works in Black Mesa. One day during your train ride to work, an incident occurs (which is probably related to the one in the original) and in it, you lose consciousness. When you finally wake up, the complex is full of enemies, and that's basically all of the story this modification has. All the maps are internal and, as far as architecture is concerned, very simplistic. There are plenty of flat surfaces and the elements are scarce, which makes the levels look pretty empty. Some improvement is provided by flooded and barricaded sections, and also by quite some scripted events. Although progress is mostly linear, several sections are circularly connected and get split into a new section right before re-connecting to the old one. Puzzles and skill challenges are virtually non-existent. You need to push some buttons, and find and use a security card a couple of times, but that's about it.

Interestingly, a completely different experience awaits you as far as the fights are concerned. Your skill will be tested by all kinds of monsters from Xen, and also soldiers which have the support of machineguns. Lots of action is achieved by nice enemy positioning and their abundance, and everything is spiced up with scripted occurrences. The latter deserve a special praise, because they are often performed in such a way, that the opponent with a long range attack appears only when you are already placed in front of a stressful close range situation. This challenge will require a quick reaction, but at the same time it is balanced enough to always be fair. The weapon set is quite varied, as rarely seen extraterrestrial weapons are added to the classic firearms. Instead of Snarks you will use Chumtoads, and the rocket launcher is replaced with explosive bats called Stukabat. Amounts of bullets and healing packages are at the boundary for the Hard difficulty, so I definitely recommend it to more experienced players. On this difficulty I ended the game in about 45 minutes.