100 Half-Life 1 Mods: page 6

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.

Hour-Glass

Hour-Glass takes place after the events in Black Mesa. Gordon Freeman is employed by the Intergalactic Time Reassurance, where he works as an agent who takes care of the correct timing of world events. When comparing all the collected data, the ITR finds that manipulation has occurred and was performed by the mysterious G. Mann. The latter managed to take over the world by traveling through time-space and poisoning Coca-Cola with a mysterious chemical X. The story is interesting and is provided via intermediate sequences with texts (press Pause). The intros can be up to a minute and a half long, so be patient.

Because the modification is divided into missions that take place on different planets, the levels are very diverse. The mapping quality is pretty good, although some areas could use more details, and there could be less corridors and duplicate sections. I really liked the feeling of freedom that is conceived by alternative routes, occasionally you will also have to track back. Many of the doors are locked with keys or security cards, and occasionally you will also need to flip a switch. The maps also contain secrets with nice rewards, but beware, I managed to get stuck quite a few times during exploration! Some of the levels were clearly influenced by Duke Nukem 3D (explicit content), so I advise you not to play this in front of your family members: P.

You will mostly fight against soldiers, which are later joined by a limited set of monsters from Xen. The enemies are well placed, so the fights are intense, and some scripting events will additionally increase the difficulty. The final stage can be a nightmare for many, as the enemies become invisible, but fortunately you have heat tracking weapons in the arsenal. The latter is pretty standard, although it might not seem so because of reskins. There is enough ammo, health and batteries to prevent the gameplay from being frustrating.

The visuals of the mod are ok, but don't stand out, well, with the exception of erotic content and new designs. The game contains a lot of humor and new sounds, so I highly recommend playing with headphones ;). To finish the game, I spent 2 hours and a half on the Medium difficulty.

Idol Hunt

Idol Hunt takes place in the ruins of an ancient civilization, located somewhere in the South American Andes. In their experiments Black Mesa researchers discovered a mysterious energy signal coming from the ruins and sent a research team there to check it out. A few days after setting up the base, contact with the group was lost, and the administrator has appointed you, Gordon Freeman, to investigate what happened. The story is full of clichés, but I thought it was pretty interesting. I liked the fact that information about objects or events was displayed during my exploration. but it is a pity that this was not more abundant. In particular, I would like to find out why the ruins are full of aliens and what are the soldiers doing there.

The visual impression is appropriate for the age of the ruins and is nicely done. The things that contribute the most to the visuals are the use of high-quality textures, proper lighting and the elements themselves. There are also modern items lying in the levels, which were left behind by the research group during the exploration. Your journey will take you through temples, you will swim in the caves, climb the ladders and enjoy the fresh air. All this means a quite varied experience, but it's pretty much fully linear. Because of the setting, I expected some secrets or alternative secret passages, but I was very disappointed to not find anything. The game contains quite a few puzzles that involve activation of switches, search for objects as well as some jumping trials.

During your advancement through the ruins, you will be hindered by a pretty modest set of enemies. Among the beings of Xen, the most prominent are Headcrabs and Vortigaunts, the human forces are mostly represented by soldiers. Factions are constantly fighting, which can be used to save on health and / or ammunition. This avoidance is almost necessary, since the weaponry is very limited, and ammunition and goodies are fairly rare. There are also some surprises where enemies storm a place, but the most difficult situations are those in which you must hide from the Gargantua and at the same time solve puzzles. For these reasons, I advise you to play on Medium difficulty, at which you'll spend about 45 minutes to complete the mod.

Infinite Rift

Infinite Rift takes place about 3 days after the incident in the Black Mesa complex. The military forces led by a villain nicknamed The Administrator took control over the complex and are now killing everyone who stands in their way. One of the survivors is dr. Larry Hoot, who manages to get in touch with our hero, Gordon Freeman. Together, they plan on how to spoil administrator's plans and destroy a mysterious device called Infinite Rift. I liked the story very much. It is revealed during gameplay with help of communication with Larry.

Although the modification takes place in Black Mesa, the game does not reminisce too much on the original, as the style is quite unique. Maps do not architecturally impress initially, because they are made pretty rough.  but the picture quickly changes after the transition into the world with a mixture of Xen and human elements. The overlapping of the elements between the maps is excellent in this part, and the colorful illumination also impresses. In general, maps are very well connected, there is some button pushing, back tracking, and non-linear elements. In the puzzle list, you will also find parts in which you need to stay hidden and not touch the sensors, which is very well done, but its unfortunately really short.

You will encounter a vast array of opponents from the original, which includes all human and almost all Xenian opponents. Their positioning and abundance are mostly good, and there are also some scripting surprises. The fights are not limited to progression only, but also include other interesting elements. One of the gaming segments, for example, requires from you to defend a certain area while enemies storm your position. The very good pace of the action from the first part is slowed down considerably in the last third, as the focus shifts on jumping challenges. Too bad, this decision disappointed me quite a bit. To fight your way to the end you will be able to use a limited arsenal from the original. Amounts of ammunition and goodies are just right for better players to complete the mod on Hard difficulty. To achieve this, you will spend about 1 hour and 15 minutes playing the mod.

Instinct

Instinct takes place immediately after Gordon Freeman (you) chose certain death. To his great fortune a defect occurred in the teleporter, and he got teleported straight back to Black Mesa. Unfortunately, things took a turn to the worse here. Due to Nihilanth's death, the remaining creatures from Xen migrated to Earth, the soldiers are still not planning to get out, and in about 12 hours the whole complex will be turned to dust. Will you be able to escape? You can read the whole interesting introduction in the Readme.txt file.

I liked the architecture of the maps because of the various details and loved the parts in which human and Xen elements mix as it's done very good. Parts of maps are perfectly connected, and can often be accessed by several alternative routes, which allow a tactical approach to solving the situation. Non-linearity is also enhanced by side paths and secrets which contain many goodies. There are no real puzzles in the game, but there are many jumping challenges, which later become even more entertaining because of the use of the long jump module.

During your path through Black Mesa you will encounter both Xenian opponents as well as soldiers. In the first group, practically all the monsters from the original are found. Most memorable are the Headcrabs, which are unfortunately too numerous, and negatively impact the experience. A wide range of army troops with machine guns and shotguns are complemented by static machineguns which are either automatic or controlled by humans. Opponent positioning is excellent and is responsible for very good fights, additionally, there are also some situations in which different factions are fighting for survival. Weapon set is a limited selection from the original, and the ammo for the firearms is ample. Often, you can also take advantage of explosive barrels, which are quite densely placed in the surroundings. The mod is more conservative in regards to medical packages and batteries, but you will probably have no problems completing it on Medium.

The visuals of the game raise mixed feelings. On the one hand, the maps are attractive because of good architecture and gameplay is enriched by  interesting scripted events, but on the other hand everything is simply too gray. However, it should be acknowledged that the colorful elements provide for excellent contrast in some areas. There is no background music, but I really liked the background sounds, which create a very good ambience. The end of the game is never triggered, since you can still play after killing Gonarch, even if there is nothing more to do. I spent about 1 hour to finish the mod.

Invasion

Invasion begins at the end of the original Half-Life 1 when Gordon Freeman on a train to the unknown has to choose whether to work with G-Man or stay on the train. He opts for the latter and just before G-Man condemns him to death, a group of scientists succeeds to open a teleporter back to Earth. Gordon escapes, but the situation on Earth is by no means rosy: the alien attackers still control the Black Mesa, while the rest is being purged by soldiers. Scientists ask Gordon to enter the Black Mesa complex again and destroy the teleportation crystals, which should stop the invasion for good.

The design of the levels is excellent and diverse, and the enemies are placed very well. Advance is often not obvious and is quite frequently blocked with security codes which you enter via mouse control. They are given to you by NPCs and sometimes you also read them from notebooks or computers. Sometimes you will also have to hide from cameras or snipers, and there are also some time-limited events in which you will have to put your jumping skills to the test. In addition to classic man to man battles, you will also spend a part of the game driving a tank, and shooting with the machinegun or canon.

In addition to soldiers from the original, you will also encounter snipers and soldiers with rocket launchers. Both of them are extremely dangerous opponents. Fortunately, you have a very varied arsenal, which contains a whole lot of new weapons. You will, for example, find a gun with a thermo sensor that will allow you to detect enemies through the walls, and a sniper rifle with the possibility of zooming. The rocket launcher has received projectiles that damage enemies through the walls, and you will be also able to launch nuclear projectiles to blow up obstacles. An additional special feature is that you do not have a flashlight, but a lighter with (unfortunately) a very narrow band of luminosity. Despite the often dark fights, you will not be helpless, as opponents have built-in flashlights which can be targeted. There are relatively few healing and battery stations, but the specialty of the game is that you can carry batteries and healing packages in your inventory and use them when an emergency appears.

The graphics elements of the game are fully reskinned, you will also be able to listen to custom music. The game also includes French speakers, but fortunately English subtitles are included. As far as the graphics are concerned, abundant breakable materials were definitely a eye catcher. This way, soldiers are able to shoot through walls or windows (well, you can too), and with the tank you can do some massive destruction :). The atmosphere of the game is also enriched by scripted events. Difficulty is very high, so I recommend playing on Easy, where you'll spend about 5 hours of gameplay.

Ispitatel 4

Ispitatel 4 is the third released game in a series of modifications about Ravil Unisovich, who was once employed in the secret Russian research laboratory LIPM. Those times are long gone, but he still loves telling stories about the past events to his colleagues over a game of dominoes. The story is completely crazy, therefore you will either adore or hate it - I thought it was brilliant :). You uncover the story during gameplay with the help of video sequences and excellently recorded Ravil's narration, which is in Russian, but fortunately has English subtitles. Everything is packed in about 1 hour and 15 minutes of play time, filled with humour and wow moments.

The maps are extremely diverse and comprise of both completely imaginative and realistic levels, among which you'll find levels where both worlds are mixed together. Architecture is quite simple, but interesting ideas combined with scripted events and exceptional background music greatly enhance the gaming experience. The puzzles are very varied, you often get them in the form of quests, so it seems like you are playing an adventure. You will control certain events through control panels and cameras, pick up objects, guide NPCs, perform jumping tricks and try to find hidden tasks that improve your life points. The latter are superfluous, because the fights in the game are extremely simplified. You will pick up weapons when needed, but you will fight against miniature dogs that can barely harm you, even at the highest (Normal) difficulty.

Issues

Issues or Project Quantum Leap 2 is a compilation of maps of various authors that are grouped over a single common theme: find a scientist who got lost during a teleportation. Gameplay is done by entering one of the teleporters in the connecting hub, and then fight your way through to the exit teleporter, which again leads to the hub.

If several different author work independently it will most certainly result in fluctuating quality. No exceptions here. On one side we have excellent maps (eg Subzone, Badass, Legacy, Lost time) that are looking nice, are quite long, non-linear, well balanced, have challenging fights and jump challenges, and also contain secrets. On the other hand, we have very average or even unfinished maps (Casa, Base, Xenpit) that are short, not appealing architecturally, exploration barely makes sense. It is a pity that the authors did not adapt a minimum quality standard, and then helped each other to reach it.

The set of enemies and weapons depends on the map, but both (with the exception of the second part of Lost Time) are limited to what is found in the original.

There is not much to discuss about the looks, as the custom models are only present in Lost Time, but the difference in aesthetics between the excellent and the average maps is quite high. The background music is turned on here and there, and a some maps have custom speech. To complete the package, I needed approximately 3 hours on the Medium difficulty.

Life's End

In Life's End, you play a scientist named Luther Johnson, who works in the mathematics department of Black Mesa. You arrive for work a few minutes before the alien invasion, but unfortunately, you are late again. Your superior, Dr. Omstein, is fed up with your incompetence and fires you at the spot. But at that moment everything goes wrong ... The story takes place in parallel with the original incident, but in another part of the laboratory complex. I liked both, the dialogues between you and other characters, and notes, which give you some insights into past and present happenings in Black Mesa.

The map architecture is not bad, but it is commendable that it keeps improving considerably during your journey to the end. There is also a lot of non-linearity. I loved the flooded parts of the maps and the parts with lava / radioactive materials, and the fantastic map with the Xen laboratory hybrid. During gameplay you will also sometimes hallucinate due to different chemicals, and the maps reflect this. Although the idea is interesting, it just didn't work for me - the same goes for some other mini-games. I was also disappointed with the weird ending and with some maps that simply did not fit into the package because of the poor quality. The way forward is very often prevented with mechanical and electronic locks, for which you have to find keys or keycards. These items can be sometimes found in very unusual places, but players who love exploring, will have no problems finding them. Much more work will have to be put into finding some very well hidden paths forward. One of the common puzzles is also to search for giant batteries, which you can then use to start certain machines.

The set of enemies is very varied and includes both soldiers and almost all Xen creatures. The fights with the opponents are very good, not only because of their good positioning, but also because of their numbers. Sometimes the factions are slaughtering each other, which gives you the opportunity to skillfully avoid confrontation, and carry out your task without fighting. The action level increases very well with your advancement towards the end, but it has some problematic moments. Due to specific animations of some models, it is advisable to turn off HD Pack, but if you don't mind a few graphic inconveniences, you will be able to finish the game with it turned on. Despite many surprises, there are enough health packs and ammunition to get your through the game on Medium difficulty without significant problems.

The visuals of the game are solid, and sometimes very appealing. I was impressed the most by many good scripted events and by demonstration of the destruction caused by the Black Mesa incident. Certain moments will also be memorable because of well chosen background music. There is also some humor in the game. I needed about 3 hours to complete the game. Playing mostly went smoothly; I just had to turn on the Software video mode in the le24 map because the game kept freezing in the OpenGL rendering mode.

Mistake -1

Mistake -1 is a survival modification in the style of the Silent Hill series. The sign -1 means that it is taking place before its predecessor with the same name, and both take place in the Andrew Parker's asylum. You play Steve Rick, one of the former employees who became one of the patients in a series of unfortunate events. You uncover the story through gameplay by reading messages and your thoughts, as well as through video sequences. The story seemed extremely interesting to me, but I wish it would be more detailed. I would definitely want to know more about the Steve's of the past and also about other patients in the madhouse.

Most of the game takes place in a dark and decaying madhouse, which is quite surrealistic in terms of placed elements. There are tons of boxes everywhere, which are all without exception empty, the doors and passages are often barricaded, protected by a lock or numeric code. Wood and metal plates lie on the floor, chains are hanging from the ceilings, and some passages are blocked with parts of furniture. While playing, the appearance of the maps changes constantly and often turns into a thrilling imaginative world in which you are even more vulnerable. There is some backtracking, and in some cases you will also need to find a very well hidden way forward. In addition to finding keys and codes, you'll need to find certain items to advance. In your search you will be aided by tips that are scattered through the maps. Part of the puzzles are also jumping challenges, which can be quite annoying, as some of them require of you to do a running crouch jump, which is not so easy.

As usual for horror video games, the enemies are rare. Their positioning is fantastic and will provide for several jump scares. In some cases, enemies will also appear from nowhere, so be always prepared. In addition to several types of zombies, you will also be attacked by acid sprayers and hybrids between spiders and babies, who have genetic material probably borrowed from Headcrabs and are a very good substitute for them. There are also some boss opponents present. The weapon set is very modest, because you have only a butcher knife and a gun, but you also get a shotgun near the end. At the first glance, the amount of bullets is scarce, but you will quickly discover that they are too numerous for the default difficulty (you can't change it). Opponents are very sensitive to headshots, so you can quickly eliminate them. Also, the health pills are too numerous, and the same applies to portable medkits.

The appearance of the modification is quite appealing, not only because of the textures used, but also because of the graphic effects (flashlight, bump mapped surfaces), which require some tricks with the Steam* version. In addition to its appearance, a skillfully chosen background music is also contributing to the good atmosphere. It's a pity that the modification is so short, as I only spent a little less than one hour to complete it.

* 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!