100 Half-Life 1 Mods: page 2

ReIssues

ReIssues or Project Quantum Leap 3 is a compilation of maps of various authors in which you have to complete the tasks of your employer, the mysterious G-Man. The maps are not directly linked to one another, but they connect via a teleportation node. In addition to the entries in the map, the node contains a healing pool, which is recommended to be used after every return.

Since the theme has not been defined, the maps are extremely diverse. The themes of the original Half-Life game are expanded with oriental and futuristic ones. Most of the levels are excellent, so all the praise for the authors! They contain puzzles, fun fights, jumping challenges, scripted events, some of them are non-linear and give an extraordinary sense of freedom. There are no bad levels, as even the unfinished map (It's safer here) manages to reach a fairly high standard, but some of them are really short. Since you might encounter a nasty bug during gameplay, keep saving the game regularly.

During playtime, you will be attacked by a limited range of enemies that includes soldiers, machine guns and monsters from Xen, but the choice is dependent on the authors of the map. Scepter of Ra stands out from the crowd, since the models represent a total conversion. As far as weapons are concerned, there are no surprises, ammunition is enough, and the same applies to healing packages and batteries.

The visuals of the package range from exceptional (for example Cyan) to good. Along customized models, higher quality textures are also available. The engine used is Spirit of Half-Life, which greatly enhances the visuals, but can occasionally cause FPS fluctuations. Unfortunately, it also has bugs, for example the quicksaves get corrupt when you climb the tower in the Second Wind (save manually), and in It's safer here the sky breaks (save and reload). Occasionally the background music is turned on, and the modpack also contains custom speech. To finish the package, I needed approximately 4 hours and a half on the Medium difficulty.

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 ...

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.

Residual Life

Although the beginning of the Residual Life mod hints at being a sequel to the pretty good Residual Point, it soon becomes clear that the game actually takes place parallel to the first one. You play a female(?) scientist Sora Kim, who works at Black Mesa as an assistant reactor engineer. You start the game on a tram ride to your workplace, where you put on your protective suit. During a elevator ride the mechanism breaks and, as the complex is suddenly flooded with hostile aliens, you fall into the deep.

The level design of the first half of the game is remarkable, with great emphasis on details and some very interesting ideas for advancement. Well-placed enemies in good quantities offer a very good pace, which is more bearable compared to the predecessor, but the game is still not too easy. You will be attacked by a classic set of aliens, among which you will again find super fast military zombies and headcrabs, but in much smaller numbers. Most of the fighting will be done with soldiers and special ops, which will give you some headaches in certain levels :). You will also encounter female assassins, and rare zombie versions of them. The weapon selection is pretty standard, ammunition amounts are just right, and the same applies to health packages.

Everything is fine and well until you get to the other half, which is pure disappointment. Although the level details are still good, everything else is bad. You will walk across vast empty areas without a major challenge, and then, suddenly, a horde of enemies will charge your position. They might have camped in a specific location of the map or were teleported upon your arrival, it doesn't really matter. After you survive, you will be able to advance to the next empty area which again offers nothing, not even a simple mental challenge, and then again you will be greeted by hordes of attackers. Repeat until you die of boredom, a nervous breakdown, or you finish the game. Too bad! I applaud the authors that they created a huge pathway branch, but it is present in the most boring part of the game, so it simply fades away.

The visuals are not substantially altered, but the layout of the elements in the maps can sometimes be jaw dropping. In particular, I was fascinated with the appearance of the very first introductory part of the game, but sadly, you don't spend gameplay time in it. The game was played at Medium difficulty and was finished in about 3 hours and a half.

Residual Point

First of all, it should be mentioned that the mod consists of two parts. The first one, White Force (Alpha), is located under Hazard Course. It's an hour and a half long alpha version, which is in an early stage and needs quite a lot polishing for a final release. The fights are quite interesting, but most of the levels are uninspired and filled with tons of boxes, so you will get a feeling of playing a box breaking simulator :). The other part is called Residual Point which was tested in this review. You play dr. Jack Sohn, who works in the Biodome laboratory of the Black Mesa complex. On a typical work day, it becomes quickly apparent that something will go seriously wrong. Already at the arrival you notice, that the whole complex has security and power grid problems. Nevertheless, your team decides to conduct a teleporter test, but something goes horribly wrong.

The level design in this modification is mostly very good, the paths to advance are often unclear and thus require some thinking. There are a few sideways which will replenish your resources, and I'm almost sure that there is a giant alternative path around the middle of the game, for which the authors deserve all praise. A very clever level was also the flooded map, where you need to do some diving, and oxygen is provided by tactically placed oxygen tanks. In some stages, you also have to accompany NPCs and bring them safely to the locked door, but for greater drama you can also take a dangerous sidestep to a warehouse :).

The enemies are very well placed, and often appear behind your back or create an ambush on your return. The fights are therefore very intense, but fortunately there are plenty of healing packages and recharge stations, and in some places you will also find scientists who can heal the worst wounds. In addition to classical opponents from the original Half-Life and official expansions, you will also be fight custom enemies, among which the hyperactive headcrabs and super zombies will certainly stand out. Both are moving and attacking extremely fast, so you need to do some precise shooting and choosing the right type of weapon. There are also semi transparent versions of the monsters, which, fortunately, are only a few. Arsenal selection is standard, but is good enough as the weapons are varied enough. The ammunition is plentiful, so no worries there.

The graphics and music provide no surprises, but some maps are really pretty and there is also some scripted events. The difficulty of the game is just right on Easy, and you'll spend about 5 hours and a half to complete it.

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.

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!

Heart of Evil

The story of Heart of Evil is set up in the time of the Vietnam War. You play Percy Freeman, a special forces captain, who is assigned a mission to kill a renegade colonel called Kurtz (did you detect any connection with the Apocalypse now movie yet?). You are not alone in your mission as you are accompanied by Barney, an indispensable assistant which will be of great help through the game and will also be driving you through enemy territory. The story is extremely interesting and it is revealed through events, dialogs and documents.

The modification consists of gigantic sections, which are connected by vehicular transport. Each of them consists of a large number of maps that are incredibly well-connected to each other. The developers have provided an enormous amount of freedom to the player, as sections can be explored almost indefinitely, but in my opinion, the paths should be more limited. Although some places contain way points and you can read some useful navigation tips from the documents, you must be extraordinarily focused to not get lost. Because your progress depends on Barney who will often severely slow you down in the numerous corridors, it is advisable to leave him in a well-marked place. This way you can quickly find him when his help will be needed. I also advise you to play with pen and notebook, as certain puzzles will require you to perform a certain sequence correctly, and it can be really useful to also mark areas which were already explored. Progress through certain sections will often be disabled with one side barricades or locks, and sometimes you will also need to blast your way through or find certain items, so keep an eye out for interesting things.

The enemies are extremely varied. First of all, you will encounter well-armed renegade US soldiers supported by tanks and extremely dangerous choppers; then there are lesser armed, but still dangerous enough, Viet Cong people; and last but not least, there are zombies accompanied by other monsters. The factions are hostile to each other and are constantly fighting, so there is always lots of action, additionally, their fights can be used to your advantage to save health and ammunition. Opponents are not only skinned AI from the original, but have modified parameters that make the fights more demanding. Soldiers can take cover, attack you with a rocket launcher, and they really like throwing grenades. Zombies are extremely resistant, some of them will also attack you with weapons. Gorillas surprise you with long jumps and a scary screams. And we could go on and on ...

Your arsenal is very diverse. You can kill opponents with a machete or a chainsaw, poke some holes in them with several types of machine guns, pistol or shotgun, and disintegrate them with grenade or rocket launchers. You will also be able to use grenades, laser bombs and (very interesting) Snarks ... Weapons are not well balanced, and for some of them you can carry a ridiculous amount of ammo. Medkits and healing stations are plentiful (especially if you love exploring), and there is also a lot of armor available. Even though some situations may be very challenging, experienced players should be able to finish the mod on Hard difficulty without any major problems.

Because it's a total conversion for Half-Life, the game has mostly new models and textures. Although the latter can sometimes be low quality, I still liked the overall appearance of the game. There are enough details present, architecture is good enough, and everything is enriched by pretty good scripted events. In addition to custom voices and music, you will also find some humorous things in it, but they can sometimes be distasteful. I ended playing the game after about 5 hours and a half of playtime, because at an end of a boring boat trip a door didn't open.

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.

Todesangst 2: Der Echte Feind

Todesangst 2: Der Echte Feind is the second modification in the Todesangst series. In the first part, a crazy scientist named Jack Newell wanted to create human-Xen hybrids and get rid of Gordon Freeman. Gordon successfully avoided this fate and dr. Newell has become a Xenantromorph monster. In part two, you discover that Dr. Newell was just a puppet for a anarchist group called Schwarzgeist. The latter is trying to fix Newell's failure by sending mercenaries to Black Mesa with a mission to regain as much of Newell's projects as possible. The story is again full of clichés, but I liked how the authors tried to explain the background of the Schwarzgeist group.

This time, the game does not take place only in Black Mesa laboratories, but you are sent to a Xen-like planet with the nearby research station on it, as well as to the countryside. The maps are quite diverse and mostly more detailed than in the predecessor, but I was disappointed by the dull valley on the surface of the Xen-like planet. I really liked the non-linear design, which sometimes allows you to choose which problem you will solve first or choose which route you will take to reach the destination. Often you will need to take an alternate route around the obstacle, and then you will be able to return via another path. Paths forward can be very well hidden and there are also secret parts of levels, that reveal hidden codes for the bonus level in Hazard Course.

In the modification, you will mostly fight against Schwarzgeist mercenaries, who are armed almost exclusively with shotguns and (very interesting) crossbows. In close quarters, they can be extremely deadly, too bad that they can not throw grenades. Occasionally they are located in tactical locations with machineguns, and sometimes they are supported by machines (helicopter, giant robots with lasers). The numbers of monsters are much smaller, but their diversity is commendable. In addition to zombies, you will be attacked by monsters that have been cut from the original game (Chumtoad, Flocking Floater, Mr. Friendly, etc.) and also completely new ones, such as aggressive rats. Of all the beings, I liked Chumtoad the most. It's an excellent alternative to Headcrabs, because you get temporarily poisoned by the bite. Your weapon set consists of a limited selection from the original, with the crowbar being replaced by a throwable axe. On the Medium difficulty there is more than enough ammo, and the amount of healing packages and batteries is just right.

In addition to the new models, you will notice the greatest graphic changes at the research station, as sharp textures stand out from the average. Video sequences have also been upgraded, not only in numbers, but each of the performers in them has its own speaker. Although the quality of pronunciation fluctuates both in terms of accents and volume, the authors have to be praised for their efforts. In certain parts of the maps, custom background music is also activated. To complete the mod, I spent about 2 hours and a half playing it.