Half-Life Universe

Research and Development
A Half-Life 2 : Episode 2 Mod
Size : 66.27Mb
Author: Marcello Bortolino
Date Released: 17 July 2009

This mod is a beauty( of course you've heard this word a lot on this blog, but trust me, when' I'll post something stupid and not worth downloading I'll let you know).Have you played Portal ? Of course you did(if you didn't, what the fuck are you doing on my blog ?).

But let met tell you something. Portal is very... "artificial". It's not realistic as it's only an imaginary facility, and of course the portal gun automatically ranks the game as a SCI-FI. Oh, have you noticed they're using like, maybe 10 textures in the whole game ? I'm not saying Portal is a bad game, it's excellent, I'm just trying to make you see differences between HL puzzle mods.

Take for example "The Trap". It's a hl1 mod, although it's harder to play than Portal. Portal is mostly based on instinct after my opinion. "The Trap", instead, puts you're IQ to a hard test. If you complete this mod, you have over 120 IQ :) ( yeah it's that hard ...). But it's also an "artificial mod". The environment is generally realistic, but it's thematic and that's what makes this a SCI-FI too. The areas you'll going to explore(chapters) are color named ( Red section, Yellow section ...) and each one of them feature unique machinery that blends with the architecture.

Now let's turn our head to Research and Development. This is a puzzle mod that combines the instinct based puzzles from Portal, hard thinking puzzles from The Trap, spiced up with some action and blending it all together in a realistic environment. I won't be covering all the mod in my review, because it would be a total spoil of the mod( not that I'm not going to spoil some things, so attention : SPOILERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS).

Basically, R&D can be just an excellent improvement to what HL2 could be done ( of course , Valve thought about IQ compatibility and I admire them for that). There are lots of physics puzzles that resemble or are just inspired by HL2 and its episodes. There are also problems that must be solved trough the movement of several "important" objects that may have lots of paths to achieve the goal of the problem.

You often arrive in new areas(Screenshot 9), after being trapped in a small corridor trying to solve a code(Screenshot 11) or something else. You have to use your memory that tells you what's good and what's bad many times, because sometimes in this mod you can only achieve some goals or go further by breaking some rules. In Screenshot 8 for example, you had to solve a code to get an "energy cube". There's also a microwave in the next room. Don't try this at home ( that's if you have an energy cube...) but you have to put the cube in the microwave to achieve this wounderful show : Screenshot 10.

A problem I noticed in HL2 and especially in episode1&2 ( maybe especially in episode 2... ) is that you get you hands on weapons too easy. There's no satisfaction in getting them. Well trust me, this mod has no mercy and you'll have to pay with 15-20 minutes of thinking, tweaking machinery, trial&error and finding jelly cubes( don't ask me what's that =)) ) just for the gravity gun.
But the satisfaction is huge when you get it. You can almost shout "YEAAAH ! THE FUCKING GRAVITY GUN IS MINE !!" : Screenshot 5, ScreenShot 7, Screenshot 12.
You also learn to use objects to protect yourself from gun fire : Screenshot 3 ( ok this one is pretty obvious : "LuxGard"). This luxgard bullet-proof panels are scattered near the train tracks. Oh , I didn't mention you're going to have an action-puzzle-filled train trip ( my tip: save often =)) ) : Screenshot 2, Screenshot 1, Screenshot 4.


I really think my description of the mod is enough and hopefully I convinced you to acces one of the following links and download the mod ! Remember, you need Episode2 in order to play the mod. Have fun !

FileFront Mirror
Games Modding Mirror
ModDB page

Download all the screenshots in this article in 1280x1024 resolution

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4

Screenshot 5

Screenshot 6

Screenshot 7

Screenshot 8
Screenshot 9

Screenshot 10

Screenshot 11
Screenshot 12

Screenshot 13

Try Reissues ! This is a must-have mod for every half-life fan. It's a collection of campaigns linked together by a "warp room".


Here's the actual description of the mod :

"Reissues" is a community compilation of 30 single player Half-Life 1 levels authored by a mix of various designers. Each one has created their own unique, self-contained chapter: you'll spelunk into ancient Egyptian tombs, scale mile-high cliff sides, and fight your way through several clever re-imaginings of Black Mesa - among other exciting setpieces!

Why did we bother squeezing this last bit of mileage out of a decade-old game engine? Because Half-Life 1 offers a unique feel and aesthetic that makes it a timeless classic; because great gun fights remain great fun fights, even without shiny next-gen graphics; because we love what we do, and we hope you'll love it too.

Here are some download links :

Twhl download link
ModDB link
FilePlanet Link

Screens !!

Shelf Life Machinima Chapter 1 released ! It's a Gmod ( a half-life2 sandbox mod) machinima you should watch, it's dramatic and I'd say the machinima is very professionally done.

Chapter 1 Part 1


Chapter 1 Part 2

DOWNLOAD HERE !!!

I've played a lot of half life modifications in my life,mostly back when I had a P II,one of
the modifications that I stumbled upon and really enjoyed was Azure Sheep.

The story of azure sheep is a spin-off of the half life story,in the mod you play a guy named
"Just Barney".You begin the game by heading to your post,somewhere close to one of the
Black Mesa Research Facility entry point.There you can see Gordon Freemen entering the
facility,shortly after the game fades pointing the passing of time,and then it all breaks loose....
Military helicopters storm the sky,as alien start to teleport all around you,you have no
choice but to fight.I think that by now you'd think "Heh,nothing special." but trust me,the
mod is something special as it features things that i haven't seen in many half life modification,
such as the introduction of a important secondary character "Kate",and the introduction of
new friendly NPCs,such as the female security guard "Barniel" and another one,but i won't spoil
it for you :).
The mod also features enemy NPCs by some of the beta monsters from half life which
never came under the light.
Azure sheep has also other interesting features such as some new weapons,the ability
to,later in game, wear your own H.E.V. suit.It has vast levels,based on the original half life maps,
and some blue shift and opposing force,so the level diversity is assured.I must say that Azure Sheep
if one of the longest mods I've ever played,I might say it's the LONGEST.
From the first minutes of azure sheep,apparently the plot line follow-es Just Barney's pursuit
to save the damsel in distress.But somewhere during the story there is an interesting turn point,
I hope I didn't spoil anything.
Graphically speaking the game is dated,but for it's time the graphics were nice,and of course
I am refereeing to the 3d models,because well,the engine belongs to valve,you can see that some effort
was put in to them.Also if you don't really enjoy the stock models you can go to
http://ambientimpact.hl-improvement.com/ to download some high definition models for half life
and also some models made specifically for Azure Sheep.
From my point of view I'd say this modification is a masterpiece,and anyone who enjoyed
half life should play it.Speaking of point of view,the same people that created Azure Sheep also
created a modification Point of View which is also interesting, you can read about it too on this blog.

Review done by Zach, a good friend of mine.

P.O.V.- Point Of view

Oh man, I don't know where to start from. This mod is astonishing ! What should I mention first ? That it took me about an hour to complete ? Dude it's practically a whole game for free !

But let's start by the description given by the authors...
Point of View (POV) is a new single player Half-Life MOD where you will play as a Alien Slave named Xonxt.

You will have new weapons to use, be able to explore new and old areas of Back Mesa and of Xen in a MOD with a story that will allow you to (re)visit areas of Half-Life, Opposing Forces and Azure Sheep but, this time, with a different point of view.

Humans will try to kill you, xen forces will ignore or attack you and you will have to survive to all this. Friends will now be your enemies and enemies your friends now that you play as a Alien Slave...

My first impression that gave me the feel "finally, an awesome mod in my hands!" was that architecture. It's very complex, the Xen world is represented in an excellent way, and anything else makes you think "What the... was this done in hammer ?" The architecture is not blocky at all !
The mod is somewhat old now, being release before Steam was up and running( altough there is a Steam patch) and I knew this when I saw the "pak." file. It's 130 mb. Lots of new sounds, new textures,reskinned and new models( there's a female barney model with female sounds), new enemies.
Everything is custom in the mod, and it seems it has been hard coded. As the description says, you're playing as an Alien Slave "Xonxt". Well that means you aren't going to use weapons and be in a H.E.V. suit ! No, no no , you're using exactly the weapons the alien slave would use in any other half-life game. Yep, the beam shot and a melee attack. I think who coded this spent lots of nights in front of their PC ... especially because there are new special weapons that can be picked up ( don't worry, every weapon that you can pick up is organic). So, you can pick up these weapons :

1. The frog(the model that valve didn't include when they release half-life)
2. The flying Xen thing...
   
3. The snarks
4. The grunt gun

From all these weapons only the beam shot will regenarate life (but again, only from organic matter).
When your standing in front of a breakable wall\prop an icon appears at the bottom of the screen notifying you about this.
This mod features a journal also, where "Xonxt" keeps his ideas, and you can know the story better this way ( it has aprox 40 journal entries).

You can get the mod HERE


Now let's see more images :

These are the weird weapons I was talking about :




Main weapon :

DOWNLOAD NOW

Yes, this is mod that you mustn't escape from. The only game that comes to my mind in terms of FPS puzzle is Portal, but I think this mod is much more complex than Portal. It will stimulate your logic to the maximum, and it's very fun to play.

Surprisingly, there aren't a lot of videos with it on the internet. I didn't find a good one on youtube, so I'm giving you a xfire video link to watch :
VIDEO