Waiting for several new games to be released, I've been fooling with several single-player mods for Half-Life 2. The Source engine and modding tools are evidently well-suited to modding, and there's a huge number in development. Some will fail, of course, or never get completed. Some may go on and become viable games on their own, like Counterstrike.
Here's a few I've worked through, or currently playing:
Dayhard. This is sort of a comic effort by an Italian developer. You start out as Dr. Freeman's younger brother, Morgan.... The game has a number of laugh-out-loud moments, as well as being very creepy in one section and downright hard in a couple of more. There are references to The Shining, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, X-files, and more.
There were a couple of minor glitches in the version I had, but there's a new patch up on the site.
Minerva. This is meant to be released as "episodes", and the first one is available for download. Pretty straight HL2 action, with lots of troopers and some good maps. The gimmick is running commentary from your off-screen (and possibly alien) "control" who peppers you with pithy comments. "Oh, I should have told you about that machine-gun nest..." Good solid gameplay.
Mistake of Pythagorus. This is a very imaginative and visually striking mod from Japan. The developer has taken the HL-2 props and such and used them very creatively indeed. You start out post HL-2, and there's evidently a truce of sorts with the Combine. Strange things start happening; huge stone numbers start falling from the sky. Then the laws of physics get a bit wierd, and things start floating around. Then...Huge alien machines start appearing, causing much havoc. You go through a dimensional warp or two, followed by Barney, Alex, and a variety of troopers and revolutionaries. All the while encountering very odd alien machines and scenery.
A few sections are quite hard, but overall it's quite playable and good fun.
The ending is a logic puzzle involving the Pythagorean equation-don't worry, it's pretty easy.
S-Mod. Another offering from Japan. This one takes the standard game, and tweaks it a bit. More enemies, different weapons, little side-trips, and a randomization factor as well. Using the console, you can enable a number of advanced features that allow you to spawn more allies at will and such.
So far, I'm up to the Ravenholm section, and it's quite enjoyable. Enough differences to keep you on your toes, and a cool M3 grease gun that wreaks havok on Combine troopers.
More information and download sites available at the Wikepedia section on HL-2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_2_mods
Here's a few I've worked through, or currently playing:
Dayhard. This is sort of a comic effort by an Italian developer. You start out as Dr. Freeman's younger brother, Morgan.... The game has a number of laugh-out-loud moments, as well as being very creepy in one section and downright hard in a couple of more. There are references to The Shining, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, X-files, and more.
There were a couple of minor glitches in the version I had, but there's a new patch up on the site.
Minerva. This is meant to be released as "episodes", and the first one is available for download. Pretty straight HL2 action, with lots of troopers and some good maps. The gimmick is running commentary from your off-screen (and possibly alien) "control" who peppers you with pithy comments. "Oh, I should have told you about that machine-gun nest..." Good solid gameplay.
Mistake of Pythagorus. This is a very imaginative and visually striking mod from Japan. The developer has taken the HL-2 props and such and used them very creatively indeed. You start out post HL-2, and there's evidently a truce of sorts with the Combine. Strange things start happening; huge stone numbers start falling from the sky. Then the laws of physics get a bit wierd, and things start floating around. Then...Huge alien machines start appearing, causing much havoc. You go through a dimensional warp or two, followed by Barney, Alex, and a variety of troopers and revolutionaries. All the while encountering very odd alien machines and scenery.
A few sections are quite hard, but overall it's quite playable and good fun.
The ending is a logic puzzle involving the Pythagorean equation-don't worry, it's pretty easy.
S-Mod. Another offering from Japan. This one takes the standard game, and tweaks it a bit. More enemies, different weapons, little side-trips, and a randomization factor as well. Using the console, you can enable a number of advanced features that allow you to spawn more allies at will and such.
So far, I'm up to the Ravenholm section, and it's quite enjoyable. Enough differences to keep you on your toes, and a cool M3 grease gun that wreaks havok on Combine troopers.
More information and download sites available at the Wikepedia section on HL-2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_2_mods