A group of hardcore Half-Life fans with a pretty good camera, twelve hundred bucks and years of their lives have completed their short film Beyond Black Mesa, a tribute to Valve's dystopian sci-fi shooter.

If you've seen the trailer, you know what to expect. Explosions. Attractive members of the resistance. It has so much more too: Half-Life gun sounds, Combine soldiers getting their skulls crushed with crowbars and the return of Opposing Force protagonist Adrian Shephard. Twelve minutes of Half-Life inspired action will make the wait for Half-Life 2: Episode Three go by so much quicker.

Beyond Black Mesa [YouTube - thanks, Tom!]

The Half-Life series is a fan favourite for a ton of reasons, but the main one is that its universe and story are so strong. Strong enough, even, to be re-told in under seven minutes using...paper.

Below is the first Half-Life, re-enacted using little paper men, and told in 2:14. Below that is Half-Life 2, which thanks to its beefier plot runs to 3:57.

Both clips are the work of Stepan Yurov. He may tell a shorter story than Valve's epic shooter series (and include more Pac-Man cameos), but it's all the more charming because of it.

[Thanks Fish!]

Just when the memory of how beautiful Half-Life 2 can be begins to fade, Reddit user Enjuaguese reminds us all with these panoramic shots of the game's City 17.

Above, the original work, a massive picture spanning the first glimpse the player gets of the city and the looming threat of the citadel beyond. If it doesn't display properly for you in our gallery, the link to the original is at the bottom.

And below? A panoramic shot of the "pick up that can" asshole from the game's opening sequence. Seeing him like this, you begin to understand: he's not really a bad Combine. He's just lonely.

Sci-fi shooter Half-Life 2 was first released on the PC all the way back in 2004. Seven years on and, as you can see, it's still a sight to behold.

[via Reddit]

Just when the memory of how beautiful Half-Life 2 can be begins to fade, Reddit user Enjuaguese reminds us all with these panoramic shots of the game's City 17.

Included in this gallery is the original work, a massive picture spanning the first glimpse the player gets of the city and the looming threat of the citadel beyond. If it doesn't display properly for you in our gallery, the link to the original is at the bottom.

There's also a panoramic shot of the "pick up that can" asshole from the game's opening sequence. Seeing him like this, you begin to understand: he's not really a bad Combine. He's just lonely.

Sci-fi shooter Half-Life 2 was first released on the PC all the way back in 2004. Seven years on and, as you can see, it's still a sight to behold.

[via Reddit]

Did any of you make a new year's resolution? These guys did. Let's hoping most of them, Gordon Freeman aside, can actually stick to them!

You can see the full gallery over on Dorkly, but these are the highlights. While some are reaching at jokes, others - Marcus Fenix in particular - read true enough to be, well, true.

7 Videogame Characters and Their New Years Resolutions [Dorkly]

It was impressive when Robert Bowling, creative strategist for Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward, paid $500 for a batch of indie games that only cost $85. Then Notch, maker of Minecraft stepped up, with $2000.

These guys and a few others are paying lots of money for the Humble Indie Bundle 2, which went on sale yesterday. The bundle is the second offering of indie games being offered to gamers for any price they want to pay. People can name their price and direct their payment in different proportions to the games' developers and various charities.

The games in the second bundle are: Braid, Machinarium, Osmos, Cortex Command and Revenge of the Titans (pictured up top).

Bowling and Notch paid a whole lot more than the ordinary gamer, who are spending a little over $7 on average for the bundle, as of the writing of this post.

Humble Indie Bundle sales stats [Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

The head-chomping, zombie-making alien of Half-Life looks good in a powdered wig when painted by Gearbox Software artist and Team Fortress 2 hat maker Shaylyn "ChemicalAlia" Hamm, as seen at deviantArt.