Jan 22, 2013
The Beautiful, If Misguided Crusade To Keep Half-Life 2 Looking Beautiful
Half-Life

The Beautiful, If Misguided Crusade To Keep Half-Life 2 Looking BeautifulThe Half-Life 2 Cinematic Mod has been around forever, and in that time has proven fairly divisive. Sure, it adds some lovely effects to the game, but it also makes so many changes that some feel it loses a little of Valve's original vision for City 17 and its surrounding countryside. The "improved" character models are a particular bone of contention.


I could never get past the latter, with almost everyone in the mod looking like a Baywatch reject, but if all you care about are environmental effects and the crusade to make a game that's nearly ten years old look brand new, you might want to watch the new video below and see how far the mod has progressed since its inception back in 2005.


If you can meet its surprisingly hefty specs (at least for the full range of effects, considering the game's age), you can download the mod below.


Cinematic Mod [Official Site, via PC Gamer]



CM11.35 Trailer - Mod DB


Jan 20, 2013
Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf
Half-Life

Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your BookshelfGaming Heads, a company that's been making Valve-related merchandise for a few years now, will later this year be brining out this impressive (and huge) Gordon Freeman statue.


Standing 20" tall and available in Q3, the regular edition will sell for $320, while a collector's edition (that comes with an extra weapons, the SMG) will sell for $340.


Gordon Freeman [Gaming Heads]


Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf Giant 20-Inch Gordon Freeman Statue Keeps Headcrabs Off Your Bookshelf
Jan 17, 2013
Turning Half-Life Into a Dragonball Z Fighting Game
Half-Life

Earth's Special Forces is a mod for the original Half-Life's engine (not Half-Life 2's Source) that transforms Valve's shooter into a massive arena for Dragonball Z battles.


It's a third-person fighting game with a few different modes (you can team up for deathmatches, etc). Being a mod it's a constant work-in-progress, and comes with a warning that "there is a learning curve so newbies beware", but if that doesn't deter you, the mod can be downloaded below.


Earth's Special Forces mod for Half-Life [ModDB]


Jan 11, 2013
Alleged Screenshots Surface Of A Long-Cancelled Half Life 2 Episode
Half-Life

For years now, there have been rumors and reports of a now-cancelled Half-Life 2 episode called Half-Life 2: Return to Ravenholm. The project, an overview of which can be found at the Combine Overwiki, was to be a collaboration between Valve and Dishonored-makers Arkane, and would, presumably, take players back to the creepy, zombie-infested village of Ravenholm. The existence and cancellation of Return to Ravenholm was confirmed by Valve's Marc Laidlaw in January of last year.


The folks at ValveTime have posted what they claim to be some new unearthed prototype screenshots from the long-cancelled project. They've compiled them into the video above, as well. For clarity's sake: These screens are old, and no one has any reason to think the project has been un-cancelled or anything like that.


Alleged Screenshots Surface Of A Long-Cancelled Half Life 2 Episode Alleged Screenshots Surface Of A Long-Cancelled Half Life 2 Episode Alleged Screenshots Surface Of A Long-Cancelled Half Life 2 Episode Alleged Screenshots Surface Of A Long-Cancelled Half Life 2 Episode


Seeing as how the images come from an unconfirmed (by us) source and the game apparently never got very far into development, I'd suggest taking them with a grain of salt. I've reached out to both Arkane and Valve to ask about their authenticity, and will update if I hear back. Still... absorption? Interesting.


It wouldn't be an article about Half-Life unless I closed with some sort of Half-Life 3 joke, so… no, you know what? This one time I'm not gonna do it.


New Images of Half-life 2: Episode 4 / Return to Ravenholm [ValveTime, thanks Glenn]


Jan 8, 2013
What Half-Life Looked Like In 1997, One Year Before It Came Out [Update]
Half-Life

This footage is taken from something called Half-Life Alpha, a demo of Valve's classic shooter playable in 1997, a year before the game would eventually be released.


As you'll quickly see, most of this is actually a tech demo. Which might explain why there's a Macross Pod hiding in a stairwell.


Update - Ah, the video was captured from a leak of the demo itself. Want to try it out yourself? Have at it.


Half-Life Alpha v 0.52 (9/4/97) - Tech Demo Gameplay [MarphitimusBlackimus, via PC Gamer]


Jan 6, 2013
The Walking Dead Guys Would Love To Do A Halo, Half-Life Series
Half-Life

The Walking Dead Guys Would Love To Do A Halo, Half-Life SeriesFresh off their success with The Walking Dead series, as well as experience with half a dozen other properties that belong to someone else, developers Telltale have told Red Bull (the website of... the drink) what their dream projects are.


And they're about the same as anyone else's dream projects.


"Coming from LucasArts we always felt we could do a great Star Wars story game," Telltale's CEO and co-founder Dan Connors says. "We also love the idea of building out a deeper story to a great game franchise, something like Half Life Stories or Halo Stories."


I'm pretty sure Halo's story is already deep enough, thanks, but it'd be hilarious to see someone try and make a narrative-driven adventure game out of Half-Life. The Adventures of Lamarr & Barney...


The Walking Dead: Bringing the World's Smartest Zombie Series to Life [Red Bull]


Jan 2, 2013
Hold On To Your Butts, It's A Jurassic Park Game Made In The Half-Life Engine
Half-Life

Boom.


Boom.


What's that sound? The coffee on my desk is shaking.


Boom.


Boom.


Oh god, look at that. At the window. It's a super ambitious Jurassic Park game made using Valve's source engine. Stay perfectly still, and it won't be able to see us.


The game/mod, called Jurassic Life, is a collaboration between a group of volunteers. They're sure to note that the video demo above is still very much a work in progress. I've seen the source engine do a lot of the interior stuff they've got going on here, but the jungles are something else.


Half the time I was playing Far Cry 3, I was sort of wishing there were dinosaurs. Jurassic Life looks like it'll satisfy that desire. The team is looking for a coder/programmer and another modeler, so if you've got some experience in those areas, head over to their site and help them make this grand-looking thing into a reality.


Jurassic Life [via Cinemablend]


Dec 18, 2012
2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art.
Half-Life

2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art.Photography student David A. Reeves likes video games and movies with guns in them. So he's found an awesome way to combine all three, crafting intricate little silhouettes of game and movie scenes out of paper then taking photos of them.


If you think the results look a lot like Limbo, that's cool, he's got several images based on the atmospheric platformer. But his settings for Half-Life, Thief, Dark Souls and Aliens are pretty great too.


You can see more images, as well as some neat "making of" shots, below.


David Allen Reeves [Tumblr, thanks Crimegoat!]


2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art. 2D Is Not A Type Of Game. It's a Work Of Art.


Dec 17, 2012
Next Year, You'll Be Able To Buy Your Own Half-Life 2 Gravity Gun
Half-Life

Next Year, You'll Be Able To Buy Your Own Half-Life 2 Gravity GunSadly, it won't make the holiday shopping season, but toy company NECA's replica Half-Life 2 gravity gun will be available for purchase next Spring.


It's 1:1 scale, and as you can see from the prototype below, lights up as well. Since this is the same company behind the replica Portal guns, you could probably expect some sound effects as well.


1:1 Half-Life Gravity Gun Coming From NECA In 2013 [TNI]


Next Year, You'll Be Able To Buy Your Own Half-Life 2 Gravity Gun


Dec 8, 2012
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale
Half-Life 2

The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different TaleIf the Video Game Awards are actually an awards show, and not just a keynote for promoting upcoming games, then the big news from last night was The Walking Dead: The Game. Eminently quotable analyst Michael Pachter said before the show that if this title, a downloadable self-published game, took home Game of the Year, he'd eat his hat. To his credit, Pachter later tweeted out a request for one, presumably to consume.


But the surprises don't just stop there. The Walking Dead won Game of the Year coming out of the Best Adapted Game category. Except for 2003, the first year of the VGAs, when things were very different from today, only two adapted games have even been nominated for GOTY: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, and neither won. This is a different time in games development, with publishers looking for games whose characters and stories they fully own.


Some might look to a licensed or adapted work and consider that the game derives its significance, or at least the attention given to it, because it draws on some other franchise in popular entertainment. So it's strange that a licensed, adapted work reminds us that story, and characters, and choices, and the memorable experiences they create, matters most.


Here's another surprise nugget: The Walking Dead: The Game earned its makers five Video Game Awards. The next big winner? Journey, with three (including a nomination for Game of the Year.) Borderlands 2 also took home three awards, the best haul for a traditional boxed console game.


So if you're thinking this might have been a different Video Game Awards, in its 10th year, you're probably right. Had the show given more attention to that purpose—only a handful of these awards were actually presented in the broadcast—we might be pondering it as a landmark year. The VGAs are often accused of being an industry popularity contest, but maybe this year they acquired recognizable critical heft. We'll have to see what happens next year, and the year after.


So here are the 25 winners of the 2012 Video Game Awards, plus the Game of the Decade. Two fan-voted awards gave Character of the Year to Claptrap from Borderlands 2, and Most Anticipated Game to Grand Theft Auto V.


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Game of the Year

The Walking Dead: The Game

Telltale Games


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Studio of the Year

Telltale Games

Also nominated: 343 Industries, Arkane Studios, Gearbox Software


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Xbox 360 Game

Halo 4

Microsoft Studios/343 Industries


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Borderlands 2, Dishonored
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best PS3 Game

Journey

Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Borderlands 2, Dishonored
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Wii/Wii U Game

New Super Mario Bros. U

Nintendo


Also nominated: The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, ZombiU
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best PC Game

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

2K Games/Firaxis Games


Also nominated: Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, Torchlight II
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Shooter

Borderlands 2

2K Games/Gearbox Software


Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Max Payne 3
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Action-Adventure Game

Dishonored

Bethesda Softworks/Arkane Studios


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Darksiders II, Sleeping Dogs
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Role-Playing Game

Mass Effect 3

Electronic Arts/BioWare


Also nominated: Diablo III, Torchlight II, Xenoblade Chronicles
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Multiplayer Game

Borderlands 2

2K Games/Gearbox Software


Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Guild Wars 2, Halo 4
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Individual Sports Game

SSX

Electronic Arts/EA Canada


Also nominated: Hot Shots Golf World Invitational, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, WWE '13
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Team Sports Game

NBA 2K13

2K Sports/Visual Concepts


Also nominated: FIFA 13, Madden NFL 13, NHL 13
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Driving Game

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Electronic Arts/Criterion Games


Also nominated: Dirt: Showdown, F1 2012, Forza Horizon
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Song in a Game

"Cities" (Beck) for Sound Shapes

Also nominated: "Castle of Glass" (Linkin Park for Medal of Honor: Warfighter); "I Was Born for This" (Austin Wintory for Journey); "Tears" (Health for Max Payne 3)


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Original Score

Journey

Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany


Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Max Payne 3.


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Graphics

Halo 4

Microsoft Studios/343 Industries


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Independent Game

Journey

thatgamecompany


Also nominated: Dust: An Elysian Tail, Fez, Mark of the Ninja
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Fighting Game

Persona 4 Arena

Atlus/Arc System Works/Atlus


Also nominated: Dead or Alive 5, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Sound Shapes

Sony Computer Entertainment/Queasy Games


Also nominated: Gravity Rush, LittleBigPlanet (PS Vita), New Super Mario Bros 2
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Performance by a Human Female

Melissa Hutchison for The Walking Dead: The Game

Also nominated: Emma Stone for Sleeping Dogs; Jen Taylor for Halo 4; Jennifer Hale for Mass Effect 3
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Performance by a Human Male

Dameon Clark for Borderlands 2

Also nominated: Dave Fennoy for The Walking Dead: The Game; James McCaffrey for Max Payne 3; Nolan North for Spec Ops: The Line
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Adapted Video Game

The Walking Dead: The Game

Telltale Games


Also nominated: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Downloadable Content

Dawnguard for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Bethesda Softworks/Bethesda Game Studios


Also nominated: Leviathan for Mass Effect 3; Mechromancer Pack for Borderlands 2; Perpetual Testing Initiative for Portal 2
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Downloadable Game

The Walking Dead: The Game

Telltale Games


Also nominated: Fez, Journey, Sound Shapes
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Social Game

You Don't Know Jack

Jellyvision Games


Also nominated: Draw Something, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, SimCity Social
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Game of the Decade

Half Life 2

Valve Corporation


Also nominated: Batman: Arkham City, BioShock, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mass Effect 2, Portal, Red Dead Redemption, Shadow of the Colossus, Wii Sports, World of Warcraft


...