Half-Life 2 Turns 18; 5 Half-Life 2 Mods In The Right Place feature

Half-Life 2 is the game that needs no introduction - a sci-fi FPS that changed the industry and, indeed, the trajectory of modding, with some of the most incredible mods of all time made as total conversions for this fantastic game. It's a pleasure to welcome Half-Life 2 to its 18th birthday and to celebrate, here's five Half-Life 2 mods including some classics and newer releases!

BrainBread 2

By Reperio Studios

An objective and arcade focused mod, BrainBread 2 puts players into the shoes of survivors post-apocalypse where Zombies are numerous and help is sparse. Five gamemodes join many unique and akimbo-style weaponry, and even better, pass on the torch of modding interest by fostering their own UGC community that posts skins, maps, encounters and more to increase the content available.

MINERVA

By CargoCult

MINERVA, by Adam Foster, takes you to a remote island under the control of Combine forces. Something is going on here. Your goal is to uncover what that is and destroy it. Oh, yes-- and try to survive. A fantastic mod that even landed the creator a role at Valve, it received a Steam re-release that saw rough edges tightened up and cemented the legacy of an already iconic mod.

The Stanley Parable

By Cakebread

Some would say that choice-based gameplay is something Half-Life 2 is not built around - for sans the alternate ending in Half-Life, Valve have generally pushed the player down a linear, predictable, and highly refined path. However, the beauty of Valve's engines is that they can be turned to just about any concept, style, or feature, and so The Stanley Parable captured the hearts of the site's audience as they were greeted by a set of two doors and allowed to go left or right, with dramatic consequences for either.

Resident Evil 2: Source

By Blood_Wraith

Enter the survival horror. Explore, solve, and fight your way through Raccoon City and it's police department in this source engine remake of Resident Evil 2. One of the most celebrated horror games of all time, this mod's a strong example of the tendency of modders over the years to remake some of the most classic titles in gaming history in the Source engine. Given it's reliability and strong documentation, along with a powerful foundation, it's no wonder people keep finding increasingly creative ways to transport us into new worlds.

Half-Life 2 2003 Storyline Port

By Cvoxalury

A complete port of 2003 storyline maps for Half-Life 2. Includes all 50 levels, all necessary assets, scripting and programming. This project aims at preservation and accessibility. It does not remaster or overhaul the levels and it doesn't place cut content that weren't in them already. This one closes out our list as a way for you to peak behind the curtain - what was Half-Life 2 before it launched back in 2004? A faithful glance at this era of development, and representing a new addition to the slew of cut content mods for Half-Life 2 giving new ways to experience the old story.

Somewhat Foreseen Consequences

Half-Life 2 released on November 16th, 2004, and marked a radical new era of gaming and modding all in one. Debuting the most refined and polished version of the Source Engine (which was technically accessible via CSS and a leak in 2003), it immediately spurred on the creative minds of modders with a powerful SDK that remains one of the most moddable games to this day. Remarkably, many industry professionals found their start in Source Engine modding, and even today, it's hard to have a conversation about UGC without HL2's legacy entering the mix.

Coterminent

Once upon a time this might've been the place a Half-Life 3 joke would've gone, but with a new Half-Life released in just the last two years, consistent support for the Portal franchise in the form of tech demos, and a reasonably successful breach into the hardware space, Valve has done a decent enough job getting back into the swing of things instead of sitting on the Steam goldmine. Besides - with mods like these, who needs sequels?