The Closure - Remod for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

A mod that devided the many...
A Remod that devided the rest...

It's been more than a decade now since we all saw Eli Vance die to a Combine Advisor, Alyx crying on his lifeless body as the screen goes black.

From what it looks like at the beginning, Valve seems to be working hard on finally doing HL2EP3, before they decided to mix it with HL3, which then proceeded to what is basically complete radio silence for years.

Turning the more-than-a-decade wait itself a bigger internet meme than "When It's Done".

Some of us have lost hope, saying that it'll probably be another DNF case IF it even got released, some was a bit more hopeful, waiting for the day when HL3 is finally confirmed.

Some of us went through the line. And made his own version of what EP3 is.

The Closure, created by one "SPY-maps" is what he wanted EP3 to be like (in a way), taking 6 years to finish by himself (at least, when it comes to mapping/project lead) with a pretty large 35 maps under this mod's belt.

All seems perfect, with Valve ignoring any lines of communication, the fans have finally decided to do a "for the fans, by the fans" kind of deal.

That is until we realize that Leon has his own visions of what he wanted EP3 to be like.

The first thing noticed was the cutscenes, no matter what the situation is like, HL have never really taken away our point of view, when Valve wants us to see or do something, it's all done behind the scenes with subtle hints/gestures, and even when we are locked, there is valid reason for it.

This mod tears that design choice apart.

And then the music, something about it was odd, like it was not Kelly Bailey's.

Taken straight from movies or even other games like CoD or FEAR, YouTube players beware!

And then the story, the enemies, the level design, the design choices.

The biggest offender was the fact that the iconic crowbar was replaced with a wrench, as if trying to poke that new OP4-based game that seem to lack a wrench (that apparently will actually get one in an update, thankfully).

People were angry, they feel betrayed, and lied to.

Some didn't get past the first map, others fall as their journey continue.

But then again, we can't really blame Leon, since this is only what HE wanted EP3 to be similar to, and of course, all of us have different tastes and preferences when it comes to what pleases us.

He said that working on the Source engine for years have made him seriously tired of vanilla stuff, and mix things up just to make things not dull in his eyes.

Of course, there are still people who liked it, or at the very least appreciate the work done.

I wasn't any of them.

I wanted to appreciate the work done, but at the same time, i am bitter with what the mod changed.

So i took a crowbar and tampered with it.

First was the music, i returned the original OST.

Then i replaced the weapons.

No more FEAR Combines, no more Metrocop headcrab-less zombies, no more white painted vorts/fast zombies, no more Portal turrets or the Mustafar headcrabs.

Gone are the UAC labels on the doors, or the out-of-place Black Mesa Combine chargers.

I never used the hints, and as a result, removed them.

Wasn't a fan of the adult comics, and that is now swimming with the fishes.

And last, but not least, removing Gordon from the cutscenes so as to not "technically" ruin my "point of view" things (with some story blows, but nice enough for the purists).

With all of this done, the result of chaos was reduced, i don't feel too bitter anymore, and can actually truly appreciate the work done.

The maps are well done (at least the later ones, earlier chapter really are pretty weak), and i can see the reasons for some of the "pointless" cutscenes (turns out to either be trigger points or hidden teleporters, as Leon didn't really care for architecture).

The cutscene starts here.

After cutscene ends, other side of the map.

(In a way, maybe Leon could have done something similar to "Alchemilla" or "Cry of Fear" and have opening teleport specific doors by using teleport once a sound and a fade is done ingame?)

The moving catwalks in the middle chapters are pretty awe to look at, the combat are varied, the final chapters are a bit atmospheric, and the change of environments between chapters are cool to break the monotony, the ending is pretty okay, and i appreciate the change of code to make the sniper actually hitscans.

And i liked it, for the most part anyway.

Maybe you will too with these addons, maybe not.

I still hope you enjoy it in some way though.