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Source Mod mayhem
I have been a big fan of Half Life mods ever since playing Azure Sheep, Opposing Force, Team Fortress classic and the original mod release of Counter-Strike way back in the early HL days and my love of mods has only grown over the years. So I decided to write a little about some of the source mods that I play now.
Single Player mods:
Awakening is a continuation of the story of the original Opposing Force soldier Adrian Shepard in events happening somewhere between HL1 and HL2. After a nice opening cut scene you wake up in a lab with The G Man looking down at you and telling you to "do what you do best"
The mod has new voice acting, very good level design and custom props but no new weapons or NPC's.
The Citizen is probably my favourite sp mod. Made by bluestrike and released a year ago, and then re-released this year, it is the story of a normal City 17 citizen that is pushed over the edge by the Combine and then decides to join the resistance. The events happen parallel to the HL2 story and the game features many well done custom NPC voices, a very good story, fantastic map design, and also easter eggs hidden throughout the game.
The Citizen plans on having 7 chapters in total but only the first two have been released.
Flipside would have to be one of the most original mods I have ever seen. It is a side scrolling platform game that is made out of CARDBOARD! That's right, you can even see the pins that are holding everything together. But that's not all, you play as Hannibal Hildorf who just escaped from a mental institution, and being insane as he is, he can see two worlds. One is full of colour and fluffy clouds and bunny rabbits, but at the push of a button the world flips around and becomes dark and dangerous and bunny rabbits turn into evil nurses stopping your escape.
Be warned, this is a very short game. You can finish it in about 10 min.
Multi Player mods:
Dystopia has been around for a while now and has had a massive wave of popularity that has died down recently but it is still played by many people. Dystopia is a total conversion mod that uses all original content and a very original game play system. In a world that could only be described as 'cyberpunk' there is two sides, Punks and Corps. You win the match by achieving certain objectives set for each map, and these objectives can only usually be met by jacking into the cyber world. When you jack in your body is left behind and can be attacked by people in the real world, Its up to your team mates to protect you until you jack out. You can also encounter the enemy in the cyber world and fight there.
It is a very fun game with very original gameplay and I recommend you give it a go.
Fortress Forever is basically Team Fortress Classic remade on the source engine. If you have played TF2 but not TF Classic then give it a go... but dont expect it to be the same, it may have the same classes and similar weapons but the game play is very different.
You will always find allot of players as this is a very popular mod.
Hidden Source is another fantastic mod and the first mod that I followed for months before release. Subject 617 has escaped from I.R.I.S and is on the loose. I.R.I.S. solder's are deployed to eliminate Subject 617, but its not as easy as you may think because Subject 617 is nearly completely invisible! That's right, you can be Subject 617, armed with only a knife and a couple of grenades or you can be part of I.R.I.S. and work with a team of solder's to take out 617. If you manage to kill 617 than next round you become 617. This is a very fun, very addictive game that at times can scare the shit out of you. When you see something move on the corner of your screen and team mates start dying all around you how will you handle it?
Jailbreak: Source is basically a HL2 Deathmatch game with a twist. When you are killed you are put in the enemy jail, where you have about 10 seconds to escape before you are executed. Every jail apparently has a secret way to escape but you can also be release by a team mate if they can reach the Jail Release button deep in the enemy base. This mod features a full set of new weapons for each team and some well made maps but uses the basic Combine and Resistance models for the players. It is a very fun game for people who are into HL2 Deathmatch but need a little change from pure deathmatch gameplay.
There doesn't seem to be vary many people ever playing this mod so get the word out and get your friends playing.
Sourceforts has been around for ages and was the first source mod I ever downloaded. If you have not heard of this mod you must be living under a rock. It is a basic capture the flag game with Combine Vs Resistance using standard HL2 weapons on a usually very small map BUT each round consists of a build phase and a battle phase. During the build phase each team builds its fort using the gravity gun and different sized panels which you freeze into place. The quality of the fort and teamwork and communication during the build phase can really change the outcome of the match. During the battle phase you have to penetrate the enemy fort, steal the flag, and get it back to your fort. During the battle phase only the Engineer class can unfreeze panels and it takes time to do. This is a very simple mod yet with a little innovation it has become a very popular game and you will always be able to find a full server near you.
Zombie Panic! Source was the 2007 MODDB Upcoming Mod of the year winner. If you have ever wanted a good MP zombie game this is for you. Each round usually starts off with only one or two zombies, one zombie being the carrier is stronger than the rest. The survivors start out with very little weapons and not much ammo so sharing is key to survival. When a survivor is killed they become a zombie. Some maps are simple deathmatch style maps but most maps have a way surviving and escaping by completing certain tasks such as collecting fuel to turn on a boat or getting a broken train running by completing tasks. This mod has some of the most amazing maps I have ever seen with fantastic eerie settings, this is by far my favourite MP zombie game. This mod also has allot of servers that always have players and is very popular.
Zombie Master is another great zombie multiplayer game that does need need many players to still work well. One player become the Zombie Master and has a RTS style birds eye view of the map, they have the power to spawn different types of zombies onto the map at different places as well as setting off booby traps but spawning zombies cost resources and you only have a limited amount to work with. The survivors are typical FPS players that must perform certain tasks to escape from each map while trying to stay alive and fighting off the zombies. Its a great concept and quite a fun game.
Insurgency is by far the best Modern Warfare mod for Source there is. Think of a mix of COD4, CS:S, and BF2 for free with lots of players and servers.
D.I.P.R.I.P. is a third person car destruction game. It has only just been released and does not have much of a following yet but there seem to be more and more people playing every day. Only a demo has been released so far with a few maps, three different cars, and 4 different weapons. The full version will see many more cars, maps and weapons being added. It is a very fun game, it looks visually fantastic, and you can tell that allot of work has been done on this mod. I was expecting the cars to handle atrociously tbh but I was pleasantly surprised when playing the game to find out that the handling was actually not all that bad at all. Also when blowing up other cars the explosions look fantastic.
Give this game a go it your into car games (or big explosions).
And last (and also least) HL2 Tag seems like a fun little game of tag on rooftops... although atm almost nobody plays it, It is in Beta 0.1, and there is only one map. But it is a fun game to waste 10-20 min on before going out, or when waiting for something to install or finish downloading (when there are players that is).
That all for the mods I play now. Later I will write another article on mods to look forward to that are coming out soon.
I'm also going to upload some videos for some of the mods I talked about here so go check out the Videos section of the site and have a look.
Also if you play other source mods please post them here... I would love to give them a go.
Single Player mods:
Awakening is a continuation of the story of the original Opposing Force soldier Adrian Shepard in events happening somewhere between HL1 and HL2. After a nice opening cut scene you wake up in a lab with The G Man looking down at you and telling you to "do what you do best"
The mod has new voice acting, very good level design and custom props but no new weapons or NPC's.
The Citizen is probably my favourite sp mod. Made by bluestrike and released a year ago, and then re-released this year, it is the story of a normal City 17 citizen that is pushed over the edge by the Combine and then decides to join the resistance. The events happen parallel to the HL2 story and the game features many well done custom NPC voices, a very good story, fantastic map design, and also easter eggs hidden throughout the game.
The Citizen plans on having 7 chapters in total but only the first two have been released.
Flipside would have to be one of the most original mods I have ever seen. It is a side scrolling platform game that is made out of CARDBOARD! That's right, you can even see the pins that are holding everything together. But that's not all, you play as Hannibal Hildorf who just escaped from a mental institution, and being insane as he is, he can see two worlds. One is full of colour and fluffy clouds and bunny rabbits, but at the push of a button the world flips around and becomes dark and dangerous and bunny rabbits turn into evil nurses stopping your escape.
Be warned, this is a very short game. You can finish it in about 10 min.
Multi Player mods:
Dystopia has been around for a while now and has had a massive wave of popularity that has died down recently but it is still played by many people. Dystopia is a total conversion mod that uses all original content and a very original game play system. In a world that could only be described as 'cyberpunk' there is two sides, Punks and Corps. You win the match by achieving certain objectives set for each map, and these objectives can only usually be met by jacking into the cyber world. When you jack in your body is left behind and can be attacked by people in the real world, Its up to your team mates to protect you until you jack out. You can also encounter the enemy in the cyber world and fight there.
It is a very fun game with very original gameplay and I recommend you give it a go.
Fortress Forever is basically Team Fortress Classic remade on the source engine. If you have played TF2 but not TF Classic then give it a go... but dont expect it to be the same, it may have the same classes and similar weapons but the game play is very different.
You will always find allot of players as this is a very popular mod.
Hidden Source is another fantastic mod and the first mod that I followed for months before release. Subject 617 has escaped from I.R.I.S and is on the loose. I.R.I.S. solder's are deployed to eliminate Subject 617, but its not as easy as you may think because Subject 617 is nearly completely invisible! That's right, you can be Subject 617, armed with only a knife and a couple of grenades or you can be part of I.R.I.S. and work with a team of solder's to take out 617. If you manage to kill 617 than next round you become 617. This is a very fun, very addictive game that at times can scare the shit out of you. When you see something move on the corner of your screen and team mates start dying all around you how will you handle it?
Jailbreak: Source is basically a HL2 Deathmatch game with a twist. When you are killed you are put in the enemy jail, where you have about 10 seconds to escape before you are executed. Every jail apparently has a secret way to escape but you can also be release by a team mate if they can reach the Jail Release button deep in the enemy base. This mod features a full set of new weapons for each team and some well made maps but uses the basic Combine and Resistance models for the players. It is a very fun game for people who are into HL2 Deathmatch but need a little change from pure deathmatch gameplay.
There doesn't seem to be vary many people ever playing this mod so get the word out and get your friends playing.
Sourceforts has been around for ages and was the first source mod I ever downloaded. If you have not heard of this mod you must be living under a rock. It is a basic capture the flag game with Combine Vs Resistance using standard HL2 weapons on a usually very small map BUT each round consists of a build phase and a battle phase. During the build phase each team builds its fort using the gravity gun and different sized panels which you freeze into place. The quality of the fort and teamwork and communication during the build phase can really change the outcome of the match. During the battle phase you have to penetrate the enemy fort, steal the flag, and get it back to your fort. During the battle phase only the Engineer class can unfreeze panels and it takes time to do. This is a very simple mod yet with a little innovation it has become a very popular game and you will always be able to find a full server near you.
Zombie Panic! Source was the 2007 MODDB Upcoming Mod of the year winner. If you have ever wanted a good MP zombie game this is for you. Each round usually starts off with only one or two zombies, one zombie being the carrier is stronger than the rest. The survivors start out with very little weapons and not much ammo so sharing is key to survival. When a survivor is killed they become a zombie. Some maps are simple deathmatch style maps but most maps have a way surviving and escaping by completing certain tasks such as collecting fuel to turn on a boat or getting a broken train running by completing tasks. This mod has some of the most amazing maps I have ever seen with fantastic eerie settings, this is by far my favourite MP zombie game. This mod also has allot of servers that always have players and is very popular.
Zombie Master is another great zombie multiplayer game that does need need many players to still work well. One player become the Zombie Master and has a RTS style birds eye view of the map, they have the power to spawn different types of zombies onto the map at different places as well as setting off booby traps but spawning zombies cost resources and you only have a limited amount to work with. The survivors are typical FPS players that must perform certain tasks to escape from each map while trying to stay alive and fighting off the zombies. Its a great concept and quite a fun game.
Insurgency is by far the best Modern Warfare mod for Source there is. Think of a mix of COD4, CS:S, and BF2 for free with lots of players and servers.
D.I.P.R.I.P. is a third person car destruction game. It has only just been released and does not have much of a following yet but there seem to be more and more people playing every day. Only a demo has been released so far with a few maps, three different cars, and 4 different weapons. The full version will see many more cars, maps and weapons being added. It is a very fun game, it looks visually fantastic, and you can tell that allot of work has been done on this mod. I was expecting the cars to handle atrociously tbh but I was pleasantly surprised when playing the game to find out that the handling was actually not all that bad at all. Also when blowing up other cars the explosions look fantastic.
Give this game a go it your into car games (or big explosions).
And last (and also least) HL2 Tag seems like a fun little game of tag on rooftops... although atm almost nobody plays it, It is in Beta 0.1, and there is only one map. But it is a fun game to waste 10-20 min on before going out, or when waiting for something to install or finish downloading (when there are players that is).
That all for the mods I play now. Later I will write another article on mods to look forward to that are coming out soon.
I'm also going to upload some videos for some of the mods I talked about here so go check out the Videos section of the site and have a look.
Also if you play other source mods please post them here... I would love to give them a go.
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