Despite being released in 1998, this game is still one of the best
First-Person Shooters out there. The game is notable for being one of the first
to incorporate the "show, don't tell" type of style to the player, where the plot is almost
never told directly by any character to the player. Players assume the role of
Gordon Freeman, a scientist
who must find his way out of the Black Mesa Research Facility after an experiment
with an alien material goes wrong. The core gameplay consists of fighting alien and human enemies
with a variety of weapons and solving puzzles. Unlike many other games at the time,
the player has almost complete uninterrupted control of Freeman, and the story is told
mostly through scripted sequences seen through his eyes.
Despite it's age, the game is still incredibly fun to play, and during it's lifetime, a
slew of expansions were made, which told not only expanded on the preexisting plot, but added
new content and characters. In 2004, Valve released a follow-up sequel,
Half-Life 2, which followed
up the plot of Half-Life 1 and it's expansions, and received it's own expansion content,
Half-Life 2: Episode 1, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2. The series would continue forward as
well, with the most recent game being
Half-Life: Alyx. In 2005, a small
group of fans created
Black Mesa, a
remake of this very game, using the improved technology in Half-Life 2 to revamp the
original game's environments. This project however, would not see a release until
January of 2020.
The game is also notable for it's extensive list of
mods,
in which custom mods are being made for this game to this very day, with the modding
scene showing no signs of slowing down. Some mods have been officially licensed by Valve,
with others being officially acknowledged.
Notable mods for the game include: