At 17 years old, it’s safe to say that Valve’sHalf-Life 2is now an old game. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t considered a classic, or that fans have turned their collective backs on it. Ashopes of there ever being aHalf-Life 3continue to be shot down, the first two games are fondly remembered by the community, with the sequel being a strong continuation of what was already an influential original. With talks about recreating and remastering classic games currently in vogue, a group ofMinecraftfans have been hard at work on an ambitiousHalf-Life 2project.
Beginning in 2016, a team of modders have spent the last five years recreating the world ofHalf-Life 2in the Mojang blocky game. Entitled “City-17 [Grand Project]” the group is still beavering away at the recreation, with the intended goal of not just building the entire game withinMinecraft, but making it open world as well. This means that, unlike inHL2itself, this version will do away with loading screens between areas, making it an expansive, if somewhat low-res, reimagining of Valve’s classic.
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As if that wasn’t enough, the modders are also adding in the Borealis. For those who are unaware, theBorealis mission was originally cut from episode two ofHalf-Life 2, along with other content which was also removed from the commercial release of the game. Seeing that this mission was never put into the sequel, many assumed that it would appear in the third episode, and then eventuallyHalf-Life 3. Given the fate of the third game, the fact that it’s now being put into theMinecraftrecreation is pretty astonishing, and it will be interesting to see how the mission plays out and how it ties in with the officialHalf-Lifelore.
The modders are also not the first people who are putting in effort to keep theHalf-Lifememory alive. Recently,a fan-madeHalf-Life 2remastered collection was leaked online, which is said to be coming to Steam. This joint effort will feature new lighting, particle effects, tweaks to fix bugs, and audio commentry, so that’s something fans can look forward to.
As forMinecraft, it is a testament to the game’s sandbox potential, combined with the community’s talent and efforts, that entire games likeHalf-Life 2can find new homes in them. Withsome pretty exceptionally complicated things being built inMinecraft, it begs the question of whether any other fans will come along and rebuild their favorite games in the blocky universe.
Half-Life 2is available now for PC.
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