In Medias Res

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

5th November 2013

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

Dropping down in the lift gives you little time to prepare but fortunately if you keep still the Metrocops won’t see you.

Not until you move, that is.

From then on, you are on a quest to find the hidden ammo cache!

Running without thinking won’t get you very far here. Good Luck.

Basic Details
  • Title: In medias Res
  • File Name: hl2-ep2-sp-in-medias-res.7z
  • Size : 7.99MB
  • Author: Ihonnyboy/The A
  • Date Released: 05 November 2013

Download Options

Download to your HDD [7.99MB]

Installation Instructions
  • Copy the graphs folder into your ep2/maps folder.
  • Copy the SP_Middle_Final.bsp file into your ep2/maps folder.
  • Run Episode Two
  • Open the console and type map SP_Middle_Final spress enter or return.

If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.

Videos

The playthrough below is provided by Custom Gamer. See more of his playthroughs on this site: VP: Custom Gamer

Screenshots

Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!

17 recommendations, average score: 4.88 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.1 (what's that?)
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 17 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 17 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 27 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 8 Mins by Tudor Ionel
Longest: 1 Hours by Zekiran
Total Time Played: 7 Hours, 44 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
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Phillip says Play It!Play It Now!Play It LaterPlay It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Play It Now!Personal FavouritePlay It Now!Play It LaterPlay It Now!

20 Comments

  1. Phillip says Play It!

    Not having a backstory or clear objective doesn’t take anything away from this map. It has quality design and layout throughout.

    The gameplay is well-planned and fun.

    The final section is nicely designed but I felt the zombies coming from the doors/rooms was not only too predictable but also too easy to counter.

    All in all it is a high quality map that never really got me excited. It lacks something that is hard to describe – that je ne sais quoi.

    It may sound unfair but this map is solid and workman-like but it needs a spark, something to bring it to life.

    Often times that is because a map is stand alone, but not in this case.

    I don’t have any hesitation in recommending your playing it, so don’t think that.
    It’s just the actual gameplay isn’t as good as the screenshots – if that makes sense.

  2. Play It Now!

    As a mapper who makes a lot of puzzles, I found myself smiling after completing the generator crank puzzle. It is not the most original puzzle out there, but it was nice to see it executed so well.
    First the player is introduced to the puzzle in an easier situation where the crank falls off the generator as the player approaches it. The player then picks up the crank, puts it back on and rotates it. Later on you find a generator with no crank anywhere in sight. The earlier experience lets you know you’re suppoesd to find a crank. You look for it, find it, but turns out there’s another simple puzzle there to solve before you can retrieve it. The crank puzzle is a pretty standard one but the mapper executed it admirably well.

    Most of the map was combat. I liked the approach of having weak guns and weak enemies. The explosions and the falling bridge helped those combat scenes feel more dramatic. I found the combat against the combine enjoyable.

    For me the only letdown of the map was the zombie attack in the end. Fighting a large number of zombies is one of the most boring things the Half-Life series has to offer, so I feel zombies should only be used in moderation. Perhaps this is a personal preference of mine; maybe there are people out there who really like fighting zombies for some reason.
    Remember that that’s really the only thing about the map that I didn’t like.

    Overall I recommend playing this map. It’s short, but very good.

  3. DaZ
    Play It Later

    I find myself agreeing with Phillip 100% on this one. This map does everything competently but it never really amazed me. There are some excellent touches sprinkled throughout and the final zombie arena was very well executed.

    The map felt very closed in and boxy, I think some larger areas would have helped a lot here or perhaps having part of the map set outdoors.

    Interestingly I was very hesitant at first about jumping down onto the train from the first room but after it passed by a few times I just gave up and assumed that was the way to progress. Nice that there was nothing else to give me pause about that decision, it would have broken that piece of the level if there was another way that looked like you might be able to go.

    1st play demo https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33279452/daz_sp_middle_final.rar

  4. Play It Now!

    I really liked this map. It doesn’t try to be big or flashy, but manages to have some inventive little puzzles and some cool scripted moments. Like Miiga, I enjoyed how the mapper put a twist on the boring old generator puzzle. The level design all looks good too. Perhaps my only criticism would be that the ending lacked any punch, but that’s not really fair given the short length.

  5. Ade

    Now I remember why a thumbnail looked familiar heh The readme mentions BTC.

  6. Play It Now!

    Great map! I’ve read some other comments saying that the map lacks something special, and even if I can agree with that to some extent, the map is still really fun to play and looks good as well.

    I like the first area with the metro-combines. It’s fun, fast paced and pretty well thought out. There could have been more ammo though and the fact that a dropship were just hovering over the map and left as soon as the player pressed a button could have been scripted in a way that was less obvious.

    The underground area is really good as well. I like the fact that it teches the player that you need the crank in order to continue. It took me a while to find it though, and I wouldn’t have placed a pallet there to cover it up.
    Other people complained about the final zombie-room, but I thought it was pretty nicely designed. Obvious with all the locked doors around, but still pretty good.

    The map is great! If this was a part of a bigger mod it would have fit right in, but as a map it only serves as entertainment instead of an experience. Still really good though and deserves to be played!

  7. I tested this map a while back before it looked so pretty. I think the author has made some smart choices since then. Some nice gameplay and combat. Its nice to get back to basics with the pistol and the metrocops. The drawback to the pistol is that its deadly accurate at any range. This makes hitting a guy 50 yards away a bit of a stretch of the imagination.

    As others have pointed out, a glimpse of the outdoors would have added a great deal of authenticity to the map. Probably at the beginning train section. Heading underground after that, the map would have gotten away with all other rooms being enclosed.

    The mapping is good with most areas detailed to a nice degree. Combat is fun and challenging for the most part with bad guys separated from the player for most areas.

    The zombie end section felt a little over engineered but was still fun to play.

    Perhaps this is a case where a mapper has spent too long on too few areas. Over obsessing and reconfiguring areas time and again. I think I would have preferred more areas at a lower level of polish.

  8. Hec
    Play It Now!

    This is a nice, quick, neat and well done polished maps, that is carefully done with the details, and shows how a good one map could be great for lots of fun and Joy gameplay.

    It is not as complex as Migga’s maps but I like the whole concept in this one, the train part is really cool and well incorporated, also the combat is sweet, is a light combat style and not superb heavy combat, so that’s an original and nice touch.

    That zombie, really surprised me outside the door!!!! that was a cool WOW moment.

    Overall this is short cool 25 minutes break map!! Play it NOW.

    PD I’d love to see more maps and maybe a great complete mod from this author is a clever guy!

  9. Play It Now!

    I died a good number of times just figuring out the very first scene, but after that… I died a lot but was pretty happy with how the map went.

    The “puzzle” aspect of the map was interesting, in that it was all quite physical and involved a good amount of exploration and investigation – I liked that. The locations were very much in keeping with Half Life 2’s look and feel, many bits of it felt like “oh crap everything’s died in here but it won’t stay dead’.

    I wanted to do a little more climbing around and hopping over fences, given the number of crates around, but never really got anywhere with them. Also, I wanted to (well “wanted” is a little strong, “expected” perhaps) fight the airborne enemy that occasionally drifted past the hole in the ceiling but it’s okay that that never happened. The zombies were enough! I love it when my housemate has to come into my room and investigate why I’m shrieking and laughing, that would be ‘the zombie that breaks the door down just as you’re touching it’. Loved that!

    Frantic last fight was frantic, very fun stuff. Good little map! Keep it up!

  10. Play It Now!

    Thoroughly enjoyed this map. The puzzles were interesting and made me smile, but were not over the top deal breakers. The map was visually appealing too. The final battle was also interesting because of the multiple levels and options provided by the room, plus how the zombies were coming from many directions.

  11. Play It Now!

    A great map with a lot of detail in a relatively small area …. the train jump took me a while to work out,i was initially trying to run the bridge before the barrels exploded until I realised it was impossible and wasn’t the solution
    after some small shoot outs with the metro cops I was stumped for a while until I noticed the hole in the floor covered by planks … you can either blow them up with the grenade or crowbar them bringing you into the sewer
    theres some nice work in this map and especially in the sewer,and that’s where I have problems when attempting to create a map … you need a certain degree of artistic flare when creating maps or mods … its not good simply creating rooms and area,s and throwing a few items around and some npc,s …
    and the author has obviously spent time preparing the map and testing it along the way …
    once you hit the final area it gets a bit hectic especially with the zombies … personally I wouldn’t use so many zombies but that’s me .. however it works well and doesn’t spoil the map ……
    in summary the author has a good future in mapping and I look forward to a mod or another map …. well worth the PIN recommendation !

  12. Ade
    Play It Now!

    Alright, time to see if the author considered some of our feedback hehe!
    The elevator button is still weird looking. I like how the fallen stunsticks become suit batteries when picked up, must be just the game but I’d like to see more of that.
    The exploding barrels coming at me still made me go “o shi, o shi!’
    Nice to see he fixed the water in the sewer area. The zombie breaking down the door in my face is still a nice surprise. Hmmm mag ammo but no mag yet. Some lighting issues were fixed, I see, something is still left, like odd door shadows and odd door lighting.
    I think the lever is hidden better now, being yellow in a yellow basket. And I see the author added a room, and fits quite well.
    For this playthrough I mostly used nades on the zombies and it still felt like I was playing on Easy.
    And that’s that! Short but enjoyable map. And I’d like the BTC be written fully, as most people don’t really know us, sad but true. And why not mention the names of “other testers’? I might be recruiting 😛
    Like others mentioned already, the crank puzzle is well done since you teach it to the player and even a first time hl2’er can get it right imo. All (new) puzzles and mechanics should be taught to the player. And overall looks really polished and we’re all waiting for something bigger to incorporate it in.

  13. Play It Now!

    A nice little map that was fun to play. I liked the initial challenge with the bridge that blows up. The map looked pretty polished and I didn’t have any issues playing it. Worth your time, especially since there isn’t a lot of new material out there these days. Too bad my game is still lagging every once in a while when the save happens; I wonder if that will ever be fixed?

  14. JG
    Play It Now!

    This is a pretty fun little map.

    I liked the “small scale” combat here, basically fighting Civil Protection units with a pistol. There aren’t too many mods that keep the battle small and personal like that, since they are usually focused on doling out all the key weapons by the end.

    The act of having to hold the button to turn the generator crank was a simple, pleasing thing and I kind of thought that the zombie scenario would complicate that by knocking me off the crank. It didn’t, however. In fact, I think one of the zombie closets failed to open (the one with the prison gate) because I had nowhere to go until I shot all of the enemies behind the grate.

    I felt the item balance could have used a little work. While the map was not difficult, it would tend to binge on ammo and health instead of providing an even, predictable stream. This was alright with the pistol, since I think the intent was to make you use the crowbar from time to time, but I could imagine health being a problem – especially if you got dinged by one of the numerous explosive barrels.

    My only other point of feedback is that the map felt kind of rushed at times. You visit an awful lot of different areas in a short span of time and you really don’t get to take them in before you are whisked into the next situation. Having a few more optional areas or minor puzzles, like the gate at the start of the level, would have helped.

  15. Play It Now!

    I’d definitely recommend this to someone who enjoyed the first levels of half life 2, it’s pretty much the same deal except much more emphasis on the combat side of it, the run and gun game play is very enjoyable. It’s rather short but very well made, great optimization (300fps all the time on a decent computer) while having some detail.
    It lacks in artistic value as far as aesthetics go because there are no memorable bits, but there are some pretty interesting graphics, especially in the last arena.
    5/5 Not the best, but could be an amazing mod if properly developed (more puzzles, more interesting areas)

  16. Personal Favourite

    I expected this to be good because of the recommendations. I was surprised at just how good it is. The visuals are awesome and really add to the atmosphere. It seems a lot like the canals from the original HL2 and it does a really good job at it. The gameplay is great as well. There’s a part I really liked where turrets pop up and you have to sneak across the room to a box of grenades but there’s a Metrocop standing in your way. My favourite part is at the end where you turn on a generator and a whole bunch of zombies come from every way possible breaking previously locked doors down. It’s very fun to play and very surprising. There’s even some puzzling puzzles in it that took me a little while to figure out. I highly recommend this map.

  17. Play It Now!

    This map is awesome! With cool map design it feels like a Half-Life 2 extension.
    Its a bit short and I miss some puzzles but its ok. The fight are just right, not too much and not too often.

  18. Play It Later

    You know, I really did enjoy this. There was some neat touches and I felt the level design was pretty cool and had an old skool feel to it also. I loved those initial scenes at the start and the use of the train itself. Nicely done!! The end scene I found a little tiresome as I had to search for another crank and yawn.. but.. at least the way to find it was a good idea. It would have been nice to have found a shotgun in that room also.. otherwise just niggles and this is a great map.

  19. Well designed map

  20. Play It Now!

    Looks and plays good. Deserved a better ending.

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