Instinct

for Half-Life

20th August 2011

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

Author’s Notes: “Instinct is my first level for Half-Life, but don’t get me wrong; I didn’t just start mapping yesterday… It has been a long and hard road of learning and development with the gold source engine spanning 10 years to bring you this piece of work, and I hope you enjoy it. I’m sorry for its poor condition: the map is unfinished, however, it is 2007, so I really can’t be finishing it when Hammer 3.4 deletes my maps etc.”

Story

“Otherwise… well… I can offer you a battle you have no chance of winning…..rather an anticlimax, after what you’ve just survived…”

Take the job. All that you had to do was just take the job. But, no. You decided that your pride was more sacred than your safety. And thanks to a teleport malfunction you are back right where you started… four kilometres underground in the darkest corner of the Black Mesa Research Facility.

When you regain your conciousness, sirens and screams are all you hear as you wake up to the reality of utter chaos and destruction. Corpses lie mangled in pools of their own blood.

Hallways and staircases are sealed – collapsed by air-strikes. To top it all off, most of the inhabitants of Xen have used their natural instinct to migrate here since the destruction of their home planet, and rifts in space time continue to throw Xen creatures into the bowels of Black Mesa.

Now your trapped in an alien-infested hole in the ground with only one objective – reach the surface alive. Unfortunately, that may not be as easy as it sounds, because the military has decided that rather than kill every witness individually, they are going to simply seal off all of the exits…..and then set off a thermal nuclear weapon.

Now its a race against the clock as you fight your was through infested alien nesting grounds and military blockades while constantly trying to reach the surface and get out of here alive. Hopefully you make it to the surface soon, because in about 12 hours, the entire facility will be reduced to radioactive dust.

“No regrets, Mr. Freeman.”

This was January 2021’s Classic of the Month mod.

Basic Details
  • Title: Instinct
  • File Name: hl1-sp-instinct.7z
  • Size : 8.88MB
  • Author: Richard Martin
  • Date Released: 19 July 2007

Download Options

Download to your HD [9 MB]

Installation Instructions
  • Copy the instinct folder into your Half-Life folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • Instinct should now be listed in your Library tab.

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

Playthrough Videos

The playthrough below is part of the Classic of the Month Event, run by Don AKA Unq.

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 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 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!

29 recommendations, average score: 4.59 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.45 (what's that?)
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 8 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 8 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 2 Hours, 2 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by Avantgarde95
Longest: 3 Hours, 5 Mins by Half Way Lambda
Total Time Played: 16 Hours, 15 Mins
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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57 Comments

  1. This is a really good mod and I am surprised that the author took so long to release it. Makes me, and hopefully you, wonder what other gems are sitting on harddrives!It’s set inside Black Mesa, which is my favorite location. There are a few too many headcrabs for my liking but I can live with that.

    The levels contain a few hard to reach places and often there seems to be alternative ways to reach certain points.

    I’m currently stuck where the last screenshots were taken. I’ve spent the last hour trying to figure out what to do and would appreciate a hint from my smarter-than-me readers.

    Once I get past this section I’ll add more screenshots.

    My Recommendation:

  2. Mel

    Phillip, not sure where and how to install this one.

  3. Copy the two .wad files into your Valve folder. The path should be something like this:
    C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\USERNAME\half-life\valve

    Then copy the maps into the maps folder. Again, the path should be something like this:
    C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\USERNAME\half-life\valve\maps

    I think it says that in the readme. Good luck and enjoy

  4. Play It Now!

    In the big room where you are stuck, you need to aquire the long jump module (underwater) and then jump to a small window where you are in the very last screenshot.

    I really liked the combat in this map pack, although is pretty average the enemy placement is really entertaining as there are many battles with aliens, marines and aliens vs marines, it’s classic Half-Life combat.

    The design of the early levels is pretty conceived, it resembles the middle levels of Black Mesa; mainly storage rooms and lots of crates and headcrabs…

    But I didn’t like the big room full of sharks-thingies because it was badly optimized for my comp and it was overall uninteresting. the things get cool at the end, it shows the potential of how big and outdoor environment can be. Oh and there’s Boss fight at the end so don’t miss that.

    And I think there’s no end sequence I got tired of looking for a secret switch that I just quit Half Life to post this review.

  5. AI
    Play It Now!

    The map played fairly well, most of it wasn’t to hard to figure out! Like the author stated he didn’t finnish it, too bad, that explanes the abrupt ending!
    I’ll still give it a —

    The map had effort! Thanks for fixing the files, Phillip!

  6. geekofalltrades
    Play It Now!

    So the gonarch battle is the end… that’s a crying shame, because I was having a great time with this mappack. Very well-designed, especially right near the end in the outdoor desert area. Most of the wide-open spaces were done very well and featured very nice battles, the exception being one large room in which you wander out over a body of water containing four Ichthyosaurs. The way to progress was a little bit too well-hidden, not to mention the whole room felt out-of-place. Still, an excellent mappack, well-worth the download.

  7. bkadar

    ok so ive loaded this ten times and ways as stated above and in the read me, nothing? do I need opforce and tfc loaded to play this?
    thanks

  8. ok so ive loaded this ten times and ways as stated above and in the read me, nothing?

    When you say “nothing” what exactly do you mean? What happens when you open the console and type “map I”? Do you see a list of maps begining with I?

    do I need opforce and tfc loaded to play this?

    Definitely not tfc because I don’t have that loaded on my system. I also don’t believe you need opforce either, although that is loaded on my system.

  9. bkadar

    started over still comes up no map found,should the maps be left in the folder they come in,moved all at once.or could I just make a new folder and put it with the other hl1 mods?
    thanks

  10. AI

    INSTALLATION?!?!?!? – Paste contents of the .zip in your steam/steam apps/your email/half life folder.
    Start half life, pull down console, type ‘map instinct_1″ and enjoy.

    The above is right from the “readme” it installed with no problems and ran fine, hope this helps!

  11. started over still comes up no map found,should the maps be left in the folder they come in

    Yes and No. The maps should be in the “maps” folder which is within the “Valve” folder.

    moved all at once

    It doesn’t make a difference whether you copy them individually or all at the same time.

    or could I just make a new folder and put it with the other hl1 mods?

    I don’t think that would work.

    I know its frustrating to be asked the same questions but you do have a Steam installation of Half-Life don’t you?

    When you bring down the console and type “map “does it find anything?

    The above is right from the “readme” it installed with no problems and ran fine, hope this helps!

    AI, I don’t think simply repeating the instructions will help.

  12. bkadar

    still no map found,so going to clean out some old mods and maps an start over,the files are looking bigger than PP’s hl1 listing.
    thanks all, bbl with this game going or else!

  13. Ryan "Quakis" Rouse
    Play It Now!

    I guess this one ends at the big momma section? Shame, was some good stuff.

  14. Jimbo
    Play It Now!

    I played this one with my bro through Sven Coop. It was pretty fun, though ended abruptly which left us mad! I wish it had an ending or had continued after that gonarch battle. Mapping was good quality and the action was well-placed. That first map was fantastic looking. Anyways…give it a quick playthrough.

  15. bkadar
    Play It Now!

    well that was worth the wait,and good fun to see what was in the hl closet.this mod reminded me of what hooked me on hl1, FUN, on to more mods an maps, thanks PP for the help and the steady diet of games.

  16. Play It Now!

    It wasn’t perfect: no cutseenes, misses a good ambiance by some on text message, contain way too many boxes arround every places and misses a good storyline but appart from that it gives a well put together mix between great architecture and good puzzles, combats where well balanced and secret places for some good stuffs were well spread all over the places. like everybody says it sadly ended abruptly after 1 hour 30 of enjoyable gaming it’s defenetly a worth effort to play through. if you like something like this whish is also unfinished try this one Half-Life : help wanted

    Instinct is certainly a level you should

  17. Maybe?

    Having seen all the Play It Now recommendations that people have given this I was expecting something special and perhaps it was that that affected my view of this mod. There wasn’t really anything wrong with it but there wasn’t enough that made me go “Oooh!”.

    It took a while to get interesting then was over all too quickly.

  18. Mel

    HL: Instinct.

    I am totally confused (again) trying to install and run this mappack.

    I will attempt to trace my action step by step.

    I have Half-Life Steam Source on my machine.

    I also have Half-Life non Steam installed.

    I do not have OP Force installed.

    I have tried to follow the installing path given in the readme file,
    i.e. steam/steamapps/your email/half life folder

    I assume in my case this is; c/program files/steam, however it does not lead me directly to /your email/half life folder

    If I route c/programe files/valve, this leads me to steam/steamapps/my account name/half-life (or half-life source)

    So where the hell do I put the files?

    I have so far put them just about every where you can guess, but will not find and run in either Steam or non Steam.

  19. Extract the contents of the .RAR file and you should end up with one folder called Valve

    Cut and paste this folder into ...\Steam\steamapps\yourusername\half-life\

    Launch your Steam version of Half Life and pull down the console and type map instinct_1

    If that doesn’t work, then I think your HL install might be broken.

  20. Mel

    No, just getting the same message each time in the console text, “not a valid BSP file’

  21. AI

    Hey Mel, Question —> Do you have an original copy of HL1 with the srl# on the cd case?? If so, all you need to do is enter that # in the “activate a game/product” section on your Steam main screen, and it will alow you to DL HL1 and etc. Dump HL1 source and it will work! That’s all I had to do, and “joy” no more problems! Credits to “andyb” way back!

  22. Mel, you don’t need Opposing Force installed to play this. You just need the opfor.wad file. If none of the above suggestions work for your Steam version, You can try your Sierra (non-Steam) Half Life version and copy/paste the opfor.wad file and the hlinstinct.wad file into the valve folder (C:\SIERRA\Half-Life\valve). Then, copy/paste the *.bsp files into the maps folder (C:\SIERRA\Half-Life\valve\maps). Start your Half-Life game and type into the console: map instinct_1

    Also, make sure you have the updated download. The first one that was posted was corrupt. Your download from Filecloud should be: 1hl1-sp-instinct.rar. There should be a total of 2 *.wad files and 10 *.bsp files.

  23. Mel

    Thanks to all for the help. GoddessAlyria’s solution worked for me and I am now up and running. Thanks again.

  24. Maybe?

    Glad to help Mel.

    I found it annoying all the different routes you could take only to end nowhere. Some of the enemy action was quite tough in some spots. I had several game crashes in one particular area but resolved it once I switched to Software mode. There were no taxing puzzles as well and it just ended.

    Overall, it was okay for a once play through.

  25. How continue game? map instinct_7.

  26. How continue game? map instinct_7.

    Where are you stuck? Please descibe the map.

  27. Where are you stuck? Please descibe the map.

    Jumps horn, after only ladder. Which way to go, I don’t know.

  28. could you please associate one of the image here above to figure out how far oyu are?

  29. map instinct_10, Killed Gonarch complete. After? Continue game?

  30. Pavel…The end …map instinct_10

  31. tox (dev)
    Play It Later

    Overall, all design is good.

    I want this game play!

  32. Ade
    Play It Later

    There should’ve been a note in the readme that warns people that the boss fight is the end.. I just thought a switch won’t trigger and I killed the boss 2 times already and nothing.. Frustrating.
    I liked the design a lot. Very good gameplay, although there are no challenging puzzles and you don’t feel the story unveiling, you just hear it in the beginning. And I know how to make a long jump and the module didn’t help me at all.
    But it’s bug free, with only 2 crashes.
    As bkadar said,

    this mod reminded me of what hooked me on hl1.

    so you must give it a try.

  33. Play It Now!

    Since everything has been said about this fine mod, I will add only this:

    I had a real good time playing it but I’m really sorry it wasn’t finished!
    No bugs, smooth playing and I can see that a lot of work was put in the making.
    Congtatulationd to the author!

  34. Hardcore
    Play It Now!

    awesome mod of BM facilities, it is sort of a survival game….
    it really suck that the game finishes with the battle with gonarch

  35. Phillip says Play It!

    Okay, so I still say Play It, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember playing this mod until the very last level. That could be because it’s very generic in its look and feel, or because of playing a HL1 map every day for the last 80 days!

    Strangely enough, I have just finished recording the fourth 100SDoN podcast with Unq and we talked about a map with too much colour. This mod goes the other way and feel gray. A quick look at the screenshots will make that very clear. Some colour would have been really nice and in fact would ahve made it feel more realistic.

    Another thing that was missing, at least for me, was music. I don’t remember hearing any music throughout the mod.

    All in all it’s a competent mod, with one great area, although I had to cheat there because I could make a particular jump.

    Just a quick not, the installation instructions have changed because I made this into an easy to install mod, rather than a collection of files.

  36. Play It Later

    Another “What if?” mod. This one, like “Return to Lambdacore”, continues the game from its alternative ending. That Lambdacore mod featured a nice story where the aliens put Freeman in prison, but he managed to escape, and then he was wandering through Xen and fighting off the military borderworld resistance and eventually found a portal back to the Lambdacore. That is a great story and too bad that it the mod itself didn’t show it: it started in Lambda core.

    Here, the story is much simpler: thanks to the teleport malfunction, Freeman was teleported back to Earth from that crowd of monsters. The mix of Earth and Xen textures and props works very well and really gives a feel of teleportation gone wrong. There are headcrabs, and we’re unarmed but invincible, because there’s a big healing pool. That’s a nice and original idea, it makes headcrabs fun, otherwise they would be annoying.

    Then we go through some nicely done stylish levels. The overwhelming ambient sounds really aid to the “race against the clock” feel stated in the story. There is some optional exploration, which is rewarded with valuable supplies. Conveniently placed explosive barrels open the way for some fun gibbing. There are some very large-scale explosions which leave blockage after them.

    The gameplay is fun. The battles with Alien Slaves are quite intense, but we have a safe place to hide from their attack most of the time, and it’s fun to get to that place in the last moment. Then there are soldiers and turrets, and we have the revolver and it’s fun to snipe them with it behind their barricades.

    In the canalisation there is some clever use of ichtyosaurs and long jump module.

    Are there any flaws in this mod? Yes, there are. There’s no storytelling, and level design is not various enough to replace it. It’s monotonous grey most of the time. And there’s no ending, we just defeat the boss and nothing happens.

  37. Unq
    Play It Later

    Argh. This was so close to getting a Play It Now from me, and then the abrupt end happened. However, overall it’s a really solid romp in Black Mesa that I don’t hesitate to recommend.

    Instinct follows right on from the end of Half-Life and dumps you back into Black Mesa. I thought it excelled at recreating the feel of Black Mesa. The mapping, atmosphere, and layout are all top-rate. I really liked the lighting because it was realistic, although as Phillip said maybe it’s a little drab overall. Your foes are the typical mid-level aliens, with lots of headcrabs of course, and grunts (with turrets). Near the end you’ll encounter a couple of the special aliens although it never really gets terribly difficult. I liked the outdoors section, but I think it would have been improved with either an Apache to fight/evade or an Osprey. It seems like the author just didn’t polish the last couple of maps the way the rest of the maps were.

    I don’t have much negative to say about this pack, mostly nitpicks. My main gripe is the lack of an ending. You fight a Gonarch, and then that’s it. No text, no music, no credits, etc. It does start off a little slow but progresses nicely with some challenging sections for you. Perhaps it lacks the wow factor, but I did really like the huge open area with the ickys swimming below, and the Xen flora infestations around the whole facility were a nice touch. I only came across some minor bugs – I got stuck in a spot or 2, and the rocket turret somehow kept trying to kill me after the grunt controlling it was dead. In general it’s too easy I think, but as I mentioned there are some tough areas in the second half. As Phillip mentioned it could use some music and the ending map lacked atmosphere.

    As a whole, it’s a great Black Mesa map pack. Overlook some nitpicks and the lack of an ending and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable time.

  38. Play It Now!

    What pleasant surprise this was after playing Red Star, a welcome return to BM style environments and old style HL gameplay!

    A bit of a slow start but fun all the same, thankfully the start on Xen was short then back to BM. Although the look and feel was BM the author didn’t try to replicate parts of the original HL like some others have, which for me gave the impression I was visiting areas I’ve not been to yet. The gameplay was not overly taxing but some scenario’s weren’t as good as they could have been! Oh well we can’t have everything! The water area with the Ichthyosaurs was a little frustrating, especially the long jump into a very tight, not too obvious corridor.

    In a couple of places I thought there was a lack of thought, one was in the area with the radioactive snot (images 15/16), there was a box of.357 ammo in the middle of one of the puddles. Another area was the shaft with channels you jump down into, a grunt was running about under the water firing up at me, I loaded my save from the top of the shaft and lobbed a few grenades down, job done.

    Overall a fun game to play and I preferred the lack of music.

  39. Hec
    Play It Now!

    Ok so i’ve just alredy killed big momma gornach, and thats all??!!!!!!!!, OMG if that’s it and that’s the ending then is the most kill joy ending ever, I mean this mod have a great beggining but a really bitter end, not bitter-acid or a bitter-sweet end!

    Despite of that issue i’d say this mod is really good, and I was thinking in the maps 1-6 that maybe this could be at the top of the pops untill that momment I was thinking: “this is a personal favourite”, but then map 7 crashed for me, and I didn’t lkied that at all!, I mean having a bug just in the peak of excitement was so cut off, so I had to charge the map manually from my old sierra HL verssion, in which I experimented terrible low and stuttered fps’s and that’s a shame because that 7th map particularly was really good.

    Overall, the mod have a really well layout, and the most important thing is that leads you to a wrecked and shattered Black Mesa, and u have that feeling and no other than just being abandoned in that lost hell BM was turned into, with xenians swarming everyehere and headcrabs conquering literally the whole place! just few forsaken grunts which make the things even harder, and then the felling of getting out of there as fast as possible again!, I think only this mod and HL Invassion mod, recreate that felling of combat into a wrecked BM, so well, that felling was great, but then I reapeat, I don’t know what the hell happened with the end?? I mean lack of time of the developer, possibly but c’mon if just someone could fix that bug in map 7 and add a respectable end right after killing big momma, this mod would be a beauty shiny diamond!

  40. Play It Now!

    Aside from the missing ending, this was fun to play. Puzzles were challenging but not too difficult, and the combat was just the right difficulty level for me

  41. Qwerty

    Hey, Phillip.

    Could you tell me which gun models pack were you using (and/or where is available) while taking this screenshots? Thanks in advance.

    Cheers from Argentina.

    1. I installed the official high-definition models from Valve. See here to install: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=851573

      1. Qwerty

        Much Appreciated. 🙂

  42. Personal Favourite

    Without a doubt, this is one of my favourite maps available for HL1 – even without a proper finish!
    These maps are fairly coherent and are often VERY well designed – they are incredibly pleasing aesthetically and gameplay-wise; Some incredible firefights occurr in areas which are as visually pleasing as those in ETC2 by Dave Johnston.
    The ETC maps are a definite touchstone for this pack too – the pack overflows with small details, interesting setpieces and clever little secret stashes.
    Like Dave Johnston, there is a notable lack of story coherence, too, with a general plot in action, but one which has littel correlation to what is actually experienced in the gameplay.

    The final two maps are fun and cool, but one can see that there was more planned here. If only they had been finished, I am SURE this would have garnered MANY MANY more personal favourite nominations.

    if you like Black Mesa – if you like quality HL1 gameplay – download this map immediately, and send the author an email asking for an extended redux version!

  43. So it’s still not possible to access map instinct7 correctly? The game crashes either after entering or quicksaving in it :/ Do I really have to start the map manually and cheat some weapons? :O

    (Review will come soon!)

  44. Play It Now!

    No matter what people might say about the ending, this is an outstanding mod with excellent chosen design, shouting for tactical needs.
    Suspense and of course last but not least plenty of fast-forward action, that’s why we wanna play mods of an awesome shooter game, right folx???
    YEEEEEEEEES, it’s all grey in grey walls mostly.
    YEEEEEEEEES, there are no real puzzles.
    YEEEEEEEEES, it does look unfinished, cause it simply is…sadly!

    BUT! Let’s mention the good things…

    Pro’s:
    -Excellent quick combat action needing tactical strategy, also good-balanced
    -Plenty of weapons and ammo
    -Almost the quality of the original HL levels (okay, okay..except less detailed or special-loooking areas mostly)
    -Well-chosen mix of enemy types, good balance
    -Thrilling gameplay, it never gets boring
    -Some surprising scripts
    -“Secret” areas with goodies
    -A few choices which way to go sometimes, meaning at least a bit non-linear
    -Soldiers screaming to my shotgun to get killed O:) <3
    -Outdoor part

    Con's:
    -Barely detailed levels, unfortunately only indoor
    -The ending, sadly unfinished
    -No puzzles
    -Some mean-placed enemies

  45. jon

    yessum I kinda have a question, how do you enable the console so that I can fix the “no free edicts” error?

    1. Unq

      Well you shouldn’t need to go to the console for that, what you can do is add it as a launch option. From the SvenCoop forums:

      -> Steam Games List
      -> Right click on any goldsource modification
      -> Properties
      -> Set launch options
      -> Write “-num_edicts 4095” there, without the quotes. The number may vary.
      -> Close both windows with the Ok button
      -> Start your game

  46. Personal Favourite

    Amazing!
    Superb difficulty curve.
    GREAT level design.

  47. Play It Now!

    This could get a Personal Favorite rating, but lost due to a huge flaw.

    The story starts from the alternate ending of Half-Life where Freeman rejects G-man’s offer and he’s ready to die. But, a portal saved him and now he has to survive I guess.

    The combat was really enjoyable and had a very special feel.

    The atmosphere was great and I liked the multiple paths.

    Though, the biggest flaw of the game is the area with the Ichthyosaurs. It’s not the problem that there are 4 of them. The problem is that it shouldn’t be that big. I mean, so big I can’t continue because THE GAME CRASHES!! Why have it anyway?

    Overall, a pretty good mod that could easily be one of my favorites, but sadly lost due to that room.

  48. This is really good mod! I like it! But there is many headcrabs.

  49. Personal Favourite

    Excellent mod that really blew me away! It’s not perfect (music would’ve been nice), but absolutely one of the best mods I’ve ever played and definitely one of my favorites, so the PF rating is well deserved!

    Only one thing – and it has often been mentioned – is really quite a bit annoying: If you don’t finish a mod due to whatever reasons, then PLEASE at least give us some “The End” message, so people are not looking an additional hour for some lever, button or hidden duct, ESPECIALLY in situations where an end is absolutely non-obvious! And if you’ve already deleted your development tools and thus have no opportunity to add this to your mod, then at least give us a note in some readme.txt. Anything else is just lazy and – sorry to say that – stupid.

  50. Personal Favourite

    This mod is in my opinion one of the best mods available for the original Half-Life. I was amazed by pretty much everything, both the gameplay and the optics! Since this project according to the developer took him 10 years to develop it, you can be sure that you just have to give it a try! The story is very interesting since it’s based off of the Half-Life’s ending, but in a different way, in this case, what if you didn’t accept Gman’s job offer, but luckily there was a teleport malfuction that saved you from the “battle that there’s no chance of winning” as Gman calls it? And so, you wake up realising that you’re back at the Black Mesa Research Facility, and your objective is to get to the surface before the nuclear bomb goes off.

    The gameplay is excellent, the enemies are very well placed and their numbers balanced. There aren’t that many puzzles, but sometimes i was running around trying to find where i am supposed to go. The health packs and ammo are placed in areas where you really need them, mostly in areas with a lot of aliens/marines, compared with other mods that lots of times give you very little health and ammo which forces you to use godmode…

    And finally, the visuals. When i was playing this mod, i felt that i really was in the Black Mesa Research Facility, although that could be because there is a lot of geometry taken from the game itself, such as the old decommissioned rail system from “On A Rail” chapter, which is what mostly impressed me out of all the other visuals. I always wanted to explore more of that sector. Other than that, it has no area left empty and blank, every single area has it’s own details, and a lot of them are on the roof! The outside areas are also very exciting, and a lot more open, they have a different style that makes them stand out! Oh, and you also visit an area that Corporal Shephard from opposing force have been to, something i have never seen in any Half-Life 1 mod thus far.

    But the one thing that ruined this mod is the ending, and that’s because it’s unfinished. You simply get stuck and can’t do anything which is very unfortunate for such a great mod, it’s like Episode 2’s cliffhanger, we will never know what happened. Did Gordon manage to escape Black Mesa before the nuclear destruction? Or was it too late? Only the developer knows…But i couldn’t force myself to rate this “play it now” or “play it later” just because of this, due to the fact that i think a mod like this doesn’t deserve such a rating in my opinion. But if it did have a satisfying ending, it would simply be a masterpiece!

  51. Play It Later

    This isn’t the only mod that returns the player to Black Mesa after the ending of the base game, but it does a great job of reflecting that through the environment. On arrival, the lights are dim, alarms blare, corpses litter the ground and the scars of battle mar the walls. Having time to grow, elaborate Xen structures are abundant in the facility. Black Mesa has been through a lot. Reaching the surface towards the end of the mod and seeing the blue sky is truly a refreshing moment.

    Just like the environmental design, the gameplay reflects a continuation of the base game’s challenges. Players who have mastered the game’s mechanics are heartily rewarded in this mod. Rescuing NPCs, sneaking past Icthyosaurs, and crouch-jumping through every corner of the map nets a player bullets, meds, and guns. All three are greatly needed due to the higher density of enemies at times. Thankfully the mod avoids turning into yet another “grunt-fest.” It makes good use of the variety of enemies from the base game, with the majority of Xen creatures making an appearance. Large clashes between soldiers and aliens occur, which feel like a continuation of similar battles from Half Life’s mid-to-late game.

    The mod does have its hiccups. The flooded silo in particular felt raw. In it, two soldiers rappel from the ceiling and open fire on the player. One of the soldiers in my playthrough reached the bottom and proceeded to scurry around and yell orders while completely submerged in water. The same silo has two catwalks, one of which leads to a corridor with a dead end. This wasn’t a collapsed ceiling or anything, but a strange, vertical wall. It looked like the corridor was meant to have a level transition but lacked a trigger.

    Most unfortunate is the ending, or lack thereof. The lead up to the Gonarch in the final level is eerily quiet. Whether this was intentional or not I’ll never know. I vaporized the beast with an anticlimactic blood spatter. The next ten minutes were spent trying to find an exit, even using noclip in the process. It was only when I looked up a walkthrough that I learned it was unfinished. This is partly my fault for not reading the author’s note, but even a fade-to-black after the fight would have offered some kind of closure. Still, the majority of the mod is great, and I would have liked to see the author have a crack at a proper ending. I recommend trying this out.

  52. Play It Now!

    Good map. Finding the routes are fun and the combats are well planned. Using the long jump module is a nice idea but it took me some time to figure out that it is located underwater. The gonarch battle is good, but I wish there is an ending credit or ending script to teach the player that the fight is the last part of the mod.

  53. Maybe?

    +Great atmosphere and level detail
    +Entertaining fights, good enemy placement and setpieces
    -Confusing puzzle and progression towards the end
    -Unfinished

  54. Play It Later

    I didn’t like much but it’s well made so i recommend it.

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