A train engineer, vital to the resistance’s plans, has been captured.
Normally, all rebels are executed quite soon after capture.
He hasn’t been. There are also other signs of unusual activity.
Something strange is about to happen.
You have been sent in to rescue the engineer and any other resistance members being held captive.
Basic Details
- Title: Third Party
- Filename: sdk-2013-sp-third-party.7z
- Size : 9.72MB
- Author: Blixibon
- Date Released: 19 August 2018
Author’s Note
Playtesters: Bolloxed, JanKaszanka, OH_ZOG_NO
1. Please ignore the engineer hologram’s mouth.
2. The green trigger is supposed to mark the device’s area of influence.
Gauge Users
Sorry, this release doesn’t work with Gauge.
Download Options
Download to your HDD [9.72MB]
You can still use it with Gauge once you have downloaded it.
Manual Installation Instructions
If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.
- Make sure you have the “Upcoming” branch of the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer installed in Steam and run at least once. (Properties – Betas – select “upcoming” from the dropdown list).
- Copy the third-party folder into your …\Steam\SteamApps\sourcemods\ folder.
- Start or restart Steam
- Half-Life 2: Third Party should now be listed in your Library tab.
Video
Screenshots
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
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Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
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2,824Overall
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1Today
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6Last 7 days
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33Last 30 days
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392365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 13 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 13 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 36 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 18 Mins by Yakov Marker
Longest: 1 Hours, 30 Mins by LilUziVert101
Total Time Played: 7 Hours, 51 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 13 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 36 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 18 Mins by Yakov Marker
Longest: 1 Hours, 30 Mins by LilUziVert101
Total Time Played: 7 Hours, 51 Mins
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Jump to a review
This is a really well put together little mod. It has a story to tell that more or less makes sense within the HL universe. The player’s objective is explained in a short cut-scene at the beginning and then the player is left alone to enjoy the chaos caused.
As good as this is, there are areas I felt needed improvement.
The rest of this review contains spoilers.
The areas with the toxic waste was under-used. It might have been how I played it, but the mounted gun just wasn’t that useful. There’s also a part where, after you exit a vent, you are attacked. The music starts early meaning you know what’s coming and it’s easy to minimise the affect.
Some rooms were under-detailed and the lighting in the main building was a bit harsh.
That said, the positives easily out-weigh the negatives.
The action was designed to allow a variety of approaches and I suspect there is some replayability in the map.
In short, this is a very, very good release and I have no hesitation in recommending you play it now! Can’t wait to see more from the author.
Manually
Easy
28 Minutes
I normally hate maps which have me protecting somebody from harm/leading them to safety. They usually always end up a splattered mess and that means having to replay over and over which bugs me!! Thankfully, I didn’t get that here as they kinda looked after themselves good enough and the game was well-balanced too.
Yup, I really enjoyed this map. I mean, wow I really did enjoy it. This had a pretty good storyline and was executed well. The opening scenes were nice and I knew something was wrong when I first saw the soldiers running away from me (just before entering that back alley of dead bodies!!)
I’d hate to mention anything that might spoil this for somebody so I won’t – load it up and play it. For me, this is a brilliant map and something I must PF. Even though the lighting was dodgy sometimes too dark and sometimes too boring. Plus the level of detail could have been better to add more worldly atmosphere… but these are minor moans because I loved it and rate it a PF 🙂
Yes, a great little mod! I always like infights so this was especially fun for me :).
I didn’t expect much since it was an escort map. Come to find out it was more than that.
I really hate escort play. The escortees almost always die and you are reloading, reloading and reloading the level until you say enough is enough. That was why I never finished “CAT: All your bases are belong to us.” Wing Commander or was it Zero Commander??.
I must say I was surprised and happily so. I liked that the person you are escorting was not a waste in the fight. I also liked that there were multiple paths to return to the start/finish.
Watching the combine fight each other and being able to use the suppressor was a twist and very cool.
Good combat, layout and a couple of twists. Play it now!
Manually
Medium
45 Minutes
This was a pretty good map/mod that also shows a side of the Combine which I’ve never seen before, and that’s saying something.
The architecture and the lighting were pretty good, almost Valve-like in some places. I liked that the layout was very open and non-linear, so you could complete the map in many ways instead of having one and only path. The combat was really good and the ending is quite original for a mod. It also made feel me kinda sad.
The only “issues” I’ve noticed in this map are very minor and they’re mostly visual glitches (the engineer’s mouth at the beginning and a visible “trigger” sign when using the mortar.
Overall, this mod is great, and I think you should definitely try it out if you have 15-20 minutes!
I tried to play this but my Anti-Virus program (Norton 360) found a threat with the “server.dll” file in the “bin” folder. It may be a false positive; I can’t be sure.
Currently is the best, I think the playtesters and developers did well.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Great plot. Shows the difference between each “group” in the hl2 universe and how things would
probably work out in the ep1 scenario.
Manually
Medium
30 Minutes
When Third Party started, I was amazed by the good looking map and it’s design. A good first impression is important, and this mod succeeds at giving you that. Shortly after I was immediately thrown into the action. You are in a long area, and a suppression device is trying to vaporize the zombies, and you of course. This part felt a little too chaotic to me, and I also wasn’t really sure where to go. There is some zombie and combine combat, and then you get to take control of the suppression device and it’s really fun and works suprisingly well. You free some prisoners and then there is a very large fight between the CP’s, the Combine (it will make sense when you play it) and your small group. There are alot of things to shoot at and, again, it’s really fun.
Manually
Medium
25 Minutes
This was short and sweet, and pretty action-packed after the long intro sequence. The good part about the intro is that it laid out your mission pretty clearly, but there are still some surprises in store for you.
The combat is pretty solid here too, if a little easy. You get a ton of weapons in a short time, but then again there is total chaos in some parts of the map so thankfully your arsenal is never lacking. Health seems to be in great supply as well.
I liked the unique bits in this map the most. The controllable suppression field is a little wonky until you get the hang of aiming it, but it’s fun to use once you do. I really liked the RPG ‘turret’ that you are shot with, until you get up to it and can pull the RPG and use it as your own. That, plus it always felt like things were just a step ahead of you, really giving the map a feel of its own. It’s not 100% polished but the chaotic feel here is part of the charm.
Manually
Medium
20 Minutes
I loved this mod. It developed a truly magnificent idea of combat and military realistic value inside the HL2 Universe. This is why I feel proud to be a Half-Life community member because from time to time, modders just develop fantastic ideas like this one.
I have always said that maybe my favorite kind of mods are those which add a real value to their stories, those where you can feel part of an important story or military mission. This has that realistic element precisely. And despite is not technical perfect -as perfection is a hard adjective to judge in mods- The whole product feels very sweet. Short and sweet as Unq said.
The story is told perfectly inside the gameplay, and even with any necessity of voice acting! That twist at the end is just pretty great, I loved this mod precisely because the author uses the idea of a “rebel on its own terms” Civil Protection Unit, which turns itself into this unexpected third party! I think the CMB commander arrested on that prison cell was just a brilliant touch.
Also, that laser pulse beam cannon was absolutely incredible. The whole mission feels like “Saving Private Ryan” kind of military mission and I loved that touch.
The super hard battle between the Civil Protection Rebel Unit and the CMB Troops was also very delightful to watch, and again I say, the pretty great taste of this whole mod is about that the whole story develops INSIDE the HL2 story arc. To be precise right after Gordon blows up the Citadel Core, in the interim part where Episode 1 turns slowly into Episode 2. I feel those kinds of mods are quite scarce in the HL2 mod developing scene. So possible a “Story Arc” mapping competition -you know, one which precisely forces the mappers to use an element of the HL2 story arc to tell a new micro story, could be a truly great and fantastic idea for RTSL mapping-ville. I hope Phillip would consider it someday.
Finally, I have to say, I hope this author keeps modding and deliver more absolute fantastic pieces of work like this one.
Not only play this now, Play it and be ready for a great HL2 gameplay moment.
Manually
Medium
30 Minutes
Now this is a mod that I can get behind!
While it is pretty short, both the gameplay and story are entertaining and unique, the fact that you can watch the commotion going on between Civil Protection and the Combine. The suppression field cannon was an awesome feature I like. Killing and blasting CP away with their own weapon was satisfying! Lastly, the story also hooked me up from beginning to end as well, especially the truth that is revealed after you save the engineer.
There were a few flaws in this mod, including a few rooms that were lacking in detail. However, that will not prevent me from saying that this mod is excellent!
Manually
Medium
30 Minutes
Honestly mods like these, are my favorite kind.
Implementing itself within the universe completely, taking place during the events of EP 1, Gordon is escaping the city, and the rebels are moving in to save a high valued target and get out them selves.
Playing as a resistance rebel your traverse a broken City 17, witnessing the combine struggle, the metro police fight and flee forming there own unit as there still human, and the resistance wants there blood.
Its a traditional mission, with a bad ass willing to die protagonist to follow it through.
A beginning to end quality piece of Half Life 2, good enough to fit into the canon, despite not retaining valves quality of level design.
Gives me a Dangerous World vibe, if only it shared its length.
Short and fun. Nice!
Manually
Medium
1 Hour
I liked this one.
This mod is relatively small but has interesting ideas and a decent plot to it.
Also, the end credits proved to me, that these ~15 minutes of gameplay weren’t wasted.
Manually
Medium
18 Minutes
This was well design, well balanced in terms of progress and scripting and with an interesting storyline all together and even if it wasn’t perfrect make me rate it as a personal favorite
Manually
Medium
30 Minutes
Looks good. Plays good.
Manually
Easy
20 Minutes
Positively thrilling scripting! This one had me embarrassingly bobbing and weaving in the real world. Creative setups that take advantage of the Source engine’s intricacies. Antlion’s ragdolling that poor sap at the beginning, the mortar warzone aesthetic, that zombie bursting out of the boxes…
Combat is tense and chaotic. Felt very fair and balanced, which is a remarkable feat given all the ambushes and enemies attacking from all angles, something that usually feels cheap and unfair. Third Party threads that needle beautifully.
Wildly unnecessary exposition at the end. Leaves nothing to interpretation lmao. There’s a reason why Valve never did this. However, this does work great as an excerpt in an alternate Half-Life 2 timeline on its own, so I’m willing to give it higher marks in this category as long as you get up and make a drink after pressing New Game, then once you reach the fence just quit ‘er right there.
Music was on point and atmospheric. Hit the right notes at the right moment to accent combat and evoke intrigue.
Third Party was a run romp through a confused, war-torn landscape, rife with opportunistic intention and sheer chaos. Packed a lot of action into such a small package. Absolutely no filler here and just an absolute blast to play through.
Manually
Medium
45 Minutes