This is the best way to replay and experience 1998’s ever-brilliant Half-Life 1 in 2024, with a mod that overhauls the gameplay vastly.
Half-Life still stands out as one of the greatest FPS games ever created. It jumpstarted the narrative-driven FPS genre and there are still a lot of players that admire Half-Life‘s legacy. But quite believably, Half-Life is clearly showing its age when it comes to visuals and gameplay. While the low-quality visuals are necessary to keep the game’s feel intact (in my opinion), many gameplay elements are in dire need of improvement.
A single mod improves almost every aspect of Half-Life and makes it feel like a modern FPS game.
Half-Life 1: MMod
If you’re a veteran player of Valve games or have been active in the Half-Life modding community, then I fear that there might not be many things I could tell you. But even I learned of this mod after finishing Half-Life about three times. MMod is a complete overhaul of the gunplay of Half-Life, but that’s not the only enhancement. But let’s discuss the new and improved gunplay, first.
Some of the many improvements
To me, the gunplay of Half-Life 1: MMod felt similar to DOOM or Wolfenstein. It’s fast-paced, chaotic and exceedingly brutal. For example, human bodies will explode into a pool of bloody remains when enough force meets them. That applies to the player, as well. While gore was present in the vanilla game, it’s much more apparent and maybe even exaggerated in MMod.
There are a variety of attachments for certain weapons, allowing for various new gameplay opportunities. Each different gun features a unique, dynamic crosshair. The movement also feels much more fluid and it’s possible for you to run around, dodging bullets like in DOOM.
The visuals of the game have also been improved, but not excessively. The retro, somewhat pixelated textures are present, as was in the vanilla game, but they’re much more pronounced and cleaner. In fact, many graphical elements of the game have received slight improvements that don’t stray far from the original feel.
MMod also features a lot of new animations and the possibility to see Gordon’s lower body when you look down at the camera. Also, you can now select chapters and play the ones you want.
Installation
Many of you might be Steam users. If so, you can easily download and install Half-Life 1: MMod through Steam. It’s exactly similar to installing a game. There are no adjustments you need to worry about. After it’s installed, you can start playing.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1761270/HalfLife_MMod/
Otherwise, you can use the ModDB version of MMod, too.
