Report this article 10 Years of Half-Life

After 10 years, we look back at everything that the original Half-Life has given us.

Posted by stenchy on Nov 18th, 2008 digg this super bookmark
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November 19th, 2008 is the 10th anniversary of Half-Life. It's been ten years since Valve released its first game which went on to take the modding community by storm and spawn a number of completely new experiences that have forever influenced the first-person genre. The game itself was both a critical and commercial darling but for many people, Gordon Freeman's debut adventure was only the beginning of their Half-Life experience. After so many years, the game still tops the popular charts on ModDB for good reason. Valve has drawn strength from its boundless community of modders—almost half of their original IPs have been formed from the ideas of students and amateur developers that Valve have brought into their fold. The following is a list of mods that managed to make it into the big leagues courtesy of Half-Life:

Team Fortress Classic

Team Fortress Classic

Originally a mod for Quake, Team Fortress Classic transitioned to the GoldSource engine after Valve recruited the designers behind it. Robin Walker and John Cook led development on the mod which incorporated nine different classes and a variety of gamemodes that have since become the standard multiplayer fare. Second to only Counter-Strike in popularity, TFC encouraged teamwork having players work together to take advantage of the strengths of each class.

Counter-Strike v1.6

Counter-Strike

The mod that really took over the online community and harbored the title of being the 'most played online game' for years after its inception. Helmed by developers Minh Le and Jess Cliffe, Counter-Strike aimed for a realistic shooter experience. It put players into the roles of terrorist and counter-terrorist dealing with hostage rescues and bomb defusal within urban settings. With only one life to live each round, you needed to display cat-like reflexes and wits of steel to compete with the best.

Day of Defeat

Day of Defeat

Back in 2000, when the WWII genre churn was still in its infancy, Day of Defeat started development. It soon gathered a loyal following and quickly grew into a multiplayer experience that many favored over other commercial WWII-era games. The mod featured many landmark areas from the European theatre of war with multiple objectives needed to obtain victory. Two years after development had started, the core team was recruited by Valve for a retail version.

The Ship

The Ship

Mystery and murder on the high seas! Find out who your target is and assassinate them before you get whacked yourself. The Ship was a prototype created for Half-Life and eventually released as a commercial game on the Source engine. Unlike the other mods listed, The Ship is not developed under Valve but a company called Outerlight which is already at work on a sequel.

Not to discount all the other mods, Henley has put together a video covering the top 5 mods of all time for Half-Life (top). A lot of these mods still have active communities to boot, so don't hesitate to jump in! It's a quite a lovely roundup that will take you back. Enjoy!

UPDATE:
Haven't experienced Half-Life or any of its mods? Shame on you! Pick it up on Steam for only $0.98 — now you have no excuse! Store.steampowered.com

Comments  (0 - 50 of 77)
INtense!
INtense! Nov 18 2008, 10:02pm says:

Still a great game 10 years later, I doubt many have not played one of the mods or games this title has spawned. Share the news Digg.com

+4 votes     reply to comment
RvBChandler
RvBChandler Nov 18 2008, 10:13pm says:

Well done video.

On a side note, WOO Sven Co-op.

So much of my life was spent playing that game.

+2 votes     reply to comment
Spector
Spector Nov 18 2008, 10:18pm says:

Counter-Strike, oh the times, I still play it the most out of all my games. Day of Defeat is awesome too.

+1 vote     reply to comment
happycheeze
happycheeze Nov 18 2008, 10:26pm says:

OVER 9000!

Nice pick of mods

+1 vote     reply to comment
Lt.SnoWolf
Lt.SnoWolf Nov 18 2008, 10:39pm says:

Sooner later Half-life 2 is going to be at 10 years aswell eh?

+4 votes     reply to comment
radu_ic3man
radu_ic3man Nov 19 2008, 11:15am replied: Online

Yeah, but when HL2 will be 10 years old HL1 will be 15 years old :P

+1 vote     reply to comment
WarmGun
WarmGun Nov 18 2008, 11:09pm says:

Awesome Tribute Guys...
Way to keep it alive and breathing.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Tatsur0
Tatsur0 Nov 18 2008, 11:24pm says:

Nicely done. Great list.

+1 vote     reply to comment
toxagen
toxagen Nov 18 2008, 11:28pm says:

I like NS and SC!!

+1 vote     reply to comment
TannerBondy
TannerBondy Nov 18 2008, 11:34pm says: Online

Man, this brings back so many memories.

+3 votes     reply to comment
NullSoldier
NullSoldier Nov 18 2008, 11:38pm says: Online

Happy birthday Half-life... *tear* It's our 10th anniversary, I'm sorry I forgot to buy you something. I hope you don't mind.

It's a shame theres so many gamers out there, as well as console gamers that are so ignorant they don't even know their roots. Half-life jump started the modding community and proceeds to be the best gaming experience to date (Oppinion) yet the ignorant younger gamer generations and console gamers ignore the Half-life series for lack of taking place in a giant space ring.

+13 votes     reply to comment
mod-man-8
mod-man-8 Nov 19 2008, 5:57pm replied:

Agreed.
Half-life FOR THE FUCKING WIN.

+3 votes     reply to comment
Ennui
Ennui Nov 18 2008, 11:47pm says:

Ah, how I love Half-Life and everything it's spawned.

+2 votes     reply to comment
Serenity01
Serenity01 Nov 19 2008, 12:13am says:

Natural Selection is kind of a Alien vs Marines :)

+1 vote     reply to comment
Combine68
Combine68 Nov 19 2008, 12:19am says:

Those were the WON days ;)

+3 votes     reply to comment
CHRISPman
CHRISPman Nov 22 2008, 2:17am replied:

LOl WON.....yuk, but it worked Half-Life all the way.....SVEN COOP ROKS

+1 vote     reply to comment
ThecoolGMan
ThecoolGMan Nov 19 2008, 12:27am says:

I miss the late 90s/early 00s

+2 votes     reply to comment
SurfWaxAlex
SurfWaxAlex Nov 20 2008, 12:41am replied:

me too

+1 vote     reply to comment
Kee715
Kee715 Nov 19 2008, 12:52am says:

Happy release anniversary HL1,the stoy has been great,the mods have been good too,but not as much as the story.

+1 vote     reply to comment
DJ-Ready
DJ-Ready Nov 19 2008, 1:59am says:

Go Goldsource modders! :D

+2 votes     reply to comment
angry_bot
angry_bot Nov 19 2008, 3:42am says:

I would've liked to have seen a nod towards Frontline Force. I still have yet to find a game with such lasting multiplayer appeal as that one. Playing FLF was magical.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Crispy
Crispy Nov 19 2008, 7:19am replied:

FireArms was also deserving of the list. I also liked Hostile Intent for a short while.

(was FLF the one where you spawned in choppers and you could shoot the choppers down, or was that Global Operations?)

What's with the video quality? The framerate was terrible, some sections were squashed from 16:9 to 4:3 and there was this weird 'blurry' effect throughout.

+3 votes     reply to comment
thanoshltbeginning
thanoshltbeginning Nov 19 2008, 4:16am says:

Half Life will simply never die..

+5 votes     reply to comment
MadKill40
MadKill40 Nov 19 2008, 5:05am says:

They're not even using the HL2 engine for NS2, they madez their own :D

+1 vote     reply to comment
ghost_rider
ghost_rider Nov 19 2008, 4:22pm replied:

Eh? So, its not a hl2 mod?

+1 vote     reply to comment
jacksonj04
jacksonj04 Nov 19 2008, 5:49pm replied:

No - it uses a custom engine by Unknown Worlds titled "Evolution"

+1 vote     reply to comment
BoredGunman
BoredGunman Nov 19 2008, 7:13pm replied:

good on them. I think they deserve to make a stand alone game (???) for what they did.

+1 vote     reply to comment
SurfWaxAlex
SurfWaxAlex Nov 19 2008, 6:42am says:

Yup, I bought Half-Life 1 in December of 1998, I was a freshman in High School. hah. Wow, that was so long ago!

+1 vote     reply to comment
OkeiDo
OkeiDo Nov 19 2008, 6:43am says:

Great #1 spot, Natural Selection really deserves it! I was kind of missing Vampire slayer in your countdown but well well :P.

+2 votes     reply to comment
dave_5430
dave_5430 Nov 19 2008, 6:45am buried:

(buried)

Oh..

Oohohohoh.

NO,
FREAKIN,
WAY

YOU DID 'NOT' PUT THAT MOD ON FIRST PLACE

Just... drop in a canyon.

-8 votes     reply to comment
Henley
Henley Nov 19 2008, 7:09am replied:

I did, and that my friend is how the world works. If you dont like Natural Selection im sure the other 1000 players who love it think your wrong in your assessment.

+1 vote     reply to comment
SeBu
SeBu Nov 19 2008, 12:50pm replied:

Yeah. Uknown Worlds did so great job producing NS. I think that its still one of the most intensive FPS mod ever. Great gameplay and good community. It's an masterpiece and definnitely beongs to the hall of fame of mods (: - My opinion.

+1 vote     reply to comment
SeBu
SeBu Nov 19 2008, 12:55pm replied:

Hall of fame of mods :DD I should really try to learn basic grammar of english :D

+1 vote     reply to comment
ConfusedMaster
ConfusedMaster Nov 19 2008, 6:58am says:

HA HA HALFLIFE :O

+1 vote     reply to comment
ConfusedMaster
ConfusedMaster Nov 19 2008, 7:12am says:

well.. i cant understand why sven coop is on number 2... i couldnt enjoy it at all because the exaggerated health of the enemies always killed the fun.

+1 vote     reply to comment
InAction
InAction Nov 20 2008, 12:50am replied:

Maybe because the point is that you AND your friends are supposed to take it down.....

+2 votes     reply to comment
Psycho_Sam
Psycho_Sam Nov 19 2008, 7:49am says:

Nice article. :)

+1 vote     reply to comment
Chabs
Chabs Nov 19 2008, 7:55am says:

The game of a generation...
Man... 10 years and still shiny.

+1 vote     reply to comment
el_espaniol
el_espaniol Nov 19 2008, 8:57am says:

THE original HL1 is the standard " de facto " of the FPS...
Really an amazing game 10-ten years after....
HL1 forever....!!!

+1 vote     reply to comment
Gongong
Gongong Nov 19 2008, 9:33am says:

Revolutionized both the FPS and the mod scene!
Half-Life's one of the greatest games ever, (only beaten by Half-Life 2) but the time I've spent playing its mods is far greater than the time I've spent with the game itself.
Which reminds me, I've yet to finish it!
The list was great, except that I wouldn't have put ESF and TH there.
And Entmod (a plugin-minimod, prequel of Garrys Mod) would've been my number one. Any old enters here?

+4 votes     reply to comment
Nokiaman
Nokiaman Nov 19 2008, 10:30am says:

Why so many people doesn't use HL HD pack from Gearbox?
Anyway GO HALF-LIFE

+1 vote     reply to comment
Kee715
Kee715 Nov 19 2008, 2:40pm replied:

For me it's because the Glock 17 is now a Berreta 92FS and the MP5-M203 is now a 9mm M4-M203,plus there is a new Super HD-Pack by DiamonD,which is better.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Nokiaman
Nokiaman Nov 20 2008, 8:07am replied:

No way.Berreta and M2 are best

+1 vote     reply to comment
radu_ic3man
radu_ic3man Nov 19 2008, 11:17am says: Online

Btw check my Happy New Year ! wallpaper at the half-life 1 images. I know it's a bit early but... Post some comments.

+1 vote     reply to comment
FJS
FJS Nov 19 2008, 11:18am says:

Ahh The Specialists... I loved that thing, they won't make it for Source... what a pity...

+1 vote     reply to comment
Forsete
Forsete Nov 19 2008, 11:33am says:

10 years on and still playing it like it was recently released.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Lubbo
Lubbo Nov 19 2008, 11:58am says:

ooo-sweeeet svencoop-best time im game world i remember! :D

+1 vote     reply to comment
Lt.SnoWolf
Lt.SnoWolf Nov 19 2008, 12:11pm says:

Anyone online on the Specialists cause im getting it. Best game evarh Half-Life Ftw! Cheers! To Half-Lifes 10 years of awsome cakes!

+1 vote     reply to comment
Sn4tcH
Sn4tcH Nov 19 2008, 12:27pm says:

I would say this list is pretty accurate. I just re-installed Half-life and I downloaded NS, Sven, and TS almost immediately. And if I hadn't already beaten They Hunger, I would do that too. And I used to be a pretty big fan of ESF. I can't think of any mods that really top those 5.

+1 vote     reply to comment
Plinkotink
Plinkotink Nov 19 2008, 1:02pm says:

This game was the first FPS I ever played! back in 98 I think it was. It was so fun to cheat and kill all the scientists in the beginning!

+1 vote     reply to comment
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