While Xbox 360 and PS3 users have worked themselves into a veritable tizzy over downloadable content, PC users have been accustomed to having the lifeline of their favorite games extended far past their in-the-box values since the days of Doom - and even before that. What's more, we're used to downloading new levels, weapons, characters, and new episodes absolutely free of charge.
Big Download understands that a five-hour game can be extended by hundreds of hours via total conversions, brand new monsters, and weapons you've always wanted to see in your favorite title. In the spirit of extending a title's longevity beyond mere out-of-the-box expectations, MODmonday celebrates the best modifications for games new and old. Half-Life, Half-Life 2, StarCraft, Diablo II, Doom and more will all be represented here, ensuring a wide spread of mods available across every possible genre of PC gaming.
This week's MODmonday modification is Action Half-Life, a multiplayer total conversion for the original Half-Life that swaps science labs and alien invasions for explosions and gratuitous violence.
Mod: Action Half-Life
Developer: Ministry of Action
Type: Multiplayer
Download Link
Required Game: Half-Life
Installation Instructions:
- Download AHL.
- Run the installation file.
Running the Mod:
- Selection the game from its Start Menu folder.
Browse the MODmonday Archive
---
Lights. Camera. Action Half-Life. Gordon Freeman may be the only physicist to make wielding a shotgun look cool instead of creepy, but the Action Half-Life mod requests physics and other forms of video game pseudo-realism take a back seat to explosions, frantic gun battles, and throwing knives. Developed by the Ministry of Action, Action Half-Life's goal is to be the ultimate action movie simulation. In that, it succeeds, though some unintentional design quirks keep it from being as fast-paced as a Hollywood summer blockbuster.
Primarily a multiplayer mod, Action Half-Life does support bots for those who wish to get in a bit of practice before challenging friends and foes to online showdowns. To use bots, simply create a server, open the game configuration tab, and input the number of bots you'd like to make an appearance. Bots are also useful to round out team sizes if you're only able to round up a few friends to participate. Their A.I. tends to be tough, but fair, with no overt instances of perfect aiming or other common traits of poorly programmed bots.
A variety of modes such as deathmatch, team play, and Last Man Standing are available to choose from. Before each game begins, all players are able to select a starting weapon. Most of these are handgun derivatives, but you'll find more weapons as a match progresses. But take note: you can only carry one at a time. This is an integral factor in Action Half-Life's finely tempered weapon balance formula. Hesitant to carry throwing knives over a shotgun or an automatic? The throwing knives are one-hit kills. Does that change your mind? No matter what weapon you choose to wield, you won't have too much of an advantage over the opposition, but nor will will they over you.
Like an action movie, your avatar will be able to take a decent number of bullets before he's down for the count. Some hits, such as head shots, still result in an instant kill, but that only makes sense, even for the action movie genre. The weapon balance, as well as ability to find and choose a favorite weapon rather than always carrying the biggest one you can find, is a breath of fresh air for the FPS genre, regardless of how long Action Half-Life has been available.
There are a number of special items available, and just like the weapon selection, you can only carry one of them at a time. Bandages to heal wounds, flashlights or night vision goggles to spelunk through pitch black tunnels... choose wisely.
The pleasing number of modes and weapons come together to make Action Half-Life's enormous map selection even more inviting. Over a dozen maps are packaged with the mod, with most making use of urban settings and tunnels. The maps are quite large, so no one will learn them so quickly that he will have an advantage over his teammates or opponents. Some maps tend to be too large, however. Playing some of the city maps with six bots resulted in serious lags in between encounters, which really slowed down the feeling of taking part in a blazingly fast action flick. Still, this ailment is curable by either rounding up more friends, or tossing more bots into the equation.
Let the random explosions commence: Action Half-Life is an excellent multiplayer mod provided you add enough friends and bots to each game session. Despite their sometimes too-large size, the maps are varied enough in terms of ambush locations and aesthetics to keep players interested for quite awhile.
Developer: Ministry of Action
Type: Multiplayer
Download Link
Required Game: Half-Life
Installation Instructions:
- Download AHL.
- Run the installation file.
Running the Mod:
- Selection the game from its Start Menu folder.
Browse the MODmonday Archive
---
Lights. Camera. Action Half-Life. Gordon Freeman may be the only physicist to make wielding a shotgun look cool instead of creepy, but the Action Half-Life mod requests physics and other forms of video game pseudo-realism take a back seat to explosions, frantic gun battles, and throwing knives. Developed by the Ministry of Action, Action Half-Life's goal is to be the ultimate action movie simulation. In that, it succeeds, though some unintentional design quirks keep it from being as fast-paced as a Hollywood summer blockbuster.
Primarily a multiplayer mod, Action Half-Life does support bots for those who wish to get in a bit of practice before challenging friends and foes to online showdowns. To use bots, simply create a server, open the game configuration tab, and input the number of bots you'd like to make an appearance. Bots are also useful to round out team sizes if you're only able to round up a few friends to participate. Their A.I. tends to be tough, but fair, with no overt instances of perfect aiming or other common traits of poorly programmed bots.
A variety of modes such as deathmatch, team play, and Last Man Standing are available to choose from. Before each game begins, all players are able to select a starting weapon. Most of these are handgun derivatives, but you'll find more weapons as a match progresses. But take note: you can only carry one at a time. This is an integral factor in Action Half-Life's finely tempered weapon balance formula. Hesitant to carry throwing knives over a shotgun or an automatic? The throwing knives are one-hit kills. Does that change your mind? No matter what weapon you choose to wield, you won't have too much of an advantage over the opposition, but nor will will they over you.
Like an action movie, your avatar will be able to take a decent number of bullets before he's down for the count. Some hits, such as head shots, still result in an instant kill, but that only makes sense, even for the action movie genre. The weapon balance, as well as ability to find and choose a favorite weapon rather than always carrying the biggest one you can find, is a breath of fresh air for the FPS genre, regardless of how long Action Half-Life has been available.
There are a number of special items available, and just like the weapon selection, you can only carry one of them at a time. Bandages to heal wounds, flashlights or night vision goggles to spelunk through pitch black tunnels... choose wisely.
The pleasing number of modes and weapons come together to make Action Half-Life's enormous map selection even more inviting. Over a dozen maps are packaged with the mod, with most making use of urban settings and tunnels. The maps are quite large, so no one will learn them so quickly that he will have an advantage over his teammates or opponents. Some maps tend to be too large, however. Playing some of the city maps with six bots resulted in serious lags in between encounters, which really slowed down the feeling of taking part in a blazingly fast action flick. Still, this ailment is curable by either rounding up more friends, or tossing more bots into the equation.
Let the random explosions commence: Action Half-Life is an excellent multiplayer mod provided you add enough friends and bots to each game session. Despite their sometimes too-large size, the maps are varied enough in terms of ambush locations and aesthetics to keep players interested for quite awhile.
Two Worlds II
StarCraft 2 Tech Trees
Top 10 PC Game Stories For June 2009
Sudden Attack
Dreamkiller
Boot Disk: Heroes of Might and Magic 2
Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD
The Big PC Game Developer Purchases
Max Payne 3
