This Half-Life mod combines Valve's iconic FPS with the Aliens universe

Published: Nov 8, 2024 08:38 am

Are you tired of me talking about Half-Life mods yet? Good. I actually have no idea how you responded, as this was written in the past. I’m essentially time-traveling right now. Hmmm…best not to think about that concept.

Anyway, Valve’s 1998 shooter not only set new heights for what was possible in the FPS genre, but it remains steadfast in the limelight thanks to a dedicated modding community. For this installment of “How Long Can I Keep Harping On About Half-Life,” I present a mod which is set in the Aliens universe.

Yes, that’s “Aliens” with an “s.” As noted by DSO Gaming, Team Lambda has just released the first episode of Solitary Echoes; a single-player campaign that pits you against the iconic Xenomorph creatures and is set on LV-513.

The team behind the mod says they are both “extremely proud and to be honest also a little scared” about the release of the first episode. The description on ModDB says they’ve “worked on this for one and a half years now,” and “hitting that upload button” has given them the heebie-jeebies.

The images alone really put me into the mindset of this being an Aliens game, with its familiar set pieces, while the above video will easily make you forget this was made in Half-Life. In fact, I’d go so far as to say this almost looks like it could be an Alien vs. Predator game. The report from DSO says the 3D models used in Solitary Echoes may well have come from AvP2.

There doesn’t appear to be any mention of when the next episode will release, or how many there will be in total. Suffice it to say, this is definitely one to check out if you like a horror-based first-person shooter set in a James Cameron-esque universe. I realize that could describe pretty much any Alien video game, but it’s worth repeating that this was all done in the original Half-Life engine. Impressive, says I.