Reviewing Every Half Life 1 Mod on Steam

This is a review of every Half Life 1 mod with its own Steam Page.
In this video we'll go through each mod, give some analysis and judge if it deserves a steam page and your time.
I hope you enjoy the video. Your feedback in the comments section would be appreciated.
You can use these time stamps to navigate around the video:
Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:22 Half Life Before
00:02:50 Half Life CAGED
00:05:02 Headcrab Frenzy
00:06:58 Half Life Restored
00:09:47 Base Defence
00:11:18 Half Life Decay Solo Mission
00:14:13 Half Life 1 MMod
00:17:47 Half Life VR Mod
00:21:59 Half Life Echoes
00:27:53 Half Quake Trilogy
00:32:27 Conclusion
Credits:
NA

[@cortepapel5706]

Way back when someone covered Half Life Before, it turns out the mod was made for one of those "Half Life Mod Map" Collabs. The collab would suddenly shut down, and the mod was posted to Steam so that the work didn't go to waste.

[@some1stoleit]

I heard something like that before, but couldn't find a source so I didn't mention it. Thanks for bringing that up.

[@CD-carefreeDesigner]

@@some1stoleit patbytes did a video on this a year ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWjJo2ZuZ8djg7c Starting at 8:02, they explain that the map was originally made for a map collab called Project CSM which was hosted on a Russian Counter-Strike map-making forum however, the collab would never be completed and the map would be published as what we now know as Half-Life: Before. They show some screenshots of the forum, presumably the post about the collab (I can't read Russian), they even have links to learn more about the contest in the description. I'd definitely give it a watch if you're interested in learning more about this mod, because everything starts to make a lot more sense once you know the history behind it.

[@DmanTheCabbage]

The reason people were so hard on Half-Life: Before was that it was added to steam back in day before it was more common to see mods on there. It was one of the few Half Life mods on steam and at the time there were plenty of mods with way more content and playtime out there. It was just very mid and seeing it on steam was a bit of a joke. That being said I do think people are a bit too harsh on it.

[@StoryTellerStudios_Official]

0:30 Team Fortress wasn't originally a mod for Half-Life, it was a mod for Quake and was originally named Quake Team Fortress.

[@quickkennedy3226]

Thank you for including subtitles, and including a little icon for it so that in the video preview it shows. Subtitles make KZbin so much more enjoyable, and even big KZbinrs neglect them these days

[@some1stoleit]

Thank you. Glad you appreciate it. I plan to put them in all future videos. I have some generated for the older ones, I'll see about adding them too.

[@dusky6280]

vro if I wanted to read- I'd go pick up a book

[@Koutsie]

@@dusky6280 nice bait, unfortunately ACCESSIBILITY 🦾

[@dusky6280]

@@Koutsie didnt ask

[@Koutsie]

@@dusky6280 hurr durr

[@muddasheep]

Thanks for mentioning Halfquake!

[@some1stoleit]

No problem. You certainly helped make a memorable experiance.

[@seva809]

I would also put Signal Lost on the list. It's a remake of the Uplink Half-Life demo with an attempt to modernize the gunplay just like MMod did. Nevertheless I really enjoyed your reviews and glad to see I was not the only one enjoying HL:Before :D

[@some1stoleit]

Thank You, glad you like the vids. Seen this one around before, looks very promising. Doesn't seem to be on steam though. I'd cover it for sure if I was going through moddb/rtsl mods.

[@Snufflegrunt]

Did you read the video title?

[@RoshiGaming]

Man, Echoes has been a real treat so far, and I'm only maybe 40 minutes into it at the moment. I'm not sure if you are planning on continuing doinging this kind of series, but if so, I think reviewing a few of the mods you bring up in the conclusion and other popular mods would be neat!

[@some1stoleit]

Thank you. Enjoy echoes. A deep dive on the individual mods is something I might do. I'd probably pick one of the lesser known mods first, as there are good videos already on the popular mods, so unless I could bring something new it wouldn't be a priority.

[@Chipmunkboy]

if i remember correctly, the reason people dislike before is before it attepts to be cannon to half-life's story, but fails because there is never any cargo ship involved whatsoever

[@skraegorn7317]

2 big things you might’ve missed about Restored is that vortigaunts can now resurrect each other and there’s a whole new enemy: the Human Sergeant. He carries a mini gun, and you find him in Surface Tension in the cave with the RPG. The mod also makes some nice changes for speedrunners, like removing the bunny hop speed cap.

[@thehyena9009]

Cry of fear is also a great half life mod 👍 im pretty sure it has a steam page

[@some1stoleit]

Cry of Fear is very good, played it a few years ago. I suppose it would qualify. A lot of other people have good videos about it though, not sure what else I could add.

[@thehyena9009]

yeah, thats true 😅 still worth an honourable mention 😁

[@docmo8357]

I exclusively clicked on this video to see if it mentions Cry of Fear but since it doesn't it kinda sucks

[@SASTSimon]

It isnt a mod anymore tho. Its a standalone game running the goldsrc engine

[@sebs-shenanigans]

Wait, doesn't Cry of fear have its own steam page?! I think it deserved some attention no?

[@some1stoleit]

Played it, very good mod. Slipped my mind when I was planning the video. I missed some in my Half Life 2 video too. The video title isn't as definitive as I want it to be.

[@sebs-shenanigans]

@@some1stoleit No worries chief, Happens to the best of us

[@XSilver_WaterX]

Roland's probably going to either stream it or do the coop mode where the ammo is more forgivable, but the enemies aren't. beware the babies!

[@Isaacfess]

Loved this look at old classic mods, well mostly. I remember downloading some back in the day and having random fun with them. Great video!

[@MattIsTalking]

loved your last half life video, thank you for making another one. I love these! Please make more :)

[@some1stoleit]

Thank you. Means a lot that you enjoy it!

[@Immolator772]

HL: Restored brings back some beta features, also the creepy enemy that killed the zombie in Echoes is Mr.Friendly whch i'm glad it's removed, if you knew what it does you wont want it in your game either. Also i noticed in MMOD they restored the alt fire for the gluon gun.

[@Snufflegrunt]

HL: Before has so many versions and has such a rough history and it permeates into review scores of the mod itself. It's gone through many iterations. It never used to have an English translation either, with it being Russian only for ages.

[@wub9044]

I read some stuff about C.A.G.E.D. a while back before I played it myself. If I remember right, this mod was made by an ex Valve developer who once worked on all the official games.

[@supertuna123]

Yea I found CAGED to be difficult too, it was making me feel bad about myself but u reassured me

[@some1stoleit]

Yeah, out of all the mods on the list most deaths to cut on those. As long as you make it to the end you win, no need to feel bad.

[@Teohoho]

Hey man, new subscriber here. I really enjoy your stuff, keep it up!

[@some1stoleit]

Thank you, I'm glad you appreciate the videos!

[@nikivarvar]

28:57 an error! halfquake amen came out in 2002, and halfquake sunrise in 2010 :)

[@inthegrass11]

absolute gigachad youtuber putting the subtitle icon on the beginning of the video

[@Yushe_]

I understand why you didn't do Zombie Panic, tracking down a copy of that mod can be difficult. If you are interested in checking it out I would recommend playing the CS1.6 mod that Hedgefog made last year, there is gameplay of it on youtube.

[@Old_Soul_Shimi]

Sven Co-Op has the Decay maps!

[@easy8690]

I'm glad that someone else liked Half life before too. I thought I was going insane being the only one to have enjoyed the mod.

[@roni9395]

Another great video.

[@m1ng226]

Great video.

[@liquid_oxygen]

Happy 1000!

[@some1stoleit]

Thanks! 1000 subs. Yay!

[@shrub8644]

you just glossed over the fact that the boss is nihilanth that flies in a circle super fast with a barnacle tongue. also the mod was posted during a time when Steam didn't let just about anything on the platform so it had a worse reception

[@some1stoleit]

It's been a while since I started the script, but I want to say I left it out because I didn't want to spoil it. To be fair you can drop him so fast, you can finish the fight without even noticing that attack.

[@Doc_K]

17:47 GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OU- HELLO GORDON!

[@MainsMain]

HL: Caged is too good, I love the little secrets that it has

[@TankGenics]

i love half life mods with steam pages so much i have all of them haha

[@ThommyofThenn]

1:10 as a gamer whos watched 10 hour videos about in-game books, i love that 30 min doesnt seem as long to me. Really good length imo, long enough to be worth getting into and enjoying but im not always in the mood for spending four days watching a video in several hour chunks

[@some1stoleit]

I wrote that line expecting the video to around an hour. Less material to work with this time. Some really long analysis videos on youtube, I would like to make one just gotta find something I find interesting enough to roll with the idea.

[@ThommyofThenn]

@@some1stoleit Once you find the right topic, i think you'll have a lot of fun with it. This mod video is very enjoyable so far btw!

[@kayiskoi]

20:00 looks like motion reprojection might be halving your frames. I'm assuming you're using a Quest (2?) for PCVR, which has a refresh rate of 72 (by default.) 36 is half of that.

[@some1stoleit]

Could definitely be an issue on my end. Didn't play the mod for long to be honest cause I was getting motion sick plus I've played the beef version at least twice.

[@hxrshy.]

a fun fact about half life caged is that it was made by a I think now EX Valve employee im not sure they worked on games such as team fortress 2, portal and horizon zero dawn

[@some1stoleit]

No wonder it's so good!

[@cropathfinder]

The early part of echoes feels very resident evilish, it helps that the mod uses change zombie behavior to make them more sluggish and slower to respond to player movement like for example the zombies in some of the better RE games along with allowing barnicles to eat them like in two which is a thing i noticed a lot of players and reviewers don't notice.

[@milk_yt]

Half-life VR mod actually runs on Source from what I remember.

[@V4R1TUS]

Im hoping to see more gaming content videos. If thats what your going for. Very interesting videos and your voice is good to listen too

[@some1stoleit]

Thank you, appreciate it. Got more videos in the pipeline, want to try covering a few different genres not just FPS.

[@lonewolf6693]

The thing with Half Life Before is that for many people "Boss Battle" is disappointing and also that is named "Before", but it's makes no sense, that this is happening before Half-Life 1. I don't hate this mod, this is what people are saying.

[@SteamPlayLEET]

11:18 There is a mod that ported Half-Life Decay to pc. You can beat it in singleplayer by switching characters back an forth.

[@xfcedos]

you've got mixed up halfquake's release years tho... hq:a was released in 2002, not 2010. and hq:s was released in 2010, not 2012. i love though how muddasheep didn't correct you and just thanked you for including his game(s) in your vid, coolest dude, honestly.

[@Humble_Merchant]

All of these, excluding the VR one, would've fit in as a Sven Coop map pack

[@OldManHan]

Sad, if only Challenger Deep 2 was on Steam. Love that mod. And USS Darkstar.

[@Kinodawker]

Darkstar is playable in mmod

[@some1stoleit]

@@Kinodawker Planning to play that soon, getting a lot into MMOD lately.

[@beardalaxy]

Nice video! Just need to work on the editing for your voice clips, there are many parts that don't flow from one clip to another very well.

[@TheBeanBandit309]

Underrated youtuber

[@some1stoleit]

Thank you!

[@tyronejohnson409]

ty king :)

[@idiotnepty]

you should turn up your microphone but this is an amazing video, also thank you for making captions too amazing work for a smaller youtuber

[@some1stoleit]

Thanks, audio has always been difficult for me, I'll try boosting it more in other videos.. Made the subs with AI, makes it pretty easy to add subs to anything I record.

[@thisname5ucks]

@@some1stoleit what ai are you using for subs?

[@some1stoleit]

Whisper AI. You do you need a good GPU otherwise it'll be slow.

[@xXxAMIR99xXx]

I used to love the mod where you play the headcrab

[@some1stoleit]

There's one where you get to play as a Vortigant too. I'd like the make a video about those two sometime, very interesting mods.

[@SteamPlayLEET]

Zombie Edition is a great mod)

[@Nykomil]

Only issue I have with this video is you stuttering sometimes, other than that great compilation and way of explaining things!

[@justpassingby298]

Less than a thousand subs? Damn, think you're really gonna get popular

[@some1stoleit]

Thanks. I need 1000 for monetization, would be able to focus more time to the channel if i can reach that goal.

[@KermitTheGangsta58]

Amazing video. Thank you so much

[@user-gc1zj2nh3i]

Guys help am lost.. so if I downloaded half life black Mesa am I still able to play the mods or should I download hl1 the old version ?

[@xhdsrjekwhjkdgtjrdtyu]

couldve sworn i saw that shotgun idle annimation from the won version

[@PEPE_ZAINE]

half life escape is now on steam, i heard its pretty good

[@O2chevsky]

BrainBread was a good mod, and it was in steam as i can remember.

[@Oldschoolgames736]

While i play decay solo mission is not showing me the weapons how did you do to show you the weapons in your hand?

[@some1stoleit]

Never had that issue, most likely a reinstall should fix that.

[@justsomeguyontheinternet5898]

Do you ever plan to do a portal video based on this idea

[@some1stoleit]

Yes. Got a bunch of portal mods installed. Have to go through and play them all but will definately make that a video.

[@user-ss6co6vj5f]

Second Fun facts: You did not mention, about mods - which was cool in your list: CAGED - was made by former VALVE member/worker, and one of devs of HL games. This mod - was just his flex. There also in the game - was a paid melee weapon for Patreon(?) members, but it's okay. Echoes - based on srceenplay of famous HL God - Marc Laidlaw, or the guy who made whole lore of HL Universe. And screenplay - yea, i talking about that famous - "Epistle". Or "How HL 2 was supposed to end".

[@some1stoleit]

No wonder CAGED was so good if it came from an ex Valve dev.

[@daioxide]

Half Live INVASION is hands down the best HL1 singleplayer mod of all time.

[@suicideasmr4038]

I couldn't even get before to start

[@delta9685]

I'd recommend putting some background music next time... otherwise pretty good vid.

[@dispenser6257]

Base defense is pretty underrated ngl

[@jacobsrandomstuff]

i wish more people played base defense

[@somerandomguy927]

i would put cry of fear on this beacuse its technicly a hl mod but you dont need hl for it soo idk

[@Baderbear]

there is vampire slayer and zombie panic you forgot TwT

[@whilhelm9511]

Team Fortress was originally a game-mode in Quake, not half-life

[@Idkwhattoputhere5123]

They should upload echoes to steam. I don't know how to get the game running through Steam.

[@creamycustardstudios2414]

Hello I would like to play half life but I don't like the zombies is there a mod that removes them and makes the game less gory Thanks

[@akiraeatsguitarpicks491]

0:46 bro what? HL1 came out as a pc game disc

[@mscapeh4451]

No half life timeline mod in your list?

[@Krezzing]

u made another one based

[@gabreliano8866]

What about sven's coop?

[@bobrat1594]

dude i thought half life caged was just a feverdream

[@themysteriousstrangerofnow490]

This is technically a PRE sequel 😂😂😂😂😂😂💃😂😂😂😂😂

[@Megajaybreaker4]

I don’t think Echos is on steam still.

[@flamsey]

Decay Solo Mission completely overhauls the entire level design which is weird imo

[@delsin1126]

I really wish that half life 2 mmod would be on steam

[@vizthex]

can't believe Black Mesa isn't here, smh my head. but it is considered a stand--alone game on Steam, so i suppose i can accept it.

[@nozzzzy]

Weird choice to include Echoes but not include Field Intensity... I have major issues with Echoes. The problem with that mod isn't that it's not a great game, it just doesn't feel at all like a Half Life expansion. The aesthetic of Black Mesa is completely altered in Echoes and it doesn't really feel like Black Mesa at all, it's like it's own thing. The graphics just don't line up with the other HL1 games. I think it's really good in it's own right, it just doesn't fit into the series the way I'd want an unofficial expansion to. Field Intensity is a totally different story. That mod feels like a legit actual lost expansion to HL. It has a bunch of new features and added detail while retaining the vibe and aesthetics of the actual HL games perfectly. It literally feels like Opposing Force 2. It's also a very long mod so it ends up feeling like a fully fledged game which is amazing. It's so good that from now on when I do a full series playthrough I include it as an official expansion because it just captures the essence of the series and Black Mesa flawlessly. I don't think Echoes is bad by any means but Field Intensity just kind of blows it out of the water and IMO is the best HL1 mod ever made.

[@some1stoleit]

Have not heard about this mod, if its half as good as you say I'll have to check out it out down the line!

[@nozzzzy]

@some1stoleit You absolutely need to play it, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten as much attention as it deserves. You could do a review on Field Intensity alone. It's about as long as HL1.

[@Oldschoolgames736]

Do you have one mod to run half life 1 in full screen?

[@some1stoleit]

Never had any issues running Half Life 1 in fullscreen or high resolution. Should work with a vanilla install.

[@VergilsChannel]

When you say hearing impaired, do you mean completely deaf or just poor hearing?

[@some1stoleit]

Tinnitus Left Ear, I can hear loud sounds and noises, but details can be difficult sometimes, such as dialogue.

[@dylanzlol7293]

Wasnt there a vid named "understanding half-life before" explaining why that mod was considered bad or smthn

[@some1stoleit]

Yeah, one of the top comments gave a link or named the youtuber. Worth a watch if you want more info.

[@mscapeh4451]

there is more hl2 mods then those you played to :D

[@Foxtrop13]

you forgot half-rats: parasomnia

[@machatronicgaming1761]

i wanna know where the half life 2 version of mmod is

[@some1stoleit]

That's on ModDB, no steam page unfortunately. Hopefully they can get a steam page working for it.

[@machatronicgaming1761]

@@some1stoleit ah ok

[@TowarzyszMs]

Hey Man, Timestamps don't work

[@some1stoleit]

Thanks for catching that, just fixed it up.

[@lfmfsa]

Does black mesa count

[@xdeathcon]

Half-Life: Absolute Zero is on steam but unfortunately development has stopped. What's there is good though

[@ValveFanTygo]

Links?

[@BoyOHBoy123]

Bruh you need Steam to play every Half-Life Mod

[@psychomantis2485]

You missed Half-Rats: Parasomnia.

[@goofy_life124]

there is no half life echoes on steam

[@ablationer]

No CrackLife? Dang

[@Nat3_H1gg3rs]

They hunger is the greatest half-life mod.

[@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413]

in what way did mmod improve the gunplay, its the exact same aside from animations and small balance tweaks the gunplay in half life is good, much better than hl2

[@some1stoleit]

The gunplay certainly felt more satisfying, maybe it's the animations that did the trick. After playing more of it I feel like the damage values were increased, so soldiers go down quicker, like they do in Black Mesa.

[@MrThejoshmon]

MMOD included actual physical bullets coming out of the guns rather than hitscan, the bullets have drop off and travel time. Sounds minor but it actually really helps improve the combat sandbox.

[@SteamPlayLEET]

​@@MrThejoshmon To me it did gunplay worse)

[@BigTexasTony]

Half-Life Echoes is not on Steam.

[@naughtmeinam4603]

Hey man, I like your content and I mean no offense, but you should really start doing a second pass over your voiceovers before uploading. Videos like this one are rife with verbal scripting errors and it gets kind of distracting hearing you retry sentences every half minute. Thank you for the video

[@Uncle_Wolfy]

Im surpriced you didnt mentioned Half-Rats: Parasomnia @some1stoleit

[@mrfunfart357]

Half life absolute zero is not in here and it's on Steam

[@some1stoleit]

Missed that for some reason. Sounds similar to Half Life Restored.

[@requis200]

​@@some1stoleitno it's all alpha build stuff you should review it congrats on 1k🙏🏿🙏🏿

[@henScooter]

The ones that aren’t on steam are WAY better …

[@bigfoot8103]

Mods.

[@bigfoot8103]

Mod.