Azure Sheep - A mod released in 2001 where the player controls Barney searching Black Mesa for his colleague Kate, codenamed Azure Sheep.[1][2] After rescuing her, Kate functions as an AI companion for the rest of the mission.[3] The mod was said to be similar to Half-Life: Blue Shift.[4][5] It received positive reviews from PC Zone, Incite PC Games, 3DActionPlanet, and Planet Half-Life.[6][7][8][3] In 2019, a first part of a remake for Black Mesa was released.[9]
Cry of Fear – The spiritual successor of Afraid of Monsters, it puts the player in the shoes of Simon, a paraplegic who writes a book for therapy, and in the process faces the inner demons that plague his thoughts. It features a co-op mode. Though initially a mod, it was later released as a free standalone game on April 25, 2013, via Steam.[10]
Escape from Woomera – An unfinished point-and-click adventure game, intended to critique the treatment of mandatorily detained asylum seekers in Australia as well as the Australian government's attempt to impose a media blackout on the detention centers.
Point of View – A mod released on May 2, 2003 by the developers of Azure Sheep.[11][3] The player character is a vortigaunt named Xonxt. The player can only use alien weaponry and has no armor. Medkits can't be used, instead Xen healing pools have to be used for restoring health.[12][13]The Games Machine gave the mod a positive review.[14]PC Zone gave the mod a rating of 76 out of 100 and called it "a refreshing alternative".[15]
Poke646 – Released in December 2001. Takes place after the events of Half-Life in Nation City. Features new weapons and textures. Named often one of the best single-player mods for Half-Life.
They Hunger – This is a single-player horror-based mod. It was released by Neil Manke's Black Widow Games in three episodes, the first in 1999, the second in 2000, and the final installment in 2001. All three were at one point bundled with PC Gamer magazine.
USS Darkstar – A mod by Neil Manke, produced by PC Gamer and released on July 14, 1999.[17][18] This mod follows a scientist on a deep-space scientific mission aboard an interstellar spacecraft. When an experiment goes awry, the player has to defend himself against aliens.[19] The mod was first released on the PC Gamer website and was featured on the magazine's demo CD in August 1999.[17][20] The mod received positive reviews from PC Games and PC Action.[21][22]Planet Half-Life called it "A true masterpiece".[23]
Wanted! – A Wild West-style mod which follows a town Sheriff and his hunt for a bandit. Enemies include rattlesnakes, Native Americans and other outlaws. It contains original voice acting and era-specific weapons, and was created by Maverick Developments and released as a free mod. For some time it was bundled with the retail version of Counter-Strike, along with another mod by Maverick Developments, Absolute Redemption which was a chapter set between Half-Life and Half-Life 2.[24]
Cold Ice – Features fast-paced gameplay (aided by tools like a jetpack and a grappling hook) and revamps all of the weapons and the color scheme to icy blue.[25][26][27]
Deathmatch Classic – A free, official Half-Life mod by Valve that updates the multiplayer gameplay from id Software's Quake, featuring enhanced textures, models, and lighting.[28] It was released on June 7, 2001,[29] and included in an update to Half-Life a month later.[30]OS X and Linux ports of the Windows game were released through Steam in August 2013.[31]
Deathmatch Plus – A mod split off from Oz Deathmatch.[32][33] The mod has a "Lights Out" mode that turns off all the bright lights in a map.[32] Also includes night vision goggles, a silenced machine gun and hand grenades can be exchanged for cluster bombs.[32][26][34]
Fist Full of Steel – Features a point system where the more points the player scores, the better weapons they have access to.[35][36]: 45 Includes modes for deathmatch, team deathmatch, and objective-based teamplay.[37]
Lambda Arena – A version of the Quake series mod Rocket Arena, released in 1999.[38][39] It is mainly for one versus one matches but the mod supports teamplay up to four players.[40][34]
Oz Deathmatch – An early Half-Lifeserverside mod that is a collection of deathmatch configuration options.[41][34][42] Options that can be changed include magazine size, amount of blood, and weapon recoil.[26] The mod also adds a new gadget, a grappling hook.[41] The mod also supports Team Fortress Classic maps.[43] In January 2000, it was listed among the top five HL mods on GameSpy's server browser.[44]
Rocket Crowbar – An early Half-Life mod that modifies every weapon in the game. For example the crowbar shoots "drunk" rockets and RPG shoots scientist and Barney modelled proximity mines.[45][46][47] The mod also includes a capture the flag mode.[48]Rocket Crowbar Redux: Source, was released for the Source engine. It includes weapons like gravity grenade and a scientist shotgun.[49]
Action Half-Life – A team-based multiplayer mod developed as part of the popular series of "Action"-based mods, designed to emulate the feel of an action movie. Members of the development team had previously worked with developers of Counter-Strike on the mod Action Quake 2.
Counter-Strike – A team-based tactical first-person shooter game involving rounds of combat between two teams, counter-terrorists and terrorists. Counter-Strike was later released commercially by Valve as a standalone game.
Earth's Special Forces – Third-person fighting oriented game based on the anime Dragon Ball Z.[50][51][52] In development since at least 2000, when early alpha versions were released, the mod features fast-paced 3D melee combat, shooting energy attacks, flight mechanics, character transformations, and multiple game modes.[50][51][52] Each playable character has unique abilities, along with distinct strengths and weaknesses.[50][51][52]
Firearms – A team deathmatch-based game where the emphasis is on weapons and player customization.
Frontline Force – A team oriented first person shooter mod in which players are divided into 2 teams: Attackers and Defenders.[53]
Jailbreak – Based on a classic Quake II mod of the same name.[54] When the player is fragged, they are sent to the opposing team's jail. If all players from one team are jailed, the round ends and the winners receive a point.[36]: 46 The prisoners can escape by waiting for a teammate to open the jail cell. Each map has another escape route (e.g. air vent) that requires multiple prisoners to reach.[55][43][56] A new version of the mod, Open Source JailBreak, was released when the original mod stopped development.[57][58]
The Opera – Released on July 9, 2001.[59][60] The gameplay features diving, rolling, and dual wielding that is described as "gun ballet". The game features minimal heads-up display (HUD) with no ammo, health or armour displayed.[61] The mod was in production for two years.[62]PC Zone gave a rating of three out of five.[63]
Ricochet – An official Half-Life mod by Valve. It was released on November 1, 2000,[64] and included in Half-Life's version 1.1.1.0 update, released on June 12, 2002.[65] Ports of the game to OS X and Linux were released through Steam on August 1, 2013.[66]
Sabaneta 2050 – Takes place in the year 2050.[67] The teams are cops and convicts where the match can be won by either taking out the other team or just their leader.[68] There is another game mode where only the convicts have a leader.[67] Players gain experience points by killing opponents and lose them by dying or killing teammates.[69][70]
Science and Industry – A team-based multiplayer mod in which players take the roles of security guards at two competing research firms. It features a weapons research system.
The Specialists – This multiplayer mod is intended to resemble a stylized action movies.[71]
War in Europe – A World War II-themed mod released in 1999 that includes deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag.[72][73] The player earns "promotions" by fragging, which allows purchasing of additional weapons.[73] If the player takes a hit, they will start to bleed, which can be treated with a medkit.[74]PC Gameplay reviewed the game in 2001 and gave a rating of six out of ten, calling it's worse than Day of Defeat.[75]
Team Fortress Classic – Originally a mod ported from Quakeworld[76] that introduced a class-system style of play that allowed for many diverse playing styles. With the introduction of Steam it became a standalone game and as of October 10, 2007 it has a commercially released sequel Team Fortress 2.
Trinity Command – Similar to Unreal Tournament's Domination game mode where two teams try to control various points on the map.[36]: 44 [77]GameStar said the included bots are useful but noted the maps as monotonous and classes unbalanced.[78]
Kanonball – Australian-developed futuristic sports game described as a mix between lacrosse and rugby.[79][80] There are three different athlete types and six player positions.[80] The developers said they had to drop some features from the mod due to limitations of the Half-Life engine.[81]PC Zone gave a rating of 71% for the LAN-only version and a rating of 72% for the online-compatible version, saying the online component is "very weak" and LAN is still the preferred way to play.[82][83]PC Action called it a challenging and fun mod.[84]
Natural Selection – A mod in which two teams (humans and aliens) fight against each other. Its utilizes a mixture of first-person shooter and real-time strategy gameplay. It gained a standalone successor, Natural Selection 2.
Runaway Train – Similar to the game king of the hill, one player is on a train, the other players try to knock them off of it.[85][86] The longer the player stays on the train, the more points they score.[36]: 51 Gen4 [fr] gave a positive review.[87]PC Powerplay and Computer Games noted it as a classic mod.[88][89] A remake mod, Train Hunters, was released after the development of Runaway Train went inactive.[88][89][90]
The Ship – Set on a 1920s recreational cruise ship. Each player is assigned a quarry, and the object is to murder him or her with nobody watching, while at the same time watching out for, and defending themselves against their own hunter. Later released as a standalone game on the Source engine.[91]
Scientist Hunt – Red and blue teams try to kill more scientists than the other team. The mod includes bots and an option to fight human or bot opponents.[92][93]PC Zone gave a rating of four out of five.[94]
Sven Co-op – Is a co-op mod in which players fight against computer-controlled enemies, it was released as a standalone game in 2016. Apart from user contributed missions it is also possible to play co-operatively through the original Half-Life game and its expansions, though the expansions can only be accessed if owned by everyone in the server.[95][96]
Underworld: Bloodline – an asymmetric multiplayer FPS based on the Underworld film franchise.[97] Developed by Black Widow Games in 2003 as a promotional tie-in for the film Underworld, it is the only officially licensed Half-Life mod associated with a Hollywood movie.[97] The mod was available on the Sony Pictures official website until the end of 2007.[97] Players choose between Vampires and Lycans, engaging in objective-based combat across urban maps.[97] Each faction has distinct classes, weapons, and movement abilities.[97] The gameplay involves capturing or defending Hybrid NPCs across four maps, incorporating mechanics inspired by Counter-Strike and Vampire Slayer.[97]
Vampire Slayer – is a teamplay mod where two sides: vampires and slayers, battle it out in a variety of atmospheric settings.[98][99][100]Planet Half-Life called the original release "A great mod".[101] They also reviewed Chapter IV and wrote: "The new maps fit perfectly with the atmosphere built up from the previous releases."[102]PC Zone gave version 1.1 a rating of three out of five, Chapter III a rating of 69%, and Chapter V a rating of 91%.[103][104][105]
^Drăgnuţă, Anda (June 2008). "Jocuri - Feature - Modding". XtremPC (in Romanian). No. 99. Romas Comercial S.R.L. p. 110. ISSN1582-2818. Rocket Arena s-a dezvoltat ca MOD pentru Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena şi Quake 4, dar şi cu versiuni pentru Half-Life (Lambda Arena) şi Unreal Tournament.
^"News". Jailbreak. Archived from the original on 24 January 2001. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
^Goldstein, Maarten (9 July 2001). "HL: Opera Released". Shacknews. Gamerhub. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
