Half-Life Mod

Half-Life brings Black Mesa into the world through a set of custom mobs, and the tone shifts the moment the first one notices you. The models keep the silhouettes and color work of the originals while still sitting comfortably among blocky terrain, so a headcrab scuttling across the ground looks exactly like the thing it is meant to be.

The Thing That Goes for Your Head

The headcrab is where most of the trouble starts. It is a parasitic species that hunts humanoid hosts, and the second it spots one it launches itself at the victim's head and bites down. With 20 health and 2 attack damage it is no heavy hitter, but a leap height of 9 means backing away is not the safety net you might expect from Xen wildlife.

When the Crab Wins

A host that loses the fight becomes a headcrab zombie, hunched, with the parasite clamped over its face and long clawed strands hanging where the arms used to be. The add-on tracks who the victim was before the infection:

• the standard zombie, stripped of any uniform


• the security guard in blue jacket and slacks


• the HECU grunt in dark combat gear


• the scientist in the remains of a lab coat

They act as the same threat, but the difference tells you a lot when you walk into a group of them.

Green Lightning from Xen

The vortigaunt is the heavier presence of the group and the one that punishes a careless approach. It carries 64 health and 6 attack damage up close, plus a ranged attack landing for 2.7, so it can pressure you across open ground with a crackling green beam instead of waiting for you to close the gap.

Not everything in the facility is hostile. The Black Mesa science team appears in white coats and dark ties, with a few different faces among them, and they give the add-on the other half of its atmosphere: the part where this was a working research site before anything went wrong.