By John Walker on November 29th, 2011 at 2:27 pm.
Being the dedicated RPS reader that you are, you’ll remember that Alec posted about the short film Beyond Black Mesa back in January. The mini-epic took place five years after the events of Half-Life, featuring independence fighters in the battle against the Combine invasion. Well, director Brian Curtin is back with an even shorter short, an utterly gorgeous live action version of the opening moments of the original game. It’s below.
See, I know I’ve protested against the use of live action trailers for forthcoming games, but it turns out I’m all in favour of the same for older games, made by people outside the publisher. Then it’s magically okay in my brain. So you’re now cleared to enjoy this utterly splendid thing:
You can see the rest of the InfectiousDesigner movies at the official channel.
29/11/2011 at 14:34 Berzee says:
LOL
The end after the end shows what a…uniquely talented…scientists Freeman truly is.
29/11/2011 at 14:35 gganate says:
Was that Gordon Freeman or Alex Jenson?
29/11/2011 at 14:36 westyfield says:
I thought he looked a bit like Tony Stark, actually.
29/11/2011 at 15:53 Krauss says:
That beard looks kinda odd if you ask me.
29/11/2011 at 19:20 jackelope says:
Thought he looked like House, myself.
30/11/2011 at 06:58 James T says:
Clearly Walter White, guys.
30/11/2011 at 07:29 amishmonster says:
Definitely House.
29/11/2011 at 14:37 atticus says:
Loved the microwave-buttons.
29/11/2011 at 14:39 qrter says:
Very, very nice.
Am I the only one who still gets a tiny chill when he hears the HEV suit’s introduction?
29/11/2011 at 14:42 CMaster says:
Welcome to the H.E.V. mark 4 protective system. For use in hazardous environment conditions. High-impact reactive armour activated. Atmospheric contaminant sensors activated. Vital sign monitoring activated. Automatic medical systems engaged. Weapon selection system activated. Munition level monitoring activated. Communications interface online. Have a very safe day.
29/11/2011 at 15:36 Harlander says:
Isn’t it “Defensive weapon selection system”?
29/11/2011 at 18:39 deenmeister says:
*gets goosebumps*
29/11/2011 at 18:56 Network Crayon says:
I literally feel safer already.
30/11/2011 at 10:14 smokemeansfire says:
I always thought the voice for the HEV suit was really unsettling because it was so deliberate and weird. Still haven’t heard anything like it. So, yeah, shivers :D
30/11/2011 at 14:37 d32 says:
Warning! User death imminent.
29/11/2011 at 14:40 Koozer says:
SERIOUS. I always imagine him as being pretty neutral and just getting on with his day’s work. Up until the point when things go bonkers that is..
30/11/2011 at 10:11 Josh W says:
Yeah I think it’s a consequence of the format, I imagine a longer film of half life would start out more like district 9 in pacing.
With a small timeslot to work with, you have things like the bit with the microwave getting smushed into an example of the crowbar, in a way that doesn’t quite make sense, just to fit in the neccesary elements. I imagine if there was a proper thing they’d devide ut the moods a bit better, and you’d have the “serious business” later on.
29/11/2011 at 14:43 YanDaik says:
i dont know how can you call it live action when everything is cg except people. I guess it is half-live-action.
29/11/2011 at 14:56 StranaMente says:
Why call it live action when everybody knows that its name is Timothy?
OT: I think that it is more about “in game (i.e.: in game engine) scenes” against “people pretending to be in a game scenes”.
29/11/2011 at 15:10 caddyB says:
It’s mostly live action?
29/11/2011 at 15:36 SooSiaal says:
So a move like, lets say 300, could be called an animated movie or even cartoon?
29/11/2011 at 18:42 deenmeister says:
HALF LIVE ACTION!!!
I dunno about the rest of you, but Half Life Episode 3 is not coming fast enough. They should say something. Atleast tease us…
30/11/2011 at 01:11 Wulf says:
We all know by now that Half-Life: Episode 3 is never going to happen.
They’re going to wait a bit longer, then they’re just going to drop an ARG on us via Portal 2 that will tease the potential existence of Half-Life 3, and it’ll go from there.
29/11/2011 at 14:54 deadly.by.design says:
Excellent.
29/11/2011 at 15:09 Suits says:
Where is Hugh Laurie? :)
29/11/2011 at 15:09 JackShandy says:
Beautiful, but over-acted. Tapping the watch was a bit much.
29/11/2011 at 15:10 Tuor says:
They’re waiting for you, Gordon, in the *test chamber*.
29/11/2011 at 15:37 Harlander says:
I’ve already assured the Administrator that nothing will go wrong.
30/11/2011 at 12:07 dragonhunter21 says:
Although I will admit that the chances of a resonance cascade scenario are highly unlikely…
02/12/2011 at 02:12 bonuswavepilot says:
Yes!
“Resonance Cascade” is one of my very favouritest bits of technobabble ever.
29/11/2011 at 16:08 SirKicksalot says:
So much talent wasted on these things.
29/11/2011 at 16:38 skinlo says:
No talent has been wasted on this.
29/11/2011 at 16:10 caddyB says:
Mesa like this.
Yes I’m “that” terrible.
29/11/2011 at 19:28 jackelope says:
I see what you did there, Jar Jar.
29/11/2011 at 16:14 Poppis says:
Black Mesa Source, where are you?
29/11/2011 at 16:34 ResonanceCascade says:
I’m sure they’ll be done before 2016. On a plus note, I was snooping around there the other day, and the overhauls they’ve done to the art design are pretty awesome. You can see where the time between 2009 and now went.
29/11/2011 at 16:58 Gnoupi says:
The risk is that Half Life 3 releases before. Of course.
29/11/2011 at 17:02 mod the world says:
Coming soon.
29/11/2011 at 17:18 Revolve says:
Anyone else think this would have been even better without music?
Made it feel almost like a parody somehow to me. Still awesome though.
29/11/2011 at 17:44 maninahat says:
I’m going to be the odd one out and say I didn’t like it. I didn’t see any point to it, I thought it was over dramatic and I found the CGI effects and Abrams glare obnoxious.
A lot of talent and time obviously went into this, so I feel bad about bad mouthing it. But I think it was a waste by not actually having anything happen. It didn’t tell a story, it didn’t establish a character, it didn’t do anything.
29/11/2011 at 17:55 Zarunil says:
Lovely dialogue.
29/11/2011 at 18:03 Fitzmogwai says:
A Resonance Cascade? We’re done here.
29/11/2011 at 20:57 Sigvatr says:
Does Gordon speak? Please tell me he does not say anything.
29/11/2011 at 22:06 Armante says:
No. He does not speak.
29/11/2011 at 22:08 Armante says:
ZOMG VaLvE are making HALF LIFE the MOVIE??!?!!
oh – wait..
Actually, I’d watch that, but would probably find it lacking in interactivity :)
nicely done, I thought.
29/11/2011 at 22:30 Synesthesia says:
Hey, this is nice. The 3d needs a lot of work, but the first composite works were great. And i fucking love anything that has to do with Cave Johnson. If you have not read his entire timeline, go do it now. And never buy shower curtains from him again.
02/12/2011 at 00:00 Dave Mongoose says:
Yea, loved that little name tag reference :).
01/12/2011 at 10:05 Contrafibularity says:
Well done. Reminds me to have a look at some of the last fan films. “What’s in the box?” is still the best of the HL inspired films imo.
youtu.be/Cu4VIhsUQtE