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There's no escaping the reality that practically every product of humanity under the sun is inspired by or derivative of something else. As a matter of fact, ever since the advent of the Internet, many people have embraced the notion by creating and sharing mash-ups of their favorite intellectual properties. For instance, we've been privy to some fun fan creations like The Legend of Zelda re-imagined as Game of Thrones, as well as a parody of Portal done in the vein of the Mass Effect universe.

While the aforementioned send-ups of such famous IPs are only compiled footage, it's more than likely that neither of them will actually come to fruition as any kind of playable entity. If that were the case, Half-Life fans would probably be begging independent developers to try and bring some sort of unofficial Half-Life sequel built with a Doom shell into existence. Nevertheless, there are already some Half-Life inspired remakes that have attempted to sate gamers until HL3 eventually comes out, such as the fan-made remake entitled Black Mesa.

Now, by bearing gamers' love for scientist slash inadvertent savior Gordon Freeman in mind, the video game modder and designer Thomas Kole is looking to take the idea of mash-ups a step further. As evidenced in the above video, he has married the worlds of Valve's iconic Half-Life series and Dennaton Games' rambunctious kill-spree shooter Hotline Miami in a production that is cleverly titled Half-Line Miami.

Although Half-Life 1 & 2 are both FPS titles, and Hotline Miami 1 & 2 are top-down shooters, the blend of both universes works remarkably well. By giving Gordon Freeman's adventures the Hotline Miami treatment, the crossover allows for some fast-paced arcade-style blasting tinged with Valve's visionary speculative science fiction. Furthermore, Kole's recreation of Half-Life enemy sound effects and gunfire are nearly flawless. Plus, the Free Man's landmark Gravity Gun makes an appearance, and causes some serious destruction.

With the trailer being chock-full of action, there's no doubt that gamers will want to properly experience the title rather than live vicariously through the video. Thankfully, Kole writes on the upcoming release's IndieDB page that most everything is completed. Additionally, the game designer goes on to explain in the YouTube clip's notes section that it will eventually become available for free "somewhere" soon.

Regarding the issue of availability, Kole says:

"Most gameplay stuff is done, [so] now it's down to making maps. I've got 4 maps now, Point Insertion, Route Kanal, Water Hazard, and a bonus level. All physics interactions work as expected, [and] all gameplay elements are in place. All that's left to do is replacing the sound system, as it currently only works on Windows 8, and cleaning up some code."

Despite the fact that all Half-Life ideas, images, and likenesses are owned by Valve, the developer is typically pretty cool about fan creations, so perhaps Half-Line Miami will make an appearance on Steam sometime in the near future. If anything, surely Kole could release it through another willing marketplace once the game's finished in its entirety.

Source: IndieDB (via GamesRadar)