One seriously devoted fan of Halo: Combat Evolved recreates the most famous map from Bungie's first-person shooter in Valve's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player and obvious Halo: Combat Evolved fan going by the handle Itszu decided to recreate what is arguably one of the latter's best multiplayer maps and port it into the former. Painstakingly reproduced – with a few changes here and there to retain the integrity of certain areas in CS:GO like bomb sites and buy zones – the Halo: Combat Evolved map known as Blood Gulch has been reborn into Valve's team-based shooter.
As most Halo fans will attest, Blood Gulch has been the site of many epic struggles, and has borne many rivalries amongst friends and foes alike, so it's great to see that Itszu has paid such close attention to detail in the map's recreation, as seen in the gallery below. Regarding the details of its construction, the Counter-Strike player wrote:
“All level geometry is hand-done, including brushwork and displacements. Textures have been modified as needed to support Source’s unique texture parameters. All scenery (rocks, trees) ported with Wall Worm Model Tools from Gearbox’s level assets for Halo: Custom Edition, with hand-done custom collisions to conform to Source’s convex requirements. Some textures are heavily modified from the original, and others are entirely new due to differences in texture tech between halo’s Blam engine and Source 2013.”
[gallery columns="2" link="file" ids="283108,283109,283110,283111,283112,283113"]
Itszu's reproduction of the famous level can be downloaded in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's Steam Workshop and the original can be experienced in the very first Halo. However, should fans not have an account for Valve's video game marketplace, they can also play Blood Gulch in Halo: Reach, as developers recognized its extreme popularity and added it to the prequel. Of course, it's also possible for players to try their hand at a refined and revamped version of the area in the recently released Halo: Master Chief Collection's Bloodline map.
While Blood Gulch has been treated to different iterations over the years, Halo itself has also hosted other video game levels beyond the realm of its sci-fi shooter universe. In fact, just yesterday, an incredibly gifted Redditor recreated the Banjo-Kazooie location called Spiral Mountain in Halo 5. Even though the platformer's appearance in 343 Industries' most recent release was odd to say the least, the artistry was decidedly wonderful. But as far as fan recreations go, some might argue that it's not as consummately designed as Itszu's version of Blood Gulch.
What do you think about Itszu's recreation of Halo's Blood Gulch in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive? Does it give you a hankering to take a trip down Nostalgia Lane and revisit your old copy of Combat Evolved? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Halo: Combat Evolved can be played on PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is available on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
Source: Itszu's Steam Workshop – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (via Kotaku)