Valve may have released Half-Life 2 nearly two decades ago, but the award-winning first-person shooter still has an active community of players and modders. Taking place 20 years after the events of the first game, players again take on the role of Half-Life’s silent protagonist Gordon Freeman as he joins up with Dr. Eli Vance, his daughter Alyx, and the resistance movement.
Over the years, there have been countless mods released for the sci-fi shooter, reinvigorating the game and keeping players interested. Recently, a gamer going by the name of Twi released a Half-Life 2 mod that adds new weapons and enemies. Fans have also recreated specific areas of the game, such as Ravenholm or the opening area’s apartment complex, using more modern engines like Unreal Engine 4.
Four years ago, developer Gagnetar created a Half-Life 2 mod that added Krystal from the Star Fox series of spaceship third-person shooters to the game. A fan-created model of Krystal replaces Half-Life 2’s Alyx Vance, and it’s definitely entertaining to see the blue humanoid fox do all the actions that Alyx usually performs, such as introducing Gordon to her pet robot, Dog. Another interesting point about the mod is that Gagnetar is in the process of having Alyx’s dialogue re-recorded by voice actor Estelle Ellis, who played Krystal in 2002’s Star Fox Adventures.
Estelle Ellis appeared in a number of games from that time period, including Rare's first-person shooter Perfect Dark Zero and Grabbed by the Ghoulies. She also voiced Queen Earthwalker and Mother Thorntail in Star Fox Adventures. Ellis’ work in Perfect Dark Zero in 2005 was the last time she was credited as a voice actor in a video game. However, Gagnetar has been in communication with Ellis over the years, and she agreed to come out of retirement to voice the lines for Krystal in the Half-Life 2 mod. So Gagnetar sent her a microphone, and the pair are currently working to get all of the dialogue re-recorded.
Alyx’s lines in the Half-Life 2 mod were also slightly rewritten to better fit the new character. For example, lines where Alyx and Eli Vance would refer to each other as father and daughter understandably would no longer make sense in a conversation with Krystal. Gagnetar has stated that, while the project is still a work in progress, they plan on releasing the Half-Life 2 mod on September 23, which will mark the 23rd anniversary of Star Fox Adventures.
Half-Life 2 released in 2004 and is available on Mobile, PC, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360.
Source: Polygon