Hunt Down the Freeman

If I had to describe Hunt Down the Freeman in a sentence, I'd say "it's a beautiful masterpiece that no one should go without playing at least once in their life." Hunt Down The Freeman is a mod made with passion, blood, sweat and tears. In fact, the developers weren't the only ones shedding tears. At the end of the whole story, I was deeply moved and just simply couldn't hold the tears in. The story, although very complex, is explained to its fullest, and is even understandable by the people who put in the least amount of attention, leaving it a fun experience for all gamers, both young or old, both new to Half-Life and decades-old veterans. The protagonist, Mitchell is an edgy badass that even the people with large amounts of decency and self-respect could look up to. You could really put yourself in his shoes while he experiences the impact of the Resonance Cascade, the Portal Storms and even the Seven Hour War. The best thing - you're in for all of it.

Another amazing thing that Hunt Down The Freeman does is the use of cutscenes. Not only do you get a videogame for your 10 pounds spent, but you also get a movie with full professional voice acting. You really feel like you're in the room while Mitchell, Colonel Cue, Larry, Nick, Adam and Pyrocynical huddle around a small radio as the president of the big ol' freedom-lovin' United States makes an announcement about a strategic decision to surrender to the alien forces known as the Combine. Each second of a cutscene, you feel an inner waking of your emotions, tugging at your heartstrings. And it'll be a tugging you won't forget. This story will live forever in your heart, it's so good.

Thirdly, the level design is just simply impeccable. The graphics immerse you in ways that others mods (and even games) fail to do so. The graphics have been ramped up so much, that an orange cone, yes, an orange cone, has sixteen times the polygons of Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2. Travelling through Black Mesa, you are astounded as to the level of quality that the developers have put in. Even Black Mesa hasn't put in so much effort. When you are introduced to Albuquerque, you genuinely feel like you're in the downtown of Albuquerque, and you almost expect a 1986 Fleetwood Bounder to come out of nowhere and to have Walter and Jesse inside. The level detailing is intricate and detailed, yet maintaining the balance of not having it too easy to find the right way to go. Everything has a proper way to go.

A thing to point out - obviously Berkan and his team couldn't cram the years and weeks between the events of Half-Life, so everything is precisely and concisely cut in such a way that quickly and efficiently gets to the point where it is still believable, the time jumps. For example, Mitchell gets knocked out at Black Mesa during the time of the Resonance Cascade before waking up in a hospital in Albuquerque, at the time of the Seven Hour War, or how Gordon Freeman ends up in the green and brown Outlands with a jeep, well before the Citadel explodes. It cuts out the boring, menial parts of Half-Life 2 and keeps it all to action, which was definitely a good choice.

The gunplay is also very engaging, with HDTF having a dozen weapons to choose from, with a never-seen before inventory management system. Everything from your simple AK-47 to a handful of painkillers, everything has its own place within the story, and everything has its own use, something it excels at that no other weapon does. You're expected to switch between weapons almost every second as you frantically try to fight off the alien invasion. Ofcourse, it has features that you would expect from any shooter, like proning and leaning to fire, but it even has a parkour system, which, although underused, feels really fluid and is fun and engaging to use.

And finally, Hunt Down the Freeman has impeccable voice actors. You have the star himself, Killer Keemstar, and other well-known talents within the cast, like I Hate Everything and Pyrocynical, but obviously none as good as the voice actor for the one and only G-Man, who said Black Mesa in the one true way. Simply put, if you haven't tried Hunt Down the Freeman, you have made a grave mistake with your time, one that you shall only atone for with playing Hunt Down the Freeman.