Then it might look a little bit like this… which is to say: it would look fantastic.
This recreation of City 17 (the opening train station, to be more exact) comes from Polycount user Logithx, and damn if it doesn’t make you crave either a prettified remake of Half-Life 2, or, you know, Half-Life 3 itself.
It’s also a work-in-progress which currently has placeholder models, textures and lighting — and yet, despite that, these recreations/reimaginings still look great. Check it out:
Thing is, these are only going to look better in the future — Logithx made these in UDK, and wants to make em in Unreal Engine 4, which will improve the way everything looks. Can’t wait to see what the project looks like then!
[via Timothy Johnson]
Comments
30 responses to “If Half-Life 2 Were Remade Today”
Black Mesa 2.0? I’ll check back in 5 years then 😉
I tried to start playing Half Life 2 about a year ago and I was shocked by how old it looked (the Xbox 360 version).
It’s easy to forget how old the game actually is!
A remake would actually be kinda cool I suppose, as long as it wasn’t Valve that did it and it came out within a reasonable timeframe from Half-Life 3.
I know I’d like an refresher course in Half Life 2, a nice couple of months before HL3 thanks.
Yeah, amazing how our nostalgia goggles can smooth out those jagged edges and beef up the textures.
I played it for the first time in 2012. Amazed how the graphics held up
I played it last year and thought the same thing.
I think it still looks amazing – the definition of the argument that design counts more than detail. The way those Striders stalk you, and how well the architecture reflects the world in ruin… It may not have the best textures, but goddamn does that game suck you in.
Indeed.
That’s interesting, HL2 didn’t suck me in even half as much as HL1. I found the design really dull by comparison, and didn’t feel like an actual world.
I *believed* half-life when it came out, it felt totally real and completely immersive.
That’s also because it’s a direct port of the original Xbox version. If you play Episodes 1 & 2 (2 especially) you’ll notice a marked graphical improvement in comparison to that version of HL2.
I’m glad you mentioned the xbox 360 version, because it was a bag of dicks.
i did the same thing on pc except i was blown away by how good it still looks.
Really, I thought it looked pretty crappy last time I played it. It is damn old now.
Forget remaking HL2, remake the original, much stronger story, better twists and just more fun all round.
I would love to go back and play that game with today’s tech.
Dude, you need to check out Black Mesa! It exists already!
http://www.blackmesasource.com/
… and it’s excellent.
Hooray!
Aww its not finished yet. But my gawd I’m enjoying it!
If you have a beefy PC you should give the Cinematic Mod a try. http://www.cinematicmod.com
The upgrade to the Orange Box engine in 2010 really helped smooth out some of the rough edges. It looks pretty tired in many areas – the textures particularly – but the strength of the original art and level design still shines through.
It looks Ok i guess, not really a WOW factor for me, textures could be a bit better
But TBH, i cant tell the diff between this and Cinematic Mod (CM uses higher res textures IIRC)
…it would look exactly like the map “Garbage” from STALKER: SHOC with the STALKER Complete mod installed?
There’s a graphic enhancement mod that people have/still making, it’s for half life 2 I believe. Makes the game look 10x better than the original. Can’t remember what it’s called though.
Meh..
the hl2 enviroment was boring and not imersive.
hl1 on the other hand wasnt. Cant wait for Blackmesa mod to hit steam officially.
By todays standards, i’d agree its pretty boring, but back in 2004, the scale of the environments and sense of isolation and emptiness (probably not intentional. lol) really shone through IMO
I’d love to see a HD version of Halflife 1 and 2 released if Valve aren’t going to give us Half Life 3.
Go get “Black Mesa” – it’s HL1 recreated with the Source engine. Absolutely brilliant, and free!
EA bought the rights to HL3
are you referring to the april fools stunt, or do you actually have a source link lol
yeh april fools stunt
twas a joke
Just download the Cinematic Mod