The probably soon-to-be-renamed Half-Life: Loop is an unofficial HL twin-stick shooter set in Black Mesa. It locks Gordon Freeman into a series of challenges to prove to the G-Man he’s the right man for the job, using the classic Half-Life enemies and crates to craft an endless, violent job interview. No wonder he was so handy with a crowbar. He’d already passed the test!
Developer Daniel Almenara’s top-down tribute is a series of rooms that’ll provide Gordon with fights, puzzles and platforms to pass. The footage is pretty low-key: swiping zombies, leaping headcrabs, and in the middle of it all the Freeman thwacks away. I think he’s managing to capture the feeling of the OG GoldSrc game well enough, and it’ll be interesting to see if the top-down perspective can take Half-Life into places it’s never been before. He showed off zombie companions in one Patreon update.
There’s been progress since the trailer. It was this demonstration of the Gluon Gun that caught my attention in the first place. It’s a gif you can hear, and it bodes well for the rest of the Half-Life armoury. I’m sure the words “Tau Cannon” are underlined on the development whiteboard. Get that right and you’re 90% done.
I don’t imagine Valve will have a problem with anything but the name. Black Mesa the game is called that because they weren’t allowed to use Half-Life in the title, so I hope he uses a few of his Patreon posts spitballing a new title. The sooner that’s locked down the better.