Half-Life: Induction

NOOOOOOO!

That was my initial reaction when I realized I was going to play another "Gordon Freeman in Black Mesa" mod.

But, guess what? It turned out to be good. In fact it's perhaps one of the best takes on the BMRF theme.

The concept is quite original: instead of portraying the hackneyed resonance cascade and its consequences once again, this mod travels back in time to the moment when Gordon, newly arrived at the facilities, began his promising career  (by running down its corridors wreaking havoc, of course). A prequel of some sort. Half-Life 0. An acceptable English voice acting (the mod is Russian-made) was added to it in 2022, years after its original release, so there are no impediments to play it now.

After a warm welcome by the beloved and equally annoying Barney, Gordon is taken to employee processing, fills some paperwork, is shown around, and we even witness some scenes of his scientific research routine (acting as a lab rat in dangerous experiments, of course; he's the greenest one after all). And not much else, as this mod lasts only 20 minutes. But you are left yearning for more, and that's a good sign.

Upon checking the high quality of the mapping, the many hours that the authors must have devoted to it become evident. The layouts are nice and there are details everywhere, plus some easter eggs hidden at certain places. The latter are actually part of an "achievement" system and, while none are protected by devilish puzzles, only the most observant players will manage to unlock them all.

Of course, there's absolutely no combat at all, but I hardly noticed, busy as I was getting loads of fun. But not enough to make it my favorite HL mod (I don't think I could ever grant that title to anything taking place in Black Mesa). It's well made, yes, but too short, and there aren't enough motives to replay it after getting all achievements.

I can't think of anything particularly questionable, but I did find a curious bug: NPCs would sometimes run instead of walk, with comical results.

On a second thought, this mod makes use of characters taken from Half-Life 2 in order to establish continuity with the series. And, while we may be years away from my future HL2 review, let me say this now: I didn't like the story and I think it's a horrible sequel in that aspect, so dropping a few of its "celebrities" here and there wasn't a welcome addition for me. Not a plus, but a minus.

That's a silly little detail, anyway, that shouldn't keep you from enjoying this jewel. Can you get a 100%?

Playing

ModDB.