Half-Life: Post-Human

Half-Life: Post-Human offers a completely fresh perspective on the Black Mesa disaster. The protagonist is 28-year-old Derek O. Manson, a member of a research team at the "Oasis" base in Xen. After the resonance cascade, the base is reduced to ruins — and Derek suffers the worst of it: a headcrab latches onto his head. Someone blasts it off with a shotgun, and Derek survives thanks to a Xen healing pool, but his body is left hideously mutilated and partially mutated. Now he must fight his way back to the research complex — and face new threats along the way.

The mod features around 16 chapters, including an alternate ending, and offers meticulously detailed locations — from half-destroyed old laboratories and transit platforms to Black Mesa's residential sectors, complete with their own shopping mall and recreation areas.

Key gameplay features:

• The game implements a survival and hunger system — you must keep an eye on your satiety bar, which depletes over 15 minutes. To restore strength and heal serious injuries, you'll need to eat regular food or... fallen enemies.

• You can damage individual body parts, and injuries apply serious debuffs: reduced movement speed, heavy weapon sway, HUD flickering, and concussion effects. Damage types have been overhauled — poison and nerve gas deal damage over time, and bleeding has been added, which can only be stopped with a tourniquet.

• Weapons feature realistic ballistics with surface penetration and ricochet mechanics. Grenades have been moved to a dedicated button via an off-hand system — you can throw fragmentation, flashbang, and incendiary grenades, as well as deploy mines and signal flares, all without putting away your primary weapon.

• The HUD is styled after the Half-Life 2 Beta, featuring a dynamic crosshair that expands when running, jumping, or firing continuously, along with a redesigned ammo display.

• For fans of tactical shooters, a dedicated hardcore mode is available. It completely changes the pace of combat, turning the game into a grueling ordeal: fire rate and weapon damage are tied to caliber, enemies have proper armor, and any wound risks rapid blood loss. The developers make no promises of player-friendly balance.

Enemies and Weapons

The original game's arsenal has been fully overhauled both visually and functionally. Six brand-new weapons join the classic lineup, including the M249 machine gun, the M727 carbine, and a powerful railgun manufactured by Black Mesa.

Derek will face not only familiar foes but also enemies cut from the original expansions. HECU soldiers have received new specializations — medics, engineers, and heavy assault troops — as well as a uniform contamination system when operating outdoors. Black Mesa is now also guarded by its own SWAT unit, whose operatives make active use of flashbangs, smoke, and railguns. The aliens have been revamped as well: Agrунts, for example, sport an updated model from the SEGA Dreamcast beta and come in 14 armor color variants.

Technical Side

The mod is built on the advanced Trinity renderer, enabling modern shader-based water visually reminiscent of the original's software rendering, an advanced particle system for fire and explosion simulation, blood splatter on wounded NPCs, and a special night vision mode that highlights organic tissue and blood trails. The engine still supports classic WAD decals, preserving the spirit of the original game.

Release

The mod is being developed by a small team, so even an approximate release date for Half-Life: Post-Human remains unknown. What is known is that the first of the planned 16 chapters is already complete.