Life's End
Mod for Half-Life (1998) | Category: Custom Campaign
Author: KingDaniel | Curator: Modbadger
Mod for Half-Life (1998) | Category: Custom Campaign
Author: KingDaniel | Curator: Modbadger
Life's End is a large-scale fan campaign for Half-Life that immediately stands out with its unusual approach to storytelling. Unlike most other projects, the focus here is not only on shootouts and familiar elements from the original, but also on absurdity, irony, and unexpected plot twists.
Localizations:
Localizations:
The mod is localized into 1 language
(You don’t need to download anything extra to play in these languages)
The player is invited to look at the Black Mesa disaster through the eyes of Luther Johnson — a scientist who was late for work on the most inappropriate day. It's this seemingly simple change of perspective that creates the foundation for unusual storytelling, where familiar events intertwine with absurd situations.
The mod contains plenty of humor and unconventional scenes that break away from the familiar Half-Life canon. Here you can encounter satirical posters, get lost in a bar-maze, and at certain moments — experience vivid hallucinations that turn gameplay into true surrealism. Particularly notable is an episode in "Star Trek" style, which looks unexpected but fits organically into the project's overall tone.
The authors have done extensive work: the levels look well-thought-out, sufficiently detailed, and technically polished. The locations allow for navigation without unnecessary difficulties. However, in some places the design becomes monotonous, creating an impression of long corridors that look similar to each other. Despite this, the overall quality of the maps remains high.
The gameplay is built on combining classic Half-Life elements with new details. Shootouts, puzzles, and scripted scenes are executed with good balance. There's no feeling of "just another set of levels" — the campaign tries to surprise and hold your attention until the very end.
Playing through all 35 new maps takes approximately 4-6 hours — enough for the mod to show all its strengths without becoming tiresome. Many call Life's End an example of what a fan project should be: long enough but not drawn out, restrained yet not lacking bold ideas.
Life's End is a mod that stays in memory thanks to its combination of classic and surrealism. It offers an unconventional view of Black Mesa events, skillfully plays with expectations, and adds humor, absurdity, and vivid scenes to the familiar story. Despite some monotonous moments in level design, the campaign feels cohesive and high-quality.
If you're looking for a quality adventure with unexpected twists, Life's End is worth your attention.
How to install a mod Life's End
Extract the LifesEnd folder and place it into the root directory of the game.
It's also recommended to install the unofficial Life's End 2023 Fix patch so the mod works properly on the latest game versions.
Launch the game, go to the Change game menu, and select the mod.
Play!
To avoid entering the "Change game" menu every time you start the mod, you can:
Option 1: Launch via shortcut
Go to the properties of hl.exe and in the Target field (for example: "D:\Games\Half-Life\hl.exe") add a space and then write -game followed by the name of the mod folder in the game root directory. It should look like this: "D:\Games\Half-Life\hl.exe" -game mod_folder_name
Apply the changes.
Launch the mod using this shortcut.
Option 2: Launch via Steam
Open Steam, click on the "Games" menu > "Add a Non-Steam Game".
Browse to the game folder and select hl.exe.
A shortcut will appear in your library.
Right-click on it, select Properties, and in the "Launch Options" field write the full path to hl.exe (for example: "D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life\hl.exe") and add -game plus the mod folder name after a space. It should look like this: "D:\Games\Half-Life\hl.exe" -game mod_folder
