USS Darkstar
Mod for Half-Life (1998) | Category: Custom Campaign
Author: Black Widow Games | Curator: Modbadger
Mod for Half-Life (1998) | Category: Custom Campaign
Author: Black Widow Games | Curator: Modbadger
USS Darkstar is a cult mod for Half-Life where you find yourself aboard a "Zoological Research Vessel" studying alien creatures. It all starts as a routine scientific mission, but eventually escalates into a tense adventure in the confined space of a spaceship full of unexpected threats.
Localizations:
Localizations:
The mod is localized into 1 language
(You don’t need to download anything extra to play in these languages)
Narrow corridors, strange laboratories, glass aquariums with humanoid creatures... The atmosphere is captivating - you immediately feel like a passenger on an alien ship where something has gone terribly wrong. The maps are well-designed but sometimes confusing - you might need to pause for a moment to figure out where to go next. But once you do - it's pure enjoyment.
The story doesn't aim for deep drama; rather, it's a fun, slightly parodic homage to other sci-fi works. The levels constantly change - one moment you're quietly exploring a cabin, the next an aquarium suddenly shatters and water floods everything around. Sometimes you can tell the script is simplistic, NPCs behave a bit oddly, and some locations look rough around the edges, but this is more than compensated by that Half-Life spirit - fresh ideas and genuine enjoyment from playing through it.
USS Darkstar is a classic old-school mod, without shiny HD textures, but with soul. It's not a masterpiece by today's standards, but it really deserves attention: atmospheric, slightly crazy, with original touches (like working showers or toilets, strange little details that stick with you). And most importantly - it still feels fresh even after decades.
If you enjoy unusual Half-Life mods that offer more atmosphere and surprises than graphical sophistication - USS Darkstar is definitely for you.
How to install a mod USS Darkstar
Run the installer and follow the installation steps.
Make sure the darkstar mod folder is located in the game's root directory.
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
References
