Reviews - They Hunger mod for Half-Life

The best Half Life mod Of all the time

I will never forgot about this mod

This is one of the best mods (and games) I've ever played. Amazing combination of horror and humor. I love it so much, that I'm currently working on remake, that were suspended by original performer. 10/10!

God, where do I begin? Well, first off, I'll just say that my review for this game was long in coming - nearly 15 years to be exact...

Long ago, in the days of dial-up, before "Let's Play" videos were invented and walkthroughs were written in notepad, I had my dad download this trilogy at work and put it on a disc for me, along with "Wanted!" and the pre-retail version of "Day of Defeat". All three episodes, mind you, and wow...I was blown away. Shared it with my friends. One of the very first mods I played - even knew the ending credits song by heart. Atmosphere is what made the game, above all else, as well as the creative re-skinning and fun story. Mind you, this was long, long before the zombie craze of the late "Oughts", so something like this was fresh, especially in the context it was presented...I had remember reading of it in PCGamer when it was included with an issue and the whole thing really intrigued my 10-year-old mind, but it wasn't until much later that I got my hands on it. God, the memories - a turning point in life, surely. Looking back, I'd say it was even one of the catalyzing elements which put me on the path I'm on now.

This has to be the best Half Life mod I have ever played, amazing story, monsters, etc. I can tell so much love was put into this mod! It's even better with the add on's :)

A really creepy and wonderfully made Half-Life mod!

Just amazing!

Really good long mod. (Had no idea it was commissioned by PCGamer, pretty neat).
Got confused in the 2nd episode but really enjoyed it regardless.

End of 90’s is often mentioned as the golden era of FPS games, and not without a reason. Games like Doom, Quake and Half Life are the top must-know examples of this, but less fame is attributed to some outstanding mods for those games. They Hunger, developed between 1999 and 2001 by Neil Menke and Black Widow Games, was one of the first proofs that an acclaimed game’s reskinned mod can be as good as a standalone release. With an ambience resembling B-Horror movies, a captivating story and dynamic gameplay and puzzles, this mod has the well deserved reputation as one of the best HL mods.

Most of graphic background is original and ambiented on a small town. There are also a variety of backgrounds that change quite fittingly as you progress: churches, cripts, railways, towns, water facilities, asylums. However, open areas are extremely wide compared to the amount of zombies that spawn, so they look a bit dull and boring to pass through. Places like towns and police stations are the best because of its balance between gameplay and gloomy ambience. It's true that zombies' constant moaning is a bit monotonous, but I don't think it ruins the gameplay experience of tension/survival horror. It should be noted that most models are original and resemble characters that often appear in B-Horror movies, but aren't very well worked and look sometimes a bit cartoony. A good example is the male zombie, whose low quality skin of exposed flesh and blood makes him look like a poorly developed clown. On the other side, we can find models like giant bulls that are very original and fit well with ambiences like destroyed farms or abandoned asylums. There's a wide range of environments that at a first glance one doesn't even imagine.

They Hunger's story has a simple premise and could be even well-known among classical horror movies, but its fitting with varied places can turn out to be interesting and have unexpected plot twists. It's a shame that its narrative is hindered by poor voice acting, which is the most detrimental factor even when dialogues are simple but effective. One has to have in mind that, from the beggining to the very end, They Hunger is narrated almost like a horror movie where you are the protagonist. The mod itself is not scary, but I think is good to play it with that concept in mind because it combines survival horror with filming plot techniques that are cultural references to movies of its time or a bunch of decades before.

Among all factors, I think that gameplay is the weakest although not necessarily bad, and even if it fails to achieve the action of Half-Life or the horror and jumpscares of other well-known HL mods, its balance with a well paced change of scenarios makes it feel a bit fresh compared to Half-Life. Puzzles start simple and most encounters with enemies are straightforward shoot 'em up, but as game progresses puzzles get harder and certain enemies are very challenging, specially in higher difficulties, requiring some strategy and the advanced movement we already know from original Half-Life. The final bosses feel very climatic, but unfortunately is next to impossible to beat them in hard difficulty. Also there isn't a wide range of weapons to pick, but that increases the challenge and makes sense given the classical horror ambience of the mod. Most of them are simple reskins (except for nice additions like the wrench and the shovel), but doesn't feel really gamebreaking. However a painful feature that is all over Episode 3 is backtracking. Even with some differences, walking to the same area over and over gets increasingly tedious.

It's difficult to give a general view of all 3 episodes of They Hunger because each one of them has its strengths and its flaws. The game start simple in its story and gameplay, but gets more interesting and increasingly difficult as you play. All of this immersed in a spooky and gloomy atmosphere. If you are a fan of Half-Life and its mods, They Hunger is one of those classical must-play, even if it feels a bit old.

best hl horror mod.

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