When talking about people's favorite moments in Half-Life 2, chances are that many will mention Ravenholm, the abandoned mining town whereby the game suddenly shifts into a horror experience. Its popularity as a level was going to be explored in Arkane Studio's Half-Life spin-off, but sadly, this was cancelled and fans' hopes of a continuation were dashed. However, there is a mod coming out which looks as though it will explore the spooky town in more depth, with a demo just releasing.
Called "We Don't Go To Ravenholm" after the name of the original chapter from Half-Life 2, the add-on is being created by 3stripedkilla and aims to bring the "familiar feel," as well as the general atmosphere of the classic area, to players. A number of images on ModDB show the current work-in-progress, and many fans of the main game will instantly recognize the eerie map. Judging by the developer updates, it looks as though the mod has been in the works for just over a year now. Currently, there is no launch date for the full release, but as mentioned above, a demo is now available.
It's good to see that, after all these years, there are still plenty of excellent Half-Life 2 mods coming out. At 18 years old, Valve's phenomenal FPS is still making waves in the community. Ravenholm is by far one of the most memorable aspects of the game, spinning the sci-fi theme on its head and forcing players to work their way through the abandoned town, with nothing but the encouraging and authoritative words of Father Grigori to guide them through. It's no wonder that the likes of 3stripedkilla and Arkane wanted to see more of it.
Containing what many consider to be one of the best opening cutscenes in gaming, Half-Life 2 wasn't just a successful sequel to its iconic predecessor. To some people, it pretty much surpassed it. As a result, it's gone down as a landmark entry in the first-person shooting genre, with particular praise for its environmental storytelling.
Of course, the original 1998 release, which was Valve's first ever game, is still being played to this day as well. With Half-Life fans gearing up to beat the concurrent player record on Steam, there is evidently still a lot of love for these two iconic titles. The demo of "We Don't Go To Ravenholm" will hopefully provide a taste of things to come from 3stripedkilla, and it's proof that nearly two decades later, fans are more than happy to keep returning to the antics of Gordon Freeman.
Half-Life 2 was released in 2004 and is available on Mobile, PC, PS3, Xbox, and Xbox 360.
