For a nerdy scientist, Gordon Freeman quickly proved himself a capable warrior. Xen creatures couldn’t kill him. The US military couldn’t stop him. Striders couldn’t zap him. Assassins, attack helicopters, explosions, radioactive waste, interdimensional monsters and even an entire army of Combine soldiers couldn’t stand in his way.
In the end, the only thing that could stop Gordon Freeman was his creator. After all he survived, Valve put the fatal, final bullet in his dome by simply never releasing Half-Life 2: Episode 3.
It’s not like I’m still waiting for it after all these years, but I don’t think I’ve ever really been 100% okay with the last chapter in Freeman’s story gone full vaporware. But that just changed. After playing Half-Life 2 mod Entropy: Zero 2, I finally found out that we will never get Half-Life 2: Episode 3. The mod is inventive, surprising and packed with cool Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Life stuff, including some of what we expected to see in the missing Episode 3. It delivers what Valve decided not to. And oddly enough, you don’t even play as Gordon Freeman in this mod. You play as a Combine soldier.
The free mod from developer Breadman, which you can find here at Steamis a sequel to Entropy: Zero (also: free on steam), where you played as a Combine metrocop in City 10, months before Freeman even got off the train. In Entropy: Zero 2 you pick up the story as the same metropolitan and spend an enjoyable intro sequence strolling through Combine HQ. It’s nice to see behind the curtain, where cops not only interrogate human prisoners, but also perform menial tasks like sweeping floors, changing light bulbs, and making snide remarks under the breath (which, given their voices are monotonous mechanical transmissions, are pretty loud). Your first job isn’t a glamorous job either, as you’ll be sent into the air ducts (usually a spot reserved for action heroes) to clear some head scratches with your tranquilizer stick.
But soon you’ll have earned a promotion to Combine Elite and you’ll be sent to Nova Prospekt. Unlike the original Entropy: Zero, the timeline has shifted to post-Freeman. Nova Prospekt is a mess because the renegade scientist recently stormed through it with an army of antlions, and many of them are still scurrying around. Like Freeman, you can assemble a team of helpers from the Combine soldiers and give them orders, which is crazy fun. They’ve been my enemies for so long, it’s somehow endearing that they support me.
And while you may look like any other Combine Elite, your character is on a real adventure, complete with a storyline, a real personality (unlike Freeman, he talks, and he’s quite funny at times), and even a nemesis. Another Combine Elite occasionally appears on TV screens and tries to hinder your progress. Why? Who is this mysterious soldier, why does he seem to know you and what does he want? It all happens when you go from Nova Prospekt to the frozen north in search of the insidious investigator Judith Mossman.
There are several great set pieces that, like Freeman’s own adventures, range from massive combat missions to quiet puzzle sessions to horror-based experiences as you find yourself alone in the dark with Xen monsters. Like Portal 2, you even get a chatty, comedic help partner for a while, and best of all, there are missions to blast your way through Rebel outposts and strongholds with the full power of the Combine behind you. It’s damn exciting to launch missiles from an APC while getting air support from Combine helicopters and dropships. Even fighters, those unnerving mini-striders from Half-Life 2: Episode 2 are on your side, and it’s odd enough to see all that alien hardware and synthware fighting for you and not against you. The first time I saw rebels fleeing with rollermines chasing them instead of me, I whispered “Hell yeah” to myself. It’s so much fun being on the bad guy’s team.
There are also some nice new weapons in addition to the standard Combine gear, such as an experimental grenade that can suck up objects and enemies in the Xen dimension… although it also tends to spit out something in return. Usually a Xen monster, so step briskly when you pull the pin. And you can also kick through doors and even knock weapons out of a Rebel’s hands. Can Gordon Freeman kick? No. And Entropy: Zero 2 ultimately delivers on at least one of HL2:E3’s promises: the Borealis. The research ship that floated in the Half-Life mythos to become a legend simply because we’d heard about it, but never visited it in the official games.
Entropy: Zero 2 is fantastic. Play it! It has everything you could want from Half-Life 2: Episode 3, except Gordon Freeman. And thanks to this mod, I feel like I don’t really need it anymore.
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