Half-Life 2 has been around for more than 5 years now and there's already been a ton of HL2 single-player (SP) and multi-player (MP) mods. Some never make it pass the designing stage while some never really took off. That didn't stop fitzroy_doll from making CSS Sci-Fi 3: Hardwired, a single-player mod for HL2 that combines both HL2 and CSS at the same time. Combining two awesome games into one mod is a very daunting task and usually the expectations are high. Let's check out this new single-player mod for HL2 by fitzroy_doll.

Requirements

• Half-Life 2 
• Counter-Strike Source
• 1GB HDD extra space (after HL2 and CSS installs)

Installation

Installation was straight forward even though this is not available in Steam. All you have to do is make sure that you have Half-life 2 and Counter-Strike Source installed and that you've already activated both of them, meaning that you've at least started both of them once. After that, download the installer and click away. Once you're done installing the mod it will ask you to configure different settings for the mod such as how difficult it will be, performance settings such as rag doll physics and how your character reacts to them, et. al..

I think the only difficult part is trying to guess if you're computer can handle the settings that you choose or not.

First Impressions

I've played both Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike Source (I'm still playing them) and I've always asked myself how will a game (or mod for this review) look like if we were to combine these two great games. The answer? CSS Sci-Fi 3: Hardwired! My overall reaction was de_dust2 with Combine! Awesome! Time to download the mod!

Of course it's not just de_dust2 24/7. The game has 42 unique and replayable missions, yes that's 42 (18 retail CSS maps and 24 custom CSS maps). Moreover you can choose to play the maps via the Mission Hub (individual maps) which is the first map that you're going to play as soon as you start the game or you can choose to play 3 linked campaigns which combines the different maps in different ways.

The mod does exactly what it's supposed to do - make you feel like you're a clone of Gordon Freeman time-traveling back to Counter-Strike Source maps. Moreover, you can play these maps if you're playing Counter-Strike Source.

Singleplayer

Since you can either play the mod in campaign mode or single map mode. It makes it a lot easier for you if you're the type of player that likes to go back in certain missions because it's just plain awesome (like de_port). One thing that I don't like is the transition between the maps. It's like staring at a static image while on drugs. I'm just not sure if that's the effect the developer was trying to do or hoping for.

More, I would prefer the objectives to be displayed MOTD-style and not just a HUD text message that fades after some time. I like the extra added effects like blood splashes on your screen when you're being hit, things get blurry if you're in deep doo-doo, et. al..

Weapon-wise, it's not CSS. So don't expect to find an AWP to own the Combines or whatever monsters you encounter (Zombies). I just wish that they could both be combined right? This is HL2 + CSS after all.

Some of the missions start out real slow while some will make you run for cover as soon as the mission starts. The way your enemies spawn and how items are generated are completely random so the next time you play a map, don't expect the same thing. Another feature that enhances the replayability of this mod.

Multiplayer

The game does not have any multi-player so I'll be skipping this part of the review for this game.

Final Thoughts

Having played through all of the maps via campaign mode or single map mode, I really enjoyed the mod. It just leaves a nice feeling of being able to blast Combine forces in CSS-style maps such as de_nuke. If you're the type of player that likes to play single-player mods then I definitely recommend this one for you. Sure the graphics and maps are already familiar to you but the similarities actually end there. You won't see Counter-Terrorists or Terrorists in these maps. You'll see Combine forces and some Zombies (depending on the map). And it will totally change the way you play the map.

If some players think that single-player mods are dead and that it's all about interaction between another human being a.k.a. multi-player then they're dead wrong. CSS Sci-Fi 3: Hardwired reinforces that belief for me as it actually makes me play single-player mods more than multi-player mods. So if you'll excuse me, I have some time-traveling to do.

Ratings

Installer - A little complicated for the average Joe I suppose. But nothing a good reading can solve.

Graphics - It's HL2 and CSS combined. Even though the Source Engine is old,the enhancements that these mod has bumps it up to 4 out of 5.

Sound - Sometimes barney can be annoying and that you wish that he did not exist. But other than that, enjoy your HL2 dejavu.

Gameplay - Everything you know about HL2 and CSS is in this mod. For your character it's HL2'sh and the environment is CSS'sh. Once you've combined those two, you get an awesome HL2 mod.