Action Half-Life
| Action Half-life | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | The A-team (Akimbo Team Productions, LLC) |
| Engine | GoldSrc |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) | 1999 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Action Half-Life (abbreviated AHL) is a mod for the award-winning first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. It strives to simulate action movies, especially those directed by John Woo.
Development
Led by Dwayne 'Oddjob' Douglass, Action Half-Life went through several beta versions before being released as version 1.0 in 1999. It originally had several lead programmers involved, but Stuart 'Payback' Crouch coded the last few betas leading to v1.0 (which was meant to be the final one).
AHL:Directors Cut, however, is a project started by the Ministry of Action. While this project isn't supported by the A-Team themselves, it has been authorized. Their goal is to take the best features of previous versions to create a final "Director's cut". This includes improving overall accessibility, weapon behavior, and content. The number of players who actively play Action Half-life has waned, and this is something the Ministry of Action team hopes to rectify.
The latest version of Action Half-life is Action Half-life: Director's Cut - Release Candidate 2 (RC2). RC3 is currently in development (as of October 2008) and is being touted as the final version of AHL:DC.
Recently, a combined effort with continued blessing from the original A-Team, Ministry of Action has released Action Half-Life 2. This is version 1.0 "The Sauce of Death," and it appears that this will be a continued work with further releases to come.
Features
Action Half-life has a stunt system similar to the one found in Max Payne, introduced in Action beta 3.0 in March 2000 (see citation below), a year before Max Payne was released. It was also the first Half-Life mod to feature akimbo pistols (although they are treated as one weapon). Furthermore, it pioneered several graphic enhancements to the Half-Life engine, including the visible laser sight and wall debris.
Action Half-life also has support for a single player mode. Some unique features in this mode include a move called "Adrenaline Rush", which is similar to Bullet Time.
Another aspect of Action Half-life is the inclusion of several hidden areas that are housed in many of its maps, especially those created by famed map designer Hondo. One map in particular ("5 AM") requires the cooperation of multiple players to access and complete. It is in fact much bigger than the main portion of the map.
A more recent feature addition is the walljumps that were added in Release Candidate 2.
Action Half-Life is the second official mod in the "Action" computer game series. The first was Action Quake 2 and the third was Action Unreal Tournament 2004.
Gameplay
The traditional mode of gameplay is Deathmatch; at the start of a round, players must choose a Single Pistol, Unique Weapon, and Special Item. Unlike the buy menu in Counter-strike, these weapons are free and have limited ammunition, which makes tactical usage crucial.
The game also includes a "last man standing" mode, which plays like deathmatch, but without respawning after death.
Sequel
Action Half-Life 2 was released in 2009 by RevolverStudios and MinistryOfAction as a Half-Life 2 mod.
See also
External links
- Ministry of Action homepage
- Action Half-Life at Mod DB
- Action Half-Life 2 at Mod DB
- Article at GameSpy
- Article at IGN
- Article at RockPaperShotgun
- Citation for Beta 3 release date at Blue's News