Overview
Acion Half-Life is a modification (
mod) for Half-Life which is based on the ideas in
Action Quake 2. It attempts to recreate the experience in movies such as
Face/Off, the
Die Hard series and
John Woo films. Rather than aiming to be fully realistic, it goes for "
movie realism" - you can take a few bullets and keep on fighting, and you can fall off a small building and merely break your leg.
Game modes
There are several game modes, and I find Teamplay the most enjoyable -
- Deathmatch - You start with a sidearm, and the other weapons/special items are scattered around the map. There is only one of each weapon/special item - so if some guy's got the assault rifle and you want it, you're going to have to take his ass down to get it.
- Teamplay - At the start, you pick a sidearm, a main weapon, and a special item. When the game starts, you and your team are all in the same location. The teams then have to move out and destroy each other. Once you die, you have to wait until the next round to start again. The round ends when only one team is remaining.
- Last Man Standing - A bloody deathmatch where the last person alive is the winner. If you die, you have to wait until the next round to start again. Can be played with or without equipment.
New features
One of the most fun new features in Action Half-Life is the ability to perform "
action moves" - these are basically long-range
rolls/
dives which you can use to avoid enemy fire or surprise them by rolling round a corner and blowing their face off with your
handcannon.
Another new feature is bleeding. All wounds bleed and can kill you unless you bandage them - this takes time.
Action Half-Life also features lag compensation. This means if your target is in the crosshais when you hit fire, he will still be hit even if your lag means he's moved by the time your shot occurs. The result of this is people dying several seconds after you shoot.
All the weapons are new. In the sidearms category, you can be equipped with a magnum, desert eagle, colt 1911, beretta or colt SAA. You can also use both types of colt akimbo-style as your main weapon.
Other main weapons include a handcannon, assault rifle, shotgun, a semi-automatic sniper rifle, a 50cal sniper-rifle and a submachine gun.
Special items all give you a single special advantage over your opponents. Stealth slippers mask your footsteps, laser sight gives you a better aim but can reveal your position, frag grenade gives you a single, powerful grenade, bandolier lets you carry more, quick-draw holster lets you draw/reload a lot quicker.
Important information
The developers of Action Half-Life have officially declared that the shotgun is overpowered, and use of it is considered
dishonourable at best, and grounds for banishment from a server at worst.
Camping is also considered bad.