Since Valve isn’t expanding the Half-Life franchise anymore, fans have taken matters into their own hands.

A new installment in the cult classic Half-Life 2 mod series, Entropy: Zero, is in the works. As fans of Thief, Deus Ex, and immersive simulators, we believe that Entropy: Zero 2: Progenitors could be the most exciting entry in the series yet. Entropy: Zero has always told the story from the perspective of Half-Life’s villains. However, Progenitors replaces the typical Combine soldier from the first two episodes with an extremely cunning assassin—a nod to the covert-operation ninjas of Half-Life 1. Progenitors takes place at an unspecified time after the Seven-Hour War, when the Combine has taken control of Earth. Our assassin protagonist is tasked with eliminating the renegade Progenitor from whom the Combine soldiers were cloned or derived. If Mr. P turns out to be Adrian Shephard from Opposing Force, we’ll be picking our jaws up off the floor.

This superb take on the Half-Life universe is backed up by fantastic visuals. All of the Entropy: Zero games have brilliantly blended and paid homage to the different eras of Half-Life. For example, Zero 2 was set in an Aperture Science facility and featured a sarcastic tower companion. Progenitors, however, seems to be looking toward Opposing Force. We especially like the sinister Combine United Nations logo; it evokes the dark Nazi-futuristic humor of MachineGames’s Wolfenstein games.

The mod’s developer, Blixibon, is sharing gameplay videos on YouTube, showcasing new weapons and mechanics. Progenitors looks incredibly ambitious — essentially an immersive simulator or a shooter-simulator hybrid, like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. In Blixibon’s latest video, a player picks the pocket of an enemy soldier and throws a beer bottle to distract him.

Progenitors has no estimated release date. The latest blog post on ModDB hints at development difficulties and creative burnout among some of the team members.

Source: PCGamer, ModDB