Slightly bookish aesthetics aside, Gordon Freeman is a pretty cool guy. Theoretical physicist turned action hero at the drop of an HEV suit’s (clearly optional) hat. Unforeseen circumstances and the occasional military ambush aside, he’s a smooth operator. The guy you’re playing as in Swelter… isn’t, as his graceless dismount from a moving train in the mod’s intro highlights, sending him tumbling head-first into a lamppost. Welcome to City 545, located somewhere in central Asia, formerly Kazakhstan. You’ve got a job to do, and you’re clearly not the best man they could have sent.

Available on Steam to anyone who already owns Half-Life 2 and its expansions, Swelter is a selfcontained fangame that kinda stretches the definition of being a mere ‘mod’. This is a full, professionally produced Half-Life 2 campaign, albeit with a truncated run-time and with a less professional voice cast. Still, it’s an astounding production for the small mod crew that previously produced the solid winter-themed Snowdrop Escape, also available on Steam.

QUARTER-LIFE

Swelter may not be a huge campaign—only a handful of hours long for experienced players—but it crams a lot of set-pieces into that time. One moment you’re scrambling around, using an improvised resistance rocket launcher turret to clear out armored cars, then rushing to refuel a garbage truck, then hook up its tow cables to tear open a Combine wall. Next you’re calling out mortar targets and sniping enemies from the rooftops, and then just as you settle into a rhythm you’re dragged away to lead the troops’ charge on an enemy facility with a lot of destructible scenery.