Half-Life and Halo are two of the biggest names in the FPS genre, both having revolutionized the market on release. After all, Half-Life modders are directly responsible for major spinoff titles like Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2 , and Halo is, well, Halo . Now the two have come together in an unexpected way via Halo: Goldsource , a complete rebuild of the original Halo multiplayer inside Half-Life’s Goldsrc engine.
The result is a game that looks like the original Halo you know and love, but with the movement and gameplay of Half-Life . It’s an odd combination, and you don’t even need to play it to understand the changes. The trailer does a good job of showing the mod in action, especially if you’re familiar with both games.
To be clear, this mod is now officially leaving beta. It’s been around for a while now, with the last release landing in September 2024. The difference is that this most recent release is a lot more polished, with major improvements to audio quality, resolution, and gameplay. The team at Phoenix Project Software has even added the Halo shield recharge mechanic, versus the slowly-regenerating health bar of Half-Life .
In the first public article from the team, they write , “Our aim is to keep working on this on the side, and although there will be blocks of time where we will take a break from HaloGS, ultimately, it will keep going for as long as possible. We have, internally, huge plans for this project beyond maps and weapons, and, while I can’t tell you what they are right now, I am more than excited to execute these plans with the team.”
If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, you can download Halo: Goldsource from ModDB now. While it’s out of beta, the mod isn’t complete. The team is still focused on adding in more weapons and maps, but there’s already a lot of content to keep you entertained and give you a somewhat confusing dose of nostalgia.
