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Half-Life: is there no sweeter a name synonymous with first person shooter perfection? Born on the PC in 1998, the game continued in a long standing trend of surpassing expectations of the FPS genre, with dynamic in-game storytelling, grueling challenges, and thought-intensive puzzle traversal.

While a short 6 years later brought Half-Life 2 onto the scene, with similarly critical and commercial success, the original title that started it all has mostly remained untouched… mostly.

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When Valve created a game that impacts a generation, no less the genre itself, there had to be expectations fans would take matters into their own hands. And while Half-Life’s game engine circa 1998 was no stranger to being modified, it’s unusual to see present day game engines applied backwards. However, a team of immensely dedicated fans have done just that.

Using the Source engine used for Half-Life 2, the project called Black Mesa, has developed the first game from the ground up; adding detailed graphics, improved physics, and an overall synch between games.

The game can be downloaded through the Black Mesa website and will be distributed in the future through Valve’s Steam Greenlight program.

[IGN]