Half-Life spin-offs like Blue Shift, Opposing Force, and Half-Life Alyx are some of the best-loved games in the Valve shooter series, but one Steam FPS game, Hunt Down the Freeman, has been the subject of ridicule, ire, and countless memes ever since it launched in 2018. Now, the story of an HECU soldier trying to kill Gordon Freeman has an unofficial joke ‘sequel’ from the same modder behind the highly non-Valve ‘Half Life Episode 3.’
If you aren’t familiar with Hunt Down the Freeman, it’s an unofficial spin-off and pseudo sequel to the original Half-Life. Playing as Sergeant Mitchell, a US Army and HECU soldier who attended the Black Mesa incident, your job is to hunt down and kill Gordon Freeman, after the iconic, mute scientist seemingly attacked you and left you for dead.
Commonly derided by Half-Life fans, who sometimes refer to it as ‘Hunt Down the Refund,’ the game launched on Steam back in 2018. Thanks to Berkan Denizyaran, also known as ‘Sciencedude,’ the same modder behind the very unofficial ‘Half Life 2 Episode 3,’ Hunt Down the Freeman now has a sequel, whereby Sergeant Mitchell abandons his mission to the lost science vessel Borealis, and instead restarts his pursuit of the titular Freeman.
As you might expect, Hunt Down the Freeman 2 is an extended joke mod, so expect deliberately buggy visuals, textures replaced with the face of Breaking Bad’s Walter White, and battles with a terrifyingly re-skinned Thomas the Tank Engine. “Hope it was worth the 30 year wait,” Denizyaran jokingly writes. You can experience the extended horror for yourself via Mod DB.
In other Half-Life news, Half-Life Alyx now has a fully fledged, though fan-built, expansion, Half-Life Levitation. You might also want to try some of the best old games, or maybe refamiliarise yourself with whatever happened to Half-Life 3 – the dream must never die.