Impressive Ray-Traced Half-Life 1 Mod Gets Release Trailer

Half-Life 1 is one of the most beloved PC shooters ever, but its chunky polygons and low-resolution textures might not appeal to those playing it for the first time today. Luckily, modder Sultim_T has crafted a mod that adds ray tracing to the game, and it's definitely worth a look.

If you aren't familiar with ray tracing in retro games, the feature essentially replaces the game's baked-in lighting with dynamic rays, which transform the game's visuals tremendously. You can see the difference yourself in the above release trailer, which also shows off the newly reflective weapon models and the improved water effects. The particle-heavy weapons like the Gluon Gun and Tau Cannon get a visual upgrade, too.

It's worth noting that most players who missed Half-Life 1 the first time around should probably check out Black Mesa, a fan-made remake that totally reconstructs the game from the ground up. However, if you have an RTX card and you're interested in a more traditional experience--given that Black Mesa makes significant changes to quite a lot of the game, especially the final Xen levels--check out this mod. If you need more GoldSrc action, check out modern Half-Life mods like Half-Life: Echoes, or the in-progress project that's trying to bring the Gearbox-developed mission pack Blue Shift to the Black Mesa engine.