The cult classic Half-Life 2 mod series Entropy: Zero has another entry in the works, and speaking as a fan of Thief, Deus Ex, and all things immersive sim, Entropy: Zero 2 – Progenitors may be the most exciting one yet.
Entropy: Zero has always presented the bad guys’ side of things in Half-Life, but Progenitors trades the first two episodes’ standard Combine trooper for a super sneaky assassin type—she strikes me as a riff on the black ops ninjas from Half-Life 1.
Progenitors takes place an indeterminate amount of time after the Seven Hour War where the Combine took over the Earth, and our assassin protagonist is charged with taking out the rogue Progenitor from which the Combine’s soldiers were first cloned or otherwise derived (or something). If Mr. P turns out to be Adrian Shephard from Opposing Force, I’ll think about eating my shoe.
It’s a neat take on the Half-Life lore bolstered by some great visual direction. All of the Entropies: Zero have done a great job of blending and homaging various eras of Half-Life—Zero 2 took place in an Aperture Science facility and paired you with a snarky turret companion—and Progenitors looks to be turning its gaze toward Opposing Force. I’m particularly fond of the evil Combine United Nations logo—it’s giving the dark Nazi future gags from MachineGames’ Wolfensteins.