I have been oddly obsessed with the world of 'Half-Life' for the last couple of weeks. It's not as though I have a reason to. I haven't been playing the games, not any one of them. I haven't so much as thought about the games, really, but I keep running across creative depictions of the game(s), so I feel obliged to blog about them. Hmmm.
'What's in the Box' is a first-person short film which has been labeled as a "test film". Don't worry; I have no idea what that means, either. It was dropped online back in March, though I had not seen it until just yesterday. With it's title, I can't help but be reminded of the last scene from Se7en.
'WITB' involves a young guy (I presume, judging by the clothes and such) awaking in some kind of facility, a siren going off and a strange black cloud circling a tower outside. He procures said said mysterious box and flees the scene...and then some other stuff happens. Check it out. It's nice little science fiction short film. You'll want to go to full-screen and turn up the volume, or else go to the film's Official Web Site.
If you pay attention, you can hear sound effects from Half-Life 2 playing in certain parts. /Film did some speculative pondering when the video appeared on the internet, though nothing seems to have come to fruition:
The informational sidebar also provides the following url: www.whatsinthebox.nl. When you go to the site, you will find a box with a blinking question mark which sporadically glows red. Many people think it’s the start of a viral. Some have even suggested it is for Half-Life 3… but I think it might actually just be a very well put together special effects demo.
Modding is a subtle art in video games. To use a cliche, there's a reason professionals exist. But every so often a mod comes around that's so original and yet so silly that you can't help but think it's genius. YouTube User Trace666 took Half-Life 2 and replaced all sounds in the game - yes, ALL sounds - and replaced them with his own voice.
Now, you may think it's juvenile, but it's all very well-orchestrated so I have much respect for the modder. That being said, I don't know if I would adjust to the sounds over time, or if they would slowly build to a crescendo in my mind and slowly drive me crazy. It would be a nice experiment to take on. If you really want to see all of this in action, watch at least to 3:40 in the video, because a long stretch in the beginning deals only with showing off the weapons' capabilities.
P.S. I had trouble viewing it in HQ, but once I downgraded to normal quality, everything worked just fine.
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