It seems as if there's always something new to be discovered when it comes to the topic of Half-Life. The game just won't die. The latest bit of news centers around never before seen concept art that managed to surface in a publisher's proof of a book entitled Raising The Bar.
The images have managed to find their way online, as is typical for most of today's media content. PC Gamer managed to get their hands on some of the images courtesy of Half-Life Inside. An Imgur album below gives you a look at some of the never before seen concept art for Half-Life 2. Check it out below.
"
The images depict some cool looking concept artwork for the first-person shooter, including a Combine soldier decked out in various helmet designs. We get to see some alternate mask art for the Combine police forces, as well as some of the technical aspects of their mask designs.
Another of the other designs showcase a mobile mine, as well as a flying Combine chainsaw. The concept image for the mobile mine appears to look very different from the final design we ended up with in the game.
One of the more shocking concept pictures showed a very ZenoClash-esque Combine soldier for Half-Life 2, with some tribal style designs and a tribal spear. It was all very... eccentric. The armor looked like a mish-mash of rag-tag, asymmetrical parts. What's interesting about this tribal Combine is that the spear has a clip and barrel on it, so it would have doubled as a long range rifle and mid-ranged melee weapon. It would have been a fascinating weapon to actually use in the game.
Another set of images showcase the photography model used for the in-game avatar of Dr. Breen. The likeness is definitely apparent. It also makes me wonder what Valve could accomplish with today's tech and the rise of 3D scanning and photogrammetry?
There are also some images of Father Grigiory's zombie traps that he used throughout Ravenholm. Zombie hunters will easily recognize some of the traps, while others might be fascinated to see how Valve came up with the concepts.
The rest of the images cover some of the architectural designs, some of the junk-gear that the rebels used, as well as some of the popular mods that spawned out of the original Half-Life scene.
It still amazes me that Half-Life spawned in some part from Quake, and how so many of today's huge money makers (e.g., Dota 2, League of Legends, etc.,) have spawned from the modding scene.
Nevertheless, it's cool to see some more behind-the-scenes concepts and designs that went into making one of the most iconic games in the history of gaming.
