It's impressive how a fan-made mod is better than 95% of the modern slop put out there by AAA studios.

No checklists, no slow walking and talking, pure gameplay and good graphics if you like the early 2000s vibe.

One of the best Half-Life mods I've ever played. Feels like a re-imagining of the original without really infringing on the original.

It feels like somebody took the recipe for HL1 and swapped around a few ingredients without changing or ruining the final product. It feels slightly slower paced with a stronger emphasis on individual combat and even the horror elements. Less run and gun than the original feels but it works so much better for it.

Play it like it's 1998 and you've sat down excited to play Half-Life for the first time ever. Only somehow a copy of Delta Particles was what you got in the box instead.

This is honestly one of the best Half-Life Story Mods I've played. The level design is decent, almost sorta "modern linear Resident Evil" level design blended with classic Half-Life level design. The weapons have been reworked, and there's an expanded arsenal (like Opposing Force), so even the classic weapons feel new. The weapon models are mirrored/left-handed like Counter-Strike 1.6, so I'm guessing that was a stylistic choice. The movement speed isn't quite as fast as classic Half-Life, but it's not as slow as base Half-Life 2 speed, so you have a nice middle ground that sorta offers semi-tactical gameplay blended with the slightly improved gunplay. The Xen segment is decent imo, but I also like Black Mesa Xen, so you can take my opinion on Xen with a grain of salt. The skyboxes in this mod are honestly pretty beautiful at times, and they help make GoldSource engine not look so dated, but if you play GoldSource mods, then you probably agree the graphics are part of the charm. This mod also has a lot of custom assets, and they really set the aesthetic of Delta Base apart from Black Mesa. "The color purple has been chosen as its not a color often seen in the natural environment."

The story is honestly pretty decent for it being a fan-made mod. Delta Base takes place in Nevada instead of New Mexico, but they're essentially a competitor to Black Mesa. Delta Base is also experimenting with teleportation technology, they make military technology, and they also launch expeditions into Xen. The Black Mesa disaster is what causes the Delta Base disaster, which obviously makes sense since they're both exploring Xen. There's also this cute scientist named Diana Hayes who is definitely video game wife material.

My only real problem with this game is its over reliance on Xen teleporting enemies near and behind you. The original Half-Life had a good balance of enemies pre-spawned in the levels, the game never feels like it spams "Xen-spawning" enemies at you. That's not to say there aren't pre-placed enemies in this mod, but it definitely feels like most of the combat is reflex-based, which can be kinda fun if you get in a good flow state, then you're flick-shooting Vorts in the head with a Deagle like a Counter-Strike Aim Map, but I feel it hinders the pacing of the game.

Overall I HIGHLY recommend this mod. It's cool, it's unique, it's not another retread of Black Mesa, but it still feels familiar, like a Half-Life mod should. It's a bit longer than Echoes, which is another good story mod. Some parts sorta seem to drag on a bit too long, but I'd argue that for a couple of Half-Life's chapters, and since the mod is obviously shorter than a full length game, I think it's a good attempt at replicating Half-Life's pacing. It also has achievements, which I suppose adds some replay value, which for a mod is kinda cool considering Valve never added achievements to Half-Life 1 for the 20th Anniversary, so yeah.

P.S. This is way better than Snowdrop Escape, which I know is a Half-Life 2 mod, so it might not be a fair comparison, but I generally prefer Source Mods, so it goes to show that the engine doesn't matter if you make a ♥♥♥♥ mod.