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The recent 15th anniversary of the release of The Matrix inspired me not just to re-watch the film itself, but also – less obviously - to revisit a mod for the original Half-Life that was last updated in 2007. The Specialists was and remains something truly special. The ugly duckling of the HL mod world which was frankly too hardcore to take off like Day of Defeat and Counter-Strike, it is also the closest videogames have ever come to recreating the incredibly stylish, high-octane action scenes of The Matrix and the John Woo films which partly inspired it. Even now, twelve years since the mod's first release, there are still a handful of servers and players active; and there is still nothing else out there quite like it.
The Specialists trailer video by JsXanatos
Developed by Filippo De Luca and Lorenzo Pasini, The Specialists is at first glance a straightforward deathmatch shooter. A few seconds into a game, however, new players will see slow-motion dives, leaps through windows, and various martial arts attacks chained together into a whirlwind of glorious carnage that transcends the decrepit HL engine. After a few hours, they will notice the precise timing, movement tricks, and trick shooting that separate the true greats from the mere mortals. Chances are, they will also be hooked.
Before they spawn, players select their weapons from a buy menu much like the one in Counter-Strike. The difference is that there is no money in TS: instead, weapons cost weight units, and the more heavily-laden the player, the slower they move. Consequently, there is no barrier to obtaining an M60 machine gun in your first spawn, but the ponderous movement speed it results in may prompt a rethink. Many players favour lighter pistols, like the powerful Desert Eagle or Woo's favourite, akimbo Berettas. Part of the genius of TS, however, is that all weapons are viable in the right hands. Timing, deft use of the various powerups scattered across maps (from slow-motion to a “nobody makes the first jump” super-leap) and good aim are key.
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The teahouse from the infamous opening scenes of Hard Boiled (John Woo, 1992) recreated in The Specialists
At one time, The Specialists enjoyed a thriving community – evidence of this can be found in the rich selection of community-made maps and in the fond memories of the veterans who still stalk the servers. Over time, an elite cadre of players emerged who had mastered the basics and discovered tricks of their own. Some of these, like a method for circling around opponents more quickly, were regarded as exploits by some, but to the elite players they represented the next step in the game's evolution. In a game that already made players superhuman, they had become more powerful still. They learned that, in a slightly eerie parallel to The Matrix, The Specialists had rules that could be bent; others that could be broken.
The emergence of the “TS pros” was one of the factors that contributed to the game's decline. Already an intimidating environment, the mod became a total turn-off for many potential new players. When the servers fell quiet, some pros would wait for newcomers to join, hop on themselves, and thrill in brutalising them until they left – sometimes never to return. The growth of Counter-Strike: Source and other rival FPS games also did no good. The Specialists servers running custom role-playing scripts, already a significant subculture in the TS world, were often more full than deathmatch ones. TS seemed doomed.
To my surprise, however, the mod lives on even in 2014. A combination of the extremely low cost of servers (an eight-slot server can cost less than three Euros a month today), widespread Half-Life ownership, the enduring presence of a few stalwart players and the sheer addictiveness of the gameplay have kept TS alive. There are rarely more than a handful of players online at any one time, and role-playing servers are still often the busiest, but newcomers still have somewhere to play and the pros that remain have mellowed somewhat in the knowledge that the fire will go out if they don't show the new guys a few moves before they blow them away.
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Antrodome, an Asian corporate HQ themed map
To those of you who have played TS before – come back online sometime: you might be surprised how easily you can be sucked in again, even after all these years. If you're new to the mod, I urge you to give it a go. Send me a PM and I can help you with any installation queries and (timezones permitting) I can show you the basics. If you're looking for something different in an FPS game, or if you're a Matrix, John Woo or general action film aficionado, The Specialists might just be your new favourite game.
See you on the other side.
Five Reasons The Specialists Still Rules
“Guns, Lots of Guns”
Weapons are one of the core elements of the mod and it's clear that a huge amount of effort went into their selection and in bringing them to life. Here you will find Castor Troy's golden Colts from Face/Off, the Contender single-shot pistol used by villains in both Hard Target and Hard Boiled, and a slew of rifles, shotguns and much else besides. The models and particularly sound effects are incredible – especially for a Half-Life mod.
“I Know Kung Fu”
Significantly tougher to learn than shooting, the martial arts system in TS is beloved by many of the best players and can still be hugely satisfying for newcomers. Basic punches and kicks are joined by combo-driven special moves like the fearsome dragon kick, and players can be disarmed at close quarters. It's even viable to bring a knife – or katana – to a gun fight from time to time.
“This... is the Construct”
The maps in The Specialists are many and varied and some of them are arguably among the very best that have ever been designed for the Half-Life engine. Many of those are thrillingly accurate recreations of famous action film locations including the Construct dojo and the lobby from The Matrix (complete with working lifts, rooftop helicopter and destructible tiles), Dietrich's penthouse hideout from Face/Off, the church which hosts the climax to The Killer, and even the teahouse from the opening of Hard Boiled.
“There is no spoon”
Powerups by no means guarantee kills in TS, although they certainly help. The two key ones are slow motion and slow pause (the latter a boosted, shorter duration version of the former). The double-sized magazine pickup can be devastating when combined with rapid-fire weapons, while the super-jump is useful for extremely fun mid-battle escapes through overhead skylights.
“If you're not one of us... you're one of them”
Given the frequently quiet nature of many TS servers, it is a real gift that the mod has surprisingly competent bots. Able to use all of the game's weapons and abilities to a reasonable extent, they will provide a good challenge for new players, and can serve to bulk up servers without enough players to fill the larger maps.
Links
The Specialists on ModDB (download here)
The Specialists on Wikipedia
Weapon guide on IMFDB
The Specialists on Steam
