Revisting HL2 after 10 years.... which graphic mod is best to use?

[One death guy]

So it has been around 10 years since I last played HL2 so I wanted to enchance it with some graphic mod.

The most famous one is Cinematic Mod of course but I heard serious criticism about this one

I also stumbled upon such thing

https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-2-hd-remastered-texture-pack/downloads/v13-possibly-final-version


My question is, which graphical mod is best recommended?

[Sovereign]

Don't use the Cinematic Mod, it's an absolute mess.

I'd recommend combining Half-Life 2: Update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9aSFHJRO0

with various HD texture packs that can be found on both Gamebanana and ModDB.

[Nubblecakes]

What the guy above me said. Cinematic mod takes way too many liberties with the game's visuals, and butchers the look of the game as a result. It also replaces all of the music with generic orchestral stuff.

Half-Life 2: Update doesn't do a ton to the visuals. It mostly just fixes a lot of ♥♥♥♥ that got broken when Valve moved the game to the newer version of the Source Engine. It fixes all of the lighting, changes some particle effects so they look better, and other more subtle stuff like that. But it's an absolutely essential mod if you want to replay HL2. The official version is just plain broken in many ways (on a strictly visual basis).

There are a few HD texture packs on Gamebanana that will go a long way in improving the look of the game. There's one compilation that reworks a ton of props so they're higher res, and one that makes all of the characters look better. That alone does wonders, but it leaves out the countless world textures, which as far as I know, only that mod you found on ModDB addresses.

It's a compilation mod which is supposed to overhaul all of the textures and models without compromising on the visuals, but in its current state it's not totally consistent and some of the new textures are of questionable quality or outright cause visual bugs. It does add a lot to the game though, so if you're willing to go through and remove anything you don't like, then it's actually worth using. The mod also takes some liberties with new sound effects and replacing all the weapons, but to be honest I found that most of it detracted from the game, so I just didn't use any of it. I was mainly concerned with finding improved textures. The pack is mostly successful in that regard.

Sadly, there is no mod that totally reworks all of the world props, so these mods only address the textures of the vanilla props. But even a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ low poly model can look pretty good with nice textures.

[One death guy]

so basicly only cinematic mod reworks the whole thing but in a poorly manner... damn that is sad

[Hugal]

If you want a NEW experience, use Cinematic Mod, the level of detail on that mod is insane just dont go in expecting only a graphic overhaul, people here really don't know what they are talking about, you can disable most of the stuff on Cinematic mod, including all the music and the weird sexual models. Check this video to get a better view of the mod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikuIE66VZ2o

[Pumpactionmusket]

This is coming out on Christmas. https://www.moddb.com/mods/hl2-ep2-enhased-mod

[frutiger aero fish monitor]

hey! i heard this is coming somewhat soon. it's not out yet, but i think it's pretty neat. https://www.moddb.com/mods/hl2-overcharged

[Pierpalle_Scroti]

Cinematic mod + MMod.

In cinematic mod almost everything is optional: you can choose between new or old models, original or new gameplay feature, etc..

MMod is an improved weapons models and animation with better feeling. Personaly I prefer MMod weapons over the Cinematic Mod Weapons.

Try cinematic mod with and without MMod and see which one prefer

[some bi girl]

Originally posted by Sovereign:

Don't use the Cinematic Mod, it's an absolute mess.

I'd recommend combining Half-Life 2: Update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9aSFHJRO0

with various HD texture packs that can be found on both Gamebanana and ModDB.

There's a program called ReShade, it works with a lot of games, and adds new shaders to them.

Also, if you want, you can use MMod. It's what Cinematic Mod could have and should have been.

[Trevor Reznik]

HL2 update sticks closest to the original style/assets.

But I really recommend Mmod for the increased draw distance.

[heroheenie2]

Originally posted by Sovereign:

Don't use the Cinematic Mod, it's an absolute mess.

I'd recommend combining Half-Life 2: Update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9aSFHJRO0

with various HD texture packs that can be found on both Gamebanana and ModDB.

This is late, but, don't listen to this person. Yeah, Half-Life 2: Update is good, but it only looks about as good as the vanilla game if you're playing it 10 years after playing the original. Cinematic Mod is good, but only play it if you want a fresher experience. Cinematic Mod basically just changes the art style and raises the graphical appearance of HL2 by a ton. It also changes the gameplay a bit and changes music and sounds. Everything is optional. The HD models (Which I do not recommend using unless you know what you're doing) The custom difficulty, the custom weapons, the music, the effects, it's all optional. However there is some graffiti in CM that is in very bad taste, and so I would recommend getting this mod for it.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/mmod-cinematic-mod-explicit-content-patch
If you would like to keep the artstyle and original music, I suggest MMod combined with Half-Life 2: Update. While Half-Life 2: Update isn't much, MMod and Update definitely go great combined together so I recommend using them together.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/hl2-ep2-enhased-mod
https://store.steampowered.com/app/290930/HalfLife_2_Update/
Also, another thing I recommend is ReShade. ReShade makes the game look less boring and I highly recommend it.

[Trevor Reznik]

Any update on how Half Life Update is going for the Episodes?

I'd love to replay them, but am waiting on HL: Update to do so

[Pazantine]

Originally posted by Trevor Reznik:

Any update on how Half Life Update is going for the Episodes?

I'd love to replay them, but am waiting on HL: Update to do so

philip said he's planning to have them out by some time early this year, but it's not out of the question for it to be delayed.

[Trevor Reznik]

Oh well, I'm glad he takes his time because his mods are absolutely fantastic

[TheDeeGee]

Update + MMod 1.3 and you're good to go.

[Trevor Reznik]

Yeah I played like that too, I can certainly recommend it.