Spyro the Dragon is a PSOne icon and has gained a whole new generation of fans after the PS4/Xbox One remaster collection and his appearances in the Skylanders games. Over the course of his adventures, he’s jumped, glided, and breathed fire through countless fantasy worlds, but now he’s facing an environment that’s going to put him to the test like never before: The Black Mesa Research Facility.
Yup, Spyro is slapping on an HEV suit and heading to Half-Life. This unlikely crossover comes courtesy of Magic_Nipples’ impressive fan mod ‘Year of the Dragon’. The mod bills itself as porting Spyro’s gameplay mechanics to Valve’s groundbreaking 1998 FPS. This includes bringing in the dragon’s complete move-set, adding extra abilities, and inserting new items to the game.
Clips from the mod have been hitting Twitter and I can’t deny seeing Spyro exploring Black Mesa is awesome. Here are a few examples:
Valve’s Half-Life series emerged from a long hibernation last year for the universally acclaimed VR title Half-Life: Alyx. This was the first release in the series in 13 years, with fans left dangling after Half-Life 2: Episode 2 ended on a still-unresolved cliffhanger. Alyx is a prequel to Half-Life 2, but its popularity may mean we’ll finally get a resolution to Gordon Freeman’s story sometime this decade.
The original Half-Life still slaps though, particularly if you revisit it via the jaw-dropping remake Black Mesa, which began as a fan project and is now officially supported by Valve. But if you’ve exhausted that and want to see Half-Life from a new perspective, why not get to grips with Spyro the Dragon‘s journey through a zombie-infested alien hell?