Halloween Horror is back! This time, the Map Labs crew asked authors to channel fear of THE UNKNOWN and come up with a suspenseful map for the season.
Here are the 8 spooky maps received, enjoy!
As always, if you’re interested in learning more about Map Labs and maybe even participate in their upcoming challenges, visit the Map Labs Discord.
- Title: Halloween Horror V: THE UNKNOWN
- Filename: sdk-2013-sp-mlc-halloweenhorrorv_v2.7z
- Size : 590 MB
- Author: Zapizard, beefbacon, Ossilia Flawol, Caleb West AKA CW3D, ArctixSnowPup, Sir Thomas, Zen, AlphaEcho
- Date Released: 21 November 2023
- Make sure you have the Upcoming branch of the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer installed in Steam and run at least once. (Properties – Betas – select upcoming from the dropdown list).
- Copy the hh5, mapbase_shared, mapbase_hl2, and mapbase_episodic folders into your SourceMods folder.
- Restart or start Steam.
- Halloween Horror V: THE UNKNOWN should now be listed in your Library tab.
If you decide to use the Per-Map Opinion Images, feel free to use the file below as a template:
HalloweenHorrorV-Review-Template.txt
Listed as they are displayed in the mod itself:
The Wayder Residence by Zapizard
DATA_RETRIEVED by beefbacon
CODE_LOCK_EXPUNGE by Ossilia Flawol
SUBJECT by CW3D (Caleb West)
The Haunted Dive by ArctixSnowPup + Sir Thomas
HEATDEATH by Zen
The Pit by Zapizard (bonus map)
Visitor by AlphaEcho
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
Each map has 5 screenshots.
1600 x 900
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1,290Overall
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0Today
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11Last 7 days
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42Last 30 days
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756365 days
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 7 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 24 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by Theodore F. Sharpe
Longest: 2 Hours, 15 Mins by Pogo Pogo
Total Time Played: 9 Hours, 45 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
I won’t say anything about the other maps, but the Alien inspired Data_Retrieved was fantastic!
I rise back from the dead, 1.5 year after my last post to review the new Halloween Horror stuff, as usual.
The Wayder Residence by
Interesting first entry, the main point of interest is the computer room launching the Wayder protocol. It could have included an alternate ending where we are able to dig the right code and see what happens.
DATA_RETRIEVED by
Technically pretty impressive (one of the very few projects which doesn’t forget that in space, no one can hear anything!), borrowing heavily from Alien, and Dead Space, I’m amazed to see such a thing done in Source modding, for me TITAN XCIX was the pinnacle of space horror HL2 modding.
CODE_LOCK_EXPUNGE by Ossilia
A grey-themed Citadel-like exploration, pretty classic.
SUBJECT by CW3D (Caleb West)
As usual, CW3D provides us with an amazing story-driven experience. The last part with the red sky reminded me of the movie The Void. This project could be developed into something greater.
The Haunted Dive by ArctixSnowPup + Sir Thomas
After DIVE182 for HH4, Another great underwater horror adventure, the ending was a bit of a letdown IMHO but at least, it didn”t end abrutly like the former.
HEATDEATH by Zen
I didn’t manage to finish this one, there is no clear direction to find or know where to go and find the unlocking materials, and suddenly a “timer” appears telling you you have to hurry or something will come to hurt you…
The Pit by Zapizard (bonus map)
I can understand this is “bonus” as there is nothing besides a single room with a hole in the middle.
Visitor by AlphaEcho
A Underhell-like setting, i won’t class that as “great” as, like in Underhell, I put a lot of pressure on myself, with all those lights to switch on and off… But I like that, “house invasion” is probably the worst horror to happen, IMHO.
Overall, a pretty interesting mappack with 2 great entries, which could be developed/expanded in longer mods.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Huh, I can’t believe I missed this one. Well, better late than never. SPOILER ALERT.
Well off to a good start but a little bit bland. Sure it this weird post apocalyptic Silent Hill like map right there but overall, it’s just okay to me. It’s not too scary.
Now this is what I call an outstanding entry. The assets of this one made me forget that I was playing a Half-Life 2 mod. It brings me Alien vibes in it and the spookiness was very well made. No cheap jumpscares like what you see from Garry’s Mod.
Well it’s a generic Half-Life 2 map. Not too scary, suffers the same thing as Wayder Residence do, it’s bland.
The darkness adds all the spookiness to this map but hey. Ambience horror is what I like the most because it psychologically scares you. At least we don’t get some cheap Garry’s Mod horror maps. I hope the next entry is good. The Haunted Dive… dive? So that means it takes place in…
Oh no… no!! Out of all places, why does it have to be underwater? You guys are very sadistic you know that? Anyways, the objective is simple. Go there, then go there, a very linear map, and avoid the zombine. I expected something like an ichthyosaur or a shark. But all I get is a slow zombine who can’t catch up with you when you’re bhopping. So not very bad at least, a great one.
Now we’re on to the bad side of this mod. Now let me tell you something about this mod, I didn’t finish it and I didn’t enjoy it as well. So first off, most of the areas are dark. You come across an exit that has 3 padlocks and you have to go around the room to unlock it. So what makes this unique from the rest of the map? Well, why not put it on a time limit? How does that work, a time limit in this map? So it turns out, if you’re too slow, something will come after you. But I’ve been wandering around the dark map not knowing where to go! How about you put a map or something? Another problem is when you go to the doors. You don’t just open and close them, you teleport to the next room, it’s disorienting! Sometimes when you go too fast, you get sent back the way you came! Then there comes a room where it’s completely flooded and boy I tell you, it’s a trap. Oh don’t get me started on what happens when you die. You don’t go back to the checkpoint, oh no. You go all the way back to the beginning of the level. And that wasted my whole patience of finishing this map. So apologies if I didn’t finish this because it’s way too hard.
I know this is a bonus entry but come on, it’s just a hole.
Realistic and scary. And the scary part is this could actually happen to you irl. You’re definitely gonna get traumatized when someone breaks into your house. The objectives are very simple as well. The ending is pretty good, no cheap jumpscares as well, and the tension of the map is really thrilling. So I’d say this is a very good map. Finally the mod ended with a good map.
DATA_RETRIEVED, hands down for the best entry for this mod. Meanwhile some entries need more improvement.
Overall, another fantastic Map Lab! I really liked the ooky-spooky space one and the idea for the UV(?) light spotting specters in the house was a neat idea.
Definitely check this one out!
Manually
Easy
1 Hour
Its a short, simple map where you’re in a simulation that’s breaking down or something, not very scary.
Fantastic sci-fi map that is the best sci-fi Source map I’ve ever played. Its clearly Dead Space inspired but it works incredibly well with all the custom models, textures and bits of voice acting. This map has some fantastic visuals. Unfortunately I suffered a bug where the monster stuck in place. Also I think the monster speaking was a bit goofy.
Very short map where you walk around a piece of the Citadel. You’re going to hate me for saying this but it gave off “Slenderman find 8 pages” vibes. It was incredibly short and didn’t really build up any atmosphere.
This one gave me the most anxiety. Presentation and build up was fantastic. It’s essentially just an SCP but in Half-Life but it works.
Cool underwater map but mostly its meh. I found that this map seriously lacked sound, it was dead silent inside the underwater base. The chase was kinda ruined by being unable to sprint for longer than a second, which resulted in me awkwardly hopping away.
Its the one thing I absolutely hate. A pitch black maze of identical corridors. Obviously I did not finish it.
They should of thrown this one into a pit *ba dum tish*
Spooky map of a house in the woods. I thought this one worked well in actually building tension.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour
Just gotta say how happy it is to have this site back !
Rescued at last, thank God you are here !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0hTCLkn9Y
I especially liked the immersion in the atmosphere that gives these maps. It’s a pity that there aren’t many of them, and let’s be honest, previous experiments were much more horrible than this one. My favorite map is DATA_RETRIEVED. I still admire the detail. Thanks for the interesting horror (P.s Did one person make this map?)
Manually
Hard
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Halloween Horror V is the first one that I played, so I have no basis on how this particular one is in relation to the other Halloween Horrors. Still, I liked this one. It had a pretty small but good set of games to play, ranging from short and sweet experiences, to longer and more forboding experiences that build tension for that sweet release. The pack is pretty small (7 submissions) but among them there are some solid works (not the program lol)
Playtime: 10 minutes
You play as a drone that investigates the scene of a burned-down house. You enter to find something else… I liked it, although I had a bit of trouble with the first puzzle.
Playtime: 20-25 minutes
You and a team of Black-Ops Space Agents must enter a ship and secure it. You have not been told any details of the mission and yet must press onward, yet you fear you might not be alone on the abandoned ship… I enjoyed this one. Very good at building an atmosphere, Alien Isolation esque atmosphere and assets. I like the feeling of isolation you get after splitting up with your teammates, really paints the picture of how ear-piercingly quiet space really is. Alright story, too. Light spaced-out shooting moments keep you on your toes the whole time. The ending is well-done.
Playtime: 10 minutes
You play as HL2 Rebel from White Forest, and must investigate/salvage from a nearby Combine Building wreckage site. A Very short, barebones formula horror map.
Playtime: 20-25 minutes
You play as a HL2 Metrocop who must dive headfirst into an unknown anomaly because the overwatch says you need to. Dialogue that feels genuine, and is pretty atmospheric. But it was really easy to get lost/I kind of didn’t know where I was going (maybe I am just stupid?). Simple puzzles, a short simple experience with yet again another deep and forboding atmosphere.
Playtime: 10 minutes
Play as a lone diver searching the ocean floor. Overall good, the environment is good looking, Had some cool mechanics/moments.
Playtime: 25 minutes
I personally had a bad experience with this map. The map layout is confusing and constant teleports between doors and fakeout teleport doors made so easy to get lost. Not much story to take note of. I ended up drowning when a whole room I entered was filled with water (I know, silly mistake) but some kind of warning or something would’ve been nice.
Playtime: 2 minutes
When I read the reviews, I didn’t expect it to be literally just a pit. Quite literally Pit purgatory. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Playtime: 10-15 minutes
In your home at night, Sometimes you appreciate when you’re the only one home… Overall pretty good. Pretty short, but nice sweet experience. Atmosphere is okay, but some parts were really good/tense. The Scariest part is that this scenario is something that could actually happen/is pretty believable. Ending was very meh, but overall, pretty good.
Overall, I think Halloween Horror V had a handful of some pretty good maps. Good tension building/atmosphere was a nice trend. It’s a fun and scare-filled pack of games. Although I can’t give a rating on how this one is in comparison to the others, I’d say standalone that its pretty short but has a few good games to offer.
Manually
Medium
2 Hours, 15 Minutes
Can’t start mod. When I start game no option for new game. It’s empty!
Ok, so I see this competition already has 3 PN reviews and only 2 PL, so mine is going to be the 3rd PL review, trying to give a balance like that loathed Thanos Villian character used to say.
For me is a PL because we only have 3 entries worthy of a great survival-horror category, and I just loved this genre, so having played “Remorse: The List” recently my standard is quite high and I just felt many entries are not that worthy of being called like Horrorfull ones.
The Wayder Residence by Zapizard
I was not too fond of this one… too boxy and I never felt threatened by anything inside that map so I never had like anything close to a scary feeling so no, it’s not good sorry.
DATA_RETRIEVED by beefbacon
This one was great, amazing in the sense of a horror environment from the beginning to that goosebumps end. Also, I agree, that the Alien feeling is pretty constant and well achieved. It would be fantastic if this developer would make a bigger project out of this little entry as would be worthy.
CODE_LOCK_EXPUNGE by Ossilia Flawol
I guess this one had a good concept to explore. A ghost-like adventure, but the dynamic was implemented kind of badly to be honest. I mean OK it is cool to pass through walls and thin doors as a ghost would do you know, but what is the point of a horror entry if you don’t apply the “survival” horror formula, you just die and that’s it, plain and boring at the end which I didn’t like also I never understand why this guy was doing in the sewers aiming only to chase us, as he was a demon or a bad ghost?? who the heck knows, it was annoying to die like that after a hallway persecution that didn’t have any escape anyway.
SUBJECT by CW3D (Caleb West)
I guess I didn’t quite understand the premise around this entry, was like that strange movie THE CUBE?? who knows…
But I think again that killing the player is not a scary formula at all… as this would have been better if you gave the CMB CP Subject a chance to survive… anyway could be a good base to develop a bigger mod, hope the author does it someday.
The Haunted Dive by ArctixSnowPup + Sir Thomas
If I don’t remember badly, this one has already been presented in other mapping competitions before, but without this like a mini-submarine costume attached to the gamer. So yeah those improvements were just amazing, also this was another great example of how to successfully apply the “SURVIVAL-HORROR” formula. The antagonist chasing us felt scary without necessarily feeling annoying because we could save ourselves by arriving at that lift… I also think this is a great pinnacle for a bigger mod-dev hope the author does this a complete survival-horror mod or game in the future. I have to say I have never played Bioshock but I guess this had a bit of inspiration from that game.
HEATDEATH by ZEN_TURKEY
Man if you were trying to trick our minds and, you thought to scare us with those cheap doors and annoying labyrinthic triggers you did a very bad job, at least I was mind-tired and annoyed after playing this entry, as it didn’t have any clear clue of what the hell to do and especially which path to follow to find the keys to those locks, I think nevertheless that if you plan better the map and give the player a bit more of guidance your entry could be saved, hope you release it again improved in the future.
The Pit by Zapizard
Man, this entry it’s dire because devs sometimes think that “just kill the player” is a great formula to do a scary game, and not, it’s not, because you need more than that…
The problem is that concepts like this would be better if you give some chance to the gamer to save his arse and get out of there alive despite the scary parts he faced. That is called “survival horror”, and it is a good way to do a good horror game. This wasn’t the case, as in this map we just basically can stand doing nothing like 5 or 10 minutes just to be killed… or jump the pit, for me that’s a ” point a big middle finger to any gamer’s face” formula.
Visitor by AlphaEcho
As an attempt to be scary, this was a big “MEH” for me. As a suspense map, it was a good one, but be careful!! as suspense it is not necessarily horror. And also this entry offers the death of the player as the only possible outcome, so I just dislike that, and again, if the author had given the player only a chance to escape and survive, then the “suspense” genre would’ve turned into a successful “survival horror” genre, a thing that never happened here. The house layout reminded me a bit of this “UNDERHELL” mod, hope the author develops something bigger out of this in the future though.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour
playtime 4min
short experience short design something wierd little scary/horror at least it wasn’t a frustrating exeprience
playtime 22min
this one is defenetly the highlight of this pack you’r really in a horror theme the ambiance is perfect with something reference to alien or prey experience a must play for sure and is quite a simple progression that won’t take you nerve except by the trilling experience
playtime 4min
it start really well and was quite immersive trough message and progression in a grey/dark atmosphere but the end was something enexpected and brutal
playtime 25min
whouw the start of this one by the voice acting the cinematic was atmospheric cool and great After you need to solve a king of puzzle in a huge area with the help of a great flashlight but…so what I find it quite sad to ruin a so good start but perhaps I didn’t simply understand the plot
playtime 8min
Amazing Idea of a deep dive in a ‘The Abyss movie way’ abience gameplay and design perfectly fits the theme perhaps a little to short but highly enjoyable
playtime 20min
Didn’t understand the clue of this one with teleporting door timer and a kind of interconnected maze that really get you bored not really undestranding what to do except getting lost…I didn’t finish this one and left after 20min
playtime 1min
One room a pit and that all really no interest in this one
playtime 6min
Simple narative map well scripted and adding the perfect ambiance and thrill through the way you need to progress perfect fitting entry for me
a well worth gaming time experience with some interesting maps especially Data Retroieved, Subject, The haunted core and Visitor
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 30 Minutes