Pervasive. Literary. Brutal. Experimental.
MINERVA, by Adam Foster, takes you to a remote island under the control of Combine forces. Something is going on here. Your goal is to uncover what that is and destroy it. Oh, yes – and try to survive.
This was March 2015’s Classic of the Month mod.
Basic Details
- Title: Minerva
- Author: Adam Foster
- Date Released: 01 October 2007 / Updated for Steam 2014
PDF Interview
An interview with Adam Foster is available. It is in PDF format. You may be able to open this directly in your browser, depending on which one you use and its version or alternatively you can download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download Options
Awards
Playthrough Videos
The playthrough below is part of the Classic of the Month Event, run by Don AKA Unq.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a medium size image. WARNING: The screenshots may contain spoilers.
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Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
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10,920Overall
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1Today
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5Last 7 days
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18Last 30 days
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266365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 20 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 19 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 3 Hours, 28 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by JetBlueChest
Longest: 8 Hours by fdewit
Total Time Played: 69 Hours, 18 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 19 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 3 Hours, 28 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by JetBlueChest
Longest: 8 Hours by fdewit
Total Time Played: 69 Hours, 18 Mins
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I’ll update the post later this afternoon, after I’ve play it. I’m very disapointed that this requires Episode 1 because I feel that if I was a player who only had HL2 and I had played the first two parts I would feel cheated.
I’ve requested an interview with Adam, so if he agrees I’ll try and discuss this point with him.
You know what, Phillip? After some thought, I completely agree with you.
However, you have to give it to Adam for embracing new technologies.
I HAVE read about a few “in-development” mods (Mostly defunct now, I suppose.) that would have required Counter-Strike: Source. I actually find this more outrageous, especially considering we (As in the visitors of this website.) are MOSTLY affixed to singleplayer games. (Unless you’re like me and got the HL2 collector’s edition which actually came with CS:S.)
I’ll try and download this, (Big size + shaped internet = bad!) since I’ve been waiting for ages to fire up number three! (And it’ll be great to play through one and two again!)
I just LOVE Adam’s attention to detail, as well as his very fluid pace and extremely solid gameplay. I also love the mysterious atmosphere and back-story. It really draws you in!
WHoa partIII is outta there then my man. What is that? NEver heard of this game for quite some time tho. Part I and II are great. Just to compress it for who does not know. The player is guided by a misterious voice thru a Combine Facility. Initially striking thru outside defenses, going to an old WWII bunker full of computer, depot of Citadel pods, some corpses of latter dead rebels and it’s key in advancing thru: Liberating a shield that conceals a passage to an underground facility. There the player will see the fabrication of the so famous Headcrab Canisters, Some soldiers put on stasis and a big architeture on a base, and then, getting to a very gigancitc door… Leading to part III.
Fun to see this here, will download soon again play thru I and II, again too, and then drool all ove part III and it’s ending. About the technologies, well, the game sould’ve been made accesible to everyone, yeah, there are a good ammount of players only with an Half Life2 copy or not even that, maybe just a Half Life Deathmatch, but they also could have access to that. Depending on the so good technology presented on EP1, since key feature was the HDR, not bad at all, then maybe it was well worth it to make in EP1 technology.
I played it and it’s really awesome! Part 3 is certainly the best part. This is a must download.It’s maybe a downfall that Episode 1 is required, but part 3 uses a lot of content from Ep1 (in a very good way). You more have to look at it as an Episode 1 mod, rather than a HL2 mod.
It’s Minerva, for anyone who’s played the earlier ones that’s all that needs to be said, and for those who haven’t need to do so.
Part 3/4 is just as good as the earlier parts, with some decent puzzles too. It also contains one of the only gunship fights that I’ve actually found thrilling (as it throws a few curve balls at the “walk to crate, shoot rockets until you run out, walk to crate again” concept)
I’ve added a few screenshots which definitely contain spoilers.
I guess I’m about half way and having fun. Full review to follow.
ZAWMG OMG HOLY HELLISH LIGHTENING BOLTS! IT’s OUT! Gonna play it now!
Well, I think any true Half Life gamer is going to have Episode 1 already. If Adam would have held his release date a bit until after The Orange Box was released this month, then everybody would have Episode 1.
Would absolutely love to play this just to get to part 3, but it instantly crashes during the opening sequence. Bummer!! 🙁
EDIT: I decided I would manually load to map 2 and start from there but tried it from the beginning just in case and it runs fine now. I can’t tell you how many times it crashed on me during the opening sequence though. Just as I was getting ready to go to bed too!
Wow. This is an excellently crafted mod. After already playing parts 1 and 2, I was excited for part 3. it’s arguably better than the first two and builds upon what made the first two parts great whist providing some refreshing gameplay.But overall, this mod hits hard the dominant point — It was damn fun!
Gameplay is excellent and flows well. Enemies were placed excellently in good amounts. Great fire fights ensued. Some decent puzzles are thrown in there two, although I’ll admit some are quite clever. There were some great ideas chucked in there too. I especially liked the section where you were without weapons for a period of time. Although it was a bit tedious at times I enjoyed that part thoroughly.
I will state one problem with gameplay, though — While mostly balanced, at times the difficulty was inconsistent. While there’s nothing wrong with going from easy and building up to difficult, it constantly bumps up and down. I was switched difficulty settings a few times, in fact.
Another thing is that the zombines where overused throughout the final stages of the game. They were sort of almost just ” thrown” in there. But that’s just my opinion. it’s just a bit tedious having to constantly face the same enemy for a long stretch. (Although a few soldiers broke it up at parts.)
Also, to nitpick here, I found the amount of fast headcrabs frustrating. I hate the things in large amounts, as they are VERY annoying. Still, that’s just where my tastes come into it.
I could nitpick some more, but I can’t, because gameplay is just too damn fun and the — um — ” fun factor” far, FAR outweighs these little “problems”.
Design… Is absolutely brilliant. it’s extremely well crafted. Brushwork, trimwork, texture work — Everything falls together nicely. The detail is amazing, too. There is also quite a variety in design elements, which provide for some constantly refreshing visuals. Layouts were also great, complementing the gameplay. The atmosphere and detail found in the final stages of the game is immense…
Seriously, Adam’s design is on par with Valve’s level design. At times, he even surpasses it. (That’s just what I think… Others may beg to differ.)
Another thing about design is the vistas and set-pieces. They are fantastic, well crafted and are placed nicely.
About the Ep.1 requirement… To be honest, I’m not too angry about it, because A LOT of the stuff here makes use of Ep.1’s technology. It would’ve taken ages for Adam to recreate everything from scratch, thus we wouldn’t even have this morsel as of writing.
To be honest, Adam’s made good use of Ep.1’s content. VERY GOOD use of it.
What else can I say about this mod? Well, I have to say that the custom music is great. This and HL2’s (Plus Ep.1’s) music is also placed very well within the maps, taking great advantage of the situation. However, at times, new music would kick in as a previous track had failed to complete. (IE Overlapping.) The previous obviously stops to let the other play. I recall this happening about 2-3 times. Unfortunate, but I’ll live.
To be honest, I can’t think of much else. Pretty much all of this mod’s ” problems” are reserved for nitpicking, which clearly shows how much quality oozes from this mod.
Overall, I highly recommend this mod–
No — I FORCE you to download this mod! It is most definitely worthy of your hard drive, so take a gander and embrace the magic that is MINERVA: Metastasis!
Crap. Once AGAIN I’ve forgotten to mention something.
I love this mod’s storyline. I also love the dialogue from the text messages. It’s very well written and very clever, too.
I laughed a few times, as well.
Much like the design, the plot all falls together quite nicely. I was immersed in it completely, mostly during part 3 which was superb.
I will play through part 1 & 2 again before playing part 3 for the first time.
What can I say besides that? Don’t miss out on this one. Epic.
Wow… I just played this start to finish and I have to say it’s the best ‘mod” I’ve played so far. I use inverted commas for mod because there is very little custom material. However, Foster uses Valve’s material superbly to a professional level. This man has to work in game design! The industry needs him!
I thought the use of Episode One’s content was definitely permitted and really anyone who owns HL2 should own a copy of Episode One aswell. It’s very cheap! The finale was simply awesome.
SPOILERS BELOW!
Backtracking can often be a bore, but there was plenty of new surprises to keep you entertained on the way back up, putting some great action in areas that were previously eerily lifeless (such as the WW2 base). Clambering round the wrecked Citadel-esque areas was very well crafted.
END OF SPOILERS
I enjoyed this mod just as much as Valve’s own campaigns and I look forward to more games from Adam Foster.
have a problem with the non paved ground in the first ep.(metastasis) if I pick up & drop stuff on the non paved ground including killing combine they disappear into the ground and I lose whatever stuff I could have used, and the floor texture in ep.2 has a serious high gloss shine with krieg light reflections. did not have this prob with the hl2 mod. really dislike hl2 ep.1, I had removed it, but reinstalled for metastasis ep.3. valve needs to hire adam for future episodes, because metastasis is by far superior to hl2 ep.1.
I am getting big red “ERROR” captions all over part 3 plus pink and black checkered screens and walls in places. I downloaded via PP and played through part 1 & 2 without any missing content. Read through all the above but can’t see any reference to this issue.
Would seem something is missing from the download relative to part 3 only. Any ideas?
Adam Foster has so to speak “put the iceing on the cake” with this one, just finished it up at 11:00 pm cdt, my eyes are killing me! It had what I like “tough fights” lots of action, great graphics, and NO frame rate drops! Kicked the AA/Af settings all the way up, ran very smooth, kinda like a good shot of Captain Morgan! Hey Mel sounds like some graphic stuff is missing or not loading! This is a must DL!!
AI, I am stuck.
I have got to the point where you need to push two light buttons one at the end of two gantries that over look the big central beam. I dont see what if anything these trigger, the lift is not triggering and can not see where or what else to do.
Mel, try seeing if this helps you out.
Pay attention to your messages. There’s plasma buffers around you that need to be disabled so you did miss what the buttons actually triggered. Good news is don’t fret, you still haven’t disabled them. Trust me when I say you’ll know when they’re disabled!! Try finding something handy in a nearby weapons chest.
I really hate doing consecutive posts, but I started and finished this last night/morning. I was a little disappointed at the thought of having to play from the very beginning but now I am so glad that I did. Everything flows together so well and it wouldn’t have been half as good if not played from the beginning.
This mod is absolutely fantastic. Definitely the best mod I’ve ever played and now have to change my favorite on the bio page.
Encountered ZERO problems (with the exception of the opening scene crashing). Gameplay is exciting AND fun, graphics are simply amazing, and the story is well put together, clever and intelligent. It left me quite breathless in some areas.
You must, must, must
Something else I forgot to mention. Honestly, she’s hit the nail on the head with that there sentence…
***SPOILERS***
When Minerva (?) fires the satellite and the screen faded to black — Honest to god, I had this huge emotional rush with that line “I’m truly sorry.”
***END SPOILERS***
No other mod has immersed me within its storyline/plot/characters this much since I played Todesangst 2: Der Echte Feind and Mistake of Pythagoras!
And that’s saying a lot.
This is, quite possibly, one of the best single player mods for Half-Life 2 I have ever played, and I think I’ve tried all of them.Everyone else has given their own thoughts on this, and there’s little I can add to them. The sheer level of detail in the maps is astounding, the gameplay is consistantly challenging, the effects are breathtaking and the scale of the whole thing is amazing.
If you can, play this. I canoot recommend it highly enough.
I have a similar problewm as Mel. I can see what the two buttons on the gantry do.
ATTENTION SPOILER!!
I throw in the 4 genades and the green lights turn orange. I can even make it quick enough to have them orange all at the same time. Then I throw another one at the central shaft and it gets zapped anyway. And then ofcourse the lights reset to green. What am I missing here?
***SPOILERS***
I only have a vague idea of where you are. I suppose you’re on the third map, during the chapter just before “Pegasus’, (Can’t remember the name of that one.) where you’ve been told to destroy all of the nodes?
If I’m right, then throw a SECOND grenade into each node after you throw your first grenade into them. They should turn red and the energy ball should fling off it. Your first time doing so will have Minerva message you saying that you’ve got three to go.
Am I right?
***END SPOILERS***
***SPOILERS***
Oh yeah, the buttons up on the gantrys OPEN UP the nodes. (The doors covering them.)
***END SPOILERS***
The reason for the superior graphics in the whole Minerva Metastasis series was that Adam used a Mac computer, but how he ported it to a PC I wish I knew! BTW to #23 above, you need more than 1 grenade! Phillip, I hope you can get an interview with Adam Foster, it would be interesting!
ATTENTION SPOILER!!!
Manual_Monaro,
You were right, you have to chuck in 2 grenades for each one. Thanks.
And now I’m stuck again in map 4b, the last one. I’m at the energyshield, just after the area with the turrets. I can’t see how to shutdown the field, or find another exit. Would appreciate any suggestions…
***SPOILERS***
There’s a series of pipes with valves/wheels on them. You have to turn each one to eventually reach the third (Or maybe there was just two? Can’t remember.) one which blows a hole and allows you to continue.
The first was a bit tricky. In the turret room, with the barricaded door, go up to the catwalk that overlooks the hallway on the OTHER SIDE of that door and shoot the boards covering it. Go through the door, turn the valve.
Return to the catwalk and walk along until you reach another pipe/valve. Turn it etc. etc.
That should be the jist of it. Sorry I can’t be more specific.
***END SPOILERS***
What an epic release… Now that is THE Mod. The content of the entire Episode 1 have been used properly, oh damn, that underground facility blowing up like in EP1, so well made. You can see the entire structures of everything, from the “headcraps” containers to soldiers resting on their beds, to the entire huge dar energy device powering the fabrication of canisters and so on. This is the best mod I have ever played for instance, although I cant remember any other else for now that caused impact that big, since I am an old battleworn veteran on Half Life 1 and 2 Mods. Still, this one impressed me and made me iimerse much inside the game. I could put more than one of the “Play it now”, but you get the message.
By the way Philip, this is not supposed to be a trilogy, but a Four chapter saga being the last one after the explosion of Chapter3. See, the name is Pegasus if I remeber well. 4 chapters.
Yes, I know about Peagsus but Adam Foster always claimed it was a trilogy. You’ll also notice that the homepage linked to above has three images, which I presume is to emphasize the trilogy part. I bleieve that the Pegasus title refers to the fact that the player was “saved” by Minerva to fight another day.
I could be wrong and just don’t have time to search through his older posts.
That doesn’t really make a difference, it’s still the same engine. Minerva utilises HDR lighting which may have been quicker to render using a Mac but other than that there would be no difference, he’s still user the Hammer editor.
The first thing he did was install Windows XP on his MAC, then he continued building the mod.
Does Hammer even run on a Mac?
Or even HL2?
After all this time, still no Mac release on Steam. 🙁
If you have followed Adams adventursome blog the Minerva was done on a Mac laptop, a powerbook I believe, it bellyed up and he got his new one and installed WXP on it, Two of my friends are professional graphics artisis that only use Macs, I see proof not conjecture! sorry for getting off track! This is still a great piece of work and will be played again!
I am having big problems running this mod and have had to give it up. Part 1 & 2 are fine but Part 3 has graphic issues. As I previously posted, I am getting the big red ” ERROR” captions all over the maps plus pink and black checkered walls and panels in places. I managed to continue playing until I got back to surface level where all the sky graphics have gone mad making it impossible to play.
I have reinstalled a few time and downloaded again all with the same result. On all occasions the game extracts to the source file but does not show up in the Steam menu.
I have been running the game via the desktop shortcut. Following the link given by Goddess it would appear that others are having the same problems, however what recommendations given there don’t appear to solve the running problems. HELP.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Thanks again, Manual_Monaro. What I’d missed was getting access to the second valve. You have to shoot some planks to open a door, then get back to the turret room, go through the door, use the second valve etc. There were three in all.
So now I’ve finished it. Whay can I say that hasn’t already been said about this mod. It’s simply the best so far I think. So I’ll just say:
People having graphical problems, do you have HDR enabled? If so, try disabling it. I haven’t had this problem but it’s just a thought. Let me know if it makes a difference.
To the best of my knowledge I dont have HDR enabled. How do I check for sure?
A question to anyone whole as downloaded MM3 sometime during the last 3 or 4 days.
1) Did it auto extract into both your steam source file and sream menu.
2) Are you having any graphic issue with levels 4a & 4b.
3) Are you running through the desktop shortcut.
4) are you running any other way either then through steam or the extracted desktop shortcut.
The download provided here has the broken installer – try the proper download link to get the fully working one.(The old one would start the game as a HL2 mod if started from the desktop shortcut, not an Episode One mod – resulting in all the strange problems people are getting.)
I appreciate people trying to mirror the download for me, but when they don’t keep it up-to-date it does get a little frustrating. Especially as I probably have several gigabits per second of mirrors of my own – with no advertising, no sign-up or anything, just a single click on the download link…
Anyway, glad people have enjoyed playing it when it has worked properly – and thanks for all the comments!
I have updated the file to the latest version.
To Cargo Cult.
I downloaded ‘metastasis_Patched” directly from the link you supplied. The result is bigger problems then I had with the pre-patched version. The patched version does not appear in the steam menu plus the desktop shortcut does not run the game direct as before but takes me to the steam menu which is pointless as the game is not there.
I have tested other game files in and out of the steam source folder and they all appear in the steam menu so have’nt a clue why the MM3 is not, whether it’s the patched or otherwise version.
This means that with the patched version I can not run the game at all.
With my Core2 Duo 2.66GB, Geforce 8600GT, & 2GB Ram, I had no problems whatsoever with the graphics, map changes, or anything else for that matter. Adam is just a brilliant mapper, and I hope he’s working on another one. So I’ll chime in with all the others and say that this is the best map-pack I’ve played!
I played the mod from the beginning to really experience the whole story and well….
AMAZING!!!!
This IS the best mod I have ever played. I would love to review it but I’ll leave that up to Mel because he’s the HL2 guy.
Part 3 truly completes the story and doesn’t leave you hanging…
I will play this over an over. What a great mod. It required a little under 2 hours to play the entire thing. And what an experience! Everything is so professional that is as great as HL2. I love the Episode 1 content and he used it wisely. I’m sorry if you don’t have Episode 1 but this mod is a great reason to get it.
had much the same problems as mel,and got a blue screen system shut down.dumped the game as well as drivers and what ever else steam support suggested, crashed at the start of steam an froze,gave it my blessings{!@$@@ %$$@@#@ you} then did the bad shut down.woke this morning to a happy pc, steam and the hl2 series works,now to download this and try again.
Make sure you have HL2 Episode 1 loaded.
got em all I think the pc was lonely,not enough play time:)
Amazing mod so far, but I’m having a little trouble*SPOILER WARNING*
— after everything blows to hell and you’re on the way out, you take the lift back up but it stalls. I can’t find a way out, I’ve tried crawling, ledge jumping and a variety of other things. The only though I have is there have been a variety of error graphics throughout the later stages for some reason. One of them is hanging in mid air just within jumping distance from the edge of the lift/broken glass. Is there supposed to be some kind of object you can jump onto and run up onto the path/gantry a little away from the lift there?
//end spoiler>>
Cheers
Saurus
Yes, I had the same problem. With the graphic problems it’s not easy to see and maybe jump from where you are, I needed to noclip. Be warned once you reach the surface the graphics will be so bad that I dont think you will be able to finish the game.
It would appear that you need HL2 Episode 1 loaded to play through part 3 of MM. I have yet to load Episode 1 but have been told this will fix the graphic.
That’s a misleading statement. In the description of the mod it clearly states you need Epsiode 1. The way you say it makes it sound as though nobody was told and it was accidently discovered.
Not only is it not a misleading statement but it’s meant to be a helpful statement. I am not in the habit of posting misleading statement and dont take kindly to your comment.
Did it not cross your mind that post 50 is playing MM3 without Epsiode 1?
I didn’t question its helpfulness but it impression.
I haven’t suggested your are.
I didn’t mean to offend. However, I stand by what I said.
Yes. Did it not cross you mind to simply say:
You need Epsiode 1 to play the third part of Minerva”.
I am totally lost to understand the point you are trying to make.
Post 50 is stuck at the same point I was stuck which is being ampered due to the graphics issue. I do not have Episode 1 loaded and after finding out you need it for level 3, I attempted to see if it was possible to play though without it. This is possible until you reach topside again.
I was trying to convery my experiences to post 50 and can see no way that this is missleading.
I am allowed within reason to choose my own words when posting
I’ve created a new category for Episode 1 mods and moved MM into it.
Although I thoroughly enjoy Mr. Foster’s Minerva trilogy from carcinogenisis and downhill struggle I was slightly disappointed with the third chapter (not the mod itself) however the fact that episode one is required detours me from continuing to advance in this fantastic trilogy. I have played ep1 at my friends house and found it to be below my expected standards (although you cannot expect too much from episodic content) therefore I did not purchase the addon. I hope that when episode 3 is released (assuming it is the final installment) I can buy the bundle and remove myself from my gaming predicament. Regardless I highly approve of this mod to any hl2 player! (I have recently returned to this site and may create an account in the future thanks for the astounding site phillip keep up the good work!
i only have episode one without halflife2. can I still play this? and if so where should I install it to?
Can someone with more knowledge on this help our friend Xanatos out? I haven’t a clue about this one!
Just the best HL2 mod I’ve played, as simple as that. Proper design, fabulously executed, good, if frustrating puzzles, and challenging combat, edgy and very atmospheric….Without giving any spoilers, the only teensy bit that upset me was when being picked up by the chopper at (what I presume was) the end I got the dreaded “Internal error in Direct3D” thingy, which considering the fact I’d played it through without any glitches or even particularly low frame rates at all was a tad annoying….Otherwise, 10+ out of 10.
I’m not sure about getting stuck in the lift, I took the stairs….;)
@ Xanatos, I had no idea Ep1 was available without HL2, seeing how affordable HL2 is, go on, treat yourself!
(Oops….but it really is that good!)
I finally got around to play the third part of this mod and while the level design is outstanding, it seems I didn’t really understand the story. Why is there a cannon firing into the installation? I mean who has access to that technology? Also while fighting the gunship in the end the game crashed when I tried to enter the bunker all the time. I had to cheat myself a rocket launcher to finish it…
A piece of art like no other mod I played, a wonderfull use of HL2: ep1 content, well made maps, a simple but great story, nice musics, some egnimas.
Anything in this mod is perfect, play it right now !
HELP! im stuck in map 4a. wat do I do after meeting the first group of zombines?
DISASTER !!! ?
I’ve been quicksaving all game and so don’t have a safe point to return to.
I’m just past the room with the very large turbine that’s moving very quickly, where there were stalkers who fired red lasers as you enter the room.
A few minutes previously, after my weapons were taken away in the disintegration room, I received the message that said look for an armory. I looked, didn’t find one, and since everyone kept shooting at me, I kept running.
Now, with no weapons, not even a trusty crowbar, I’m in a sealed area with 3 supply boxes, which I can’t open. There’s an alcove about twenty feet across guarded by a security system that turns on a force field everytime I get within ten feet of it. I’ve tried everything I can think of and nothing works.
Please don’t tell me I missed an armory and have to start the game all over again!
Shawn, I too got stuck in this room for a long time, so it happens to others too!
Now, you need to think of two things:
What powers the forcefield? and Boxes can be useful if you do the right thing with them.
Hopefully that’s not too obvious. If you still can’t figure out what to do, I’ll post the direct answer.
Great reply–thanks for getting back to me.
Lol–well, at the time I posted 65 I had tried heaving the boxes around to try to break them in case there were useful goodies inside. Couldn’t break them open. Second, I tried leaning the boxes against the force field, hoping that when I first moved away, then moved closer, that the force field resuming would shatter the boxes. No luck there, either.
Third, I tried throwing a box at the plug powering the force field, but it doesn’t reach it with much force, certainly not enough to knock the plug loose.
Fourth, I tried stacking boxes to trhow from closer to the plug, but that didn’t help.
Fifth and last, I stacked the boxes to try to get on top of the hardware near the plug, but wasn’t able to climb onto the hardware.
I’m extremely open to suggestions!
Shawn, it certainly sounds like you have tried plenty of things.
I won’t be any more cryptic. I did this then jumped and threw. I think you just have to get it at the right angle. For me it worked second throw.
Please don’t hesitate to ask if you get stuck later on.
I found out about this mod from watching the ModDB mod of the year awards, where it came 5th in the Released Awards.So I thought that looks like an interesting mod and got downloading. I late realised that I required Half Life 2: Episode 1, and then after shortly re-installing it I was underway.
After about an hour later the mod was completed, but fear not. I am an excessively speedy player but I enjoyed every minute of it. The basic premise is that you are a human turned combine who rebelled and is now working for the rebel forces. You have been sent to investigate an Island full of combine.
Now the opening shot of the mod is just amazing, you know the person who mapped this is indeed skilled in their art form and I thoroughly give them full marks on it. The maps are both impressive, realistic and are quite professional, I felt like I was playing one of the games made by Valve.
You are guided by someone who I think is working from somewhere else, anyway their name is Athena and most of their text goes around mythology. Though whenever they have something to say you have to stop what your doing, find a little hiding place and get reading as its such a long set of lines. This was both annoying and interesting because it usually meant that there was some development in the story line.
Anyway, after doing a Half Life 2: Episode 1 reactor shut down sequence styli, everything goes to pot. Massive explosions etc, well I won’t give the rest of the story away.
Minerva is an interesting and both enjoyable mod, there are parts where you are constantly hounded by the enemy meaning that you have to solve the puzzles under fire meaning that you have to think quicker. it’s a good job there is a lot of ammo given to you.
So to wrap up, there is nothing bad I can really say about this mod, minus the lengthy speech by Athena but that’s relevant to the story line. Everything was awesome; a lot better then the usual single person made modifications that are out there.
Phillip,
YOU
ARE
THE MAN!
Thanks for the tip. It worked like a charm. Oddly enough, it worked for me on the second try, too.
I originally didn’t pursue this particular option very far because I lose trust in the modmaker when obvious things to try, earlier in a game, have no effect–such as, in this mod, with the bundle of girders near a locked door. The modmaker here allowed the girders to swing, so I tried a lot of things, pushing and pulling to try to get some real momentum going in order to get the girders to smash the door open. I even hauled the exploding barrel over, got the girders rocking, and timed the barrel’s explosion to give the girders an extra kick. Turns out all you needed to do was press a couple of dumb switches. That being the case, why the irritating red herring of letting the girders swing, making us think agility and problem-solving ability can do the trick? A lot of time wasted, unnecessarily, imo.
Rant over, and thanks again. 🙂
You are welcome.
It would have been nice if the cryptic gibberish that is Foster’s website had mentioned that Episode 1 was required to play this mod.
Well, I mentioned it in the post above, but I know what you mean.
This mod completely blew my expectations out of the water. To think that the brunt of this project was contributed by a singular person is even a more astounding achievement.
The architecture & mapping aspect is on par with the content released by Valve, themselves. When playing this mod, I am reminded of being in Nova Prospekt and The Citadel all over again. It would be easy to dismiss all of this as derivative, if you didn’t consider the amount of meticulous detail and economic use of space when conglomerating all of these into a singular location.
Foster also does a good job on balancing the gameplay. He makes good use of enemy and item placement, so I found myself reloading the game (on Hard) a couple times – not because I’m unnecessarily overwhelmed, but because I needed to refine my tactics. It’s a shame that I was basically squaring off against only two enemy factions, although introducing another one would probably convolute the already tight mapping. He even threw in a couple environmental puzzles and all of them left me scratching my head for a bit.
The story was excellent too, you are guided throughout the mod by a series of text transmissions by an omnipresent superior. You are constantly berated and led around like a meat puppet, which leads to a nice plot twist later on.
It took me 2-3 hours to finish this and I want more. Luckily, Part 4 is coming in the future. This mod is worth the hype.
Is the default location of “Half-Life 2 – Episode One” C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\(username), and what is the name of the folder please? Thanks…
It does. It says external module required, click the link and it brings you to steam’s game page.
Impressive! A bit more and it could have been sold as stand-alone expansion! Great work! Thanks a lot!
I am no expert (by a long shot) and just spend too much free time trying out as many mods as I can. Minerva is a game I keep returning to. I guess that makes it my favourite. The messages add a little dark humour and keep it alive and moving. Great idea!
Playing on a (now ageing) Acer Ferrari 4000 laptop, this mod does not tax the graphics as many do. Too many mods I have to bin as 1 frame / sec is not helpful in a battle.
Thumbs Up – especially for lower spec PC’s.
okay so… this was one of the first mods that I ever downloaded and it one of the only ones that I find myself going back to play again and again.
The map design is amazing, there are some parts whilst your trying to solve a puzzle that you just want to look around instead. The plot’s pretty brilliant as well.
The combat side of things can get a chaotic especially when you have no gun but it’s at a level where you just need to keep trying and you’ll get there.
Okay, I need help. DL’d, installed, had no old saves from the first two, so started part three from the menu, and I end up with absolutely nothing, and no way to get to the armory to protect myself. I can’t figure out how to get past that initial part where you go down the elevator and run around the passages, pull the plug, flip the switch, watch the big door open, then have the combine come in and shoot at a defenseless me, not even a gravity gun. Am I missing something, or just plain stupid? 🙁
Okay, I was plain stupid, I found the ramp that dropped. I finally finished the levels, and DAMN do they make a great mod!! Clean, intense, bug-free, and with a character–in Minerva–that was funny and interesting. Sometimes frustrating, in trying to find a way out, but overall one of the all-time best mods out there, period. Awesome job, Adam, well done!
Amazing atmosphere, brillant design, stellar artistic direction.
Too few munitions (on hard). Some places throw endless enemies at you.
i really enjoy the game but I cant figure out what to do after you uncover the plasma thing……someone please help!
Well, ….. A awsome legend…
Adam has been hired by Valve, to work on HL2 Ep 3.
(Read his Blog – have no link now, too tired… can someone please help out?)
Even though I find loosing one of the best modders extremely annoying, …
… as this time that modder went up a level, I can stand the pain.
Play Minerva – or better: Let her play with you – to see what has to be done to get hired by a top-notch company.
It can be done.
But as this is the first time I hear of that kind of ascension, I presume we won’t see it happen very often… 🙂
http://www.hylobatidae.org/minerva/blogsheep.php?action=articleinfo&id=76
Im on the Pegasus part of Minerva but I see to be stuck at the glass elevator that won’t work. It’s just after the metal door that when you shoot them down a gaggle of headcrabs and combin converted attack through . After killing them all I walk through the door to a central circular area but the elevator won’t work and the only way to go seems to be WAY down, quite a drop. Not sure what to do next :-/
Look up and see what you can shoot.
I’m not going to mince words. This is the best single player mod for Half-Life 2 and it really is no wonder why Adam Foster was hired by Valve. Minerva rivals most of the Episodic content Valve itself has produced. That’s right, I had more fun with this than all of Episode 1.
It’s not without a few minor annoyances, but then what mod isn’t? First, having the roller mines on the beach when you start off was annoying. Because you have no clear way of destroying them without a Gravity Gun, you’re constantly doing a little dance around the rocks to get them away from you. By corollary, it can be further argued that the mod in general relies a bit too heavily on “automated” defenses, like sentry turrets. Again, without a Gravity Gun and often a limited supply of grenades, some of these encounters can be frustrating. When there is one turret, you can walk up with an oil drum for a shield. When there are three triangulated around the room, it doesn’t seem fair.
Second, some of the time based switches are a little awkward. As an example, take the part where you need to ram the hanging beams into the door. The trick is that you have to do the whole thing not once, but twice. I can’t think of many instances in Half-Life 2 proper where that is ever done; it’s usually push the button and move on. Here you push the button, and the button looks like it’s finished, so you move on, not realizing that the button re-enables itself a few moments later. There was another part deeper in where a door takes its sweet time opening for some reason.
Third and last, the second puzzle that involved turning a valve was frustrating. There are actually two valves, which is a tad difficult to ascertain when you have an endless stream of Fast Zombies and Zombine hounding you. The Zombine, especially. When you have tight little corridors, and the Zombine pulls out his grenade, you’re going to get hurt real bad. Again, another thing that could be mitigated with a Gravity Gun. It should be noted that this is not indicative of other puzzles in the mod, where you are allowed to move around and consider the puzzle without duress.
In conclusion, this is still the best HL2 mod ever. This is the one everyone else is compared against. It’s going to be a long time before any mod even comes close.
Here’s my review of MINERVA: Metastasis as it appeared on my site:
“The true method of knowledge is experiment. So, strapped to the underside of a stolen Combine helicopter, you’re part of my latest scientific investigation. Objective: To infiltrate and observe this peculiar little island a few miles off shore, its heart burrowed out by our ever-loving benefactors…”
This is essentially what purpose the unknown neutralagonist has in store for you, the protagonist of MINERVA: Metastasis.
MIVERVA: Metastasis is a singleplayer mod for HL2 and HL2: Ep1 that focuses on a type of storytelling similar to System Shock and Portal, with an unknown, neutral-sided, individual instructing you to do it’s every bidding as though you are part of it’s property. Without giving too much away, the author of the mod, Adam Foster, succeeds doing this type of narrative extraordinarily well, and delivers a story so compelling that you won’t be able to wait until the end. Well, you’ll kind of have to. Originally released as an episodic map pack, Adam Foster later released a package with the mod in it’s entirety.On to the review.
Pros: A captivating style of storytelling similar to Portal and System Shock combined, eye-popping scripted sequences, puzzles that require not only logic, but the ability to use logic under fire. A pretty well-balanced difficulty that is still challenges you even on the easiest setting, exhilarating firefights in different imaginative settings, first playthrough will take about two and a half hours, loading times that occur about once every thirty minutes, smooth pacing.
Cons: The addition of some voice acting would’ve made the overall package come alive even more, but I suppose that it wasn’t really needed. The bottom line: The greatest singleplayer map-pack/mod ever created. The author took three painstaking years to bring this package to perfection and he has indeed done just that. Kudos to Adam Foster.
Mod Graphics: 10/10 Mod Sound: 10/10 Mod Gameplay: 10/10 Mod Stability: 10/10 Mod Story: 10/10 Overall: 10/10
N O T E : Mr. Adam Foster has joined Valve Software, congrats to him! 😀
~sauerfreak
Hi, Players,
I am stuck in the level “metastasis_4a” inside of the elevator that stopped in the middle of the way near broken glass and near two red words “Error”.
Can you help me to go out or inform me how to go ahead?
Thanks.
Vicpas, It’s been such a long time since I played this I can’t remember where you are. However, I am guessing that you don’t have Episode One installed because those big red Errors are because it can’t find something.
I’m sure somebody will help with being stuck though.
Thanks, Phillip
I’ll install Episode One and will try again.
It’s been said better here already, but this plays like a finely polished gem! Valve’s gain is, well… our gain too!
I have played 1 and 3 and loved them both, but I can’t find 2 for dowload anywhere? Any suggestions? The Minerva webpage is screwed up after Pt 1’s page.
I think you have misunderstood. The link at the top of this page is for ALL 3 parts. If you have played around the island, enter down inside the Combine structure and made your way back to the top then you’ve played everything.
BTW, please don’t put false URLs in your details, just leave it blank if you don’t have a page you want to link to. Thanks.
I’m delighted to inform you that we’ve finished the language packs for French, Polish, Russian, German, Italian and Spanish. They are available on Adam Foster’s site and in a growing number of locations.
If you are still not convinced that Minerva Metastasis is utterly superb then let me assure you of this mod’s outstandingness by stamping it with this orange “Personal Favorite” badge of awesomeness.
Edit:I removed your other post as I think 1 is more than enough to get your opinion across.2 in the space of 4 minutes is a bit to much.Phillip will decide when he comes on wether both are allowed,as I think it’s spamming. – andyb
xanitose you DO need hl2 and hl2 ep one I just checked srry dude
“xanitose you DO need hl2 and hl2 ep one I just checked srry dude”
My experience four months ago was that I only needed HL2episode1 to play Minerva Metastasis. I didn’t need HL2.
I just realized that this is one I did not get to play the second or third parts.
I simply loved the first, the visuals were really great and the play was quite hard but not unbeatable.
Need to play the whole thing through again.
Thanks Philip
This was the best thing I’ve ever played. Challenging, lovely level design and my crappy computer still kept rather stable, if you think about the size of the maps… Size? No matter? Perfectly Visleaved, that’s for sure…
NPCs we’re placed very well, and over the text messages from your leader, you always knew what you were doing.
The only thing I can critize is the amount of Fast zombies you encounter on the beach at the end. But running does the job…
I recently played this for the first time.
This was the first hl2 mod to make me think, O.o.
I cannot get this to run properly. Downloaded from PP a couple of days ago.
I have HL2, EP1, EP2, Counter-Strike: Source, HL2: Deathmatch,
Source SDK Base, Source SDK Base – Orange Box.
Chapter 1. Runs fine but noticed some small changes, odd.
Chapter 2 runs but with ERROR in red in many places – just about playable.
Chapter 3. Is unplayable with ERROR in red all over the place and background is just a splurge. Carried on to the outside but the sky is just bright lights. I had to give up because I cannot see the gunship to shoot it down – just the bright lights.
All other HL2 mods, including old ones run just fine.
I played chapter 1 when first out – all OK
I played chapters 1 & 2 when first out – all OK
I played chapters 1, 2 & 3 when first out – all OK
Any suggestions please?
The red errors suggest a problem with your Episode One. Have you run it recently, or is it just installed but not started?
There should be no difference between my file and any other because it’s exactly the same file, I just renamed it to fit my naming structure.
EP1 is just fine. I started all the chapters and played each one for a couple of minutes (not a fan of EP1 but it was an OK filler).
If you have an Eureka moment, please share!
Otherwise, no bother because I only wanted to replay it because of a comment by Kyouryuu “As far as “best mod ever” goes…..” on Research and Development.
Minerva: Metastasis is full of puzzles but of a completely different nature to R&D. Thanks anyway.
Sorry, clean forgot about that forum rule.
The solution! A patched .exe apparently.
I’ve edited the links to point to the patched version.
really really overrated…
when I was reading reviews for “Research and Development”, people compared that to this!!!! noooo f*ckin way….
Oh come on. Research and Development while great, is nothing but a bunch of puzzles. No comparaison here…Minerva wins hands down.
Utterly incredible!
-One of the most original concepts in some time .
-Clear and progressive story line.
-Great original maps.
-Enemies use ass kicking hit and run guerrilla tactics.
-Highly challenging combat.
-Highly polished and professional look.
-Marvelous visuals.
-This mod will test your HL2 “veteran” status and force you to change your combat tactics more than once!
A Masterpiece for Adam Foster
I’m sorry to say I didn’t like it that much, even if I admit there is a LOT of work into it. I guess it was just not to my taste, it’s hard to explain, I felt a little lost.
I’ll give it 4 stars
jjawin118 above has said it all and with admirable brevity and accuracy.
But missed out that there are a few doable puzzles while under fire.
It’s hard. Your going to die – a lot, so save a lot
Play it NOW. Drop everything and play it now.
best.
hl2.
mod.
ever.
made.
This is the best half-life universe mod I have ever played. (if not the best) The level design is very technical and flawless. The player always has a clear sense of where they need to go (except when on purpose) and the level design allows the player to experience how massive the world is. Even if the level was crap the one thing that keeps me hooked is the fantastic story telling along with back story that surrounds the character Minerva. Piecing together clues from the sudo-prequel “somewhere else” and the bits and pieces of text on the official mod website has me as intrigued as the mod its self.
Whether you play games for the story, the atmosphere, solving puzzles, or just shooting things Minerva Metastasis will not disappoint
PS: If you want a real challenge, play it on hard.
Possibly the best mod I have ever played! Wonderfully engaging story! Great character, great combat, brilliant island to explore, feels very believable as if it could be in the half-life canon. Highly recommended!
I love this one… very intense atmosphere, good layout and level design.
This is a must play In My Opinion. although it isn’t one of my PF’s there is alot of gameplay here. the author and team has put a great deal of thought and work into this, Thank You.
Adam Foster, you are a GENIUS!!! What can I say? Bloody awesome!
Hey, i’ve been getting a ton of errors with this mod . I installed Minerva: Metastasis after the patch on the 27th of May, so I’m thinking that might be the problem (check the homepage if you aren’t aware of how the new patch has messed up alot of 3rd party mods). Does anyone know if there’s a way to fix it? The fix posted on the homepage that suggested to edit the gameinfo txt file didn’t work for me.
Thanks
Well, what can I say that hasn’t been said??? The very first mod for HL2 I played…
Great design, difficulty perfectly balanced, great gameplay, numerous enemies, some puzzles well-thought using the capacities of the Havok engine, not too long but not too short…
Add to that the humour of the Glados-like/SHODAN-like Minerva, and you obtain the best mod of the HLverse, concurrencing the throne with Research and Development…
There is also the fact it could be in some way connected with the HLverse “canon”, without making plot holes… Well…
Hellooo !
I have a little problem :
After I went into the pit, I push a button, Combines explode a door (do you see what part of the game I am talking about ?). After I killed them, I go upstairs and then… the game is just bugging. It doesn’t move anymore and the sounds are bugged. The only thing I can do is closing the game. I tried 3 times but the games still crashes. What can I do ?
Thx.
PS : Sorry if you don’t understand me, I don’t usually speak english :/
It’s probably to do with latest Valve update which is causing many mods to not work.
Adam Foster (the author)is working on a fix.
You’ll just have to wait I think.
Ok thanks
Just downloaded 6-19-10. Crashes for me too after going down to generators and pushing green button…..
A recent update to the Source Engine has casued numerous issues for many mods. Please see the section Mods Not Working in the main section of the post above.
I have already looked at the “Mods Not Working” page. All it says for Minerva is: fix upcoming
Guess I will have to wait….
I can’t honestly tell you haw fantastic this mod is. If you like Half-Life 2, then you are going to love this, this really it true to the Half-Life world and holds fairly good story and continuity throughout, add that to a smashing plot twist which makes the mod even more enjoyable to play time and time again and this is a winner. In other words, go play this mod!
Fantastic – one of the best mods I’ve played.
I think Metastasis is one the best mod for Half-Life 2. Great construction, story, action… and feeling it is part of something huge. First time I played it I haven’t got EP1 so it was incomplete but fantastic. Now I just re finished it and it’s a real pleasure.
It took Adam Foster, the sole author, about two and half years to complete Minerva: Metastasis, in three parts, and to me it’s no surprise that Valve hired him to work on Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and Portal 2 after seeing his amazing work. Although it’s set in the Half-Life 2 universe, this mod is more of a whole separate game, which is deeply engaging with an seemingly innocent start to the story. As you literally go deeper into the game, Adam’s astounding attention to detail and thoroughly thought out map-making skills will be apparent. The storyline prompts you to keep up your curiosity until you feel you are really discovering something big that you must do something about.
Adam’s specialty seems to be indoor environments, and they vary from claustrophobic to enormous, with plenty of beautifully lit areas really helping to set the mood of mystery and being on your own in your “mission”. The audio is very atmospheric, detailed and realistic, with music tracks reused from HL2, though sometimes not always matching perfectly with the events. The puzzles and battles are well-balanced, sometimes forcing me to think beyond my usual habits in HL2, realizing at times the best way to survive was to keep running instead of staying in one place. I particularly enjoyed the final ascent portion of the game, revisiting areas that required a complete change in strategy.
Although Minerva is in many ways similar to the end of HL2 Episode 1 and the beginning of Episode 2, it is so very creative and for me, was a real joy to play – something I will think of when I try other mods. As such, it belongs in my Personal Favorites hall of fame.
Being a latecomer to the HL2 mod scene had both advantages and disadvantages with playing Minerva: Metastasis. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait for all three parts to be released as most original players did, but unfortunately, the May 26 2010 update to the Source engine “broke” this mod (and many other mods) for many, causing Minerva to crash in the same spot, about 15 minutes into the game, every time I played. After searching online, I found a fix on ModDB which involved downloading a backup of older HL2:Ep1 assets files, copying them into the Metastasis mod folder, and adding a few special patched files. This finally got it working, all the way through to the end. If you are not afraid of copying and moving files around in your steam directory, then I do recommend taking the time to apply this fix so that you can experience this game in it’s full glory, but if that sounds scary, or you are a Mac user, you can wait until Adam Foster posts his promised update to get Minerva: Metastasis working for everyone on Steam for Windows as well as Mac.
Love this mod! No problems at all! I liked the environment, it kinda reminds me of Halo: Combat Evolved, and so does the music. Who was that prick giving me messages? I want a new boss next time.
Huh… I could have sworn I left a comment for this, but I guess it was before I registered my account (and those comments that I logged before registering an account have a tendency to mysteriously disappear). Needless to say, this mod is one of my personal favorites, for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum in this thread already. For me, it’s mostly the storyline: the writing is crisp and honed, and delivers an intriguing story that leaves you begging for more.
Trully amazing! One of the best mods ever made!
I’m crashing at the same spot everyone else is, after you press the green button and a soldier blows the door.
So far the mod’s been okay, but nothing to write home about. Certainly nothing to deserve all the “amazing” and “best ever” worship I’ve seen. I can only assume it picks up somewhere after the crash. Guess I’ll never know.
Well what could I say on this one mod, is a personal favourite because it’s a classic, and i’m now able to post a comment because i’ve just recently played MINERVA mod again, this due to a very annoying bugg that it didn’t let me finished the mod the first time I played it back on 2008 or so. So this mod is defenitively a must must play it good lenght excellent well balanced combat and action betwen zombies and CMBS, a relly cool plot story and great details, I can see now why this project changed the life of his creator Adam Foster, whose now is working on valve and sure the next ep3 will have some touch of AF, I think, so well play it now and you probably won’t regeret, and if you guys had the same annoying bug as me download the last patch of the mod and play it!
Soo long! Hec.
Crashing at the same spot with the exploding door.. Any fixes for this yet?? I enjoyed how the combines always seem to flank me in this game keeping me on my toes
I have updated the post to include the latest version. It has the Source 2009 patch already included. Please read the included patch readme, as it may be relevant.
Huh… I could have sworn I left a comment for this, but I guess it was before I registered my account.
This is by a comfortable margin the best, highest quality and most compelling mod ever made. I have replayed it several times and I’m still somewhat amazed.
what can you say about “Minerva: Metastasis” thats not allready been said…. this was actually one of the first hl2 mods I ever played however its only now I have decided to voice my opinions on the mod…..!
ive played this mod around 30 times in all difficulty settings and it never gets boring….. and in my opinion thats the sign of a good mod…. one you can go back to and never get bored….
however its not allways been plain sailing…. after that unhelpful steam update the game began to crash into a never ending loop…however a user created patch sorted this out allthough I did need to reinstall the mod
one thing that stands out with this mod is the amount of work thats gone into it…. adam foster spent over 2 years to create this mod.. and allthough many of us can create mods and maps to spend this long on one project is hard work….. so well done adam
in regards to the mod… well at this stage I would normally mention the negatives…. well with minerva this isnt any…… ive looked far and high but cant think of anything thats bad with this mod…. I could critisize the game crash however this wasnt the creators fault so that wouldnt be fair
allthough at first glance minerva may look like any other well designed mod its actually designed vertically …. so were many modders would use large area,s to create single maps adam found by vertical mapping you could cram more in with less loading screens
in terms of difficulty this is spot on…. its not too easy,however its not massively hard like other mods….just right…….
I would of gave this a personal favourite however this is held by “strider mountain” … however “minerva” …… comes a very close second…..
I could go on about minerva but hey…. download it and play it yourself…… this should of been released as a game… or included on the orange box compilation……
great mod
well done !
I’m still relatively new to Half-Life 2 mods, but I could certainly tell that this was something special.
After playing Someplace Else a few days ago I decided to try this one to see if it was good and I enjoyed it even more than the first one. This mod was brilliant in pretty much every possible way, even the textures from HL2 and EP1 seemed to be placed brilliantly, and I often found myself lost in the awesomeness of them.
The gameplay for this was a great mix of combat and puzzles, both of which were very challenging and I often found myself spending quite a lot of time trying to kill big groups of Combine or trying to figure out a puzzle. It was frustrating in times because of it, but I think that they were well placed and fun nevertheless. I found myself running past quite a lot of enemies, especially near the beginning and end, also the puzzles seem very complex, but once you figure them out you will wonder why you didn’t notice it earlier (Combine camera puzzle is the perfect example) which is proof on how good this mod is.
The story was the other stand out area from this mod and it was done in the same style as in Someplace Else. This mod had a good story, but the way it was presented was fantastic and I actually stopped and tried to avoid battles to see what the person that was talking to you* was saying, although that being said the person did actually give you an idea of what to do in quite a lot of occasions. The ending of Depth Charge was brilliant and I think it probably should have ended there, but I was glad that I managed to get another chapter afterwards which concluded the mod.
Overall this is definitely worth playing, although I would recommend SE first.
*Who was that person anyway? A Xen alien or something? Was it the same person that was in Someplace Else? Was that who Minerva was?
Played it years ago…the first really great mod I ever played. HL2 quality. The author even showed Valve a new trick, a feature called “vertical mapping”, which reduces map loads. As many of you know Valve ended up hiring this guy (Adam Foster), brought him to Seattle from Europe, and gave him a six-figure salary. All because of this mod.
The atmophere, the gameplay, the mapping, all out of this world. This is a must have mod for any true HL2 fan. One of the very best.
Wow! This is by far my favourite combat mod for HL2 that I’ve played. The level design is just so flawless; normally you’ll see a mod which has one point of an oversight: too much of a difficulty ramp up, health too spaced out, but Minerva did everything perfectly. All of the scenes were beautiful, fun, and interesting.
In particular, I liked returning back to scenes after a big change, and seeing how they were affected. It is a very cool thing to see as a player, and it is easier for the mapper to do, because it extends the gameplay without making new maps entirely from scratch.
The puzzle aspects were a bit too abstract at times; perhaps I didn’t read the on-screen text carefully enough, but I found myself looking up a guide for two particular parts. I’m not going to criticise too hard for this though, because some people like challenges that make them think, so it is a bit of a personal thing.
The dialogue and story was also very good, as good as it is really possible for a mod to achieve at least. I feel it was all captured very well with the on-screen text.
Overall, this mod was pure brilliance. There is almost no way it could have been improved.
Can’t remember the reason why I haven’t played this earlier, in the 4 n a half years since its release, but I guess the hype that it received has raised a very high level of expectation for me, specially because it was created by a professional. But I gotta say, this just isn’t my piece of cake. I thought it would be, cus I just love combine environment, but this one had more than I can take. And I was expecting a bug free mod tested through its teeth, for some reason, which is not, but comes pretty close.
Lately I found that a great mod doesn’t have to have all the right ingredients, like good this, good that, puzzles AND story AND gameplay AND sounds etc. If it excels at the few ingredients it implements, rather than having them all but failing at some, then it can be just as good or, in fact, better. If in the end it makes me “feel” a certain way, if it’s got that “je ne sais quoi” then I gladly give it a PIN or PF, but somehow this.. although it should be played by all, you can certainly do without it. Play it later?
Adam Foster, creator of the dramatic and inspired Someplace Else, makes his Half-Life 2 debut with Minerva: Metastasis. If you didn’t already play this map when it appeared on the front page of the VERC, I want you to stop reading, smack yourself upside the head, and start the download now. Those of you who have already played Metastasis, why don’t you go ahead and boot it up right now, give it a replay? I’ll wait.
Bears replaying well, doesn’t it? That’s how you know it’s a classic, gentlemen. From the brief and tasteful helicopter fly-in, to the final lift descent into parts unknown past the largest, thickest armor-plated door, Metastasis is plain and simply a joy to play.
I am not exaggerating when I say that literally every component of this single-player map is executed with impeccable style and attention to detail. From the foamy ocean lapping at the shoreline to the billowing wind in your ears. From the sunlight peeking between the rocky crags as you first haul yourself onto the beach under fire , to the convoluted plasma stream receiver in the center of the island, your environs are realized with extraordinary grace and detail. Not since natural selection have my surroundings felt this moist. During the lulls between firefights, when you have an occasional spare moment to appreciate the visual feast laid before you, Metastasis artfully evokes the same quiet pathos of a broken, humbled planet that valve’s original single player experience sought to evoke, only in a gentler, more subtle way.
Things certainly don’t stay quiet for long, though. Your opponents, your path, and your tactics are anything but subtle! Combat is masterfully paced with combine forces responding to your presence in waves. There’s an occasional, deeply atmospheric lull, giving you a chance to enjoy your surroundings and scavage what supplies you can find dotting the landscape. Occasionally, these will be pensive and moody, with lighting and sound and a copious lack of movement, building up to an ambush by some moderate alien monstrosity lurking in the shadows. Then you finally find the next button or waypoint, and the combine more forces to try and stop you from getting away with whatever you just did. Multiple times, this happens, and every time, it honestly feels as though the Combine are genuinely responding to your incursion, not just randomly spawning to block the way you came in. (Though that’s what they effectively do. Presentation is everything, in this case, you see!)
Continue reading the review on Ten Four…
Notes
This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Friday, 28th October, 2005 by WarpZone.
One of better mod for Half Life
PLAY IT NOW !
Manually
Easy
4 Hours
Has anyone else tried the “Director’s Cut” version which I’ve just seen on Steam? I’m going to give it a whirl and see if there are any obvious improvements, to what was already a truly magnificent if lengthy Mod……
Brilliant. Love the looping-back nature of the levels, where you think “ooh i’ll explore this area”, only to realize it’s where you were 5 minutes earlier and have looped round another way. Overall a joy to play. I can see why valve hired the guy!
Manually
Medium
4 Hours
Yes, it rightly deserves its place in the Hall of Fame, being as it is a mod of the highest quality. Good to hear that it still survives after the last evil valve updates.
Sequel to the HL1 mod Someplace Else and possibly the most loved mod in the HL community. The weird wall of text dude returns and this time he’s sent you to a Combine controlled island to investigate. You start on a beach, and the entire game is very, VERY atmospheric. You get into a secret combine base and that’s where the majority of the game takes place. This mod is absolutely amazing, I must say. There’s a lot of action and puzzles, and the environments, for a single place, have very much variety. It also looks really nice visually and has cool effects everywhere, my favourite being when the portal opens. I really love the part later on when you are trying to destroy various Combine things and must be very conservative with how you use your ammo.
*SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*
The part I love the most is the finale. When the entire place blows up, the wall of text dude, after basically using you as a kamikaze, decides to save you. Going through the destroyed combine base is very atmospheric, and when you finally encounter zombies, there’s a whole lot of them (especially Zombine). Luckily, you have Combine to (sort of) help you and reprogrammed turrets. The part I love the most of the part I love the most, however, is the escape. You finally get back up and the island has basically turned into Ravenholm with zombies everywhere. You must destroy a gunship then you are rescued and the island is destroyed in a spectacular display.
*NO MORE SPOILERS*
If you have Half-Life 2 and haven’t played this, go do that now. I could not recommend it enough.
Manually
Medium
4 Hours, 20 Minutes
I have to admit, on the times when I’ve gone to revisit Minerva, I’ve always been taken aback by how difficult it was. I think it tends to follow the old method of using the Combine Soldiers – instructing them to hound and chase the player relentlessly until someone dies. IIRC, the Combine start off with the AR2, so it naturally leads into trading huge amounts of damage back and forth.
I’m sure someone can fill this in, because I can’t find it, but I recall someone on Interlopers saying that the Combine Soldiers were different in Episodic and Ep2. I think it had something to do with their accuracy? I know from the Github that Episode One, on Hard, scales player damage by 2x instead of 1.5x. I’m just thinking that since Minerva was ported to Episode One, maybe it became unintentionally more difficult because of something behind the scenes.
Found it with a little help in Ihonnyboy.
http://www.interlopers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3153&p=506914&hilit=ar2#p506914
The gist is that in Episode One, which is what Minerva is based on, Combine Soldiers with AR2s have significantly increased accuracy. This is not true of Half-Life 2 or Episode Two – it only affects Episode One and the mods based on it. This “VERY_GOOD” accuracy is almost on par with the player and has no recoil penalty either. It’s akin to fighting Citizens.
Oh! The accuracy is better in Ep2 as well. When Github says “episodic” it’s referring to Ep2 and Ep1. This is probably why Minerva was so severely affected, ’cause when Valve changed stuff in Ep2, they changed it in Ep1 as well. (this is shown in one of their comments on the assault ai page: “…concept is new to EP2. We’re only willing to risk causing problems in EP1, so emulate the old behavior if we are not EPISODIC.”) Minerva was probably fine, ported to Ep1 for the assets, and than Ep1 was updated soon after Ep2 came out, and the difficulty broke.
Ah, my bad. I had assumed “Episodic” in the code sense meant the same thing it did in the mapping sense, where Episodic refers to Episode One and Ep2 refers to Episode Two. There is no “ifdef ep2” in code.
The current version of Minerva was put on Steam back in 2013, so these balancing changes should have been accounted for, but I’m not sure they were.
I remember playing this 6 or 7 years ago, and its great to have this monthly classic mod event. A truly exceptional mod that stands the test of time, so to speak.
Manually
Medium
3 Hours
I can’t even believe I’ve never reviewed this? O.O
Since the engine and files have been moved around a little all the map loads were netgraph out of date, but that’s kind of expected. I’d really forgotten how hard some of the bits were, and usually I think I had played on Easy rather than Medium.
While I’ll always recommend people play this mod for the sheer ‘it’s just like Half Life 2’ness of its mapping, I’m still usually a bit let down by the repetition and doubling back of many portions. I’ve played it like 4 or 5 times and I still get lost in certain areas, and still have never quite figured out how to get through that portion without weapons, without going on god mode. I’m convinced that there should be something, and I’m missing it, because it just doesn’t make sense that I’d have to dodge wave after wave of enemies without anything? *shrug*
Visually, of course, this mod is pure HL2. The environments and sounds, choices of music and overall level design are stunning. It’s easy to see the core of Foster’s skills develop.
Manually
Medium
3 Hours, 20 Minutes
Until I played this for the Classic of the Month, I had only played the first 2 maps back in the day (shame!). I have to say it’s one of the very best Half-Life 2 mods I’ve played – although keep in mind I’ve only played perhaps two dozen of them total. But that doesn’t water down my recommendation.
We all know Minerva is the work of Adam Foster, author of the short but excellent Someplace Else. He did much more work in the Goldsource engine, most of which we will likely never properly experience (he was a main designer on the cancelled Nightwatch). And we all know Adam was hired by Valve due in no small part to the excellent work on this mod. Minerva isn’t perfect but it’s unique, polished, and a lot of fun.
I especially liked the choice to not include the gravity gun, HL2’s signature weapon. It perhaps does not fit with Minerva’s story or setup, but more importantly it’s a brave design choice. I think it pays off. Minerva breaks from the Half-Life 2 feel just enough to differentiate itself but not so much it feels like a different world.
I also liked the challenge of Minerva. This mod isn’t afraid to make life difficult for you. As soon as the chopper drops you off, you’re under fire, and soon enough you’re up against the elite Combine soldiers as well as the normal ones.
I wasn’t terribly fond of some of the backtracking. It lets an author get more use out of a given space, but in some cases it felt like I was just being led around by the nose back and forth. Although this would fit perfectly with the ever-taunting Minerva and her cryptic messages.
I also thought the section with the zombines was way overdone. They were a novel enemy in Episode 1, but the infinite spawning section was poorly executed in my opinion.
That’s about all I have to complain about. It is certainly the best HL2 mod I’ve played, but in all falls short of a Personal Favorite. That said, this is a classic and I don’t hesitate to recommend it.
Manually
Medium
2 Hours, 30 Minutes
One of about 3-5 SP mods that are actually available to download on steam. It has a well defined setting (some secret combine island) and the return of the ‘mysterious guide’ character or what you want to call it. I think that’s what sets this mod apart from every other ‘assault on combine outpost’ type of map, which does get kinda repetitive after the 50th one or so. The character itself is very interesting though, you won’t be bored playing this mod.
It’s definitely not easy. Several ambushes and escape sequences make it very difficult to survive. I played this once before the event so I kinda had an idea what to expect. As for you, reader, since it’s so easy to get (just download from steam directly) I think it’s definitely worth a try. There is a bit of possibility of getting lost, but the maps aren’t ridiculously huge so it prolly isn’t going to be a real problem.
Manually
Medium
2 Hours, 6 Minutes
I played this before, its REALLY good.
I’m actually itching for another run (uninstalled along time ago, it was hard to install in the first place but the Steam release makes things very easy now) but I’m backlogged for now.
Manually
Medium
3 Hours
1. I have changed your playtime to 3 hours from 7 hours. I don’t believe you played this for 7 hours, at least not a single playthrough.
2. I have removed the recommendation image from your review because the review was not detailed enough.
I will be doing the same for some other reviews of this mod next week.
It’s one of the first HL2 mods I’ve played. And It really took me back to good old Half-life 2 feeling. It felt somewhat easy even of hard difficulty, so I would recommend setting it on hard if you are familiar with Half-life games.
Manually
Hard
2 Hours, 30 Minutes
When attempting to install get error “cannot install Minerva: Metastasis – base game needed/required/missing”
Any workarounds or download locations besides Steam store cause steam is just blasting that error right back at me no matter how many half life games to add to the library. Anything such as a download zip archive containing the actual mod folder to put into my SourceMods Folder, if anybody gets my meaning. But I’m sure this mod would’ve been great according to the positive reviews. Thanks.
One of the reasons I joined this site was to find great mods I could play, and MINERVA is a great mod!
I found this one continuous and fun romp: lots of fighting and thinking in well-thought out maps with a story that was consistent with the enemies that were faced. At one point I even had the feeling of awe that I first had traveling through the Citadel in HL2 when I saw the sheer scale of the shaft.
I particularly liked the way the combine were used – tough battles were not just a result of numbers, but carefully thought out strategic placements.
Although there did seem to be infinite spawning of enemies that put some pressure on working out the puzzles – some of which are not immediately obvious – which did lead to some repetition and increasing loss of ammo.
At times I found the text difficult to read as it appeared and had to move to face a darker background quickly so I could read it before it disappeared.
The backtracking through sections did not detract from my perspective, especially when the section had been changed due to damage inflicted.
I can see this being a mod I play frequently.
Manually
Medium
3 Hours, 10 Minutes
I’ve played Minerva several times before but never completed the mod until last year. This review is based on a second complete playthrough on the ‘hard’ setting. This is, therefore, based on the Steam release.
I noticed I was aware of some of the points where I had difficulty progressing before, and also of some strategies I’d used before (e.g. avoiding combat by blocking doorways, ‘flight forward’) that I re-applied. The hard setting gave a few new challenges that forced me to think more strategically, and I noticed I saved a lot more.
On any setting this mod challenges you with hard combat. I felt frustration several times when a large number of enemies – combine or their zombified counterparts – rushed me with little option of escape or defense. I also felt relief after passing yet another difficult section, and satisfied with myself when I figured out a way to avoid damage, death or combat.
Minerva also reminded me of my hate for manhacks when I’m without a gravity-gun, and of fast zombies because they are so hard to fight in numbers.
Minerva tells a story with visuals and interaction and tells it well. Dropped on a beach under fire I became that lone combine soldier turned subject of a unknown mysterious controller, only making herself known through text messages. This is a clever way to introduce a custom ‘voice’ with a distinct message without the need for voice acting. The modem sounds – I actually remember these – reinforce the idea of a simple yet robust system that will function under great stress and in harsh conditions. It fits the setting and story as it unfolds.
The environment, the path you take through it, the enemies you face, the changes you notice and the information you get from your own private benefactor fit together into a narrative that makes this mod a complete package.
If you are not into hard combat however, this mod isn’t for you.
If you are into combat centered, story driven mods I recommend playing Minerva. All aspects fit together into a story that makes sense and you are driven forward because of it. I’m yet to find a mod that uses the elements of half life 2 to create an experience at least as enjoyable as the games themselves.
This is my (first) personal favorite.
Using Gauge
Hard
8 Hours
I’ve played this one more than once, over the years, and have always come back to play it again and again. I guess that we can count this as one of my favorites. Play it, you won’t be disappointed.
Manually
Easy
5 Hours
The recommendation image has been removed because the review is too short for 5 hours play and too generic. Also, did you really play for 5 hours to finish this mod once?
Really good mod, you should play it.
Manually
Medium
3 Hours
It looks great. I found myself lost a lot because there were a lot of areas that were mirrors of other areas. Did I go this way yet? Looks like I did? After about an hour in I had enough. Really wanted to like this one.
Minerva takes the formula established in Someplace Else and improves upon it in basically every way. The antagonistic text messages are back, and the combat is as intense as ever. Instead of one map, there’s now four, and they’re all just as packed with content as the original. In fact, while I prefer the gameplay of Half-Life 1 to Half-Life 2, I felt like combat in this mod was much more intense and enjoyable, which is saying a lot since this mod does not even feature the gravity gun.
Outside of combat, the mod offers great set pieces and unique segments, which I won’t go into too much due to spoilers. The story, which again is told through text message the player receives along with some environmental storytelling, also elevates the mod. Minerva offers an experience that not many other mods can, and is a must play for that very reason.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 40 Minutes
Starts off quite conservatively so don’t let the first coastal section put you off. Then once you start going down those levels into the belly of the beast … oh s**t ! Maybe I’ve just not played HL2 for a long time but the difficulty gets quite high. But this is as it should be and if you pay attention then it is forgiving. It’s a relief to find no enemy silhouettes here, or tagging, or a million other “assists” that spoil the actual raw business of shooting and fighting … but this is Half Life right ? Another thing here are nice shader effects. Also some story humour mostly in the text messages. You can now install using Steam.
Manually
Medium
5 Hours
This is by far the best HL2 mod I have ever played. I have already played it at least 9 times, discovering new options and new ways to defeat enemies within the game at each new replay.
This mod has everything a good game should have : good structure, colors, story, thrilling and exciting. I’d definitely like to see more of these, and it is really a shame that the mod designer didn’t decided to prolong it or recreate it in a different way.
I liked the challenge of Minerva, which kind of make life difficult for the player. As soon as we are dropped by the chopper, we are under fire and the adventure starts right away 🙂
Not much to complain about and I will definitely add new comments in the next coming days.
DEFINITELY MY FAVORITE !!!!!
Manually
Hard
5 Hours, 12 Minutes
– The start was one of my favorite parts, it’s open but not in an overwhelming way that makes it easy to get lost.
– Combat leaned into the hard side, and I’ll admit I was tired of it around the 1/3 mark. But the strong visual style of the maps makes you want to keep going. Many times it looked on par with Valve’s maps
– Later comes a section where you have to explore the area with no weapons while you are surrounded by enemies. Surprisingly it works pretty well and was one of the most memorable sections.
– And then comes the twist, which presented a great opportunity to revisit the maps but with a whole new look. I simply love this design choice because you can feel the progress you’re making as you retrace your steps, and the new surprises always keep you on your toes.
– Good ending section. A little overwhelming with so many enemies around you. But this was a good gunship fight (and this is coming from someone who hates gunship fights)
– My only nitpick is with the puzzles. Some of them are a bit on the obtuse side. It’s nothing too terribly bad, as with a bit of experimentation you can find the solution on your own. But don’t be surprised if you get stuck for minutes because the next step wasn’t clear enough.
Overall, it’s a really good mod and it’s one of the classics for a reason. There’s not much else to say that hasn’t been said already, give it a shot!
Manually
Medium
3 Hours, 30 Minutes
Good, sometimes I didn’t know where to go
Manually
Medium
2 Hours
Used to play that years ago and really like it. Nice long campaign. Playthrough here: https://youtu.be/6qARaJeHBvQ
Manually
Easy
1 Hour