Absolute Redemption - Mod vs. Retail Comparison

This is a video comparison of the differences between the original mod release and the retail release in the classic Half-Life singleplayer modification Absolute Redemption.

Just a bit of history: In October of 1999, a small team of modders known as Maverick Development, already known at the time for creating Drug Barons, one of the first custom HL1 map packs, released a large and ambitious Half-Life project then known as Redemption. The mod, serving as an unofficial sequel to Half-Life, told the story of Gordon's continued adventures under the G-Man's employ traveling through the Himalayas, a carnival (appropriately named "Half-Park"), and even back to Xen in search of the three sacred Telnorps/moths/butterflies. It was well received by players and served as a sign of the great potential to come in the future of HL1 modding.

However, in May of 2000, Maverick suddenly withdrew the mod from their site and started asking third party hosts to take down their mirrors. The reasoning to eliminate all available downloads of Redemption on the net soon became clear. In the following months, the developers announced that Redemption would become a retail-only product in a new second revision to be called Absolute Redemption. Their previous public release was now deemed a beta version. In November of 2000, the mod finally reached store shelves as one of a number of Half-Life mods included with the CD release of Counter-Strike.

While Absolute Redemption was eventually re-released for free in mid-2001, the decision to retract a free mod and making it available again only by purchase caused quite a commotion in the fledgling Half-Life modding community, one that you no doubt still hear about to this day. Nonetheless, in its journey from mod to retail, Redemption underwent a number of particularly notable changes. These included edits to cut copyrighted content, namely to the discontinued sponsorship from PC Zone magazine as well as the ill-fated Quake II reference, along with a few dramatically overhauled areas to improve gameplay in response to common player complaints.

Credit to Barnz for historical research and assistance.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• absolute
• redemption
• half-life
• half
• life
• half life
• hl1
• goldsource
• goldsrc
• mod
• modification
• maverick development
• penghouse
• WON was better than Steam

[alexlmt]

Does anyone know if the free version released in 2001 is the retail version or simply just the mod?

[MarphitimusBlackimus]

@alexlmt That's an updated version of the retail release.

[MGS1guilherme]

I... I didn't get it.

Does that make me dumb or something?

[MarphitimusBlackimus]

@MGS1guilherme Greetings, viewer! I wish to know, why do you feel that you didn't get it? I always try to make my videos, even those obsessing over the most obscure of obscure and minute of minutia, as clear as possible. However, every video ends up being a learning experience for me, and I hope only to improve with each attempt. Of course, the true test comes from the response of viewers like you since, ultimately, these videos have always been for you all. What should I have done differently?

[stevoisiak]

Is this considered cannon to the Half Life storyline?

[burningfajitasalt]

yours is the one on the left.

oh lord i remember this... me and my friend just played the carnival all the time.

[mortimormouse]

@burningfajitasalt i have had a burning passion to play the Half-Life variation my cousin was playing 8 years ago when i watched him play it but i have yet to find it. I remember a couple of the setting were obviously black mesa, an army base, some caves where there were bats and assassins and A CARNIVAL that included a infested tunnel of love and some cheesy scary ride!!!! Does it sound at all familiar??

[m82sniper99]

Interesting, I love the Q2 reference in the mod version, it's too bad they didn't keep that in. I don't think that's a Q2 reference in the retail version, it's just the Stonehenge.

[NSWProduction]

I actually downloaded this because of this video, it's pretty cool/well polished but navigating some of the levels is a bitch.

[karanjhalaguy16578]

at 4:22 its FPSRussia!

[AArmstrongDotOrg]

Wow, I can't find any videos of this being played - anyone know of any, or will you be doing on MarphitimusBlackimus? :) looks like a pretty neat mod at least, even with this controversy.

[Predatory2k]

@GestapoTheCat theres a firearms source out now.

[MrHaloGuy1000]

did they revamp it so that security guards could survive a shotgun blast to the face?

[xdemonessx]

this is pretty neat i had no idea.