This is the mod that got Adam Foster a job at Valve, and now it gets a Director’s Cut release.
You may notice a new Half Life 2 product release on Steam, for free, later today, and wonder what Minerva: Metastasis is all about. Well, it’s about Adam Foster getting a job, for one thing; this is that same mod that, back in 2008, persuaded Valve Foster was a great find and – though Minerva has been released into the wild before – now it’s getting a Director’s Cut edition. Take a look at Valve Time’s trailer, and you may see what Valve saw: Foster’s a very talented fella, with a knack for putting together exceptionally clever maps.
There won’t be new content, Foster says, but there will be “tweaked visuals, bug fixes, better puzzles and all kinds of subtle improvements.” Lots of polish, in other words, to make this the definitive Minerva experience. Minerva, for those who haven’t played this mod before, is named after your support character, whose voice over the radio gives you direction as well as a bit of backstory. You’ll be investigating Combine activity on a mysterious island; an activity otherwise known as Observe, Reveal, Destroy.
“I design the story and places,” Foster told RockPaperShotgun once upon a time, “then wrap the gameplay around those.” If that design philosophy sounds like something you’d enjoy – or if you just want the definitive Minerva nestled in your Steam library like a contented cat – then today’s your lucky day.
Source: PC Gamer
Published: Apr 30, 2013 01:00 pm