The Specialists
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This article is about a mod. |  |
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The subject matter of this article is an unofficial production that has been created by third-party developers. |
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| The Specialists | |
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| Developer(s) |
The Specialists mod team |
| Release date(s) |
October 29, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | |
| Mode(s) | |
| Engine | |
| Designer(s) |
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The Specialists is a multiplayer mod for Half-Life.
History[edit]
The game was created by Filippo "Morfeo" De Luca & Lorenzo "John_Matrix" Pasini. Originally made to be a team-play game, The Specialists soon evolved into a "Free-For-All" game with action movie realism. The Specialists 1.0 was first publicly released on October 29, 2002.
On June 21, 2007, The Specialists received its final major update, 3.0. The possibility of a 3.1 has been mentioned by the development team, which would include minor feature additions and any necessary bug fixes to put the mod in a finished state.
Gameplay[edit]
The Specialists is intended to resemble a generic action movie, and is often compared to the film Face/Off. It contains over 29 weapons, many power-ups, and 5 official game types.
One of the features that The Specialists is known for is "Bullet Time", the ability to manipulate time to pass in slow motion. The game also makes heavy use of stunts, even rewarding players with scoring bonuses for stunt combinations, and also has a simple, yet complex, kung fu system for melee attacks. Although it is far from being the first shooter to include stunts and kung fu, The Specialists is the first to combine them with multiplayer slow motion gameplay.
The various stunts that can be performed are all dependent on the direction that the player is looking in. Weight is a very important part of The Specialists, as it determines a large part of how the game can be played. Carrying vast amounts of firepower will limit the number of stunts able to be performed and the speed at which they the player can move, whereas players armed with only knives or a pistol will be able to move very quickly and perform more stunts.
The Specialists contains a variety of power-ups, which can be separated into two categories: passive and active power-ups. Passive power-ups do not require activation: they last until the character is killed, and their effect is maintained for the entire time. All can be found in the maps but most are awarded after reaching a certain status. Active power-ups must be activated to have an effect. They last for three or five seconds depending on which power-up is used. Active power-ups can be particularly devastating when used with an appropriate weapon. The player may only carry one active power-up at a time.
