Half-Life Russian Army Edition (Paranoia Mod) 

I wanted to do a follow-up video this one by covering Paranoia 2: Savior. Unfortunately, both the 1.1 and 1.2 builds do not work on my computer. It's most likely because I'm using Windows 11... So for now... no Paranoia 2 video :(

Interesting fact: Mikhail Kadikov, one of the main developers and mappers of Paranoia, later took a job at Crytek and worked on Hunt Showdown. Today he also blogs about level design and has published a couple of books about it.

The beginning section of the game is so long because it's basically fan service for every Russian.

0:48 Kalashnikov is a fairly common surname in Russia. It actually means something like Baker in English, basically "from a family of bakers", those who bake "калачи".

Alexander Kalashnikov. Good friends with James Glock and Henry Deagle.

7:57 "load 200" is mentioned in this log, it is also known as "cargo 200" and is a military way to designate dead bodies cargo in the soviet/russian/ukranian/etc etc armies.

8:33 Dirizher, for those curious, means conductor (for an orchestra) as for other operatives, Kulak is fist, Sovok is dustpan

The guns look Astonishing for half life mod... Congrats to the creators!

I actually played this mod a few weeks ago and it was really fun. I like to think of it as a “Russian Underhell” because this mod reminded me a lot of that mod while playing it. My only problem with it was that the HL1 version crashed often when trying to load a save.

When I played this total conversion for the first time, I wasn't expecting it to had such an awesome soundtrack and turn into a horror-game at some point, especially that first encounter was so unnerving and scary for me, that this mod ended up being my favourite game of 2007. If I'm not mistaken it was one of the first mods that used Xash3D through D3D option in renderer option. Well at least it's creator was in cahoots with Paranoia Team. 0:47 Kalashnikov is a very common surname in Russia, so it's not a joke just because it was the same surname of a person who created one of the most popular assault rifles. 9:25 I'm glad mod didn't had more of segments like that, when I was a kid in 2008 it was too scary at that time for me) And the shootout after that didn't felt to me like a let down when adrenaline kicked in after being scared due to this completely unexpected scene. By the way, the lead developer of this mod ended up working at Crytek on such titles as Hunt: Showdown, The Climb 1/2 and Robinson: The Journey, two last games were pretty great VR experiences. And if I'm not mistaken other developer ended up in 4A games working on Metro: Exodus. So yeah this mod openned doors into big industry to some talented people who worked on Paranoia.

This game, for some reason, gives me much worse nightmares, than any other horror themed game out there. And I believe it has something to do with the first time you visit the abandoned KROT 1 lab. That familiar, though uncanny looking soviet architecture (yes, I am from former Warsaw pact's state), those unkempt basements reminds me of my grandparents stalinistic apartment building. And that terror you feel, when in game you only get a freaking pistol with three mags and a knife to defend your self from those creatures... Damn. My grandparent's basement has more than one level below the surface. I've never visited the lower parts. The only way to go to that dark, damp and unnaturally big lover level, is one set of old rusty metal stairs... My flashlight never managed to completely light that whole room. Almost every old basement has that creepy feeling about them. But that apartment basement takes the cake. The corridor leading to that lower basement was not only very narrow, but also "decorated" with old creepy looking doors and water pipes on the wall (and those pipes are insulated with creepy looking dirty white cloth) making pipe noises. Some outer walls starting to collapse on the corridor, and complementary spider webs on every corner is also a big "plus". But the biggest issue with that basement was the fact, that every single freaking corridor is completely dark, because some genius decided to install all light switches AT THE END of every corridor, and not at the beginning. So, every time I had to go to that basement, I had to unlock the old metalic heavy doors, then travel the first corridor in darkness to the first light switch, open the other corridor door at the corner, travel through that corridor to the end just to reach the other light switch and the open the last corridor door just to walk through all that darkness to the last light switch, whitch was not only next to my grandparent's basement, but also next to that creepy lower level. My flashlight was my best friend and my worst enemy, because it not only lighted my path, but also catched every nook and cranny, so the shadows jumpacared me more than once. I was told, that this lower level was used to keep the hughe amount of coal for central heating of the apartment building. And this lower level had another room below it, where the boiler was situated. Never explored it myself, so now I can only imagine what it looked like. And the fact, that this apartment building was built after WW2 by POWs, mainly consisting of german soldiers, using a lot of debris from other destroyed buildings never really sat with me. That unsettling feeling of this particular basement was reignited after KROT 1 level in the game. Though this game, imo, feels inspired a lot by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the aforementioned game never had such impact on my quality of sleep like PARANOIA. Damn it's a good mod! I rate it 9.5/10, but just because the ending seemed rushed a little bit. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go visit my therapist.

not so fun fact, Paranoia 2's development was cut short due to the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, where several of the devs went missing

This mod feels like home. The depressing postsoviet vibes are on point

man ,this mod made me jump into stalker because i wanted more of that feel... i wish i could play Paranoia and Stalker like the first time again

Paranoia has to me one of the best tension crescendos in videogames ever. The way Dirizher describes what he's encountering and then cry in agony, just for the player later on face the same exact places he was describing... It was chilling. And imo the zombies were good enough, their design was horrifying and I didn't get any rock music during the climax, it was actually the same "voices in my head" but louder. Idk maybe we played different versions? And about the ending: when the clones attacked, the head scientist explicitly said that she was gonna stay below, as all spetznas were called to fight the clones. Then the forces were constantly segwayed into new objectives, so it kinda make sense that they never came back for the lady. And in the end, I recall reading once that the ending was made for the lolz rather than anything else.

Это мой любимый мод, до сих пор тепло на душе вспоминать, как я срался с него))

Я первый раз слышу об этом моде. Как человек отслуживший срочную службу могу с уверенностью заявить что атмосфера передана правильно.

Man, this game has S.T.A.L.K.E.R. style, my favorite.

I know this is off topic but I completed hl2 episode 1 yesterday and I felt so sorry for the people who have been waiting since then.

the face textures look like kids, the creator of this mod probably just got his friends to take pictures of their faces but they look really weird because these are fully grown adults with the faces of teens, the one with facial hair especially just looks so odd

if the story was more fleshed out I could believe that this was some alternate universe half life that was developed in Russia. Nice video mate

Обычный день в школе МБОУ СОШ №44

Man this reminded me of a time i was super fascinated about gasmasks and other postapo stalker stuff and i had a gasmask (firstly a PBF then a gp5) but my twin brother whoud freak out that it had asbestos and we whoud all die (i didint even had a filter) I coudnt even explain it to him he whoudnt belive me, so he paid me to throw them out Weird story i know

2:33 that's the CS1.6 deagle reload animation even the pistol's recoil animation is the same as the Deagle

I remember going on moddb few years ago (if not a decade ago at this point) and seeing this mod, immediately it caught my attention. I don't do well with horror games, even simple horror, I had to pick up and leave several times until I grew some balls to push through finishing this game. Seeing the spider zombie, I don't have too much arachnophobia but that shit gave me nightmares for weeks. On the other hand though, this mod honestly built me a sort of unconventional love for abandoned soviet style buildings or environments. The use of weirdly in place realistic textures gave me a feeling that I love way too much, and honestly no other game has given me that feeling really. Seeing run down, grimy, lifeless, even nature doesn't want to retake that part of buildings, such a mystique feeling I really can't describe. I also should try the stalker series, I never have played them. there is this indie game called 35MM (as in the 35 millimeter film) which takes the on the journey of two dudes trying to survive after the apocalypse, it is a weird game, but this is the only one closest to what gave me that abandoned feeling too, since it is also in russian - though I don't remember if it only had subtitles in english or was it also voiced in english. Been some time since I've played that game.

Perfect choice of background music. When i clicked on this video i was confused and thought im watching an SoC video lol

real state of any russian facility (still accurate in 2023)

I always assumed the underground base used to lock gopniks to protect surface world.

>the game is absolutely dark, dingy, disgusting and so on For a Russian, it feels homey instead

the lighting in this was insane for the release, and the texture work

"Udarnik" can be interpret as "Striker" (so Striker Industrial Facility) "Krot" is "Mole" (the undeground animal, connection is obvious) "Kulak" is "Knuckle" (or "Fist", but Knuckle sounds cooler and works fine aswell)

I remember you streamed this a while back!

My friend played this game, i heard it was not that good. Looking back on it doesn't seem too bad. (Also the Stalker music in the intro is top) edit:just played it, first part is hilarious.

i assume they left the scientist to its own fate after seeing all the mess up stuff , better to burry everything

The part with the generic zombies, could have worked if 1- you didnt had any weapons from the fall for x reazon 2-some loud scary music and zombies grunting has you try to run for your life.

13:23 Spetsnaz not saving the civilians? Well color me shocked.

I love how they call the pkm an rpk lol.

9:20 jeez, when i first time went to lab To put it bluntly, I pooped my pants because of this unnerving ambient, rusty atmosphere, and of course the distorted growls in the background... and the zombie models just finished me off

I love Paranoia despite how janky it is. It just that Gray sky, Gritty atmopshere, textures and metallic look and that 1990-2000 feeling era made it for me. Stalker also has this kind of atmosphere

Paranoia has to be my favorite golden source conversion 🙏🙏🙏 Thanks for checking it out

13:04 *flashbacks to They Hunger EP3*

I just finished playing this mod a few days ago, nice timing! I really liked Paranoia despite its issues. I would recommend trying the sequel though, I'm not done with it yet but I've really enjoyed it so far. It's much more horror-focused and the graphical upgrade is insane. Each Paranoia mod has pros and cons but they're both worth trying.

Holy shiet, I remember playing this mod when it came out. It was pretty insane what they did with the original Gold Source engine modification. Quite surprising that you got to review something coming form the Russian modding scene ^^

the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. music fits just perfect

mr hands sure sounds like he`d be a guy who loves animals

I probably will not play this mod since I do not do well with horror but this looks really cool. Also, apparently крот (krot) means "mole" in Belarusian and Russian so that is fun.

I love the music for the background, great choice. The mod and Stalker shadow of chernoybl came out in the same year

Man I remember when this first came out many years back. I really liked it due to the sheer fact so much shit got changed.

The whole thing reminds me of S.T.A.L.K.E.R but not in a good way. It feels like its trying too hard to do what S.T.A.L.K.E.R did in the future anyways

7:50 Kulak, literally telling you, the Major, to throw a grenade: bruh

I 100% agree about your critique today, but back in 2007 even the zombies hit different, it was still exciting, zombie stuff was still fresh. :) It should've been longer though.

That Mod has one word to describe it. Awesome. By the Time the Mod was developed you can see the Equipment the Russian Army used. And the Music the Soldiers sung at the Barracks are Real War Songs. And the Voice Actors did a great Job. Plus the Combat Operations are really awesome it makes you feel like you are a Spetsnaz. It would be really nice if the Mod got converted into a Actual Game with AAA Graphics. Of course I experienced many crashes during the Game but it was still playable.

Makes me happy to see a Paranoia video :D My big complaint is definitely it's length, felt way too short (compared to something like They Hunger). And i did like both the shootouts with the terrorists/clones/mercenaries Though the zombies were definitely a massive letdown as well (and the out of place rock music)

This video is incredibly well made. Great job, I watch all of your videos

Fun fact: Kalashnikov is a real surname

This video is perfect, the ShOC menu theme is very much well placed in it, you're awesome!

This is way scarier & way more realistic looking/feeling. I wish there was a Half Life with this narrative, with such visuals and story.

I knew about this mod but never got the chance to try it out as there was a rumor that if you run it, it would give you a VAC ban because the mod uses modified DLLs. Regardless, the standalone version is the way to go. Another awesome video Rad.

I thought the face textures were the most advanced part of the graphics.

I like the idea of this army sim, I would play all day. Maybe I should give Arma a try

Finally someone covered this hidden gem

I remember first playing Paranoia soon after I first played HL2, on a pretty much obsolete hardware. At moments I used to forget I'm not playing a Source game! That's how good it looked at the point it came out. It's short but the atmosphere is great, and at the time it was something completely new and interesting to play as a Russian spetsnaz soldier. This didn't age well, considering the current events. Separate props for the soundtrack - no, I don't agree the rock music is failing there, it fits the action. But respect for Stalker music in the video.

You putting STALKER music in that video fits so goddamn well... This game looks and _feels_ like STALKER's older brother...

wester audiance probalby dobt know but kalashnikov is not that uncommon of a surname so anyone who knows anything about ruzzia kalashnikov is not only ak

I have played STALKER for so long I RECOGNIZE TEXTURES

Nice music from STALKER in the background, really fits the mod!

Imagine yourself suddenly waking up in the KROT-1 laboratory, dim lighting, those same blows on the metal, and this ambient music coming from nowhere, You don’t even have a weapon, but to get out you just have to move on. But who could? In such a situation, a person’s nervous system will simply collapse and he will lose his mind and most likely either go crazy and will later be eaten by creepy creatures, or he will simply g3t r3kt from a heart аттаck

Just finished the mod in one go, in about 2 hours. Wow, so awesome. The level of detail and the atmosphere is spot on. I really enjoyed the barracks too. That part was quite long but I enjoyed interacting with the soldiers and discovering the various details and diaries. Felt like the training level of Opposing Force on steroids and sets the tone for the rest of the game. Also, I love this art style of low poly models with textures made of real photos. It reminds me of some early 2000s games and I think it adds a lot of character that's different from hand drawn textures. There's just this level of detail and specific imperfection that you never get with other art styles. The combat gameplay is a little bland but that gets outshined by all the other parts. And in a way it fits the game.

Ah, the Status Quo cover played by one of the soldiers in barracks. В окне автобуса поплыл ебаный военкомат... Yeah, that mod is one hell of a reminder of days in military service.

Ive played this ages ago and if my memory serves me right, they left that lady Scientist because she was somehow involved in the project and ended up being a "bad" guy

EIIIIII PARANOIA, fucking ace mate. The lads put a great deal of work in that beauty. Too bad the sequel was deemed shite

One of my favorite mods after stumbling on it many years ago

2008 Nostalgic kicked in 😢

this game feels like a 4chan paranormal thread

Uh, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. For GoldSrc? 2:15 GAME CRASHED? YEP. IT'S STALKER.

I wish this mod get Black Mesa Source treatment, and expanded campaign to 4hours at least.

Haha I recognize this mod. Great vid!

I am so glad you covered this mod, It doesn't have much recognition.

I absolutely enjoyed this mod the first time, every so often these past few years I find myself returning back to it. The first one was pretty amazing albeit short. When the sequel, Savior came out, it was alright, but I felt it wasn't properly polished and just took away from the original mod's aesthetics or having it left off on such a cliffhanger.

best mod for me, it atmosphere just awesome❤

Ahhhhh nice to hear stalker OST in videos about other games/mods for them

Ahh stalker main menu theme makes me chill Great video and its me the guy who asked you if you have played stalker a while ago

I remember playing paranoia 1, it was so so so great. My most favourite mod

many thanks man! I did play it back in 2007 and recently wanted to replay it, but forgot it's name.

Half-Life in Russia... I think they should call Black Mesa a "Black Mesa East" or something idk, haven't played those games that much. Also, I'm having a mental breakdown because I was "given a task" to build a round shaped house in Hammer Editor, and I've been trying to do that for three weeks, and I'm still at the 1st floor...

speaking of Paranoia, theres a doom mod called Paranoid, and its a half life 1 total conversion, with some pretty impressove work put in, and it also features a unique campaign rather than a 1:1 recreation of hl1.

Paranoia 2 is a good mode (I would say its a standalone game). Better models, somehow better story and more cripping atmosphere. I dont like horrow at all (not my cup of tea) and could finish it with my playlist of music playing on but still i like it a lot. You really should play it!

man the shadow of chernobyl main theme fits so well

This mod loved locked up on me. I barely got to play the zombie part cause it always locks up during that sequence. It was cool from what I got to work though.

I recently played and beat this mod and the only thing I was disappointed about was how short it was I was expecting another 3-4 hours of gameplay

Theres a custom Warcraft 3 map for this very well done

I hear some STALKER ost are being used in this video, love it

I remember playing it like 15 years ago. At this time it was one of the best (if not the best) mod for GoldSrc engine. Someone should make a remake on Source engine.

Gosh I loved both of these games so much, seriously I played them so often its so well made!

I remember playing this mod way way way back when I was younger but I gave up on it because it was too hard for me lolz

These type of mods are very fun,similar to afraid of monsters and cry of fear

Didn't read the whole title and when Rad said every HL2 player should experience paranoia at least once, I was like "yeah I'm a pretty paranoid dude, I got you" thinking he was talking about real life paranoia. See you guys in the psych ward.

Great in depth video! Now do Field Intensity already. 😁

This mod is great. Reminds me of a mix between Stalker and FEAR

I played this well over a decade ago when it first came out. Had the OST as part of my regular listening/workout stuff for a good while.