If you have played half-life 2 or source engine mods, you’ve probably seen the in-game model “Corpse01.mdl”. The burned corpse appears several times half-life 2‘s sewers and other parts of the game, and modders have often used it in fan projects. Everything is fine, yes? Well, it wasn’t until recently that fans noticed that the game’s creepy-looking corpse has the face of a real dead person.
Released in 2004, PC shooter half-life 2 was the highly anticipated sequel to Valve’s first game, half-life. Upon release, it was widely praised by critics and gamers. But while there was great applause, there was a time when it was half-life 2 wasn’t so sure as the development process was messy and lengthy. Valve scrapped various versions, snipping out entire sections and significantly lightening the game’s intended darker, grittier tone for its final retail release. However, some remnants of this darker version remain in the final game, including Corpse01.mdl. When I played the game as a kid, the body always looked hyper-realistic and scared me when I tripped over it. Now we know why.
Valve’s macabre texture cribbing was discovered purely by accident (h/d The player). About two weeks ago, someone on the r/eyeblech subreddit posted graphic images of cadavers they claimed were from a medical forensic textbook. (Although I have personally verified that the images posted are genuine and out there, I will not link to them. A bit of googling will lead you to them if you Yes, really wants to see her.)
In the comments to this post, someone pointed out that one of the images showing a burned corpse looked identical to the Corpse01 model half-life 2. Another post picked up the thread and people quickly began comparing the visuals to the in-game art. Sure enough, they look identical. The only change seems to be that Valve copied the corpse’s right eye to the left. But that’s it. This model’s entire face appears to be a dead guy’s face. whoops
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Then, three days ago, gaming YouTuber Judge Overtime uploaded a short and concise video Detailing the story of the corpse and its connection to the image, and this seemed to carry the story fully mainstream people tweet about it and share it online. As you might expect, many half-life Fans freaked out to learn they’d been looking at a real corpse for the past two decades. A modder already has created a new model to replace the old one for people uncomfortable with leaving the original dead face in half-life 2.
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my city reached out to Valve about the corpse to verify its origin and to ask if the company has any plans to change it with a future patch.
Personally, I’m not sure if this is something that should be in a video game. It seems to me like it’s time to remove this model and replace it with an image of something other than an actual cremated human corpse.
