If you have played half-life 2 or the Source Tools mod, you may have seen the model in the game “Corpse01.mdl.” Burning corpses appear many times in Half life 2drains and other parts of the game, and modders often use it in fan projects. All good, right? Well, it wasn’t until recently when fans noticed that the game’s creepy looking corpse had an actual dead person’s face on it.
Released in 2004, PC shooter Half life 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Valve’s first game, half-life. Upon its release, it was widely praised by critics and players alike. But while it was warmly welcomed, there was a time Half life 2 not such a sure bet, as its development was messy and lengthy. Valve removed the various versions, cut out entire sections, and dramatically lightened the darker, grittier tones of the game for the final retail release. However, some of the remains of this darker version remained in the final game, including Corpse01.mdl. Playing the game as a kid, the body always looks surreal and gives me goosebumps every time I happen to see it. Now, we know why.
Valve’s creepy texture creation was discovered purely by accident (h/t Gamer). About two weeks ago on the r/eyeblech subreddit, someone posted graphic images of corpses they thought were from a forensics textbook. (Although I have personally verified the images posted are real and out there, I won’t be affiliated with them. A little Google will lead you to them if you Actually want to see them.)
In the comments to that post, someone pointed out that one of the images shows a burned corpse that looks identical to the Corpse01 model from Half life 2. Another post picked up the topic, and people quickly started comparing the images to the in-game art. Sure, they look exactly the same. The only change seems to be that Valve copied the corpse’s right eye to the left. That’s it though. That model’s entire face appeared to be the face of a dead guy. Sorry.
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Then, three days ago, playing the game YouTuber Richter Overtime uploaded a short and concise video details the history of the corpse and its connection to the image, and this seems to bring the story into full mainstream, with people are tweeting about it and share it more widely online. As you might expect, a lot half-life Fans were shocked to learn that they had been looking at an actual corpse for the past two decades. A modder already created a new model to replace the old model for those who feel uncomfortable leaving the original dead face Half life 2.
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Kotaku contacted Valve about the corpse to verify its origin and asked if the company plans to change it with a patch in the future.
Personally, I’m not sure this is something that should be in a video game. To me, it looks like it’s time to get rid of this model and replace it with an image of anything but an actual burned corpse.
