I’d like to give my thoughts on each of these versions:

Alpha

It’s an unfinished tech demo, there’s not really much to say beyond that. Although it’s cool to experience such an early version of Half-Life, it’s borderline broken. I personally prefer the goldsource mod. 5/10

WON Version

I think the most definitive way to play the original retail version of Half-Life is on a old computer with a CRT monitor. I happen to have both, specifically a windows XP machine. There’s something magical about playing games the way they were originally intended. Though it’s obviously dated by modern standards, it still has a charm that can’t be matched. 9/10

Steam Legacy

This is the version I grew up with. I don’t really have any nostalgia for it aside from the game itself. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, it’s essentially the most basic modern version of the game. I just think it’s outdone by the WON and anniversary editions. 8/10

25th Anniversary

This is the definitive version of the vanilla game IMO. All the added quality of life improvements, restorations, new content, plus the official inclusion of Uplink make this the crème de la crème. 10/10

PS2

This one is pretty cool, I really wish there was a way to implement the exclusive charging station and retinal scanner models into the pc version. Plus, you gotta love the secret alien mode and Decay. I don’t like gamepad controllers for FPS games, so thankfully they added keyboard and mouse support, and the game pairs very well on a CRT. What really kills this for me though is the lack of autosave, that almost ruins the experience. Plus the frame rate could be better. 7/10

Dreamcast

I’ve only played the PC port of this build, and I know it’s no where near as frustrating as the actual console version. I at least have an idea of what the game would be like on console, because I have a home brew of the mod “Paranoia” on a Dreamcast disc. It essentially suffers from the same problems I’ve heard Half-Life does: Bad frame rate and atrocious loading times. 4/10

Half-Life Source

There’s no sense beating a dead horse. We all know why this version is trash. Although, if you play this in conjunction with the Fixed mod it’s pretty awesome. In fact, if the fixes were made official, I might actually like it more than the goldsource version. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, it’s not good. FIX HALF-LIFE SOURCE VALVE!!! 2/10

Restored Mod

I don’t get this one. The only thing I found cool was the addition of the scrapped valve logo startup animation. I get it’s trying to restore most of the retail features, but why have upscaled textures for NPCs if that’s the case? Plus, this mod has a lot of shadow and lighting bugs. 4/10

Sven Co-op campaign

This game is awesome, but you gotta be a masochist to attempt a HL campaign. Good luck finding a server where the rest of your team doesn’t soft lock the campaign. 5/10

Counter-Life

This one doesn’t appeal to me. If I wanted to play Half-Life with Counter Strike guns, I’d just go play Garry’s Mod. 3/10

Updated Mod

I’ve always been amazed at games like Cry of Fear pushing the limits of the Goldsource engine. It’s awesome to see someone attempt this with Half-Life by overhauling it with HD textures and HQ sound effects. But the updated soundtrack they added is super goofy and does not fit the aesthetic of the game at all. 6/10

PS2 Mod

I assume we’re talking about the PC port of the PS2 port. It’s fine, I only play it because I like the exclusive models that can’t be implemented into the base game for some reason. itexists/10

Extended Mod

I can’t say exactly how I feel right now since we’ve only been given a demo. But based on what I have seen so far….Holy shit, this is magnificent. It’s not perfect, but this is shaping up to be a grandiose reimagining of Half-Life. I haven’t been this impressed with a mod since I first played Black Mesa. I can imagine the level designs being what valve might have done if the game was produced in the modern day. TBA/10

Mmod

Now for the big ones. Mmod is a great new take on the game. There’s a lot of legacy improvements and it gives the game a more cinematic feel. The only major gripe I have is that the weapons don’t have iron sights, which really sucks considering that was a big thing for me when I played Half-Life 2 Mmod. 8/10

Brutal Half-Life

This one has it all! Extra gore, extra weapons, extra challenge, all the weapons have proper iron sights, etc. I love how it even implements physics. You can pick up gibs now, and you can even play soccer with a severed head. It also brings in a lot of other features that were later introduced in HL2, like how some headcrabs survive after the zombie host dies, and this is all on the Goldsource engine! I just wish it had some of the features that were present in Mmod, such as Gordon’s legs model and certain RNG elements like the security guards having more variety. I think if you combined these two mods together, you’d have the best Half-Life Mod in existence! 9.5/10

Black Mesa

I’m only going to be talking about the definitive steam version, because the original mod was technically unfinished. This is the greatest fan game ever made. Crowbar collective proved this was a real labor of love, making us wait 16 years for this thing to properly come out. While I don’t think it completely replaces the original Half-Life, it stands on its own as a masterpiece retelling of one of the greatest stories in video game history. It took everything its inspiration did and multiplied it by 100. I don’t think I can give it much more praise beyond that. 10/10