Valve isn't putting Gordon Freeman into any new games, so Deadlock modders have taken matters into their own hands

Gordon Freeman as a skin replacement mod for Venator in Deadlock. — (Image credit: Valve, modded by Gregln)

To spare myself the psychic turmoil, I decided to accept years ago that Half-Life 3 will never happen. Best case scenario, I get to be delighted by being proven wrong. Worst case, I'm sparing myself from the cyclical mass psychosis of reading an imminent Half-Life 3 announcement in whatever tea leaves we've convinced ourselves exist.

But if the studio doesn't seem interested in bringing Gordon Freeman out of retirement in the foreseeable future, modders are more than happy to give Gordon some screentime in Valve's games whether the company wants to or not. There might not be a new Half-Life on the horizon, but thanks to modder Grelgn, Deadlock can now star the last free man.

Gordon Freeman Mod for Deadlock - Venator Skin - YouTube

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Available on Gamebanana, Grelgn's Gordon Freeman mod is a skin swap for Venator using a Freeman model originally built by artists Komegatze, TGH, and Bruss for Source 2 Filmmaker use in Half-Life: Alyx. As a demo video shows, Venator's firearms-and-crossbow kit feels right at home with Freeman, even if the bespectacled scientist feels a little out of place against the backdrop of Deadlock's Cursed Apple.

It will mean your game will feature one less ruggedly handsome muscle-priest, which I imagine is a net negative experience for a sizable swath of Deadlock players. Mod according to your priorities, I suppose.

That said, after all the interdimensional travel and time shenanigans Gordon's been subjected to, I can't imagine he'd be particularly unsettled by necromancy or lycanthropy or, uh, whatever Seven's deal is. Or at least, I can't imagine he would show it. Guy's pretty unflappable.

I choose to believe he'd get along excellently with Rem, however.

Unsurprisingly, the Freeman mod is just one of many skin swaps available for anyone wanting to turn Deadlock into a MOBA-style Smash Bros. I'm particularly fond of the one replacing Mo & Krill with Donkey Kong and Diddy, but I can't confirm whether it's compatible with the latest update. Don't worry, though: It seems like Hatsune Miku works fine.

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.

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