Infinity Ward and Wargaming artist recreates Half-Life 2 opening in Unreal Engine 5

Ben McAuley, an environment artist with experience at Infinity Ward, Codemasters, and Wargaming, recreated the iconic train station opening scene from Half-Life 2 in Unreal Engine 5. The video showcases how a modern remaster of Valve's legendary shooter could look.

McAuley worked on major projects including Call of Duty and World Rally Championship. Last month, he reimagined the Point Insertion opening mission from Half-Life 2 in UE5, building the entire train station from scratch. The artist developed numerous new assets and materials, incorporating his own artistic and design decisions while remaining faithful to the game's original art style.

The video was created as a portfolio piece, and McAuley doesn't plan to release the map publicly. The project covers only the train station area, not the entirety of City 17.

The closest thing to a full remaster of Half-Life 2 remains the Half-Life 2 RTX project, which brings real-time path tracing technology to the classic shooter. No release date has been announced yet, but it stands as one of the most impressive showcases of RTX Remix technology.