Swelter is a Half-Life 2 mod created by the SnowDropEscape development team in 2023. Taking place before the events of Half-Life 2 in the post-Soviet Central Asian City 545, the main character is an agent sent by the European Resistance to assassinate the leader of the Black Battalion, a commune of anarchists, due to a series of disagreements. Swelter revamps weapon mechanics with aim down sights, new magazine systems, and updated animations for guns in game. The game also has an extra chapter unrelated to the main story, "Incident in Aperture", that is inspired by Portal.
Note: Swelter has a configurable viewmodel FOV which can be changed through the options menu. There are three settings: close, medium, and far. All screenshots on this page were taken on the "medium" setting.
The following weapons appear in the video game Swelter:
The Heckler & Koch USP Match returns from Half-Life 2. It's based on the 9x19mm chambered variant with an 18-round magazine. Like the original game, the only NPCs that use the weapon are Civil Protection officers.
The Colt Anaconda returns as the "Officer's Revolver .357", using the same model from Half-Life 2. It is first found on the roof of a school right next to a dead Combine Elite, and is fired in single-action only. The revolver is not used by any NPCs. It appears in the game's ending.
The Heckler & Koch MP7 returns from Half-Life 2 as the "Submachine Gun". It is based on the model from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive but modified to make it more closely resemble the HL2 version. It can also no longer fire grenades and its second barrel has been accordingly removed. It uses 30-round magazines that hold 45 rounds. It is the most common weapon in the game and is used by every faction.
The Heckler & Koch MP5SD3 from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is known as the "Pre-war Submachine Gun" in-game. When aiming down the sights, the player character looks over the rear sight instead of through the peep hole. It is an NPC-only weapon in the main campaign where it is used by Academic and Black Battalion stormtroopers. In the bonus chapter "Incident in Aperture" it is used by the liquidators and is the only firearm available.
An AK-74 with a GP-30 grenade launcher appears in game as the "Pre-War Assault Rifle + Grenade Launcher". Its model is a modified version of the "AK-47" from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and retains its AK-47-style front sight and handguard. It is found only once in the game, inside a safe in the Overwatch Nexus in Chapter 3, where picking it up with also unlock the achievement "Echoes from the past"; it is also used by Black Battalion stormtroopers. Versions of the AK without the grenade launcher are used by NPCs in the game; this variant can only be acquired through cheats.
The fictional Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle from Half-Life 2 reappears, this time named the "Combine Pulse Assault Rifle". Unlike its original depiction, its pulse plugs only contain one shot before being replaced, and its entire magazine is replaced when reloading, making it more akin to a belt-feed system. Its secondary dark energy orb launcher now also needs to be reloaded, instead of having the entire ammo pool in the gun at once.
A Mosin Nagant M38 Carbine fitted with a PU sniper scope appears in game as the "Sniper Rifle" and is found in Chapter 1 in a tutorial-like sniper section. It is loaded round-by-round due to the scope blocking insertion of stripper clips. Scopeless Mosins are used by various NPCs; like the grenade launcher-less AK-74, this variant can only be obtained via cheats.
The SPAS-12 returns as the "Shotgun". The model is based on the one from Left 4 Dead 2. Like the original HL2, it holds an underloaded 6 shells in an 8-round tube. It no longer has the "fire both barrels" secondary attack, instead being replaced by an also-impossible 2-round burst. It is used by Overwatch shotgunners, Resistance shotgunners, and Black Battalion Stormtroopers.
The M79 first appears in the last map of Chapter 2 where it's given by the Black Battalion to shoot down a Hunter-Chopper. Unlike every other ranged weapon in the game, its sights cannot be used. Its ammunition is found significantly earlier than the launcher, as they can also be used standalone.
A vaguely Panzerschreck-like improvised rocket launcher is used as a mounted weapon. It is loaded from the front, and is aimed by using an attached bicycle handlebar. It uses the same rockets as the "RPG" from Half-Life 2.
The MK3 offensive hand grenade from HL2 appears in-game as just "Grenade". It is primarily found in puzzle sections with turrets, ammo resupply boxes, and hidden stashes in Chapter 2. Although grenades can be seen on the models of some rebels, they never use them, and the only characters to use the grenades are Combine soldiers.
As mentioned in the M79 section above, its ammunition can be used as standalone impact grenades as the "Grenade for Launcher". It is a 40mm shell but with a strange "wind-up" modification. Also stated in the aforementioned section, the Grenade for Launcher is found much earlier than the launcher itself, in Chapter 1.
Most NPC-only weapons can be acquired using cheats, and are completely functional for player use.
"Alyx Gun"
A rebel uses Alyx's pistol from Half-Life 2 in Chapter 2. Roki uses a suppressed pistol during the attack on the Overwatch Nexus but quickly replaces it with an OSIPR. It recycles the model from Snowdrop Escape.
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