Released last month, The Citizen Returns is the long awaited sequel to 2008’s Episode 2 mod The Citizen. As the name might suggest, we take on the role of just another resistance fighter in the battle against the Combine and the story (which is expanded from an earlier release known as The Citizen II) gives us several different missions to that end.

Today we’re going to take a look back at some of the best, most iconic pieces of film and multimedia inspired by the Half-Life universe. As you may imagine, there has been an amazing amount of fan-created productions over the years. As much as we’d love to cover everything, we could not pack anything near the amount of stuff that exists into a single article (and we would probably burn out all of the content we have been wanting to share in this section for years ahead!). There are probably a lot of things that have been sadly lost or forgotten online too. Anyhow, here is a list of a few of the memorable fan-produced films, machinimas, series and other multimedia created since Half-Life’s release in 1998. Enjoy!

This is an original editorial piece created by Mimaz. It is the first in a series of editorials that we like to call “The Half-Life Dissertation”, which will aim to extensively cover a wide range of Half-Life related topics and issues.

Valve are looking down the rabbit hole.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THIS ITEM FROM A PERSON YOU KNOW, PUT THIS DOWN IMMEDIATELY AND CONTINUE WALKING AWAY.

Hello and welcome to the Resistance Bulletin. I’m your same old news editor and part-time refugee, Vic, reporting from the inside of an abandoned coastal house just outside of City 17, in mortal fear of a Combine patrol which has stopped nearby.

Excuse if my writing is poor, but I have been forced to drink from the polluted seawater nearby, and some discarded cans of Private Reserve. I can feel my brain cells slowly dying.

“City 17” is a 2005 fan film made by Funatic Films. Shot entirely on location in Cologne, Germany with a Canon XL1 DV camera, this fan film features no CG effects other than the HL2 creatures and, of course, the Citadel. Video after the jump.

This particular version of it is the 2007 remake, featuring improved effects and additional CG clips.

“City 17” tells the story of a young citizen wandering a city that’s… changed. He will soon find himself confronted by numerous strange creatures and machines.

One of the first major HL-related videos, “City 17” is the original HL fan film. With great effects, awesome filming and an interesting storyline, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Created by SON RAIHBOY and published by Machinima, “City 17” is a series based on HL2’s universe. While it takes a few liberties with the universe, and sometimes seems like a broken record in terms of plot, “City 17” is still a great series and we look forward to future chapters. Check out the 4 episodes after the jump: