A new Half-Life Fan Film is in the works, and it looks promising.

Update: The film is out! Watch it here.

Half-Life: Foxtrot Uniform is an upcoming live action short, directed by French filmmaker Benjamin Combe. You can watch the trailer, which was just uploaded today, above.

The film takes place during the events of the original Half-Life, specially, the timeframe seen in Half-Life: Opposing Force, and follows the story of HECU Marine Private Cooper.

If you’re a little rusty on your Half-Life 1 Lore, Cooper is the marine heard being addressed on the radio at the tactical map scene at the end of Surface Tension and during the We Are Pulling Out chapter of Opposing Force. Fans of Opposing Force may also recognise that the film is named after the 10th chapter of the game, Foxtrot Uniform.

As described by Benjamin in an email to us:

The story is set during the events of Half-Life: Opposing Force. The marines are evacuating the base and Private Cooper is left behind with his unit. Cooper will have too find his way through Black Mesa and deal with Xen Aliens and the CIA Black Ops. I always wanted to know his story, because we can see both sides of his radio call during HL1 and Opposing Force. Unfortunately, every true Half-Life already knows his fate.

He also shared some HD stills from the movie with us (click for full-size).

The film is is non-profit, and is being made independently, which Benjamin describes as “an artistic expression created purely as a fan film, for fans, by fans!“.

In addition, Crowbar Collective, the developers of Black Mesa on Steam, have also helped to provide audio and 3D visuals for the film.

The film will also feature a real life Tau Cannon. Sadly though, this is just a prop, so you won’t be able to overcharge it anytime soon. Check it out above, more images of it here.

Benjamin is also known for directing the popular Half-Life: Chain Reaction fan film, which was officially featured as part of Machinima’s Interactive Film Festival back in 2012. The film received a positive response from the community, but sadly didn’t win anything.

It’s now over 3 years later, and Benjamin is creating a brand new Half-Life film, that he hopes will be better than any he has done before. Oh, and what’s even more amazing is that he has funded it all himself. No Kickstarter. No Patreon.

Here’s some behind-the-scenes photos from the upcoming film, showing a zombie scientist shot and his audio and video editing setup.

The full film is due to be released sometime in March.

In the meantime, you can check out Benjamin’s YouTube Channel and Facebook Page, he also has a website with more information about his previous work.

You can also follow us on Twitter @LambdaGen for future updates on the film.