Posted February 12, a new fan film based on the video game Half-Life has quickly become a viral video hit. Within two days of the short’s release, the website hosting Escape from City 17 – Part One crashed temporarily from demand, plus various copies on YouTube hit a  800,000-view cume. The ultra-violent short was directed by David and Ian Purchase—a pair of aspiring commercial directors from Toronto who spent $500 to make the first two parts of an apparently on-going production.

Reputedly shot on the fly without a script, the flick is impressive, although Part Two doesn’t appear to be on the web yet. Part One is available on the brothers’ site in HD, where there’s also a slightly disturbing spec Coke ad and a fake Apple commercial that offers some great laughs if you go frame-by-frame through the supposed “features” of an iPod. Catch the Half-Life movie after the jump.