Half-Life 2, widely hailed as the best single-player shooter ever released on PC, is free to own on Steam – with some limitations – until 6pm on Monday November 18.
Just like it did on the original Half-Life’s silver jubilee last year, Valve is giving away a newly updated version of the sequel to mark its 20th anniversary.
Not only has the game received a glow-up, with improved lighting and an exhaustive list of bug fixes (which can be viewed in full here), but it now comes equipped with the game’s two episodic expansions. So, you can essentially play through the whole thing as one continuous game.
From the moment Half-Life 2 was previewed at E3 before release, gamers knew they were in for something special.
The character animations were leaps and bounds ahead of the first game – and anything in gaming at that point. Valve had expertly rendered the eastern European setting of the game, a stark, dystopian city commandeered by an alien empire called the Combine in the wake of a devastating invasion.
Instead of bombarding you with expositional cut scenes, the game’s Orwellian storyline unfurled naturally through environmental exploration and conversations with NPCs. This hands-off approach allowed players to piece together the narrative themselves, resulting in vastly different interpretations. It’s no wonder that some people walked away from Half-Life 2 thinking that it lacked a cohesive storyline.
Best of all, the game was (and still is) a blast to play. Using the Gravity Gun to pick up sawblades and chop apart humans who have been zombified by ghastly Headcrabs never gets old.
If those purring parasites, which look like raw chickens with claws where their legs should be, are the game’s version of the Facehuggers from Alien, then the towering Striders (with their spindly legs) are like the Tripods from War of the Worlds. All of which is to say that Half-Life 2 is a treat for sci-fi enthusiasts.
If you’re new to Half-Life, now’s the perfect time to catch up on the eerie horror series. You can currently grab the original, plus its two expansions (Opposing Forces and Blue Shift), for less than two quid, thanks to some hefty discounts. The excellent VR game Half-Life: Alyx, the most recent entry in the series, is also available for £17 after a 66 per cent markdown.
Long-time fans can check out a new documentary in which the game’s development team talk about the cancelled Half Life 2: Episode 3 project. “We could have shipped it. It wouldn’t have been that hard,” said Valve boss Gabe Newell, digging a crowbar into the hearts of long-suffering fans.
“My personal failure was being stumped. I couldn’t figure out why episode three was pushing anything forward.”
