Sunday, November 19th 2023
Half-Life Turns 25, Relive the Legend with 25th Anniversary Update, Now on Steam
Half-Life launched 25 years ago this Sunday (November 19, 1998 to be exact) and we felt like a celebration and some attention to the game itself was long overdue. We're marking the occasion by making Half-Life free-to-keep for anyone adding it to their library this weekend, and putting the rest of the games in the franchise on discount during that time.
Plus, we've worked on sprucing up the overall player experience and added or restored content for the game. You can read about the updates in detail on our new webpage created just for this occasion. We also got folks from the original dev team together to talk about their experience making it, and luckily time has not been cruel to their memories.Check out the cool new webpage we created for the occasion to watch the video and read more about the updates.
Happy Anniversary, Half-Life (now officially verified on Steam Deck too)!
Plus, we've worked on sprucing up the overall player experience and added or restored content for the game. You can read about the updates in detail on our new webpage created just for this occasion. We also got folks from the original dev team together to talk about their experience making it, and luckily time has not been cruel to their memories.Check out the cool new webpage we created for the occasion to watch the video and read more about the updates.
Happy Anniversary, Half-Life (now officially verified on Steam Deck too)!
23 Comments on Half-Life Turns 25, Relive the Legend with 25th Anniversary Update, Now on Steam
Episode 1 and 2 are very good too if you have never played them.
Would also mention Half-Life: MMod which is a free mod changing a lot to the better in the original HL, like converting all hit-scan weapon to projectile style.
Would also recommend Field Intensity, which is an Opposing Force mod!
I totally agree with @FoulOnWhite Black Mesa is a great remake, especially for those zoomers whom can't appreciate the Original game's 90's look, but want to experience Half Life!
And of course there is a bunch of mod for Black Mesa too with looong hours of gameplay like: Azure Sheep and Black Mesa Blue Shift remake (which is on the making).
Hope that my comment of these mods are new for you!
Enjoy :toast: It was only $50 back then ;)
Just detail it up a bit more with props and lighting.
Just going to have a look at Azure Sheep
Community Mods: Half-Life
Community Mods: Half-Life 2
And there are even more mods you can find on Steam that are not listed on the games sites. The most famous would be "Black Mesa" (not free). Or "No More Room in Hell". And like you mentioned even more mods from ModDB. My all time favourite mod was "INSURGENCY: Modern Infantry Combat". :cool: It's sadly dead now (folks moved on to their newer Insurgency games), but back then it was the perfect alternative for folks who thought Counter Strike is like cold coffee. Fragged the s**t out of it.
Personally, I'd recommend playing Black Mesa because the final chapter of the original HL1 is a bit underwhelming and the Black Mesa team really put in the extra work to bring it up to the same excellent standard as the rest of the game.
Anyway, I bought HL1, Opposing Force, and Blue Shift on CD, so I've never actually owned it on Steam - something I'm going to finally correct in the next 9 seconds....
edit: Wanted to clarify shooting in VR isn't a problem, I played other arcade-ish VR multi-player shooters. It was specifically how I had to use the pistol's sites like a real gun. It really got me and creeped me out. The VR game where you take the elevator and "walk out onto a ledge", we used an 8'x1' board on the ground and fanned some air at a friend, she was in honest tears, and we couldn't get the headset off of her fast enough. VR can have a really strong effect.
However the Steam version you can get now is FAR different from what WON or "Day 1" release was, there are several tricks that don't work anymore, the most famous one being skipping the whole "We've got hostiles" level by shooting a scientist in the leg... there's also an ugly part of Office Complex you could skip by pushing a security guard against a door so that he could open it, oh and there was an invisible zombie waiting for you on the other side, iirc this happens just before We've got hostiles start. The gauss jump is also different, useful to skip the gargantua fight at the part where you have to use the artillery thingie on top of a water tank to open a door... small changes tho. You can get the no-vr patch and play it as usual. Some of the elements have been simplified in order to be used with keyboard and mouse tho, like the pistol animations or the interaction with in-game items, you can't see your arms either it's just a floating pistol.
I own guns too but not a VR set ^^
Being an early adopter sucks, I guess.
Quest 2 lenses quality has thrown me off lately
Fast forward to credits and was pleasantly surprised to learn it is indeed Danny and his (NoClip/Secret Tape) team. Very cool to see that; goes to show Valve has their finger on the pulse of the medium in more ways than one.
Glad Danny has now officially become 'that guy', not just to make things on his own or suggested accord, but for companies to officially document their productions, past and current. Good on him/them for filling that void and doing it very well imho.