Half-Life turned 25 this previous weekend. To have fun this momentous event, Valve has up to date the sport by including new and restored content material. The sport may also be claimed without cost, alongside different Valve recreation reductions.
Crowbar-toting Gordon Freeman made his first debut on November 19, 1998. Are you able to imagine it’s been 25 years? G-Man, nevertheless, has all the time existed, all over the place. In that point, there’s been at the least two iterations of the sport, together with Half Life: Supply and Black Mesa – a third-party mod launched in 2012 that was so good Valve authorised it for business launch in 2020.
This newest model arrives with an up to date web site, detailed patch notes and remastered paintings. For one, the sport is now verified on Steam Deck. It additionally comes with gamepad help and on-line play. Much more so, Valve has up to date the graphics with HUD UI upscaling for contemporary screens. Based on the studio “We constructed most of these items for 640×480 CRTs and apparently a few of you’ve gotten upgraded since then.”
There’s a bunch of recent content material, too. The replace brings Half-Life Uplink to a contemporary viewers. Beforehand, this mini marketing campaign was solely obtainable by way of standalone disk or modded variations of the sport. Launched as a demo model for some well-liked publications on the time, like PC Gamer, and the June 2002 concern of the PlayStation Underground demo disk from the Official PlayStation Journal.
Including extra worth, Valve additionally introduces restored content material to this model. Highlights embody the return of the traditional Valve brand with its iconic music and reskinned menu to match the 1998 construct. There’s additionally three multiplayer maps and two multiplayer skins from a CD known as Half-Life: Additional Information. This was beforehand solely obtainable by way of partnered retail shops in 1999.
Lest I neglect, Ivan the Area Biker and Proto-Barney, the unique unsung heroes from the alpha builds, at the moment are obtainable as multiplayer skins. My life is now full.
As icing on cake, Valve collaborated with Secret Tape to provide a feature-length documentary with interviews from the unique HL1 dev staff. When you’re at it, don’t neglect so as to add the sport to your Steam library. Did I point out it’s free?
