Charge up the gravity gun and dust off your trusty crowbar folks, as Half-Life 2 has officially turned 20. Valve is marking the momentous occasion by releasing a special anniversary update for the game, and to top things off, will make the game free of charge for a limited time.
First released in 2004, the now iconic shooter is getting a celebratory update in the form of bonus additions, bundled DLC, as well as other tweaks to the game. Kicking things off is a new documentary released on Valve’s YouTube channel, which lays out the team’s journey in developing the title. “It’s about a lot more than just the making of a game,” the company explained, “Running out of money. Getting hacked, and an early version being leaked online. Being sued by our publisher. Trying to build Steam. It’s all in there!”
Game-wise, the title has been updated with newly recorded game commentary and is now bundled permanently with all previously released content, including Half-Life 2: Episode One, Episode Two, and Lost Coast. Integrated Steam Workshop support has now been added, allowing players to download player-created content directly within the game.
In addition, Valve’s level designers have also relooked the game to “fix longstanding bugs, restore content and features lost to time, and improve the quality of a few things like lightmap resolution and fog”, with a new graphics setting being introduced that allows players to choose between the original game effects to those introduced in its later episodes.
The cherry on top? The game is now free to keep when you download it on Steam, an offer only available from now til 19 November at 2am SGT (GMT+8).
Half-Life 2‘s free 20th-anniversary update is now available on Steam. For more information on the update, check out the game’s official announcement page.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Natalie
