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Half Life 2 - Free to Own on Steam w/ Anniversary Update (Offer Expires 18th Nov)

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Theres been so many studios and publishers releasing/porting older games to PC and moderns Consoles in recent years.
2024 and Valve is not a good reason. RDR1 just got ported to PC.


Thats not a good alternative to Valve selling a few million on modern consoles
Im sure the same could be said for some many classic games and there original platform but thats the whole point of modern ports and remasters to play them everywhere on new hardware

Valve ain't those typical publishers. It is a private company which doesn't care about console at all. They don't care about selling few million on modern consoles, especially when they are literally giving them out free right now (and it won't sell million on consoles, because modern console fanbase has next to no experience or knowledge with the HL series).


The only way it is happening is if someone do the job for them, like Nvidia, a close collaborator with Valve and Nintendo, port the Portal games for Switch.
 

gatti-man

Member
I'm actually in this camp. I have a good friend that just went on and on about this game, and every time I saw it I wasn't impressed. I have never been bothered to investigate the hype behind it. I'm in no rush to play now either really.

What's supposed to be so good about it?
You’d have to play it to experience why it’s good. It’s a story fps. Something that’s rarely even tried today. It borders on a RPG shooter the story is so pervasive. It’s creative, daring, has real characters, well written, interesting and choc full of variety.

I can’t even think of something I can compare it to today. Nothing we have even comes close to what HL2 is even in its old state.

My biggest let down is that we never got hl3. It’s a tragedy.
 
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I was impressed with it back then but it just feels like just another FPS now. And even compared to it's contemporaries, I'd argue that Escape from Butcher Bay was the better experience. HL2 is notable to me mostly because Source engine gave us Portal and VTMB. I might try the VR mod though. Does Black Mesa also have a VR version?
 
Yes, I did. Your point? I didn't say Half Life 2 was bad, merely disappointing compared to the original. I don't need power over you as you do a great job embarrassing yourself with your unironic love of a...let's be charitable...not so great game.
HL2 was dissapoining compared to the original? What are you smoking dude? Half life 2 featured more varied locations, physics simulation and new gameplay elements (gravity gun, car driving). I absolutely loved Half-Life 1, but when you compare it to the sequel, there was a sense of generational difference. HL1 was built using the Quake 1 engine, whereas HL2 has been built from the ground up using the latest technology available (DX9). The graphics in HL2 blow people away and I still remember being impressed by it's water reflections (planar reflections), large levels, high quality textures and facial animation for character models. The reception for HL2 was also amazing. People loved the game and made amazing mods for it for two decades, and that's the true testament to how amazing HL2 was.
 
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NT80

Member
That's kinda insane if, by now, you're a PC gamer that's been using steam for years but don't own Half Life. It's been talked about for years and been on sales hundreds time, it's just like owning Nintendo and never played Mario. That's impossible lol.
I played through it on the original Xbox many years ago but never bothered to get it on PC until now.
 

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
New CCU peak for HL2

FdiuGJL.png
 

Redneckerz

Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
Yes, I did. Your point? I didn't say Half Life 2 was bad, merely disappointing compared to the original. I don't need power over you as you do a great job embarrassing yourself with your unironic love of a...let's be charitable...not so great game.
Its pretty intriquing reading this argument 20 years into HL2's existence.

Especially since its a not so great game.

What's next? Super Mario is disappointing because The Great Giana Sisters atleast hit the 64 earlier than Mario did?
 

Magic Carpet

Gold Member
Half LIfe Alyx is on sale for 20 bucks and some change.

That Fan Made Update thingy, should I give that a try or wait for the RTX thingy instead?
 

Magister

Member
I told my dad about it. He's a casual PC gamer who only plays free games and wanted to play HL for years. He added it to his Steam library and he sucks at the game because he has a problem with controls and that may be because he uses a shitty laptop keyboard.
 

Magic Carpet

Gold Member
If you have a VR headset go for it. I call it overrated because people keep saying it's the best thing ever but it's legitimately one of the better games in VR.
Yep, I've already played through HL Alyx it's definitely worth it.

I'm concerned about this free mod. It's called simply Half Life 2 : Update.
I assume it's an old, outdated mod.
 

lachesis

Member
Thx OP - just downloaded it.
I never played Half Life series (generally don't like 1st person shooter games) even though I've been gaming since 80s - I know it's heralded as one of the greatest games ever so I'm rather curious.
Perhaps it will give me a good reason to try to learn keyboard/mouse control, which I never seem to get it well comfortable enough to play any games - and perhaps it will make me feel comfortable to play other FPS games in general on my PC.
Is it advisable to play Half Life 1 before this game?
 

SonGoku

Member
Valve ain't those typical publishers. It is a private company which doesn't care about console at all. They don't care about selling few million on modern consoles, especially when they are literally giving them out free right now (and it won't sell million on consoles, because modern console fanbase has next to no experience or knowledge with the HL series).


The only way it is happening is if someone do the job for them, like Nvidia, a close collaborator with Valve and Nintendo, port the Portal games for Switch.
Could Sony/MS offer to front development with the condition of 100% of sales revenue until development investment is covered and back to 30% afterwards
Or Valve would not accept?
 
Would it be too much to ask to get the old Valve games ported to macOS or modern consoles? I don't have a Windows PC and don't plan on having one.
 

T-Cake

Member
Would it be too much to ask to get the old Valve games ported to macOS or modern consoles? I don't have a Windows PC and don't plan on having one.

Have you tried using Apple's Game Porting Toolkit with it? It might be too old a version of DirectX though, I guess.
 

Wildebeest

Member
Would it be too much to ask to get the old Valve games ported to macOS or modern consoles? I don't have a Windows PC and don't plan on having one.
Developers know that requests like this are bait for them to invest a lot of money on mac hardware and certification for them to sell less than a thousand copies.
 

salva

Member
I also just bought Half-Life 1 for a dollar as part of this sale. Never had a legit copy of it back in the day. I be sailing them seas all throughout the early 2000s 🏴‍☠️
Due for a HL1 + 2 play through soon!
 

Senua

Member
I also just bought Half-Life 1 for a dollar as part of this sale. Never had a legit copy of it back in the day. I be sailing them seas all throughout the early 2000s 🏴‍☠️
Due for a HL1 + 2 play through soon!
There is an RTX mod for Half Life too if interested.


 
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ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Could Sony/MS offer to front development with the condition of 100% of sales revenue until development investment is covered and back to 30% afterwards
Or Valve would not accept?

Valve has never done such deals with any publishers before. If they do it will be unprecedented.

But realistically all the platforms won’t care to even conjure such deals. There are other more modern and attractive games Sony can approach to make to bring to PS platform. Almost every console players in their teens or 20s don’t care or even know what is Half-Life.

I mean the door is not locked, but the door is currently closed and situated in the darkest corner of a mansion, hidden from views with huge boxes and hasn’t open for the past 17 years.
 
There's a fan remake of HL1 too.
It's awesome and afterwards you can download a mod for Black Mesa that remakes the Blue Shift expansion. They have 5 out of 8 chapters available (Focal Point has just been released) and it's awesome. They have included some great new puzzels and animations in the mod compared to the original game.
 
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