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Half Life 25th Anniversary Update: Game gets new mini-campaign, 100% off until November 20, Now Steam Deck Verified (Documentary Released)

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
half-life.com

Half-Life

Half-Life is back and better than ever. Alongside interviews with the original developers, the game is now available with the Uplink mini-campaign, Steam Deck support, updated graphics settings, new multiplayer maps, and bonus restored goodies.
half-life.com half-life.com




https://store.steampowered.com/sale/franchise_half-life
​

Half-Life​

25th Anniversary Update​


headcrab.png

Game updates, bug fixes, and new content!
Get it now on Steam!

Brand New Interviews
With the HL1 Dev Team!​

We got the band back together to celebrate this anniversary, and we invited the fine people at Secret Tape to film it all happening. Getting together after all this time was the perfect opportunity to revisit the game as it existed in its earliest forms, and to talk about how and why it eventually took shape the way it did. Check out the film to see what it was like to be a part of the team, way back then.

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zombie_dead.png
scientist.png

The 25th Anniversary Update
for Half-Life Includes:​

Half-Life Uplink​

Originally released as a CD exclusive for magazines and hardware manufacturers, this mini-campaign was built by the Half-Life team right after the game went gold. As this was many people's first experience with Half-Life, we thought it was finally time to bundle it with the main game—no sound card purchase necessary.

4 New Multiplayer Maps​

Built by Valve level designers, these new maps push the limits of what's possible in the Half-Life engine.

Contamination​

Two-foot-thick steel doors block off access to this contaminated waste facility, which has questionable scientific goals at best. Strap on a gluon gun and roast all intruders.

Pool Party​

Enjoy a relaxing stay at this abandoned Xen outpost built around a cluster of soothing healing pools free-floating in space. How do you breathe here? It doesn't matter!

Disposal​

Processing Area 3, a massive radioactive waste plant gone quiet. Tons of room for you and your colleagues to do experiments with a Tau Cannon or some hand grenades.

Rocket Frenzy​

The creaking weight of this decaying orbital satellite launch facility somehow feels familiar… If we could switch on the oxygen lines, power, and fuel, we might just be able to light this candle.

Updated Graphics Settings​

Play the game the way it looked in 1998, but on a modern monitor.
  • Widescreen field of view!
  • Option to disable texture smoothing on the GL renderer!
  • Lighting fixes including the long-lost GL Overbright support!
  • Software rendering on Linux! Crisp colors, animated water, and unfiltered textures!

Controller and Steam Networking Support​

  • A proper gamepad config out of the box!
  • Added support for Steam Networking! Invite your friends or join games instantly with no fuss.

Steam Deck Support!​

We finally put our game through our own “Verified” tests, and... we failed super hard. So we fixed it! After re-testing the game, Half-Life gets to officially wear the green checkmark.
Now you can play Half-Life on the best handheld gaming computer in the world in glorious 800p with improved controls and UI.

UI Scaling Support for Higher Resolutions​



The entire UI has been reworked to scale at larger screen sizes. We built most of this stuff for 640x480 CRTs and apparently some of you have upgraded since then.
Click to expand...
 
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Dang, 2 day trip for reference for the desert skyboxes that you glimpse and meh at cos it was all so obviously low res even back then😛

Modern dev scoffing @ legends doing the work: based AI, please give me a desert background, I don't care who you steal from, thanks!

Shame they didn't work with the mod makers to make it officially support VR. HL2 too. But at least we have some solid mods for it now.
 
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M0G

M0G

Member
The stuff Id and now Valve are doing with their classics is great. I'd encourage Epic to show Unreal some love, but then they'd make it a ES exclusive, so I won't :p
 
MiguelItUp

MiguelItUp

Member
That documentary is great. God, what an amazing game, and what an amazing experience. Not just Half-Life alone, but TFC, Day of Defeat, CS, etc. So insane. Those sounds will always be in my mind after hearing them over and over so many times.

I know it'll never live up to anyone's expectations, but I'm still holding out for HL3, or whatever will "end" or "wrap" the story.
 
Bry0

Bry0

Member
MiguelItUp said:
That documentary is great. God, what an amazing game, and what an amazing experience. Not just Half-Life alone, but TFC, Day of Defeat, CS, etc. So insane. Those sounds will always be in my mind after hearing them over and over so many times.

I know it'll never live up to anyone's expectations, but I'm still holding out for HL3, or whatever will "end" or "wrap" the story.
Click to expand...
The occasional “shoe on tile” squeak of the footstep sounds is seared into my brain.
 
poodaddy

poodaddy

Member
I wonder if the Black Mesa devs would consider doing their own version of this mini campaign. Would be a very cool consideration.

I'll play it regardless, just kinda thinking out loud.
 
Bry0

Bry0

Member
Come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever played the uplink stuff.

Decay would’ve been cool too but I presume gearbox probably made that.
 
MiguelItUp

MiguelItUp

Member
Gojiira said:
Boring…Sorry but Ive played HL1-2 so many times and at this point who the fuck actually cares anymore? Cool its free but meh, this doesnt fill the void of Portal 3 or HL3, fuck off Valve..
Click to expand...
K. But that doesn't change the fact that Half-Life was ahead of its time in so many ways. Hell, it created waves in game development that didn't exist before it. I think it's cool they even bothered to do anything with it considering it's been 25 years. The documentary is the icing on the cake, really.

I hear ya on the 3 stuff, but I can't really blame them too much for being so hesitant. Alyx at least helped them take a few steps forward. I try to remain neutral about it, however maybe more so telling myself it won't happen just to eliminate any false expectations, lol. If it ever does, great, I love surprises, especially these days when everything leaks and surprises feel like they don't exist anymore, lol.
 
AJUMP23

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
Documentary is really good.


and if you look when Gave is being interviewed you can see his cat.
 
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Killer8

Killer8

Member
simpatico said:
Someone needs to port Black Mesa Zen to the HL1 engine. It feels better. Super glad we finally got no dreadful texture filtering.
Click to expand...

Nah, Black Mesa's version of Xen was a net negative for the game. The first hour or so up to the Gonarch boss fight was an improvement over the original and some of the best content in the game. But Interloper afterwards is some of the SHITTEST content I have ever played in my gaming life and pretty much ruined the game.

It must be an achievement for the dev to take a decade trying to improve a flawed original experience, only to end up ruining it even more with their meddling. It's gaming's equivalent of:

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