Posted in: Games, Valve Corporation, Video Games | Tagged: half life, half-life 2

Half-Life 2 Has Been Made Free For Its 20th Anniversary

Valve Corporation have made Half-Life 2 available totally free on Steam this weekend as part of the game's 20th Anniversary

If you've never played Half-Life 2, now is the time to take advantage of Valve's good fortune, as they have made the game totally free on Steam. The team is celebrating the game's 20th Anniversary by providing the full game right now through November 18 at 10am PT. Also, if you like the game's soundtrack, it is available for free until the same time. Could this be a prelude to a Half-Life 3 announcement? Absolutely not. We just thought we'd throw it in there since it wouldn't be an article about the franchise without mentioning it. Snag it now before it goes back on the shelf for (checks notes) $2. (No, seriously, you can get the game by itself or the Orange Box for just $2 on Steam.)

Half-Life 2

1998. Half-Life sends a shock through the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. NOW. By taking the suspense, challenge, and visceral charge of the original and adding startling new realism and responsiveness, Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around them, from the physical environment to the behaviors and even the emotions of both friends and enemies. The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people he cares about are counting on him. The intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology. Source provides major enhancements in:

• Characters: Advanced facial animation system delivers the most sophisticated in-game characters ever seen. With 40 distinct facial "muscles," human characters convey the full array of human emotions and respond to the player with fluidity and intelligence.
• Physics: From pebbles to water to 2-ton trucks respond as expected, as they obey the laws of mass, friction, gravity, and buoyancy.
• Graphics: Source's shader-based renderer, like the one used at Pixar to create movies such as Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., creates the most beautiful and realistic environments ever seen in a video game.
• AI: Neither friends nor enemies charge blindly into the fray. They can assess threats, navigate tricky terrain, and fashion weapons from whatever is at hand.

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