In honor of the twentieth anniversary of Half-Life 2, Valve is giving away the base game along with both episodes for free on Steam. The promotion will last until November 18.
Additionally, Valve is offering significant discounts on Half-Life 2 The Orange Box (41 UAH) and Half-Life Complete (245 UAH). The Valve Complete Pack has been discounted by 33% and is now priced at 1918 UAH. Valve has also released a two-hour documentary about Half-Life 2 featuring early demos from 2002-2003 and gameplay from the canceled Episode 3. Soundtracks for Half-Life 2 and both episodes are also available for free on Steam.
Changes in Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update
The anniversary edition includes a substantial update for Half-Life 2. The changes enhance gameplay convenience and improve graphics. Notably, every map in the game has been revisited by Valve's level designers to correct longstanding issues and restore content. Additional gameplay settings have been introduced.
A new radial fog feature has been added to Half-Life 2. The patch includes higher resolution lightmaps. The developers introduced a new high-quality mode with improved 3D models. The game now features smoother shadows with high-detail shaders thanks to new bicubic filtering for lightmaps. The update resolves visual glitches: objects popping in and out unexpectedly, holes in the game world, absence of grass, and poorly rendered models. Players can choose between the original blood and fire effects or those made for the episodes.
Both Half-Life 2 expansions are accessible directly from the game's main menu. Moreover, players will automatically transition to the next expansion after finishing the previous one, effectively creating one continuous gameplay experience. The new edition of Half-Life 2 incorporates developer commentary similar to the Half-Life 2: Lost Coast expansion. To record the new commentary, the original development team was gathered together.
Documentary on the Development of Half-Life 2
The video, running over two hours, provides an in-depth look at the development of Half-Life 2. Viewers can learn more about Valve's struggle to avoid bankruptcy, the birth of Steam, and the unfinished Episode 3.
The documentary also features old footage from the early days of Half-Life 2, including a demo intended for E3 2002 that has never been seen before. According to the narrative, Valve decided at the last moment that it wasn't ready to show the game. There's also the E3 2003 demo, which was the first public reveal of Half-Life 2.
Reports indicate that Valve is reissuing the book Raising the Bar, which offers a "comprehensive look at the making of Half-Life 2." First published in 2004, the book has been updated to include content from Episodes 1 and 2, "along with ideas and experiments for the third Episode that never materialized."
Half-Life 2 Episode 3
You can see art and gameplay for Half-Life 2 Episode 3 at this link in the video above. Valve did not complete the expansion because Gabe Newell and the developers wanted to not only finish the Half-Life 2 story but also create something significant and innovative in game design.
The documentary includes footage of some interesting features from Episode 3, such as an ice gun that could create transparent barriers. The gun's "Silver Surfer" mode allowed players to create ice platforms and traverse them.
The ice gun in the canceled expansion was previously known, but footage featuring it appears for the first time. Some enemies could utilize technology similar to Portal 2 and absorb headcrabs, split apart, and move through grates thanks to their amorphous bodies.
Gabe Newell mentions that he ultimately "couldn't figure out why to make Episode 3." However, engineer David Spahr disagrees: "We could definitely have gone back and spent two years to create Episode 3."
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