Bonus: it also seems that the episodes have been rolled into the base game.
Neat, but.
Even HL: Alyx left us with just as much of a cliffhanger as the end of HL2 Episode 2…
Half-Life 2 is currently 100% for its 20th anniversary
Submitted 1 day ago by silverchase@sh.itjust.works to games@lemmy.world
https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/
Comments
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
“Best I can do I more cliffhangers”
-valve probably
Jeffool@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Even if they do repeat 3 (and I kinda feel they will,) it’ll have a cliffhanger too. And I’m okay with that.
GreyCat@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Tyler McVicker and Gabe Follower are saying that HL3 is in heavy development currently. Apparently they even have hired experienced devs from Rockstar, Id Software, Epic Games, Respawn, Sucker Punch and others to work on the game.
uncrme@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
I’m skeptical tbh, I feel like VNN has been saying HL3 is in development for as long as I’ve been alive
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
I swear to God, if you are fucking with me I will find you somehow.
Katana314@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Half-Life: Alyx spoilers
It’s gonna be wild watching Valve try to explain that Eli was brought back from the dead in a prequel game that took place years before Half-Life 2, that 90% of their fans couldn’t play.
Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Ah, this is why I come to lemmy.
Thank you kind user!
PanArab@lemm.ee 18 hours ago
Thanks good fellow. I never actually played it before.
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
is real good. and stands up too. still as good today as it was 20 years ago.
except the bridge level.
Fuck the bridge level.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 12 hours ago
Personally, I think 1 holds up better. 2 isn’t bad by any means, but it was one of the first games with physics and the physics puzzles get old fast. It was amazing at the time, but now it’s not as interesting because we’ve seen it a million times.
PanArab@lemm.ee 18 hours ago
I still play Ridge Racer Type 4, so I do appreciate well designed games that hold up decades later.
lolrightythen@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Janovich@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Finally Alf-Life 2. I was going we’d get a sequel for our cat eating alien roommate.
Klear@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Hey, yeah, about that cat…
qualia@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Hah! You kill me.
M137@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
greencactus@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
You’re amazing! Thanks for sharing!
germtm_@lemmy.world 1 day ago
us Half-Life fans are eating good this month. first, we get Project Borealis Prologue, and now HL2 update and the game going free to own for a limited time. i am so going to enjoy checking the update out. and the documentary as well.
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 hours ago
Don’t forgrt HL2 RTX coming up.
pikmeir@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Never played any of these before. Do I start with this one or would I need 1?
Romkslrqusz@lemm.ee 1 day ago
In terms of storyline, it doesn’t really matter too much.
I still think you should play through the first one. If you need something that feels less 1998, Black Mesa is a remake of the original Half Life and it is very fun.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 1 day ago
FYI, Black Mesa is currently on sale for $4.99, absolute steal at that price.
brsrklf@jlai.lu 1 day ago
Maybe it’s because I played them too late, but while I mostly had a blast playing HL2, the first one never clicked for me.
I know, it’s been very influential and new when it released, but it was still quite straight a FPS game. Whereas HL2 is like a crazy theme park of different ambiences and mechanics.
Masta_Chief@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Imo the best enjoyment to time ratio is:
-
Black Mesa (the Xen level at the end was redone and extended compared to in HL1 and it’s cool but if it starts to drag just move on)
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HL2 (main game)
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HL2: EP1 start it but maybe skip and watch a playthrough if you get bored
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HL2: EP2
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HL Alyx, if you can play it on a decent headset. DO NOT MOD IT TO PLAY IT WITH MOUSE/KB it will be extremely boring since it’s designed for VR
Have fun, there’s simply nothing else like Half-Life games
westyvw@lemm.ee 1 day ago
I disagree. Black Mesa is Black Mesa. It is no Half Life 1. The atmosphere in one is completely lost with Black Mesa. Start with Half Life and play to Alyx. Go back to Mesa for a second way to view 1.
31337@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I remember liking Opposing Force and Blue Shift too.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 hours ago
Also, to add to this: if you haven’t played Portal and Portal 2, then you need to do that now. Like possibly even before HL
Klear@lemmy.world 1 day ago
If you can play Alyx on a decent headset, you’ll probably want to play Half Life 2 in VR too. The port is amazing.
vonxylofon@lemmy.world 1 day ago
This is the way.
-
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 hours ago
If you’re gonna start with 1, I recommend playing Black Mesa as the updated graphics and qol stuff make it easier to tolerate in modern times.
But that’s just me. There is probably some crucial reason why Black Mesa is not the definitive version, and I’m about to hear why
mint_tamas@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I’m with you, but probably one good reason to consider Black Mesa “wrong” is the reimagination of Xen. Even though Xen is the weakest part of the original and BM did an excellent job at it.
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 1 day ago
If you start with the second one you won’t know what’s going on and feel like you’ve missed a bunch of important story.
This is how it felt after playing the first one as well. Half Life 2 is almost an unrelated game. The plots of the two barely line up.
InFerNo@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
Start with 1
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 day ago
Hl1 and hl2 are not really connected plotwise and can be enjoyed separately. There’s some small references and a couple characters you wouldn’t necessarily even know if you played HL1, because HL1 didn’t have much of a focus on that kind of story-telling.
catloaf@lemm.ee 1 day ago
They each stand completely on their own. Start with 1 if you want the whole lore and like 90s PC games. Start with 2 if you want a slightly more modern experience.
TachyonTele@lemm.ee 18 hours ago
If you cant play 1 or Black Mesa because of the clunkyness, just watch a story recap and play 2.
gerbler@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 day ago
The first is a bit rough. It got a remake with Black Mesa which used to be free, but I don’t think it is any more.
I’d honestly just start with 2. It’s a better game all round. You can always go back and play Black Mesa later if you like it.
If you have a VR headset and a decent rig, Half Life Alyx is well worth it. I’d definitely play HL2 plus Episodes 1 and 2 before heading into that one.
Ferrous@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
Sheeiit I absolutely loved the first one, even only having played it for the first time last year. I was blown away at how well it holds up. I do recommend trying it if you have even a morsel of interest. Just my personal 2 cents tho.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 1 day ago
Yes, Black Mesa costs money but it’s absolutely worth it, they put a LOT of effort into restoring the original as faithful as possible but with more modern graphics (Source engine based). I played the original Half-Life when it came out and Black Mesa definitely gave me the same amount of awe and wonder. One of the best fan remakes of any game I’ve ever seen.
Also, I see that it’s currently on sale for only $5 (75% off), at that price it’s a steal and absolutely worth it.
morphballganon@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Start with HL2 on normal difficulty. Then do 2E1 and 2E2 on normal difficulty.
Then repeat all of that on hard.
Then you’ll be where I am. Never bothered with 1.
LambdaRX@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I played Half Life first time few years ago, and it has aged really well in my opinnion. I enjoyed it more than Black Mesa. Also I don’t think of Black Mesa as a substitute for hl1, but as a good game you can play after beating og.
Mwa@lemm.ee 20 hours ago
start with 1, So you can understand what is happening.
kamen@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
I remember playing this on a Radeon 9550 GPU with 128 MB VRAM and being amazed at how well it was running at 1680x1050.
SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 17 hours ago
Thank you! My kids Christmas account will need to save city 17 as soon as Dec 25th
chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Hell yeah! Commentary! Looks like I’m replaying it for the 100th time.
revlayle@lemm.ee 1 day ago
That changelog is waaaay longer than I expected it to be.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 hours ago
Hmmm… I guess it has been over a decade. Maybe it’s time to play HL2 again.
secret300@lemmy.sdf.org 1 day ago
Yo after all this time I never bought episode 1 or 2. I’m playing the fuck outta it
moody@lemmings.world 1 day ago
Weren’t the two episodes free?
ripcord@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Maybe there was some special or package deal, but no.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 day ago
Not unless they had some special bundle for HL2 I can’t remember.
Ep1 had to be purchased. Ep2 came with The Orange Box.
yamanii@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
I can finally play the cool mods without taking it from my friend’s library.
Odd_so_Star_so_Odd@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Thanks, I feel old now…
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 1 day ago
Huh? I wanted to see whether Portal 1 and 2 are free as well to recommend them to family and friends but for the life of me I can’t figure it out. They don’t show any info on purchasing them whether I’m logged in or not.
Pyro@programming.dev 1 day ago
It’s a better deal to just get the Orange Box bundle because it is 90% off.
catloaf@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Plus, you still get the Proof of Purchase in TF2!
goldteeth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Both are still showing up full price for me, if that helps.
BlemboTheThird@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
When I look at the steam store Portal has a price tag of $9.99.
Portal didn’t come out until 2007 with the orange box, which also had hl2: episode 2 (and tf2), but the base game of hl2 came out standalone in 2004. This giveaway is a celebration of hl2’s 20th anniversary, so maybe they’ll do a portal giveaway in 2027.
Mwa@lemm.ee 20 hours ago
I remember when halflife 1 became free
simple@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Sweeeeeeet! I had HL2 on my ancient Steam account that I lost ages ago, it feels right to have it back in my library all these years later.
The anniversary update sounds tempting, but I think I’ll wait for HL2 RTX before replaying it.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Cool, but I already bought it like 20 years ago and still have it on steam
goldteeth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
…Think it’s too late to get a refund?
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 day ago
They didn’t even do refunds back then
ms_lane@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I don’t think they can refund ATi Half Life 2 tokens.
Flamekebab@piefed.social 1 day ago
Ye gods, 18 years, 4 months for mine. You'd hope that they'd just automatically stop asking if I'm old enough to view store pages, right?
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My account is so old I have (or had, before they normalized the format) a four digit steam ID. I “owned” Half Life 2 for like four months before it released thanks to getting a code free in the box with my Radeon 9800 Pro back in the day. For a short and glorious flash of time in the summer of 2004, I was guaranteed a copy of the most hotly anticipated game ever, even though nobody could play it yet, and also owned an example of the fastest video card on the planet. Damned if I didn’t mow a fuckton of lawns and reinstall Windows and Outlook an a horde of septuagenarians’ computers to afford that card.
And no, they do not stop asking about your age.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
My account turned 21 a couple months ago. They really should just go “yeah, it’s fine” and don’t ask
FilthyHands@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
My steam account just turned 20. Fugggggg
naticus@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Oh hell, mine too back in August. Guess I’ll have to take it out drinking next year.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
Image
TSG_Asmodeus@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Oh wow, I just checked and mine turned 21 today! 🎊
Jesus Christ my steam account is old enough to drink in the US.
Image
essteeyou@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Mine turns 20 in 2 days. Yikes.
umbraroze@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
[old woman memories mode]
I remember registering my CD key of HL1 on Steam and was surprised when they gave me the expansions for free. Cool, because I didn’t have them.
I remember buying The Orange Box on Steam. I remember it because Steam gave me a warning because I already had Portal - it was free at some point. Was a bit miffed when TF2 went free to play later on.
And I somehow still haven’t played HL2 on Steam, I think? I played it about 1/3 way on Xbox 360. Played the shit out of Portal on 360 though.
NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Originally played on orange box on the 360, I’m surprised I didn’t already have it on steam. Glad I stumbled on this post
Sludgehammer@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Holy crap, someone who actually didn’t have it yet!
PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Well, they implemented some graphical improvements and options, as well as workshop mod support so now would be a good time for a replay.