Half-Life 2 News

It’s hard to even comprehend how much PC gaming has changed in the past 20 years. But it was the classic FPS Half-Life 2 that convinced people to install this weird military-green launcher app named Steam and take the plunge on digital distribution. Not only was it a fantastic game, it built on Valve’s established track record of mod support, providing creators with the tools to create their own levels, campaigns and total conversions, even if the studio's own plans could be a bit of an inscrutable black box...
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Thanks to Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar and the Half-Life 2 beta leak from 2003, we've had a few little looks at concepts Valve considered for the FPS sequel but had to cut during development. For instance, thanks to files found in the leaked version, we know there were plans for a level set on an icebreaker ship that would lead to a mini-submarine trip to an underwater base—an idea that ended up being re-used in the Half-Life 2: Episode 3 synopsis, and the fan game based on it...
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20 years ago, Half-Life 2 was the recipient of two of PC Gamer's highest review scores ever: 96% in PC Gamer UK, and 98% in the US version of the magazine, which at the time published separate reviews. ..
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First Spotted by 80 Level, Secret Tape's massive documentary on the development of Half-Life 2 contains an almost unbelievable story of how Valve was saved from legal and financial ruin thanks to the actions of a single summer intern, paving the way for PC gaming as we know it today...
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• Fixed issue where NPC reactions to the player's flashlight and some incidental dialogue would not play after switching between episodes.
  
• Fixed amount of bloom applied after switching between Episode One and Episode Two.
  
• Fixed the FOV setting not applying until you got the HEV Suit if you started a new game and watched the intro sequence.
  
• Fixed issue where HUD messages for pickups and responses to some console commands would display multiple times after switching between episodes.
  
• Fixed scaling for Aim Assist at very high or very low framerates.
  
• Fixed issue where the gamepad weapon selector UI could be stuck on after relaunching the game with no gamepad connected.
  
• Fixed non-workshop mods displaying their title as "Half-Life 2" on the main menu.
  
• Improved load times when switching between episodes or when adding and removing workshop content.
  
• Workshop - Fixed some mods that were tagged to load as Episode One data but were being loaded as Episode Two mods.
  
• Workshop - Better handling for addons that are corrupt.
  
• Workshop - Fixed support for weapon mods that reskin the Stunstick.
  

NOTE: There is now a public "beta" branch for Half-Life 2 that will periodically receive updates before they go live to all players.