Half-Life News

Ageing FPS Half-Life gets free overhaul, but not from Valve

A revolutionary product of its time, the first Half-Life game from Valve doesn't need a touch-up, but what if it got one that was incredibly in keeping with the FPS game's original release on Steam, and what if it was coming out very soon? Well, lucky for you I can answer both those questions, as Half-Life does have an overhaul mod coming to Steam for free and, would you look at that, it's coming very soon too.

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Half-Life's raytracing mod is great because it makes the game look old in a new way

A new Half-Life mod adds raytracing to Valve's venerable first-person shooter, a shiny slap of 2023 lighting technology in a 1998 game. I normally think such anachronistic upgrades look awful but this one works for me. Rather than just slam fancy modern tech into an old game, the mod wants to change the whole look. And it succeeds in a surprising way: by making the rest of Half-Life look older.

It's a momentous day, my friends, because we can finally answer the most controversial question in videogaming: Does Gordon Freeman wear a helmet? It's all thanks to a fan-made ray tracing mod for the original Half-Life that increases the game's moody lighting quotient by a factor of ten, and finally, finally lets you get a look in those bathroom mirrors. It comes from a creator called sultim_t, who's been teasing this project for a while, and you can download it for free over at their GitHub page...
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Half-Life has better writing than Half-Life 2, for one simple reason

There is a fantastic moment in Half-Life 2, during the 'Water Hazard' section of Valve's FPS game, when you first arrive at one of the resistance outposts, Station 12. Previously, you - or, if you prefer, Gordon Freeman - have been told that communications with Station 12 have mysteriously ceased. Overlooking City 17's irradiated river, the Station is supported on stilts. Immediately, you know that something is wrong. The river is silent. No-one exits the Station to greet you. A large wooden container dangles ominously from a pulley - the grand piano over Buster Keaton's head; some stark realisation just waiting to drop.

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New Half-Life 'campaign' pieced together following huge Valve leak

I still believe in Half-Life. The retcon ending to Half-Life Alyx. The huge modding and fan-game community that brings us sequels and remakes like Black Mesa and Levitation. Half-Life is still alive, and I still expect to see the arrival of Half-Life 3 at some point between now and the day my HEV suit finally whispers "user death imminent." In the meantime, though, following the public leak of Half-Life, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 assets from the entire Valve repository, it seems a shortened, alternate version of the original Gordon Freeman FPS game has been pieced together - an obscure, Valve-eyes only cut of Half-Life 1.

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Half-Life News

Ageing FPS Half-Life gets free overhaul, but not from Valve

Half-Life's raytracing mod is great because it makes the game look old in a new way

Ray traced Half-Life mod is finally here and looks incredible

Half-Life has better writing than Half-Life 2, for one simple reason

New Half-Life 'campaign' pieced together following huge Valve leak