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Half-Life 2 becomes a loot-hoarding roguelike dungeon crawl in this Next Fest mod demo

by Dominic Tarason

It is the year 2025 and everything is a roguelite now. Even the games of yesteryear are getting randomizers and procedural generation shoehorned in, and Half-Life 2 isn't escaping either. Good thing that SourceWorld is pretty dang fun, if its newly released Next Fest demo is any indication... Read more.

Half-Life 2 will never be the same as legendary mod officially comes to Steam

by editor@pcgamesn.com

How many times have you completed Half-Life 2? In the 21 years (yeesh) since Valve's genre-changing FPS game was first released, I'd speculate that I've destroyed the Citadel, escaped City 17, and launched the rocket from White Forest on no fewer than 30 occasions. Maybe that says something about me; maybe we really, really need Half-Life 3. Nevertheless, after more than two decades, there's an alternative way to experience Gordon Freeman's post-apocalyptic odyssey - except it doesn't involve Gordon Freeman at all. If you haven't heard of Lambda Fortress before, the iconic mod is finally coming to Steam, and lets you play Half-Life 2 like you never have before. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half-Life 2 RTX ruined Ravenholm, but those big lighting problems just got fixed Check out this incredible Half-Life 2 gaming PC build with an Nvidia RTX 5090 Half-Life 2 RTX is struggling on Steam, as players face performance woes

Former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw says he 'retired too hard', but there's no way he's coming back for Half-Life 3: 'We need new stuff, [not] me going 'Well the G-Man wouldn't do that in my day''

by Rich Stanton

new episode of Netflix's Love, Death and Robots is based on a short story written back in the 80s by former Valve writer and now professional retiree Marc Laidlaw. Laidlaw left Valve in 2016 but, in a new interview with IGN, wonders whether "I retired too hard.".. Read more.

Half-Life 2 RTX ruined Ravenholm, but those big lighting problems just got fixed

by editor@pcgamesn.com

It seems like rumors pointing to Half-Life 3's existence are reaching a new fever pitch lately, but, as has been the case for more than a decade now, it's probably better to focus your attention on games in the series that actually exist until an actual launch date is announced. For anyone looking for newer versions of those games, there have been projects like the series' VR iteration, Half-Life: Alyx, the first game's remaster as Black Mesa, and, most recently, a demo section of Half-Life 2 remastered under the title of Half-Life 2 RTX. The latter of these options, HL2 RTX, was fairly underwhelming when it came out in March, but now, as the result of a new update, one of its biggest problems has just been fixed. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Check out this incredible Half-Life 2 gaming PC build with an Nvidia RTX 5090 Half-Life 2 RTX is struggling on Steam, as players face performance woes The Half-Life 2 RTX demo takes five times more HDD space than Half-Life 2 itself...

Valve only wants to make new Half-Life games if they push the medium forward, but what could it push forward next?

by Justin Wagner

When asked to explain why Valve never made Half-Life 2: Episode 3 for the recent 20th anniversary documentary, Gabe Newell said that he "couldn't figure out why doing Episode 3 was pushing anything forward.".. Read more.

Half-Life 2's 2003 beta reveals the mystery behind a City 17 river that once led players to the foot of the Citadel

by Rich Stanton

There are various unfinished versions of Half-Life 2 that have come to light over the years, all of which reveal interesting things about how Valve's plans changed over time as it painstakingly refined and pruned one of the PC gaming greats... Read more.

Arkane was 'devastated' by its cancelled Half-Life 2 Ravenholm game, but the masterclass it got from late visionary artist Viktor Antonov 'was pivotal to what would become Arkane later'

by Harvey Randall

One of the most unfortunate missed shots in gaming is that of Arkane's cancelled Ravenholm game—in case you're unfamiliar, circa 2007-2008, Arkane was working on a standalone spin-off that would see players returning to Half-Life 2's zombie-infested Ravenholm... Read more.

Half-Life 2 RTX is struggling on Steam, as players face performance woes

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Half-Life 2 is one of the best loved FPS games in the genre's history, even with its cliffhanger story still unresolved nearly two decades since its last episodic expansion launched. Unsurprisingly, then, fans of Valve's shooter series have been eager to see its most recent, non-VR entry return in any form. Following projects like Half-Life 1 remake Black Mesa and spin-off Half-Life: Alyx, Half-Life 2 returned with fresh updates from Steam celebrating its 20th anniversary last autumn and, as of yesterday, a section of the game received a glossy RTX-enabled remix. Sadly, performance issues have marred the experience for many users so far. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Half-Life 2 RTX demo takes five times more HDD space than Half-Life 2 itself Nvidia just announced a free playable Half-Life 2 RTX demo, and it's coming soon Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and even Day of Defeat have been updated by Valve

The Half-Life 2 RTX demo takes five times more HDD space than Half-Life 2 itself

by editor@pcgamesn.com

After what feels like eons of waiting, the Half-Life 2 RTX demo is finally here. You can try two levels of the fan-made enhancement to Valve's epochal FPS right now, turning the classic shooter on its head with an array of game-changing new visuals. This comes not long after Valve itself enhanced HL2 and briefly gave it away for free, so this no-cost demo is the perfect way to make one of PC's most important videogames of all time look even better. You might want to clear some hard drive space, though, because it isn't exactly a small download. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Nvidia just announced a free playable Half-Life 2 RTX demo, and it's coming soon Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and even Day of Defeat have been updated by Valve I played Half-Life 2 RTX with Nvidia neural rendering, and it looks damn fine

Nvidia just announced a free playable Half-Life 2 RTX demo, and it's coming soon

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Soon you'll be able to don Gordon Freeman's HEV suit in full ray-traced glory, smashing your trusty crowbar into headcrabs with realistic shadows and reflections, as Nvidia has just announced that a playable Half-Life 2 RTX demo will be available to download in March 2025. Not only that, but if you already own Half-Life 2 (and sort that out if you don't), the demo will be a free download. The launch comes as Nvidia announces that RTX Remix is now officially out of open beta, with a host of new neural rendering features on the platform. According to Nvidia, you'll get around two hours of gameplay in the new Half-Life 2 demo, which will not only bring ray tracing to the classic FPS, but also a host of new features, including RTX Skin, neural radiance cache, and DLSS 4. I had a chance to play with some of these Half-Life 2 RTX neural rendering features at CES, where Nvidia was showing off the game, and I came away really impressed by them. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half...

Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and even Day of Defeat have been updated by Valve

by editor@pcgamesn.com

It was choppy, unreliable, and populated almost entirely by screamy mic spammers, but my word, do I miss the days of Half-Life Deathmatch Source. It's one of the enduring images of my own PC gaming past - a team of HLDM Source players, all wearing the G-Man skin, sprinting through the Black Mesa lab map and coating the walls with satchel charges. Half-Life 3 may very well be in the works, but Valve hasn't forgotten about the classics. Counter-Strike Source, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and my beloved my HLDM have all gotten sudden, surprise patches. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Counter-Strike creator regrets not balancing the AWP Counter-Strike and CoD players are getting random Steam ban notices CS2 has more players than the next top nine Steam games combined

Viktor Antonov, the visionary artist who defined Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has died

by Ted Litchfield

Viktor Antonov, the Bulgarian artist who served as art director on both Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has died at the age of 52. The news comes by way of some of Antonov's former colleagues in the industry, who also shared their thoughts on Antonov's legacy as an artist... Read more.

Half-Life 2 - Update

by Kerry

An update has been released for Half-Life 2 and the Episodes. - Fixed a Linux client crash on launch. - Localization updates.

I played Half-Life 2 RTX with Nvidia neural rendering, and it looks damn fine

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Gordon Freeman's classic toxic crowbar adventure is about to get even more realistic, as the Half-Life 2 RTX Remix project is working on adding Nvidia neural rendering to the game, in addition to ray tracing. I had a chance to play the game with the new tech on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, and it looks damn fine. Many of the technical details of Nvidia neural rendering tech are under wraps at the moment, but I was given a glimpse of what's possible with the tech in Half-Life 2 on an Nvidia rig at CES, and it really brings out the benefits of realistic lighting in the scene, not just in the scenery but also in the characters. If you're thinking of buying an RTX 5090, then this is just a taster of what it can do. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Thermaltake can knock 20°C off your gaming PC temperature, with a liquid bath CES 2025 dates, location, and news: Everything you need to know This MSI CPU cooler with a turntable can turn your gaming PC into a display case

Valve's Steam page currently lists a second mystery game alongside Deadlock, sending Half-Life 3 theorists into another frenzy of speculation

by Rick Lane

The Half-Life 3 speculation mill has been running hot over the last few months. G-Man's voice actor Mike Shapiro rang in the new year by posting a video in which he refers to "unexpected surprises" in the staggering voice of Half-Life's dimension-hopping villain. Before that, evidence that Valve was working on a "Project White Sands" was revealed on an actor's website—White Sands referring to an area of New Mexico where Black Mesa was supposedly situated... Read more.