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Ambitious, unofficial Half-Life expansion wraps up a 24-year-old cliffhanger

by editor@pcgamesn.com

You think of Half-Life, and you immediately think Valve. It's a series synonymous with Steam and PC gaming as a whole, but it has ventured onto other platforms, too. No, I'm not talking about Alyx (which is still a Steam-only game, despite the fact that you can play it on non-Valve headsets), this is Half-Life: Decay. This DLC for the original game was designed by Randy Pitchford and developed by Gearbox Software for the PlayStation 2 back in 2001. If you ever wanted to learn the fate of Drs. Colette Green and Gina Cross, you'll finally be able to, thanks to a new set of mods. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Half-Life mod rebuilds Halo multiplayer inside Valve's original engine Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and even Day of Defeat have been updated by Valve This early version of Half-Life Blue Shift includes a bizarre G-Man moment

Here's a mod that puts Halo's multiplayer into Half-Life, which to me feels like putting tea in your coffee

by Rick Lane

"What if we recreated this game in that engine?" is a classic modding conceit, up there with "What if Stalker was even more miserable?" and "What if this character had no clothes on?". In fact, I'm surprised it's taken 25 years for someone to stick Halo's multiplayer into Half-Life. It's the sort of harebrained scheme I would have eagerly read about on Planet Half-Life back in 2006... Read more.

New Half-Life mod rebuilds Halo multiplayer inside Valve's original engine

by editor@pcgamesn.com

The first Half-Life was a nexus point for what we consider the modern FPS. Valve's shooter presented a fully realized world, and a compelling narrative to go with it. Gordon Freeman's tram ride to Black Mesa sets the tone, while the walls of the secretive research facility tell their own stories. Then Halo comes along, which ups the ante with gigantic sandbox levels and an entire universe to decipher. We wouldn't have the shooters we do today without Half-Life and Halo. But what would happen if we smashed both games together? Now you can find out. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and even Day of Defeat have been updated by Valve This early version of Half-Life Blue Shift includes a bizarre G-Man moment Half Life suddenly blows up on Steam after launch of brutal new mod

This Half-Life mod remakes Valve's classic shooter to be both longer and wider, and it has radically altered my perception of the original

by Rick Lane

I've always said that my favourite chapter in Half-Life is Office Complex. In a game all about recontextualising the FPS from abstract mazes into a realistic, coherent setting, to me Office Complex felt like the ultimate expression of that. It's the most mundane part of Black Mesa's clandestine research facility, swapping the hellscapes of Doom and the fantasy realms of Heretic for a cold and clinical administration centre... Read more.

Valve considered making a 'B title' before Half-Life, until an exec told Gabe Newell 'that's just not gonna work… the company will fail'

by Rich Stanton

Last year saw the 25th anniversary of Half-Life, one of the most important games in PC history and a spectacular debut for Valve. But in another timeline, it could've been the studio's second game... Read more.

Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box

by Rich Stanton

One of this year's GDC highlights was a talk by Monica Harrington, a founding member of Valve and the company's first chief marketing officer, who went over her history with the company that brought us Half-Life and Steam... Read more.

Valve CMO threatened the company would walk away from games if it didn't own the rights to Half-Life—'It wasn't an idle threat—we weren't going to take on all of the risk to make other people rich'

by Rich Stanton

It's the 2025 Game Developer's Conference, and one of this year's most interesting talks was delivered by Monica Harrington, a founding member of Valve and the company's first chief marketing officer... Read more.

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

This early version of Half-Life Blue Shift includes a bizarre G-Man moment

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Chaos has always seemed to follow Valve and its Half-Life series, and things were no different with its second expansion to the original game. Half-Life Blue Shift was initially meant to be a lucrative new piece of content for the planned Dreamcast port of the iconic shooter that was canceled at the last moment, and made its way to PC as an additional expansion instead. However, an early version of the Dreamcast build has been unearthed, and the Blue Shift it contains includes some intriguing differences and a bizarre G-Man placeholder. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half Life suddenly blows up on Steam after launch of brutal new mod New Half-Life Opposing Force fan remake looks just as good as Black Mesa New Half-Life Blue Shift remake is way bigger than the original and playable now

G-Man's voice actor rings in the new year by dropping a cryptic tweet grenade promising 'unexpected surprises' into the starving Half-Life 3 fanbase

by Harvey Randall

There are certain, well, certainties in life. Death and taxes are two of them, while the fact that Half-Life 3 is probably never coming is a fitting third. Despite a bevvy of occult rumours and whisperings, prayers and sacrifices to the periodic table have never borne fruit. Silksong, for all its despair and mania, can't even hold a candle to the long, 21-year old flame that fans of Half-Life 2 have been holding for the sequel that never was... Read more.

Half Life suddenly blows up on Steam after launch of brutal new mod

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Half-Life, Valve's original FPS classic, isn't short on horror. This, after all, is a game where your fellow scientists get by skull-piercing headcrabs, turned into virtual zombies. But the latest iteration of the Brutal Half-Life mod takes things to the extreme, painting Black Mesa's walls red. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Half-Life Opposing Force fan remake looks just as good as Black Mesa New Half-Life Blue Shift remake is way bigger than the original and playable now The Half-Life Blue Shift remake, built using Black Mesa, is finally back

Half Life suddenly blows up on Steam after launch of brutal new mod

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Half-Life, Valve's original FPS classic, isn't short on horror. This, after all, is a game where your fellow scientists get by skull-piercing headcrabs, turned into virtual zombies. But the latest iteration of the Brutal Half-Life mod takes things to the extreme, painting Black Mesa's walls red. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Half-Life Opposing Force fan remake looks just as good as Black Mesa New Half-Life Blue Shift remake is way bigger than the original and playable now The Half-Life Blue Shift remake, built using Black Mesa, is finally back

New Half-Life Opposing Force fan remake looks just as good as Black Mesa

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Opposing Force is quietly one of the best Half-Life games. I like the simplicity of Blue Shift. On the contrary, the overarching plot and the action set pieces of the Half-Life 2 saga still feel fresh 20 years later. Alyx has the tech. The original Half-Life is the original Half-Life. But Adrian Shephard's story is the funniest, the most spectacular, and it has an M249 SAW gun. We haven't seen or heard from the unfortunate HECU corporal since 1999, but now, at last, he's coming back. A complete Half-Life Opposing Force remake has just been revealed, and it looks just as thorough and professional as Crowbar Collective's Black Mesa. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Half-Life Blue Shift remake is way bigger than the original and playable now The Half-Life Blue Shift remake, built using Black Mesa, is finally back 'New' version of Half-Life discovered with cut content and secrets

New Half-Life Blue Shift remake is way bigger than the original and playable now

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Given how much time has passed since Gordon Freeman first rode the automated transit system into our hearts, I think we're all comfortable now with admitting one unassailable truth: every single moment spent in the original version of Xen is a nightmare. Half-Life 2 is 20 years old. Valve has marked the occasion with a revised and tweaked version of the FPS. But historically, it's modders who have fixed the very worst part of the iconic shooter series, first in the superlative Black Mesa, and now in its spiritual successor. An unofficial remake of Half-Life Blue Shift is available to play right now, and it's just gotten a new chapter that makes Barney's excursion into the alien border world actually enjoyable. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Half-Life Blue Shift remake, built using Black Mesa, is finally back 'New' version of Half-Life discovered with cut content and secrets Here are some of the best Steam games most own but too few have played

The Half-Life Blue Shift remake, built using Black Mesa, is finally back

by editor@pcgamesn.com

Short, grounded, and with regular beer-owing guy Barney as its hero, Blue Shift could be my favorite Half-Life game. Half-Life 1 gets points for originality. Half-Life 2 has excellent set pieces in the form of City 17, the coastal road trip, and Ravenholm. But Blue Shift - like Opposing Force - is so tight and focused, and rounds out the resonance cascade story so well, that I think it takes the metaphorical crowbar. As HL2 gets closer to its 20th anniversary, the idea of a Half-Life 3 feels both closer and further away than ever. Valve might be keeping quiet about the future of its FPS, but modders are hard at work. The unofficial Half-Life Blue Shift remake, built using the fan-made masterpiece Black Mesa, is finally coming back. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: 'New' version of Half-Life discovered with cut content and secrets Here are some of the best Steam games most own but too few have played Half-Life players somehow manage to beat Opposing Force in 17 minutes