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[PC, Steam] Free - Half-Life @ Steam

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I think Steam accidentally went early with the Half-Life promo yesterday.

Named Game of the Year by over 50 publications, Valve's debut title blends action and adventure with award-winning technology to create a frighteningly realistic world where players must think to survive. Also includes an exciting multiplayer mode that allows you to play against friends and enemies…

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  • +20

    It also comes with the new 25th Anniversary Update.

  • +2

    I remember playing this game in 1998 but I have no recollection of how I got the game, whether it was bought or downloaded…

    • I think it came with some video card purchases

      • +1

        Hmm, the only video card I bought in 1998 was a Jaton i740 - don't think it would have come with that!

        • +5

          I cant remember the year exactly, but i remember having a 16mb voodoo banshee, top of the line!

          • +3

            @DiscoJango: Same! Then saved my pennies to upgrade to the 32mb TNT2. Mind blowing!

          • @DiscoJango: Voodoo Banshee was definitely not top of the line. It was just a cut down Voodoo 2 + 2D. Still a cool card though.

            • +1

              @Ryballs: To high school students, it was definitely top of the line!

        • +4

          I remember buying my first… a 4mb diamond monster 3D 3dfx. Was an old 3D accelerator card that was an addon to your existing video card. Makes me feel old but let me play the 3dfx version of Carmageddon!

          • @hornoscous: I had a 4MB Monster 3D!

            I got a 486 to replace my 4-colour CGA 9mhz IBM XT and a monster 3D to place GL-Quake, Forsaken, etc.

            • +1

              @ItsMeAgro: Forsaken was a great game. We played at many lan parties!

      • +1

        Yep, got mine back with an ATI GPU bundle deal back in 2003/4 I think

    • +3

      Your school mates would've lended you a burnt copy with a no-cd crack

      I paid $3 for mine

      • +23

        Possibly. Though I found an old photo of my computer taken in 2000 (testing out new digital camera) and lo and behold there's a HL box on the desk:

        https://ibb.co/hFW7JBw

        I might have ended up buying the game at a later stage though, from guilt.

        • +2

          That is an awesome collection of games, man

        • +8

          You should definitely post that to /r/pcmasterrace

        • +2

          Nice sub also.

        • +5

          Baller setup.

          • @KernelPanic: Thanks :) The PC wasn't anything special - just a lowly Pentium II 350 with a TNT2 vid card (you could already get a P3-800 and Geforce256 at that point). Funny how a 15-month-old PC was already considered quite dated in those days.

        • Turbo button switched on too. Nice!

        • I want to go to there

    • Valve sent me a free copy, although the only disadvantage was that international postage (to NZ) ended up slow so I didn’t get it until a couple of weeks after release.

  • +31

    Fans of Half-life rebuilt the whole game in the Half-life 2 engine. If you want to play the game and not just add another free game to your library, it's a great way to experience it.

    https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

  • +12

    For me this is the greatest game of all time, Half Life absolutely blew my mind and i still reminisce fondly about it occasionally

    • +1

      I played it just a few years back and it's amazing how well it's held up.

      Only really annoying bit was falling off the ladders when you get the climbing angle wrong. Not very realistic.

  • Been diving back into older games for PCVR since getting the Quest 3 as my first VR headset. This and HL2 was on the list to playthrough before Alyx. Thanks OP!

  • +41

    Half-Life Free confirmed.

  • +1

    come on G, learn some maths and count to 3!

  • +5

    GAME OF THE YEAR……30 years ago

  • +1

    corporal shephard huh… one of the greatest games ever made

    • It’s the base game, not opposing force

  • +9

    Kids - CS was made from this game

  • +14

    They also released this documentary on half life

    https://youtu.be/TbZ3HzvFEto?si=t74NJEChaJrcUjyX

    • Legend, thanks mate!

    • +4

      And speaking of documentary, Dario Casali, one of the dev for Half life AND Doom, is also running a commentary, sharing his thought while replaying half life as well! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk5gaNp4x_AVIJviyHueHizon…

    • +1

      Excellent. I think I watch more documentaries and discussions on games than actually playing them at this stage.

  • +1

    There are peole left in the world that don’t own this? 😀

    • +2

      Me, I didn't own it.

    • +1

      Me too. Its the only one I hadn't played.

      I started with HL2 as it came free with Counter Strike. Then OzBargain had free-to-play 1 month deals for Episode 1,2,3.

      I'm looking forward to playing HL1 25th Anniversary addition.

    • +2

      There are millions of people who only know of Fortnite lol

      Of the many things in entertainment, it's interesting to have seen one of the progenitors of FPS, following after Quake

  • +3

    This update includes controller support, really good for us couch gamers!

    • Is there decent aim assist? I hate flailing around trying to shoot things, it takes me right out of the game.

      • +3

        There is, but i dont think its super strong, i feel like its best played with keyboard and mouse

  • I remember seeing a Half Life CD with CDKey in cash converters for like $5 and my mate beat me to it. I was super dirty. What a flipping great game. So many nights spent playing

  • +2

    https://half-life.com/en/halflife25/

    Comes with updates, bug fixes, 4 new maps, finished off cut content

    • Good info, but damn, that website is a hot mess perf wise.

  • +1

    So many good memories with this game and HL2.

    Friendly fire on CS:Source, the surf maps, the Russian wall hackers…

    • +5

      Why even open the deal knowing it's not for you? And then to write this comment…

      • Agree, down votes says it all.

        • +1

          Your maths is terrible you should be the one getting educated.
          I see why you have dur in your name.

      • +1

        Why comment on his comment if it's not for you? And then to downvote his comment…

    • English translations and audiobooks of Les Miserables aren't free though. The free version is only useful if you are fluent in French (probably less than 1% of the Oz population).

    • +1

      @baldur

      Amazing a 40 year old game is free. It is amazing as a free e-book of les misarebles being free.

      Are there any free, primary school-level maths e-books currently?

      Sounds like you could really use some.

    • 333333333333

  • Get a steam deck just for this?..

    • +3

      Recently finished Black Mesa (Half Life remaster) on Steam Deck it was stunning

  • +2

    🐐

  • +4
  • +1

    I thought I owned the game but didn't, I have HL source, HL 2.

  • I already have this and have played through many times over the years. Thanks all; Now I want to play it again!

  • Nice to see that Valve still cares about its IPs

  • Seems i already have this

  • +3

    For all you youngsters,
    Steam platform/service was created by Valve (Makers of Half Life), for updates to it's products and has evolved to what it is today.

  • +3
    Easter Egg fun
    Relevant Links

    For those who want to try having the Half-Life / Half-Life: Blue Shift / Half-Life: Opposing Force / Counter-Strike gaming experience on platforms OUTSIDE of the officially listed Half-Life system requirements (Windows/macOS/Linux desktops; Steam Deck), you may want to check out Xash3D FWGS, a FOSS game engine that aims to provide compatibility with, and extends the functionality of, the Half-Life engine:

  • Truly a pleasure to play. All time number 1 game.

  • +1

    I remember working at EB Games when this came out. I 'borrowed' the physical game box over the weekend, y'know for product research, to learn about it and recommend it customers etc.. We had a LAN party - think the key worked repeatedly? - then I shrink wrapped it back onto the shelf the next week haha. Very sorry for the customer who bought that particular box and the key may not have worked back then in '98, soz.

  • +1

    Will this run on my 486?

  • LambdaGeneration Half-Life 25th Anniversary Adventure

    • a free web-based 2d-pixel art sidescroller game that chronicles 25 years of Half-Life history (references all of the expansions, spin-offs, sequels, and many fan-created mods, machinima, community projects)
    • partially narrated by Half-Life voice actor Harry S. Robins (playing Dr. Kleiner).
    • credit: Kotaku article
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