Valve gets the original Half-Life 2 development team back together for a huge 20th anniversary update—and the game is now free for the weekend on Steam

GamesFPSValve gets the original Half-Life 2 development team back together for a huge 20th anniversary update—and the game is now free for the weekend on SteamWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Valve)

Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance

November 16, 2024 is the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2, one of the biggest, most enduring videogames of all time. To celebrate the big birthday, Valve has released a20th Anniversary Updatefor the game, which adds Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and Episode 2 to the base game, along with all new commentary tracks featuring the original HL2 development team.

The Half-Life 2 episodic add-ons are available directly from the game’s main menu, but even better, players will automatically advance to each new expansion after completing the previous one, essentially turning them into one big, continuous game.

There’s a lot more than just a mash-up of old Half-Life 2 games here. The developer commentary, similar to the interactive commentary mode included with the Half-List 2: Lost Coast add-on, gets the gang back together “to record brand new commentary tracks for the whole game.”

On top of that, you can get a deep-dive look at Half-Life 2’s development courtesy in a new, two-hour-long 20th anniversary documentary, covering everything from near-bankruptcy to the infamous hack, the birth of Steam, and the famously never finished Episode 3—there’seven prototype footage.

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YouTube

To go even deeper thanthat(we’re going really deep here), Valve is re-releasing Raising the Bar, an in-depth book that offers “a comprehensive look into the creation of the Half-Life 2.” Originally released in 2004 and out of print ever since, this new edition has been updated to include content from Episode 1 and 2, “along with ideas and experiments for the third episode that never came to be.” (Which I guess shoots down any hopes for an Episode 3 surprise. Sorry.) I have the original Raising the Bar, and trust me, if you’re a Half-Life fan, it’s basically a must-read.

There are also looks at old videos from the early days of Half-Life 2, including a demo intended for E3 2002 that was never seen—Valve “decided at the last minute we weren’t ready to show the game”—and the subsequent E3 2003 demo that did finally reveal Half-Life 2 to the world.

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This is abigupdate, as befits a game of Half-Life 2’s stature, and it goes way above and beyond just making the game better on modern systems: Getting the original development team back together to record commentary tracks for the full game is an inspired move, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what they have to say about it now, 20 years later.

If you don’t already have Half-Life 2 for some reason,The Orange Boxis currently on sale for 90% off on Steam, which takes it down to $2. And Half-Life 2? It’s 100% off until 10 am PM/1 pm ET on November 18. You won’t regret it.

The detailed 20thanniversary update patch notes are below.

Content

Rendering and Graphics

UI and Options

Input

Gameplay

General Map Updates

Specific Map Updates

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Fixes

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Maps

Other

Notes

TOPICSValve

TOPICS

PRODUCTSHalf-Life 2: DeathmatchHalf-Life 2

PRODUCTS

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The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

Content#

Rendering and Graphics#

UI and Options#

Input#

Gameplay#

General Map Updates#

Specific Map Updates#

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Fixes#

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Maps#

Other#

Notes#