Valve is celebrating Half-Life 20's 2th anniversary with a celebration that includes an all-new two-hour documentary, a developer commentary update, and more.
The studio updated fans on the festivities on its website today, revealing a gift basket full of goodies for fans new and old. While it's not exactly the announcement Half-Life 3 fans have been waiting two decades for, it's still more than enough to help ease the wait.
Topping the list of announcements is a two-hour making-of video from the Secret Tape team behind the Half-Life 1 documentary. Valve says die-hard fans can start watching the Half-Life 2 documentary today to get a look back behind the scenes how the studio dealt with the lack of money, hacking, the creation of Steam for PC and more. It's a deep look behind the curtain at a pivotal moment in gaming history, but the festivities don't stop there.
Half-Life 2 owners can also now enjoy a new update that adds everything from additional content to clarifications. This includes access to the original Episode One and Episode Two expansions, built into the base experience at no extra cost. Valve adds that it has reassembled the original Half-Life 2 team to provide commentary tracks for the entire game.
Steam Workshop support and Steam game registration are just two more bonuses added to celebrate Half-Life 20's 2th anniversary, with even more to come in the form of general tweaks and fixes. Some of the update's changes include rebalanced lighting, cleaner horizons, new graphics settings for things like blood and fire effects, and an overhaul for aim-assist.
"Every map in Half-Life 2 has been reviewed by Valve's level designers to fix long-standing bugs, bring back content and features lost over time, and improve the quality of things like lightmap resolution and fog," the studio explains.
If you're interested in Half-Life 2 and want to check out the 20th anniversary update, you're in luck. Valve is making the game available for free until November 18th. That means you get the entire sequel experience, including its two expansions, at no cost – just click the download button in the next few days.
Half-Life 2 has long been hailed as one of Valve's best works and one of the most important video games ever made.
For more on the world of Half-Life, you can read about Nvidia's upcoming Half-Life 2 RTX remaster. The company released a trailer for the project just yesterday to help celebrate its 20th anniversary, revealing how its team is creating something that stays true to the original vision while giving it a new look.
VIA: ign.com
