Half-Life, one of the most recognizable FPS games, released an array of new content in celebration of its 25th anniversary. Read on to learn more about the update.
Half Life’s 25th Anniversary
Large Update Brings Substantial Amount of New Content
Half-Life, the award-winning FPS game from 1998, has released a big update filled with juicy new content in celebration of the game’s 25th anniversary. The update includes lost content originally found in CDs, new maps, and some quality-of-life updates.
Valve made Half-Life totally free until November 20, 2023. Additionally, all Half-Life games are on sale, including the highly acclaimed VR game, Half-Life Alyx, being on a 66% sale right now.
Long Lost Content: Half-Life Uplink
One of the biggest things that they added is Half-Life Uplink, a single player demo originally found in CDs you could install it with. Players could also download it off the internet, if they know where to look. With this new update, each new game of Half-Life will include the lost demo.
New Half-Life Maps
Additionally, there are now four brand-new multiplayer maps made by Valve's original designers - Contamination, Disposal, Pool Party, and Rocket Frenzy, which were made to push the limits of what's possible in the Half-Life engine
. They also released three more maps that were originally included in the Half-Life: Further Data retail CD - Double Cross, Rust Mill, and Xen DM.
New Half-Life Cosmetics
Cosmetics that old CDs gave you access to, like the skeleton and the Too Much Coffee Man multiplayer skins, have also been added to the game. Other new multiplayer skins include Proto-Barney and Ivan the Space Biker, the original heroes from Half-Life's alpha builds.
Half-Life QoL and Other Updates
Half-Life, 25 years later, can now be played in a widescreen setup without mods. There’s also a bunch of quality-of-life updates, controller support, UI tweaks and bug fixes. Steam Networking support should make multiplayer smoother too. The game can be played on Steam Deck.
Half-Life Youtube Documentary
Valve also released an hour-long documentary about Half-Life on Youtube, which features developers and Valve co-founders talking about the game’s development in detail. The documentary covers Valve’s early days, the game’s technology & scripted sequences, designs, and more.
