Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 | |
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Developer(s) | Valve Corporation (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360 & Mac OS X) Electronic Arts (PS3) |
Publisher(s) | Valve Corporation Sierra Entertainment |
Composer(s) | Kelly Bailey |
Series | Half-Life |
Engine | Source (w/ Havok Physics) |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X, Linux |
Release | Microsoft Windows[1]
|
Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Half-Life 2 (stylized as HλLF-LIFE2; shortened to HL2 or λ2), the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. Developed by Valve Corporation, it was initially released on November 16, 2004, following a protracted five-year,[7] $40 million development cycle,[8] during which a substantial part of the project was leaked and distributed on the Internet.[9]
The game was developed alongside Valve's Steam software. It introduced the Source game engine and, because of Steam, is the first single-player video game to require online product activation.[10][11]
Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 was met with near-unanimous critical acclaim.[12][13] It was praised for its advanced physics, animation, sound, AI, graphics, and narrative. The game won 39 "Game of the Year" awards;[14] some publications named it "Game of the Decade". It won the title of "Game Of The Decade" at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.[15][16][17][18] Over 6.5 million copies of Half-Life 2 were sold at retail by December 3, 2008, making it a bestselling PC game[19] (not including the number of sales via Steam).[20] As of February 9, 2011, Half-Life 2 has sold over 12 million copies.[21]
Gameplay
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a1/Antlions1HL2.jpg/220px-Antlions1HL2.jpg)
Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 is a single-player first-person shooter broken into several chapters, permanently casting the player as Gordon Freeman. The sequel has nearly the same mechanics as Half-Life, including health-and-weapon systems and periodic physics puzzles, except with the newer Source Engine and improved graphics. The player also starts without items, slowly building up an arsenal over the course of the game. Despite the game's mainly linear nature, much effort was put into making exploration rewarding and interesting; many optional areas can be missed or avoided.
A diverse set of enemies are present, which usually require being approached with different tactics: some coordinate in groups to out-maneuver or out-position the player; others, like the Manhack, fly directly at the player through small openings and tight corridors; some use predictable but powerful attacks, while others hide before swiftly attacking the player. Gordon can kill most enemies with his weapons, or make use of indirect means, exploiting environmental hazards such as explosive pressurized canisters, gas fires or improvised traps. At one point in the game, Gordon can be joined by up to four armed Resistance soldiers, and can send his team further from him or call them back; however, they can still die easily due to lack of damage protection. Squad members are indicated on the HUD (squad member icons with a cross sign are field medics).
Many of the game's new features utilize its detailed physics simulation. Two sections of the game involve driving vehicles. Instead of button-based puzzles from Half-Life, environmental puzzles are also introduced with makeshift mechanical systems, revolving around the player's new ability to pick up, move, and place objects. Solutions involve objects' physical properties, such as shape, weight, and buoyancy. For example, in Chapter 3, Route Kanal, the player is required to stack cinder blocks on a makeshift see-saw ramp to proceed over a wall.
Part-way through the game, Gordon acquires the Gravity Gun, which allows him to draw distant objects towards himself or forcefully push them away, as well as to manipulate larger and heavier objects than he is unable to alone. These abilities are required to solve puzzles later in the game, and can also be used to great effect in combat, as any non-static object within proximity to the player has the potential to be used as a makeshift defense (e.g. a file cabinet) or a deadly projectile (e.g. a gasoline can or a sawblade).
The game never separates the player and Gordon with pre-rendered or scripted cutscenes; the story proceeds via exposition from other characters and in-world events, and ensures that the player controls Gordon for the entirety of the game. Much of the backstory to the game is simply alluded to, or told through the environment.
Synopsis
Setting
Half-Life 2 presents a dystopian alternate history of Earth, where the resources of the planet, including the human race itself, are being harvested by an oppressive multidimensional empire, known as the Combine. The game is set around the fictitious City 17, somewhere in Eastern Europe, roughly 20 years after the events of Half-Life.
During Half-Life, the scientists, including Gordon Freeman, at the Black Mesa Research Facility, accidentally caused an interdimensional instability known as a resonance cascade and later as the "Black Mesa Incident", when an experiment on an alien crystal sample went wrong.[22] Alien creatures, such as the Vortigaunts and headcrabs, from the borderworld of Xen, flooded into the facility. Gordon fought his way through them and the government cover-up response combat units, making it to the Facility's Lambda Complex. There, the Lambda scientists helped Gordon teleport to Xen, where Gordon destroyed a large alien entity keeping the rift open. Gordon was then suddenly extracted by the mysterious G-Man, who had been watching Gordon over the course of the game. Impressed with his ability to survive against all odds, the G-Man offered him a job before placing him into stasis, which Gordon had no option but to accept.
Some time after the ending of Half-Life, the instability at Black Mesa had attracted the attention of the Combine empire, and they invaded Earth. Humanity surrendered at the conclusion of the resulting "Seven Hour War". City 17 became the home of the gigantic Combine Citadel, and Dr. Wallace Breen, the Administrator of Black Mesa who had negotiated the surrender, was appointed representative and Administrator to supervise the survivors on behalf of the Combine. Unable to breed due to a Combine suppression field, humanity matured.[23] The Combine implemented a brutal police state of Civil Protection officers and Overwatch soldiers by recruiting and biologically assimilating humans and other species. Meanwhile an underground "Lambda Resistance" of humans and Vortigaunts, now working together, was formed, and saw Freeman as a savior who would lead them to freedom.
Plot
Gordon Freeman is brought out of stasis by the mysterious G-Man, who inserts him into a train arriving at City 17.[24] After arriving at the station and eluding Combine forces, Gordon joins Lambda resistance members Black Mesa Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa security guard now working undercover as a Combine CP officer, and Alyx Vance, the daughter of one of Gordon's former colleagues, Dr. Eli Vance. After a failed attempt to teleport Gordon to Black Mesa East from Dr. Kleiner's makeshift laboratory, Gordon, re-equipped with the HEV suit and a crowbar, is forced to embark on foot through the city's old canal system. After obtaining an airboat, he battles his way to Black Mesa East, several miles from the city.[25][26]
Gordon is reintroduced to Eli and meets Dr. Judith Mossman.[27] Alyx introduces Gordon to her large pet robot D0g and gives him a "Gravity Gun", a weapon which allows Gordon to pick up and move any large object with ease. Black Mesa East soon comes under Combine attack and Eli and Mossman are captured to be taken to the Combine prison, Nova Prospekt. Gordon and Alyx are forced to take separate ways to Nova Prospekt; Gordon takes a detour through the headcrab zombie-infested town of Ravenholm, receiving help from its last survivor, Father Grigori. After making his way through the town, and a mine, Gordon makes his way to a Resistance outpost. Gordon is provided with a Dune Buggy, which he uses to travel along Highway 17, a crumbling coastal road, to Nova Prospekt. Along the way, Gordon encounters frequent Combine patrols, and helps one of the resistance leaders, Colonel Odessa Cubbage, to defend a resistance base from a Combine gunship.
After crossing an antlion-infested beach, Gordon enters Nova Prospekt, where he is reunited with Alyx. They manage to locate Eli, but discover that Mossman is a Combine informant. Before they can stop her, she teleports herself and Eli back to City 17's Citadel. The Combine teleporter explodes as Gordon and Alyx use it to escape Nova Prospekt.
When they reappear in Kleiner's lab, a shaken Dr. Kleiner reveals to Gordon and Alyx that they were caught in a slow teleport, during which 2 weeks had passed. In their absence, the Resistance, who heard about what had happened at Nova Prospekt, has mobilized against the Combine, turning City 17 into a battleground.[28] During the fighting, Alyx is captured by the Combine and taken to the Citadel, and Gordon fights through the city with the aid of D0g and Barney to reach it.[29] Inside the Citadel, he is caught in a Combine confiscation chamber that destroys all of his weapons except for the Gravity Gun, the energy enhancing its capabilities and allowing Gordon to escape and dispatch platoons of Citadel soldiers.
Eventually, Gordon is captured riding in a Combine transport pod and is taken to Dr. Breen's office, where he and Dr. Mossman are waiting with Eli and Alyx in captivity. Dr. Breen begins to explain his plans for further conquest of the humans by the Combine, contrary to what he told Dr. Mossman. Angered, Dr. Mossman frees Gordon, Alyx, and Eli before they are teleported off-world. Dr. Breen tries to escape through a portal, but Gordon pursues him and destroys the portal reactor with the supercharged Gravity Gun. Breen appears to be annihilated in the resulting explosion. Just before Gordon and Alyx are about to meet a similar fate, time suddenly stops. The G-Man reappears, praising Gordon for his actions, before placing him back into stasis.[30]
Development
Minimum | Recommended | |
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Microsoft Windows[31] | ||
Operating system | Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 | |
CPU | Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz/AMD Processor | Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz/AMD Processor |
Memory | 512 MB of RAM | 1 GB of RAM |
Free space | 4.6 GB | |
Graphics hardware | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 64 MB/ATi Radeon 9500 64 MB | NVIDIA GeForce 6800 256 MB/ATi Radeon X800 256 MB |
Sound hardware | DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card | DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card |
Network | Broadband required for downloads |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg/220px-HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg)
For Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation developed a new game engine called the Source engine, which handles the game's visual, audio, and artificial intelligence elements. The Source engine comes packaged with a heavily modified version of the Havok physics engine that allows for an extra dimension of interactivity in both single-player and online environments.[32] The engine can be easily upgraded because it is separated in modules. When coupled with Steam, it becomes easy to roll out new features. One such example is high dynamic range rendering, which Valve first demonstrated in a free downloadable level called Lost Coast for owners of Half-Life 2.[33] HDR is now part of all Valve games. Several other games use the Source engine, including Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source, both of which were also developed by Valve.[34]
Integral to Half-Life 2 on both the Windows and Mac platforms is the Steam content delivery system developed by Valve Corporation. All Half-Life 2 players on PC are required to have Steam installed and a valid account in order to play.[35] Steam allows customers to purchase games and other software straight from the developer and have them downloaded directly to their computer as well as receiving "micro updates." These updates also make hacking the game harder to do and has thus far been somewhat successful in staving off cheats and playability for users with unauthorized copies.[36] Steam can also be used for finding and playing multiplayer games through an integrated server browser and friends list, and game data can be backed up with a standard CD or DVD burner. Steam and a customer's purchased content can be downloaded onto any computer, as long as that account is only logged in at one location at a given time. The usage of Steam has not gone without controversy.[37] Some users have reported numerous problems with Steam, sometimes being serious enough to prevent a reviewer from recommending a given title available on the service. In other cases, review scores have been lowered.[38]
The book, Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, revealed many of the game's original settings and action that were cut down or removed from the game. Half-Life 2 was originally intended to be a darker game with grittier artwork, where the Combine were more obviously draining the oceans for minerals and replacing the atmosphere with noxious, murky gases. Nova Prospekt was originally intended to be a small Combine rail depot built on an old prison in the wasteland. Eventually, Nova Prospekt grew from a stopping-off point along the way to the destination itself.[39]
Leak
Half-Life 2 was merely a rumor until a strong impression at E3 in May 2003, where it won several awards for best in show. It had a release date of September 2003, but was delayed. This pushing back of HL2's release date came in the wake of the cracking of Valve's internal network[40] through a null session connection to Tangis which was hosted in Valve's network and a subsequent upload of an ASP shell, resulting in the leak of the game's source code and many other files including maps, models and a playable early version of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike Source in early September 2003.[41] On October 2, 2003, Valve CEO Gabe Newell publicly explained in the Halflife2.net (now ValveTime.net) forums[42] the events that Valve experienced around the time of the leak, and requested users to track down the perpetrators if possible.
In June 2004, Valve Software announced in a press release that the FBI had arrested several people suspected of involvement in the source code leak.[43] Valve claimed the game had been leaked by a German black-hat hacker named Axel "Ago" Gembe. After the leak, Gembe had contacted Newell through e-mail (also providing an unreleased document planning the E3 events). Newell kept corresponding with Gembe, and Gembe was led into believing that Valve wanted to employ him as an in-house security auditor. He was to be offered a flight to the USA and was to be arrested on arrival by the FBI. When the German government became aware of the plan, Gembe was arrested in Germany instead, and put on trial for the leak as well as other computer crimes in November 2006, such as the creation of Agobot, a highly successful trojan which harvested users' data.[44][45][46]
At the trial in November 2006 in Germany, Gembe was sentenced to two years' probation. In imposing the sentence, the judge took into account such factors as Gembe's difficult childhood and the fact that he was taking steps to improve his situation.[47]
Ports and updates
On December 22, 2005, Valve released a 64-bit version of the Source game engine that theoretically takes advantage of x86-64 processor-based systems running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Vista x64, or Windows Server 2008 x64. This update, delivered via Steam, enabled Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games to run natively on 64 bit processors, bypassing the 32-bit compatibility layer. Gabe Newell, one of the founders of Valve, stated that this is "an important step in the evolution of our game content and tools," and that the game benefits greatly from the update.[48] The response to the release varied: some users reported huge performance boosts, while technology site Techgage found several stability issues and no notable frame rate improvement.[49] At the time of release, 64-bit users reported bizarre in-game errors including characters dropping dead, game script files not being pre-cached (i.e., loaded when first requested instead), map rules being bent by AI, and other glitches.[50]
An Xbox port published by Electronic Arts was released on November 15, 2005. While subject to positive reception, critics cited its lack of multiplayer and frame-rate issues as problems, and the game received somewhat lower scores than its PC counterpart.[51]
During Electronic Arts summer press event on July 13, 2006, Gabe Newell, cofounder of Valve Corporation, announced that Half-Life 2 would ship on next-generation consoles (specifically, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) along with episodes One and Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal[52] in a package called The Orange Box. The Windows version was released on October 10, 2007 as both a retail boxed copy, and as a download available through Valve's Steam service. The Xbox 360 version was also released on October 10, 2007. A PlayStation 3 version was released on December 11, 2007.[53]
On May 26, 2010, Half-Life 2, along with episodes One and Two, was released for Mac OS X.[54] Portal was made available for the platform on May 13, 2010, and Mac support for Team Fortress 2 was added on June 10, 2010, completing the The Orange Box package.[55] Valve began selling The Orange Box for Mac OS X on May 26, 2010, despite the notable absence of Team Fortress for about a month. In May 2013, Valve released a beta build for an official Oculus Rift virtual reality port.[56]
Distribution
A 1 GB portion of Half-Life 2 became available for pre-load through Steam on August 26, 2004. This meant that customers could begin to download encrypted game files to their computer before the game was released. When the game's release date arrived, customers were able to pay for the game through Steam, unlock the files on their hard drives and play the game immediately, without having to wait for the whole game to download. The pre-load period lasted for several weeks, with several subsequent portions of the game being made available, to ensure all customers had a chance to download the content before the game was released.[57]
Half-Life 2 was simultaneously released through Steam, CD, and on DVD in several editions. Through Steam, Half-Life 2 had three packages that a customer could order. The basic version ("Bronze") includes only Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source, whereas the "Silver" and "Gold" (collector's edition) versions also include Half-Life: Source (ports of the original Half-Life and Day of Defeat mod to the new engine). The collector's edition/Gold version additionally includes merchandise such as a T-shirt, a strategy guide, and a CD containing the soundtrack used in Half-Life 2. Both the disc and Steam version require Steam to be installed and active for play.[58]
A demo version with the file size of a single CD was later made available in December 2004 at the web site of graphics card manufacturer ATI Technologies, who teamed up with Valve for the game. The demo contains a portion of two chapters: Point Insertion and "We Don't Go To Ravenholm...". This demo is currently available on Steam. In September 2005, Electronic Arts distributed the Game of the Year edition of Half-Life 2. Compared to the original CD-release of Half-Life 2, the GOTY edition adds Half-Life: Source.[59]
Café dispute
On September 20, 2004, the gaming public learned through GameSpot that Sierra's parent company, Vivendi Universal Games, was in a legal battle with Valve Software over the distribution of Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés. This is important for the Asian PC gaming market where PC and broadband penetration per capita are much lower (except Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan). Therefore, cyber cafés are extremely popular for playing online games for large numbers of people.[60]
According to Vivendi Universal Games, the distribution contract they signed with Valve included cyber cafés. This would mean that only Vivendi Universal Games could distribute Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés — not Valve through the Steam system. On November 29, 2004, Judge Thomas S. Zilly, of U.S. Federal District Court in Seattle, WA, ruled that Vivendi Universal Games and its affiliates, are not authorized to distribute (directly or indirectly) Valve games through cyber cafés to end users for pay-to-play activities pursuant to the parties' current publishing agreement. In addition, Judge Zilly ruled in favor of the Valve motion regarding the contractual limitation of liability, allowing Valve to recover copyright damages for any infringement as allowed by law without regard to the publishing agreement's limitation of liability clause.[61]
On April 29, 2005, the two parties announced a settlement agreement. Under the agreement, Vivendi Universal Games would cease distributing all retail packaged versions of Valve games by August 31, 2005. Vivendi Universal Games also was to notify distributors and cyber cafés that had been licensed by Vivendi Universal Games that only Valve had the authority to distribute cyber café licenses, and hence their licenses were revoked and switched to Valve's.[62]
Soundtrack
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Untitled | |
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
IGN | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Purchasers of the Gold Package[clarification needed] of the game were given (among other things) a CD soundtrack, titled The Soundtrack of Half-Life 2, containing nearly all the music from the game, along with three bonus tracks. This CD was available for separate purchase via the Valve online store.
Tracks 15, 16, 18 and 42 are bonus tracks that are exclusive to the CD soundtrack. Many of the tracks were retitled and carried over from the Half-Life soundtrack; The names in parentheses are the original titles. Tracks 34, 41, and 42 are remixes. All listed tracks were composed by Kelly Bailey.[citation needed]
Reception
Critical reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 95.31% (PC)[12] 89.83% (Xbox)[65] |
Metacritic | 96/100 (PC)[75] 90/100 (Xbox)[76] |
Publication | Score |
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1Up.com | A+[12] |
Computer Gaming World | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Edge | 10/10 (PC)[64] |
Game Informer | 9.5/10 (PC)[12] 7.25/10 (Xbox)[65] |
GamePro | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GameRevolution | A-[12] |
GameSpot | 9.2/10 (PC)[66] 8.3/10 (Xbox)[65] |
GameSpy | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GameTrailers | 8.5/10 (Xbox)[65] |
IGN | 9.7/10 (PC)[69] 9.4/10 (Xbox)[65] |
Maximum PC | 11/10[70] |
Official Xbox Magazine (US) | 8.5/10[65] |
PALGN | 9/10[65] |
PC Gamer (US) | 98%[72] |
Play | A (PC)[12] 9/10 (Xbox)[65] |
Video Games (DE) | 11/10 [71] |
The Cincinnati Enquirer | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The New York Times | Positive[74] |
Half-Life 2 was highly acclaimed by both the public and critics alike. Forbes reported on February 9, 2011 that the game has sold 12 million copies.[77] It received an aggregated score of 96% on both GameRankings and Metacritic.[18][75] Sources such as GameSpy,[68] The Cincinnati Enquirer,[73] and The New York Times[74] have given perfect reviewing scores, and others such as PC Gamer[72] and IGN[69] gave near-perfect scores, while the game became the fifth title to receive Edge magazine's ten-out-of-ten score.[64] Critics who applauded the game cited the advanced graphics and physics.[67][74] Maximum PC awarded Half-Life 2 an unprecedented 11 on their rating scale which normally peaks at 10, and named it the "best game ever made".[70]
In a review of The Orange Box, IGN stated that although Half Life 2 has already been released through other mediums, the game itself is still enjoyable on a console. They also noted that the physics of Half-Life 2 are very impressive despite being a console title. However, it was noted that the graphics on the Xbox 360 version of Half-Life 2 were not as impressive as when the title was released on the PC.[78] GameSpot's review of The Orange Box noticed that the content of both the Xbox 360 releases, and PlayStation 3 releases were exactly alike, the only issue with the PS3 version was that it had noticeable frame-rate hiccups. GameSpot continued to say that the frame rates issues were only minor but some consider them to be a significant irritation.[66]
Several critics, including some that had given positive reviews, complained about the required usage of the program Steam, the requirement to create an account, register the products, and permanently lock them to the account before being allowed to play, along with installation difficulties and lack of support.[74]
Awards
Half-Life 2 earned 39 Game of the Year awards,[14] including Overall Game of the Year at IGN, GameSpot's Award for Best Shooter, GameSpot's Reader's Choice — PC Game of the Year Award, Game of the Year from The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and "Best Game" with the Game Developers Choice Awards, where it was also given various awards for technology, characters, and writing. Edge magazine awarded Half Life 2 with its top honor of the year with the award for Best Game, as well as awards for Innovation and Visual Design. The game also had a strong showing at the 2004 British Academy Video Games Awards, picking up six awards, more than any other game that night, with awards including "Best Game" and "Best Online and Multiplayer."[79]
Guinness World Records awarded Half-Life 2 the world record for "Highest Rated Shooter by PC Gamer Magazine" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. Other records awarded the game in the book include, "Largest Digital Distribution Channel" for Valve's Steam service, "First Game to Feature a Gravity Gun", and "First PC Game to Feature Developer Commentary".[80] In 2009, Game Informer put Half-Life 2 5th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that "With Half-Life 2, Valve redefined the way first-person shooters were created".[81]
Half-Life 2 was selected by readers of The Guardian as the best game of the decade, with praise given especially to the environment design throughout the game. According to the newspaper, it "pushed the envelope for the genre, and set a new high watermark for FPS narrative". One author commented: "Half Life 2 always felt like the European arthouse answer to the Hollywood bluster of Halo and Call of Duty".[15]
Half-Life 2 won Crispy Gamer's 'Game of the Decade'[16] tournament style poll. It also won Reviews on the Run's,[17] IGN's[18] best game of the decade and Spike Video Game Awards 2012 Game of the Decade.
Mods
Since the release of the Source engine SDK, a large number of modifications (mods) have been developed by the Half-Life 2 community. Mods vary in scale, from fan-created levels and weapons, to partial conversions such as Rock 24, Half-Life 2 Substance and SMOD (which modify the storyline and gameplay of the pre-existing game), SourceForts and Garry's Mod (which allow the player to experiment with the physics system in a sandbox mode), to total conversions such as Black Mesa, Dystopia, Zombie Master or Iron Grip: The Oppression, the last of which transforms the game from a first-person shooter into a real-time strategy game.[82][83] Some mods take place in the Half-Life universe; others in completely original settings. Many more mods are still in development, including Lift, The Myriad, Operation Black Mesa, and the episodic single-player mod MINERVA.[84] Several multiplayer mods, such as Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, a predominately sword-fighting game; Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat, which focuses on realistic modern infantry combat; and Jailbreak Source have been opened to the public as a beta.[85][86] As part of its community support, Valve announced in September 2008 that several mods, with more planned in the future, were being integrated into the Steamworks program, allowing the mods to make full use of Steam's distribution and update capabilities.[87]
Sequels
Since the release of Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation has released an additional level and two additional "expansion" sequels. The level, "Lost Coast," takes place between the levels "Highway 17" and "Sandtraps" and is primarily a showcase for high dynamic range rendering (HDR) technology. The first expansion sequel, Half-Life 2: Episode One, takes place immediately after the events of Half-Life 2, with the player taking on the role of Gordon Freeman once again and with Alyx Vance playing a more prominent role. Half-Life 2: Episode Two continues directly from the ending of Episode One, with Alyx and Gordon making their way to White Forest Missile base, the latest hideout of the resistance. A third episode is set to be released in the future, completing a trilogy.[88] In an interview with Eurogamer, Gabe Newell revealed that the Half-Life 2 "episodes" are essentially Half-Life 3.[89] He reasons that rather than force fans to wait another six years for a full sequel, Valve Corporation would release the game in episodic installments.[89] Newell stated that a more accurate title for these episodes would have been "Half-Life 3: Episode One" and so forth, having referred to the episodes as Half-Life 3 repeatedly through the interview.[89] In a May 2011 interview with Develop, Newell stated that the episodic model had been replaced by even shorter development cycles and continuous updates via Steam.[90]
See also
References
- ^ "Half-Life 2 for Windows: Release Summary". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
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(help) - ^ "Half-Life 2 for Xbox: Release Summary". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
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(help) - ^ "The Orange Box for Xbox 360: Release Summary". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "The Orange Box for PlayStation 3: Release Summary". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two Updates Released". Steam. Valve Corporation. 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ "Half-Life 2 Beta released". Steam. Valve Corporation. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
- ^ Keighley, Geoff. "Behind the Games: The Final Hours of Half-Life 2 (Part III)". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2006-07-09.
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (2007-05-21). "Valve Talks Episode Two Interview". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ Parker, Sam (2003-10-02). "Half Life 2 Source Leaked". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ Van Autrijve, Rainier (2004-10-21). "Doug Lombardi of Valve Software". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- ^ Butts, Steve (2003-05-08). "Half-Life 2 Preview". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Half-Life 2 PC Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved May 19, 2006.
- ^ "Half-Life 2 PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
- ^ a b "Valve Awards". Valve Corporation. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ a b Stuart, Keith (2009-12-17). "The Gamesblog 50 games of the Noughties: number one". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ^ a b "Game of the Decade: Championship Round". CrispyGamer. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ a b "Best Games of 2004". Reviewsontherun. Retrieved 2010-04-05.[dead link]
- ^ a b c "Best Games Overall". IGN. Retrieved 2010-04-05. Cite error: The named reference "autogenerated1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Analysis: Valve's Lifetime Retail Sales For Half-Life, Counter-Strike Franchises". Gamasutra. December 3, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
- ^ Remo, Chris (2008-05-30). "Valve: PC Has 'Perception Problem,' Piracy Reflects 'Unserved Customers'". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
- ^ Chiang, Oliver (2011-02-09). "The Master of Online Mayhem". Forbes. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ Bell, Joe Grant (1998-11-25). Half-Life: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-1360-4.
- ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 5: Black Mesa East.
Dr. Eli Vance: [when Gordon interacts with a board of news clippings involving the Seven Hour War] Doctor Breen. He's the administrator of this whole wild business now. He ended the Seven Hour War by managing the Earth's...surrender. The Combine rewarded him with power.
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: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 1: Point Insertion.
The G-Man: [at the start of the game, over a psychedelic series of images calling back to Half-Life and forward to the final chapters] Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman. Rise and...shine. Not that I wish...to imply that you have been sleeping on...the job. No one is more deserving of a rest, and all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until...well...let's just say your hour has come again. [...] The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference...in the world. So, wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and...smell the ashes...
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(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 2: "A Red Letter Day".
Isaac Kleiner: What do you mean, "he's not there"?! / Eli Vance: He didn't come through! / Dr. Kleiner: Then...where is he?! / Eli: [noticing Gordon just outside of the window] Behind you. / Dr. Kleiner: [turns] AH! / Eli: Shut it down, shut it down! / Dr. Kleiner: Gordon! You must get out of here! RUN! / Barney Calhoun: Get down outta sight! I'll come find you!
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 2: "A Red Letter Day".
Barney: Hey, Gordon! The Citadel's on full alert, I've never seen it lit up like that! Get out of City 17 as fast as you can, Gordon! Take the old canals, right? They'll take you to Eli's place. It's a dangerous route, bu there's a whole network of refugees, and they'll help you if they can. I'd come with you, but I've gotta look after Doctor Kleiner. Oh, and before I forget—[picks up a crowbar]—I think you dropped this back at Black Mesa! [drops the crowbar to Gordon] Good luck out there, buddy! You're gonna need it.
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 5: Black Mesa East.
Dr. Eli Vance: Now, let's see: the last time I saw you, I sent you up for help after the resonance cascade. Heh, I never though it would take you this long to get back to me!
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 9a: Entanglement.
Isaac Kleiner: [shocked] Alyx? Gordon?! My god, how did you two get here? And when? / Alyx Vance: Uh, are you okay? / Dr. Kleiner: My dear, I had given up all hope of ever seeing you again! / Alyx Vance: [to Gordon] I was afraid we might not make it, either... [to Kleiner] I think the teleport exploded just as we were going out. / Dr. Kleiner: Indeed it did, and the repercussions were felt for miles, but...that was over a week ago!
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 11: "Follow Freeman!".
Barney: And if you see Dr. Breen, tell him I said, "F*** [D0g drops the strut with a resounding crash.] you!"
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Valve Corporation (2004-11-16—2010-05-26). Half-Life 2 (Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X). Valve Corporation, Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Chapter 13: Dark Energy.
G-Man: Time, Doctor Freeman? Is it really that...time again? It seems as if you only just arrived. ["walks out" from the explosion] You have done a great deal in a small time...span. You've done so well, in fact, that I've received some interesting offers for your services. Ordinarily, I wouldn't contemplate them, but these are extra...ordinary times. Rather than offer you the illusion of free choice [like last time], I will take the liberty of choosing for you...if and when your time comes around again. / [The G-Man extracts Gordon from the Citadel and re-enters the "black void" from the beginning of the game.] / G-Man: I...do apologize for what must seem to you an "arbitrary imposition", Dr. Freeman. I trust it will all make sense to you in the course of...well, I'm really not at liberty to say. In the meantime...this is where I get off. [smiles, then walks away]
{{cite book}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Half-Life 2 on Steam". Steam. Valve Corporation. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ Fudge, James (2004-03-25). "Havok's Half-Life 2 Marketing Campaign". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ Surette, Tim (2005-10-27). "Half-Life 2 finds Lost Coast". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ Tang, Lee Yu (2005-12-29). "Impressive add-on to Day of Defeat". New Straits Times.
- ^ Dan Adams. "IGN: Half-Life 2 Review". Pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "BBC NEWS | Technology | Ban hits Half-Life 2 pirates hard". News.bbc.co.uk. Last Updated:. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Half-Life 2 - Behind the Noise — MegaGames previews". Megagames.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "Half-Life 2 Review for PC — Gaming Age". Gaming-age.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Hodgson, David (2004). Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-4364-3.
- ^ "Half Life 2 Source-Code Leak Delays Debut". TechNewsWorld. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- ^ "Playable Version of Half-Life 2 Stolen". CNN Money. 2003-10-07. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- ^ "I need the assistance of the community". 2003-10-02. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
- ^ "Phatbot man linked with Half-Life 2 leak". play.tm. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
- ^ Infosecurity 2008 Threat Analysis, page 16, ISBN 1-59749-224-8 ISBN 978-1-59749-224-9
- ^ "How Legal Codes Can Hinder Hacker Cases — WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Hacker Hitmen - Cyber Attacks Used to Be for Thrill Seekers. Now They're About Money.
- ^ "How Legal Codes Can Hinder Hacker Cases". Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) [dead link] - ^ "Valve unveils 64-bit source (TM) gaming technology developed in conjunction with". Steam Powered. Retrieved March 23, 2006.
- ^ Williams, Rob. "Review: Half-Life 2: 64-Bit — Reason to get excited?". Techgage. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
- ^ "Latest Steam Update — Half-Life 2 x64 Broken". PlanetAMD64. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
"A Bunch of Finger Pointing". Half-Life 2: Episode One Error Reports. Valve Developer Community. 2006-06-04. Retrieved 2008-09-21. - ^ "Half-Life 2 reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved July 13, 2006.
- ^ Thorson, Tor (2006-08-24). "Half-Life 2: Episode Two pushed to 2007?". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ "Orange Box packs action, value". USA Today. 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Valve to Deliver Steam & Source on the Mac". Valve Corporation. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
- ^ "Valve updates TF2 with Mac support". Valve Corporation.
- ^ Blagdon, Jeff (May 10, 2013). "Valve gives 'Half-Life 2' official Oculus Rift support". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Adams, David (2004-08-18). "Gabe Newell on CS: Source, HL2 Preloads". IGN. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Autrijve, Rainier Van (2004-10-06). "Blow Off Some Steam and Pre-Order Half-Life 2 (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Half-Life 2 Demo now available". ATI. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Valve vs. Vivendi dogfight heats up in US District Court". Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "Half-Life 2 maker wins legal case". BBC. 2004-11-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Valve cyber café program". Retrieved 2007-03-06.
- ^ a b c "IGN Review of Half-Life 2 Soundtrack". Retrieved 17 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Reviews Database". Edge Online. Archived from the original on 2007-04-29. Retrieved September 3, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Half-Life 2 (Xbox)". GameRankings. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ a b Ocampo, Jason (2007-12-12). "The Orange Box Review for PlayStation 3". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b "Half-Life 2 - Australian Review (Reviews)". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved May 21, 2006.
- ^ a b "Half-Life 2 review". GameSpy. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
- ^ a b "Half-Life 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
- ^ a b "Half-Life 2 Review" (PDF). Maximum PC. 2005.
{{cite journal}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Half-Life 2". PC Gamer: 48. 2004.
{{cite journal}}
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ignored (help) - ^ a b "Half-Life 2: A Tech Masterpiece". Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on March 16, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
- ^ a b c d Herold, Charles (2004-11-25). "A Big Sequel That's Worthy of Its Lineage". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
- ^ a b "Half-Life 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ "Half-Life 2 (Xbox)". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ Chiang, Oliver (2011-02-28). "The Master of Online Mayhem". Forbes.
- ^ Goldstein, Hilary (2007-10-09). "The Orange Box Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Half-Life 2 sweeps Bafta awards". BBC News. 2005-03-01. Retrieved May 22, 2006.
- ^ Snow, Blake (2008-01-28). "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition comes Mar. 11". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ The Game Informer staff (2009). "The Top 200 Games of All Time". Game Informer (200): 44–79. ISSN 1067-6392. OCLC 27315596.
{{cite journal}}
: Unknown parameter|month=
ignored (help) - ^ Young, Tom (2006-01-27). "Source Forts". Planet Half-Life. IGN. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ Francis, Tom (2006-12-19). "Garry's Mod Review". PC Gamer. CVG. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ PC Zone Staff (2006-08-08). "Half-Life 2 Minerva mod". CVG. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Rogers, Thomas (2008-02-18). "Pirates, Vikings, & Knights II Beta 2.0". Planet Half-Life. IGN. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ "Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat". Insurgency Team. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Steam News Update Friday, September 26, 2008". Steam. Valve Corporation. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ "Half-Life 2: Episode One gold, Two dated, Three announced". GameSpot. Retrieved May 25, 2006.
- ^ a b c "Interview — Opening the Valve". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 7, 2006.
- ^ "The Valve manifesto, interview by Develop". Develop. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
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