Celebrating Half-Life 2's 20th Anniversary
Graphic updates, a documentary, developer commentary, and an expanded edition of Raising the Bar. A real celebration.
At 20. For the anniversary of Half-Life 2, Valve has released a special update that combines the Episode One and Episode Two expansions with the base game, allowing you to play the entire story without interruption. Plus, they've added a two-hour documentary, developer commentary, and much more.
Valve turned their post about this anniversary into an interactive experience — users can "grab" a gravity weapon at the bottom of the page and move almost anything on the screen, including a trash can.
“Every map in Half-Life 2 has been reviewed by Valve's level designers. We fixed long-standing bugs, restored content and features that were lost over time, and improved the quality of some elements, such as lighting and fog resolution,” says the team. The release notes are extensive and include updates to the Steam Deck graphics settings, controls, and menu. Valve also released some old videos [1, 2, 3] of the development of Half-Life 2.
The anniversary also brings good news for anyone who missed out on 2004's Raising the Bar, which became a collector's gem. An expanded second edition is coming in 2025, which will feature concept art from Episode One and Episode Two, as well as ideas and experiments for the never-released third installment. ▪
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