Half-Life is a series of games developed and published by Valve, introduced in 1998.
As the first of its kind that combines first-person shooter (FPS) with puzzles and immersive storytelling, as well as innovative sequences, its popularity inspired way the creations of future FPS games, and gathered way too many community-developed mods and expansion packs, as well as a notable sequel, and a VR game.
But even with those newer releases, the original Half-Life was already way ahead of its time.
25 years later since the introduction of the game, Valve celebrates the game's anniversary by giving it a huge update, which includes four new multiplayer maps and much more.
And fans rejoice.
Half-Life turns 25 this weekend, and we're pushing a big update to bring back some of that 1998 feeling with restored original launch day content, brand new multiplayer maps, a look behind the scenes with the original development team, and more: https://t.co/ceV4oePUyP pic.twitter.com/1eOtLiHXbE
— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 17, 2023
The first big update is that, the game includes Half-Life: Uplink. This was a demo of Half-Life, but most of its content doesn't appear in the original game.
Uplink was initially available on CDs that came free with magazines and hardware, like sound cards. Later, Uplink was also made available on the internet.
With the update, players can access it by clicking the New Game button in Half-Life itself.
Then, Valve has updated the game with new multiplayer maps.
One of the maps is based on an abandoned Xen outpost and another set at an old orbital satellite launch facility.
"If we could switch on the oxygen lines, power, and fuel, we might just be able to light this candle," Valve said.
The company has added three other maps that were originally available on a disc called Half-Life: Further Data.
"As this was many people's first experience with Half-Life, we thought it was finally time to bundle it with the main game," Valve explained.
And to revitalize the game, Valve also makes it possible for players to play the original Half-Life in widescreen without having to resort to mods or the fan remake Black Mesa.
"We built most of this stuff for 640x480 CRTs and apparently some of you have upgraded since then," Valve said.
Valve has also added controller support along, and other minor updates, UI tweaks, and some bug fixes.
Valve also makes Steam Networking support smoother too.
And to wrap everything up, Valve is giving away the game for free to Steam users for a limited time.
Celebrating its anniversary, Valve has also released a documentary.
The 65-minute film features developers and Valve co-founders discussing the company's early days and their memories of working on Half-Life.
The Half-Life games series have been a critical part of Valve's history.
While the game ages, and that its graphics cannot be compared to more modern FPS games, the Half Life game series can be considered a cult classic.
The original Half Life is still regarded as one of the best FPS games ever, and Half-Life 2 as worthy successor, and that its Virtual Reality game, Half-Life: Alyx considered one of the best VR-game of all time.
Since its first inception, and even decades later, Half-Life is, and still is considered a name that represents one of the all-time-great shooter games.
"We launched Half-Life on November 19, 1998. We are very proud of what we built back then and we remain extremely grateful for the community of players who have been enjoying it ever since," Valve said. "The game hasn't received as much attention in recent years as many other titles in our catalog, so we thought this milestone was a great opportunity to spruce up the player experience and add some fun new ways to play the game."
Read: Nvidia Captivates Fans On The Internet By Announcing 'Half-Life 2' With Ray Tracing