Following the publication of my recent article Half-Life Is 25 Years Old, Valve has just posted a new website celebrating the 25th anniversary of the game in which we are informed of new game updates, interviews with the original development team, and the inclusion of Half-Life Uplink. Not only that, the original game is free on Steam until 20th November.
It’s most unusual for a video game released so many years ago to receive such updates, but under the circumstances one can perfectly justify it considering that the game made Valve Corp what it is today. Here are a few of the major updates:
- Widescreen field of view!
- Option to disable texture smoothing on the GL renderer!
- Lighting fixes including the long-lost GL Overbright support!
- Software rendering on Linux! Crisp colors, animated water, and unfiltered textures!
I’ve been playing the game at 1440p and it looks sharper – a great improvement over the original. The opening menu has also been reskinned to reflect the original 1998 version.
Half-Life may be 25 years old, but it’s as relevant today as it was when it burst onto the gaming scene in 1998 and for an insight into how the game was made, this documentary is a must see.
Still capturing the imaginations of millions, Half-Life has influenced countless other games in modern times, has spawned thousands of mods, and is considered the best first-person shooter of all time.
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