Items tagged with Half-Life
Today is the big day; Half-Life: Alyx has been released. We had no idea that Valve was even working on the game until late last year, and once it was announced, the gamers around the globe lost their collective minds. Rather than being a traditional first-person shooter that is controlled using a mouse and keyboard like Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that came before it, Half-Life: Alyx leaps into the realm of virtual reality (VR). Hardware Requirements Being a VR-only game, the hardware requirements (to run the game as the devs intended it) are steep for this latest installment in the franchise, which arrives nearly 16 years after Half-Life 2 was released to the public. For starters,...
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It's been a long time coming, but what once started out as the mod for the Half-Life 2 has come full circle to becoming a production release game of its own. Now, Black Mesa is being made available to the world in v1.0 form, just months after the full game was made available to play in public beta form. This is the full Half-Life game (and then some), completely rebuilt from the ground-up with more modern graphics and smarter enemies. Particular attention has been paid to the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU) enemies, which can now make better use of cover, and will fire RPGs at you. They will also put down suppressing fire on your last known location to flush you out into the open....
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The clock is ticking down towards the release of Half-Life: Alyx (March 23rd for those keeping count), and hype surrounding the game is growing. Long-time Half-Life fans became even more excited earlier this week when Valve dropped three new videos totaling around 10 minutes showing actual gameplay footage. Now we're learning that Half-Life: Alyx won't be the end for the Half-Life franchise. Instead, we can look at it as a rebirth or sorts. In an interview with Game Informer, Valve developer Robin Walker gave some insight both into why Half-Life: Alyx is exclusively a VR title and what will come next in the franchise. "Half-Life's set of mechanics was a surprisingly natural fit...
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The launch date for Half-Life: Alyx is now set in stone. Valve announced today that the virtual reality-only title will officially launch on March 23rd, which is sticking with the developer's previous statements that the game would be available in March 2020. Hype for Half-Life: Alyx has been building, as this is the first installment franchise in over a decade. While everyone has been reading tea leaves, wishing on a shooting star, and hopping on one foot for the inevitable release of Half-Life 3, Half-Life: Alyx is no doubt the next best thing. Half-Life: Alyx, available March 23, 2020 https://t.co/NCOLWqSp3e pic.twitter.com/Q04EZwNfBt— Valve (@valvesoftware) February 13, 2020...
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Half-Life: Alyx is one of the most highly anticipated PC games for the H1 2020, and with good reason. Although it isn't the mythical Half-Life 3, it's the next besting thing, serving as a prequel of sorts to the groundbreaking shooter Half-Life 2. All of the excitement surrounding the latest entry in the Half-Life saga coupled with the fact that it’s a virtual reality-only title has led to a huge uptick in interest for the requisite hardware needed to run the game. According to tracking firm SuperData, sales of Valve's Index VR headset more than doubled from Q3 2019 to Q4 2019, climbing from 46,000 units to 103,000 units. Sales might have also been spurred by the fact that each Index...
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Valve has done something that anyone thinking about playing Half-Life: Alyx will want to take advantage of before getting into the new VR game. Valve has announced that ahead of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx, it is making the entire Half-Life series free to play on Steam for everyone. The Half-Life franchise is one of the most popular and beloved in all of video games. To play the games, you'll need a Steam account and to install the Steam software on your PC or Mac; both are offered at no cost. As for why Valve is offering the games for free, Half-Life: Alyx slots into the events in the series and will have some characters we are all familiar with. Valve has said Alyx is set before the events...
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Everyone who was into PC gaming back in the late 90s played Half-Life; it was such a revolutionary game that it still has fans today. Fans of the franchise have been clamoring for Valve to make Half-Life 3, but that has yet to happen. What Valve is doing is creating a VR game based on the franchise called Half-Life: Alyx. It's not the Half-Life we wanted, but it's the Half-Life that we are getting. Yesterday as the decade came to a close, we heard from an iconic character in the franchise who has remained silent for 12 years. These latest words from the G-Man come with the assumption that he will appear in Half-Life: Alyx. pic.twitter.com/2NtUlrx4XI — Mike Shapiro (@mikeshapiroland) December...
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Half-Life fans who have grown very tired of Valve not giving the followup to the last game in the franchise all these years later are likely aware of Black Mesa: Xen. This fan-made remake of Half-Life has long been in development, and many have been anticipating the completion of the game. Black Mesa: Xen has now been completed and is available for fans to play in public beta form. The game, being in beta, has several known issues, so gameplay may not go as smoothly as fans hope at times. In addition, gamers will need to purchase the Black Mesa game for $19.99 to be able to download the beta. Once Black Mesa: Xen is purchased and installed, players will need to opt into the beta to be able to...
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Valve has come a long way since the days of Half-Life, which was revolutionary to gamers of a certain age when it was released in the late 90s. These days, Valve has its hands in many cookie jars including the Steam Store and Index VR headset. Gabe Newell was on hand at the Index launch event to taunt Half-Life fans about Half-Life 3, yet again. Newell was addressing the people gathered for the launch event and spent some time talking about what a breakthrough the Valve Index headset is. During the talk, Newell started in about how one thing leads to another. He said Half-Life led to Half-Life 2, Source led to Source 2, TeamFortress 2 led to Dota, and Artifact is why they were able to do Underlords....
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Time seems to fly right on by sometimes, especially when reminiscing about classic video games that don't seem all that far in the rear view mirror. So it goes with Half-Life. Developed by Valve, it's now been two decades since publisher Sierra Studios released the game for PC (it was later ported to the PlayStation 2, OS X, and Linux). To celebrate the occasion, the Black Mesa modding team has released a Xen gameplay trailer for its Half-Life remake. While many people have fond memories of playing Half-Life when it came out 20 years ago, Xen is widely regarded as the worst level in the game. Nevertheless, it's being remade as a standalone campaign by Black Mesa. "Our goal is to release Xen on...
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One of the most popular game franchises to ever grace the PC was Half-Life, which hailed from Valve. Fans have wanted to delve back into the world of Gordon Freeman for many years now, and have all but given up any hope of Half-Life 3. The flames of hope for Half-Life 3 are starting to be stoked again with Valve's Gabe Newell having announced that Valve is "going to start shipping games again." The first game is certainly not what fans hoped for; it's a game called Artifact, a Dota 2-themed card game that was announced last year. The good news is that Newell did clearly state that isn’t the only game Valve has plans for. Newell said that Artifact was "the first of several games" that Valve...
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Sometimes in the entertainment world, we don't receive all the answers we want. Take the '80s flick "The Last Starfighter"; geeks of that generation have waited for a sequel to that film for decades. The same can be said for the Half-Life franchise, a hugely popular game franchise from Valve and from all indications, the company simply walked away from it. The last installment in the Half-Life universe was Half-Life 2 Episode 2. We had been promised a follow-up Episode 3 that should have published around Christmas a decade ago. Christmas 2007 came and went with no new Half-Life Episode and no word on why Valve left us all hanging. Marc Laidlaw, the sole writer responsible for both Half-Life and...
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Way back in 2013, it was announced that both a Portal and Half-Life movie would be coming to theaters, although very little additional information was given. Still, the mere announcement set fans off in a frenzy. Could a Half-Life movie mean that HL3 would finally become a reality? No - it sure doesn't look like that. That announcement was made three-years-ago, and today, we're seemingly no closer to seeing the loose ends of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 tied up. Fast-forward to today, and our hopes are renewed. None other than mega producer J.J. Abrams admitted on the red carpet this week that both movies are still in the cards, although it seems extremely likely that we'll first hear about the...
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"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” Yes, something truly terrible has happened; famed Valve veteran Marc Laidlaw has left Valve after an incredible 18 years with the company. If Laidlaw’s name isn’t instantly familiar to you, we’re sure you’ve heard of the games that he has been involved in during his illustrious career at Valve -- his mark on the gaming industry has been profound. Laidlaw served as the “sole writer” of both Half-Life and Half-Life 2, and as the “lead writer” for the follow-up Half-Life episodes. Given Laidlaw’s undeniable importance to the Half-Life...
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Earlier in the week, Half-Life fans got themselves worked-up after a trademark for the forever forthcoming Half-Life 3 was published to a European trademark registration site. Well, as it appears now, the entire thing was a hoax, despite the fact that the entry looked completely legit, complete with Valve address. A couple of theories are floating around. One claims that the reason the entry no longer exists is that Valve is trying to hide it now that it's been approved - but that seems like rather nonsense, since Valve isn't the type of company to hide things so menial in detail. Another theory, which is more likely, is that someone submitted it as a hoax, just for the sheer joy of getting millions...
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It takes serious guts to try and remake the game Half-Life. Valve's 1998 first-person shooter didn't change FPS gaming, it redefined it. Before Half-Life, blockbusters like Quake and Quake II were lone gunman affairs with little to no interaction with non-hostile NPCs (Non-Player Character). Half-Life took that entire model, and blew it apart. The train ride into Black Mesa gave players a glimpse of a vibrant, functional world. Scientists and security guards roamed the halls, interacted with panels and equipment, joked with each other, and expressed nervousness about the upcoming experiment. Black Mesa is the result of years of effort from a team determined to bring Gordon Freeman's first adventure...
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It takes serious guts to try and remake Half-Life. Valve's 1998 first-person shooter didn't change FPS gaming, it redefined it. Before Half-Life, blockbusters like Quake and Quake II were lone gunman affairs with little to no interaction with non-hostile NPCs (Non-Player Character). Half-Life took that entire model, and blew it apart. The train ride into Black Mesa gave players a glimpse of a vibrant, functional world. Scientists and security guards roamed the halls, interacted with panels and equipment, joked with each other, and expressed nervousness about the upcoming experiment. Inbound, To The Black Mesa Complex Half-Life used scripted sequence to illustrate the desperation and humanity...
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Valve has continued to unveil features and screen captures from the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in its bid to drum up excitement around what promises to be a massive update and extension to one of the most popular FPS titles of all time. The game is intended to update and extend Counter-Strike's classic formula, with new versions of classic maps and a 'Casual' mode in which weapons are all free and anyone can watch the actions of another player. The idea behind Casual mode is to give brand-new players a way to jump into the game, learn the ropes, and have fun. At the same time, ranked matches and an emphasis on weapon characteristics are meant to ensure that the game's accessibility...
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When it comes to video game sales, there's no love lost between game publishers and game retailers--particularly GameStop. Nearly half (48.1 percent) of GameStop's profits come from sales of used games. The company's entire business model is built around the acquisition and sale of previously owned games. Such sales are pure profit to the company. GameStop has never released an estimate of how often the same copy of a game passes through a store, but the combination of a popular title and good location could easily lead to multiple resales. Game publishers hate the fact that they're completely cut off from this revenue stream; a member of Lionhead Studios made headlines last May when he declared...
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About 10 years ago, in mid-November 1998, Valve Software released the first installment of one of the greatest and most enduring gaming franchises in history; Half-Life. The original Half-Life won Game of the Year awards in over 50 publications and set the bar for story-driven first-person shooter for years. It was also quite the technological achievement for the heady days of the late nineties, creating one of the most realistic and immersive environments of the period. The game's modding community also launched some of the most memorable multiplayer frag fests of all time, such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress, all of which are still enjoyed by thousands of gamers daily. It can also lay...
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New Half-Life 2 Trailer Available New footage from the second installment in Valve's first episodic trilogy is now available. In addition to revealing a little more about where the trilogy leads after Freeman's time in City 17, Trailer2 shows off the Cinematic Physics system enabled in the Source Engine by Gray Horsfield and others at Valve for Episode Two. Half-Life 2: Episode Two is targeted for release in Q1 2007 on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The movie is available for download from a number of locations, like 3D Gamers, GGMania, Filefront, Gamershell and Fileshack. If you have the bandwidth to quickly pull down this movie, definitely take the time to check this out. Visually,...
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Valve's first Half-Life 2 expansion is officially out and ready for your downloading pleasure. Techgage has a review of the somewhat quick expansion, and finds it fully worth the $20 asking price. "Finally, our 18 month wait is over! We once again take the role of Gordon Freeman, and have a return of our friend Alyx. Together, we will flight from City 17. The big question is... was it worth the wait?" If you haven't logged on to Steam since yesterday, you'll be happy to know Valve has released another update, finally getting their "Friends" network up and running....
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