For its 20th anniversary weekend, Valve are giving away Half-Life 2 along with its expansions. They've also added Steam Workshop support for it, only a decade or so overdue! If you have a headset, this also gets you access to HL2 VR, which is an amazing port. store.steampowered.com/app/220/Half... - ThreadSky

dominictarason.com • 99 days ago

For its 20th anniversary weekend, Valve are giving away Half-Life 2 along with its expansions. They've also added Steam Workshop support for it, only a decade or so overdue!

If you have a headset, this also gets you access to HL2 VR, which is an amazing port.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/

Comments

raijolt2.bsky.social•99 days ago

Wait, really? That’s amazing!!!

itsphill.bsky.social•99 days ago

The documentary they released today is also really good!

theswweet.bsky.social•99 days ago

Oh! Is Black Mesa/HL1 also playable in VR? Been meaning to get to Alyx, but I wanted to play the other games first...

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

HL1 VR, yes! Alternatively there's a native Quest port too.

https://www.lambda1vr.com/

And a Black Mesa VR mod here, but I've not tried it myself.

https://www.nexusmods.com/halflife2episode2/mods/4

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1908720/HalfLife_VR_Mod/

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

Also coming 'soon' is Half-Life 2 RTX, which so far looks like a shockingly good remaster. The art style matches HL: Alyx remarkably closely.

Personally I'm most excited to see the MOUNTAINS of existing HL2 mods migrated to the Workshop for easy launching.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2477290/HalfLife_2_RTX/

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

Oh, and speaking of HL: Alyx, it's 66% off right now as well. One of the few must-have AAA VR games.

If you've got a headset, it's a no-brainer, especially as there's a bunch of ultra-polished mods that should let you squeeze dozens more hours fun from it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/546560/HalfLife_Alyx/

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

Oh yeah, and Black Mesa - the fan-made remake of the original Half-Life - is 75% off right now, and I highly recommend it. Some people really don't like the tweaks it made, but I feel it brings it closer in line with the sequels.

And the original game costs pennies if you really want that too.

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

Also, owning HL2 and expansions gives you access to a bunch of standalone mega-mods on Steam, like Entropy Zero 1/2, where you play as a Combine agent.

The first campaign has some rough edges. The second is Valve-grade

https://store.steampowered.com/app/714070/Entropy__Zero/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1583720/Entropy__Zero_2/

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

There's also Swelter, a great, fast-paced campaign set on the resistance front in former Kazakhstan. You get to use a lot of old, battered former-Soviet gear

Amateur voicework aside it could almost pass for a Valve production too.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1815330/Swelter/

dominictarason.com•99 days ago

And if you want some knockabout multiplayer fun (and can rustle up your own crew on Discord - public servers are a mess), try Jabroni Brawl: Episode 3.

14 playmodes. 130+ maps, 150+ player models, 80+ weapons. A lot of it is very, very silly.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/869480/Jabroni_Brawl_Episode_3/

matesrsen.bsky.social•99 days ago

Worth mentioning that Black Mesa should within the next few weeks be getting a patch long in the making that will (alongside various bugfixes) make the game work much better on Steam Deck, in line with the Half-life anniversary updates.

5007-574in3d.bsky.social•99 days ago

I already had almost everything on this list. Just two of the mods and some of the newer games were missing.

zennistrad.bsky.social•99 days ago

glad to see the workshop's already being put to good use

mystalope.bsky.social•99 days ago

I remember it coming out - next Gen stuff at the time. Might have to dip back into it with my kids…

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