Half Life 2, Episode 1 & Episode 2 are free to keep on Steam

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2, Valve is giving away for free the main game, alongside Episode One and Episode Two. Until November 18th, PC gamers can acquire a free copy of this classic FPS. So, if for whatever reason you don’t own it, you should seize the opportunity and get it.

Valve has also shared a two-hour documentary about HL2. Moreover, you can find below a video showcasing its E3 2003 Demo. That demo impressed everyone when Valve presented it back in 2003. And now, you can watch it in full HD.

Not only that but Valve has released a new update for HL2. The 20th Anniversary Update brings some QoL improvements, as well as visual enhancements. For instance, every map in Half-Life 2 has been looked over by Valve level designers to fix longstanding bugs and restore content. It also packs some gameplay tweaks.

This new patch improves the game in several ways. For example, we now have a new radial fog. The patch also adds higher-resolution lightmaps. Plus, it fixes visual issues like objects popping in and out, holes in the world, disappearing objects, missing grass, and blacked-out models.

Players can now choose between the original blood and fire effects from launch day or the effects made for the episodes. The devs also added a new High Quality mode. This mode has the highest and most detailed 3D models. Plus, the game now has smoother shadows on Very High shader detail, thanks to new bicubic lightmap filtering.

Now I wouldn’t really describe the 20th Anniversary Update as a “Remaster”. It’s not. Still, it does bring a few graphical enhancements, which are definitely welcome.

Anyway, you can acquire your free copy from this link. As said, the game will be free until November 18th. Once you acquire your free copy, you can keep it yours forever.

Here are also some cool mods for Half-Life 2. In theory, these mods should work with this latest version. So, you can download an amazing VR Mod. Another mod is Entropy: Zero 2. This mod adds a brand-new campaign that has seven chapters of content. You can also try a demo for a fan-made sequel to Opposing Force called Half-Life: Through The City. There is also an HD Texture Pack you can download. Finally, we have Half-Life 2 RTX which is still in development.

Enjoy!

John Papadopoulos

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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