Valve is already celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of Half-Life with a sizable update for the original game that revolutionized first-person shooters and Steam Deck support.
The anniversary actually isn’t today, but it’ll actually come on Sunday. The game was originally released on PC in North America on November 19, 1998. It then landed in Europe just over a week later.
Besides support for the Steam Deck (of which Valve will soon launch a version equipped with an OLED screen), the update is actually far from trivial. It’s quite sizable, and you can find the full patch notes on the official site opened for the occasion.
The Half-Life Uplink mini-campaign, which was originally shipped in a CD with hardware and magazines, is finally available in a bundle with the main game.
4 New multiplayer maps have been added, Contamination, Pool Party, Disposal, and Rocket Frenzy.
Graphics settings have been updated with the following options.
- 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.
Native controller support and configuration have been added alongside support with Steam networking. The UI now scales properly at higher resolutions, including 4K.
The classic Valve logo in the splash screen has been restored alongside the original 1998 main menu.
Ivar the Spice Biker and Proto-Barney, which hail from the game’s alpha builds are now available as multiplayer skins.
Most of the content of the Half-Life: Further Data CD is now included in the game. This means that players will be able to enjoy the Double Cross, Rust Mill, and Xen DM multiplayer maps, alongside the Skeleton and Too Much Coffee Man multiplayer skins, and plenty of sprays.
If you’re wondering, no, Valve did not celebrate the anniversary by announcing Half-Life 3, albeit I suppose there are still two days left before the actual anniversary date.
In the meanwhile, Valve has recently released Counter-Strike 2, which is the sequel of the super-popular game originally born as a Half-Life mod.
