Half Life 2
Latest about Half-Life 2

Valve was going to ship The Orange Box in a white box before staff 'destroyed' the idea, and yes they saw you all doubting Portal before release: 'You guys are gonna eat those words'
By Rich Stanton published
News "A great example of how Valve dysfunctionally works but works well."

Half-Life 2 testers horsing around with physics props 'to make the 47th playthrough of the game more interesting' probably had no idea it would result in Gabe Newell launching a garden gnome into space 16 years later
By Ted Litchfield published
news Cratebaby lives.

Valve first came up with the Steam Hardware Survey more than 20 years ago because it wanted to know what specs it should target for Half-Life 2
By Ted Litchfield published
news The first public Steam Hardware Survey came in April 2003, but there were private antecedents used by Valve earlier.

Valve zoomed in Half-Life 2's FOV from the gold standard 90 so you could see all those pretty Source engine faces better
By Ted Litchfield published
news Long-forgotten FOV crimes exposed.

The origin of the Source engine's iconic neon fuchsia checkerboard texture, as told by Half-Life 2's new commentary mode
By Ted Litchfield published
news There's no mistaking this guy.

The best Half-Life 2 mods: 20th anniversary edition
By Dominic Tarason published
Occupied A fistful of mods for Half-Life 2’s 20th anniversary, for Free Men and Women of all stripes.

Early plans for Half-Life 2 sound wild, including visits to cities like Chicago and LA, several Combine bases, and a sequence where a plane crashed into a skyrise that was cut after 9/11
By Jody Macgregor published
News "You have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. And then, go to like three other cities."

Half-Life 2 review
By Jim Rossignol published
Gravity Fun PC Gamer's original 2004 review of Half-Life 2.

A summer intern once saved Valve from a near-fatal lawsuit after a publisher 'decided to go World War 3' on it, and it all hinged on one email
By Ted Litchfield published
news "The company was pretty close to going bankrupt, I was pretty close to going personally bankrupt—we went all in, there was no money left"
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