Half-Life 2

{{Infobox CVG| title =Half-Life 2 | image = File:421px-HL2box.jpg
Box art for the PC version featuring Gordon Freeman. Two other versions were sold, featuring art of either The G-Man or Alyx Vance. | developer = Valve Corporation | publisher = Vivendi Universal Games (expired)
^INT Valve Corporation (Steam) | distributor = ^{[[http://halflife.neoseeker.com/halflife2/PC/pages/awards/ | title = Half-Life 2 - Awards | work = Neoseaker | accessdate = May 21 | accessyear = 2006}}</ref> including Overall Game of the Year at IGN, GameSpot's Award for Best Shooter, Gamespot's Reader's Choice - PC Game of the Year Award, Game of the Year from The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and "Best Game" with the Game Developers Choice Awards, where it was also given various awards for technology, characters, and writing. The game also had a strong showing at the 2004 BAFTA Games Awards, picking up 6 awards, more than any other game that night, with awards including "Best Game" and "Best Online Game."}

Products

The popularity of Half-Life 2 and the Half-Life series has led way to an array of side products and collectibles. Valve offers Half-Life-related products such as a plush headcrab, posters, clothing and mousepads.

Technical

Source engine

Main article: Source engine

File:800px-Half-Life 2 Dr Breen Office.jpg

Doctor Breen's office at the top of the Citadel, showing the advanced lighting abilities of the Source engine

For Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation developed a new game engine called the Source engine, which handles the game's visual, audio, and artificial intelligence elements. The Source engine comes packaged with a heavily modified version of the Havok physics engine that allows for an extra dimension of interactivity in both single player and online environments.

Additionally, when coupled with Steam, the engine can be easily upgraded to include many new graphical technologies. One such example is high dynamic range imaging, which Valve Corporation released as a free outdoor level called Lost Coast.

Steam content delivery system

Main article: Steam (content delivery)

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The Steam content delivery system version 3 user interface

Integral to Half-Life 2 is the Steam content delivery system developed by Valve Corporation. All Half-Life 2 players are required to have Steam installed and a valid account in order to play. Steam allows customers to purchase games and other software straight from the developer and have it downloaded directly to their computer as well as receiving "micro updates." These updates also make hacking the game harder to do and has thus far been somewhat successful in staving off cheats and playability for users with unauthorized copies. Steam can also be used for finding and playing multi-player games through an integrated server browser and friends list, and game data can be backed up with a standard CD or DVD burner. Steam and a customer's purchased content can be downloaded onto any computer, as long as that account is only logged in at one location at a time.

The usage of Steam has not gone without controversy. Some users have reported numerous problems with Steam, sometimes being serious enough to prevent a reviewer from recommending a given title available on the service. In other cases, review scores have been lowered. Long download times, seemingly unnecessary updates, and verification checks are criticisms leveled by critics of the system's use for single player games such as Half-Life 2. Whether or not a customer intends to use any multi-player features, the computer which the game was installed on must have Steam and an Internet connection to verify the transaction.

Release and distribution

A 1GB portion of Half-Life 2 became available for pre-load through Steam on August 26, 2004. This meant that customers could begin to download encrypted game files to their computer before the game was released. When the game's release date arrived, customers were able to pay for the game through Steam, unlock the files on their hard drives and play the game immediately, without having to wait for the whole game to download. The pre-load period lasted for several weeks, with several subsequent portions of the game being made available, to ensure all customers had a chance to download the content before the game was released.

Half-Life 2 was simultaneously released through Steam, CD (most initial U.S. "bare-bones" retail copies), and on DVD in several editions. Through Steam, Half-Life 2 had three packages that a customer could order. The basic version ("Bronze") includes only Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source, whereas the "Silver" and "Gold" (collector's edition) versions also include Half-Life: Source and Day of Defeat: Source (ports of the original Half-Life and Day of Defeat mod to the new engine) as well as the right to download all previous games by Valve through Steam. The collector's edition/Gold version additionally includes merchandise such as a t-shirt, a strategy guide, and a CD containing the soundtrack used in Half-Life 2. Both the disc and Steam version require Steam to be installed and active for play.

Subsequent releases

A demo version with the file size of a single-CD was later made available in December 2004 at the web site of graphics card manufacturer ATI Technologies, who teamed up with Valve for the game. The demo contains part of the opening level of the game, and also part of the chapter "We Don't Go To Ravenholm." In September 2005, Electronic Arts distributed the Game of the Year edition of Half-Life 2. Compared to the original CD-release of Half-Life 2, the GOTY edition adds Half-Life: Source.

On December 22, 2005, Valve released a 64-bit version of the Source game engine that takes advantage of AMD64 processor based systems running 64-bit version of Windows operating system. This update, delivered via Steam, enabled Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games to run natively on AMD64 processors, bypassing the 32-bit emulator. Gabe Newell, one of the founders of Valve, stated that this is "an important step in the evolution of our game content and tools," and that the game benefits greatly from the update. The response to the release varied: some users reported huge performance boosts, while technology site Techgage found several stability issues and no notable frame rate improvement. 64-bit users have widely reported bizarre in-game errors including characters dropping dead, game script files not being pre-cached (i.e., loaded when first requested instead), map rules being bent by AI, and other glitches.

Ports

An Xbox port published by Electronic Arts was released on November 15, 2005. While subject to positive reception, critics cited its lack of multiplayer and frame-rate issues as problems, and the game received much lower scores than its PC counterpart.

During Electronic Arts's summer press event on July 13, 2006, Gabe Newell announced that Half-Life 2 will ship on next-generation consoles (specifically, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) including episodes One and Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports of the game were recently listed on the Electronics Boutique website, which indicated that the ports would be available for pre-release on June 1, 2007.

Expansions and mods

Main articles: Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, and Half-Life 2: Episode Three

File:750px-Hl2 lostcoast menu.jpg

Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, showcasing Valve's HDR technology.

Since the release of Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation has released an additional level and an additional "expansion" sequel. The level, "Lost Coast," takes place between the levels "Highway 17" and "Sandtraps" and is primarily a showcase for high dynamic range imaging (HDR) technology. The "expansion" sequel, Half-Life 2: Episode One takes place shortly after the events of Half-Life 2, with the player taking on the role of Gordon Freeman once again and with Alyx Vance playing a more prominent role. Additionally, two further "episodes" are set to be released in the future, dubbed Episode Two and Episode Three; the latter being the last expansion, "in a trilogy". In an interview with Eurogamer, Gabe Newell revealed that the Half-Life 2 "episodes" are essentially Half-Life 3. He reasons that rather than force fans to wait another six years for a full sequel, Valve Corporation would release the game in episodic installments. Newell admits that a more correct title for these episodes should have been "Half-Life 3: Episode One" and so forth, having referred to the episodes as Half-Life 3 repeatedly through the interview.

It was confirmed in April 2006 that Half-Life 2: Episode Four was in production, and that it would mark the start of a new story arc. Furthermore, it was confirmed that Episode Four was under development by a third-party studio under Valve Corporation's supervision.

Since the release of the Source engine SDK, a large number of mods have been developed by the Half-Life 2 community. Mods vary in scale, from fan-created levels and weapons, to partial conversions such as Half-Life 2 Substance and Smod (which modify the storyline and gameplay of the pre-existing game), and Garry's Mod (which allow the player to experiment with the physics system in a sandbox mode), to total conversions such as Dystopia or Empires, which transforms the game from a first-person shooter into a real-time strategy game. Some mods take place in the Half-Life universe; others in completely original settings; while some are tributes to other games, such as GoldenEye: Source, a recreation of GoldenEye 007, or Resident Evil: Twilight, based on the Resident Evil series. Many more mods are still in development, including Neotokyo, the episodic single player mod MINERVA, Insurgency, which focuses on realistic modern infantry combat, and the DED Series developed by GameSource, it promises recreated environments of Half-life 2 such as Nova Prospekt.

Valve Corporation's Half-Life: Source was a direct conversion of the original game to the Source engine. Black Mesa, originally named Black Mesa: Source, is an unofficial mod under development which takes the more ambitious route of attempting to fully recreate the original Half-Life from the ground up using improved graphical assets and effects, while maintaining the original storyline and level design.

Cuts

Main article: Content cut from Half-Life 2

The book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar revealed many of the game's original settings and action that were cut down or removed entirely from the final game. Half-Life 2 was originally intended to be a far darker game with far grittier artwork where the Combine were more obviously draining the oceans for minerals and replacing the atmosphere with noxious, murky gases. Nova Prospekt was originally intended to be a small Combine rail depot built on an old prison in the wasteland (the depot model remains in the game, visible from the beach and trash compactor). Eventually, Nova Prospekt grew and grew from a stopping-off point along the way to the destination itself.

Half-Life 2 was also originally intended to be much more diverse in settings. Parts of the book detail how Gordon would fight alongside characters such as Odessa Cubbage, albeit under a different name and in a different place, as well as fighting together with Colonel Vance - a character that was later merged with Eli to become Doctor Eli Vance - and Vance's forces. In addition, the player was to follow a vastly different journey than what is in the final release.

Other cuts from the game included a drivable personal water craft and additional weapons. Weapons cut included the OICW seen in an E3 demonstration video and two different models of the gravity gun or Physgun, which is seen in another E3 video, also depicting a level cut from Ravenholm, dubbed "Traptown."

It remains unknown if most of the cut Half-Life 2 scenes will eventually be completed and released, or if they are lost forever. A removed section of the original Half-Life was eventually released as the Half-Life: Uplink demo; a similar situation was in place with the HDR technology demo, Lost Coast, which was based on a scene that was cut from the sequel. It is possible that more removed sections of HL2 will be seen in future expansion packs.

Some of the cut content is available in a work-in-progress mod called Missing Information, constructed using the leaked Half-Life 2 betas as a basis. In addition to several cut weapons, the mod also includes a level set on the stranded icebreaker Borealis and the E3 demonstrations. This mod has not been sanctioned by Valve, being described as "illegal content," and official permission has not been given for the redistribution of modified versions of the original leaked material.

Soundtrack

All listed tracks have been composed by Kelly Bailey. Purchasers of the Gold Package of the game were given (among other things) a CD soundtrack containing nearly all the music from the game, along with three bonus tracks. This CD is not available for separate purchase.

(Note: Many of the tracks were retitled and carried over from the Half-Life soundtrack; The names in parentheses are the original titles. Tracks 32, 34, 41, and 42 are remixes.)

Tracks 16, 18 and 42 are bonus tracks that are exclusive to the CD soundtrack. Tracks 44 to 51 are tracks from the game that did not appear on the soundtrack CD.

1. "Hazardous Environments" (Valve Theme [Long Version]) - 01:26 2. "CP Violation" - 01:47 3. "The Innsbruck Experiment" - 01:09 4. "Brane Scan" - 01:42 5. "Dark Energy" - 01:34 6. "Requiem for Ravenholm" - 00:35 7. "Pulse Phase" - 01:11 8. "Ravenholm Reprise" - 00:54 9. "Probably Not A Problem" - 01:28 10. "Calabi-Yau Model" - 01:48 11. "Slow Light" - 00:46 12. "Apprehension and Evasion" - 02:19 13. "Hunter Down" - 00:17 14. "Our Resurrected Teleport" - 01:13 15. "Miscount Detected" - 00:50 16. "Headhumper" - 00:10 17. "Triage at Dawn" - 00:47 18. "Combine Harvester" - 01:27 19. "Lab Practicum" - 02:56 20. "Nova Prospekt" - 01:59 21. "Broken Symmetry" - 01:05 22. "LG Orbifold" - 02:54 23. "Kaon" - 01:13 24. "You're Not Supposed to Be Here" - 02:43 25. "Suppression Field" - 00:57 26. "Hard Fought" - 01:17

27. "Particle Ghost" - 01:42 28. "Shadows Fore and Aft" - 01:28 29. "Neutrino Trap" (Hurricane Strings) - 01:37 30. "Zero Point Energy Field" (Cavern Ambiance) - 01:44 31. "Echoes of a Resonance Cascade" (Space Ocean) - 01:40 32. "Black Mesa Inbound" (Vague Voices) - 02:15 33. "Xen Relay" (Threatening Short) - 00:41 34. "Tracking Device" (Credits / Closing Theme) - 01:05 35. "Singularity" (Traveling Through Limbo) - 01:21 36. "Dirac Shore" (Dimensionless Deepness) - 01:28 37. "Escape Array" (Electric Guitar Ambiance) - 01:29 38. "Negative Pressure" (Steam in the Pipes) - 01:59 39. "Tau-9" (Drums and Riffs) - 02:08 40. "Something Secret Steers Us" (Nuclear Mission Jam) - 02:04 41. "Triple Entanglement" (Sirens in the Distance) - 01:34 42. "Biozeminade Fragment" (Alien Shock) - 00:34 43. "Lambda Core" (Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar) - 01:44 44. "Entanglement" - 00:39 45. "Highway 17" - 00:59 46. "A Red Letter Day" - 00:39 47. "Sand Traps" - 00:34 48. "CP Violation (Remix)" - 01:45 49. "Trainstation PT. 1" - 01:30 50. "Trainstation PT. 2" - 01:12 51. "Radio" 00:39

See also

• Half-Life 2 controversies and criticisms (including information on notable bugs)
• Category of Half-Life 2 mods
• List of weapons in Half-Life 2
• Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman
• The Combine:
  • List of humanoid and synthetic Combine in Half-Life 2
  • List of Combine combat technology in Half-Life 2
  • List of Combine non-combat technology in Half-Life 2

• "Expansion" episodes:
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Two
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Three

External links

• Official Half-Life 2 website
• Official Steam website
• Template:Dmoz.
• Half-Life 2 at MobyGames.
• Valve Developer Community; a wiki made by Valve to aid in the editing of Half-Life 2.