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Half-Life 2 boxart

Half-Life 2

Platforms

PC
PS3
Xbox
Xbox 360

Initial release Nov. 16, 2004

Developers

Valve
Valve Corporation
Valve Software

Genres

Shooter

Publishers

Electronic Arts
Valve
Valve Corporation
Vivendi Games

Franchise Half-Life

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Half-Life 2 Feed

Gordon Freeman is choked by a barnacle tentacle and tries to escape.

News

'Stop talking s*** about us' - Half-Life 2 mod blacklists a handful of YouTubers as 'anticitizens' and blocks them from playing

Dis-content creators

Dec. 2, 2024 Brendan Caldwell

The player faces a large sewer pipe in Half-Life 2, lit with a red light.

News

Valve added an invisible wall to this sewer pipe in Half-Life 2 in their anniversary update - but it only annoyed speedrunners

Tubular

Nov. 27, 2024 Brendan Caldwell

A liquid blob moves around a tree in a Half-Life 2: Epsiode 3 tech demo.

News

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 could have featured an ice gun and blob monsters, as seen in new documentary footage

"We could have shipped it. It wouldn't have been that hard"

Nov. 16, 2024 Graham Smith

Alyx and Dog from Half-Life 2

News

Half-Life 2 is 20 years old and has been updated with Steam Workshop support and developer commentary

It's free to keep this weekend, too

Nov. 16, 2024 Graham Smith

Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance pose in Half-Life 2 artwork.

News

Valve "White Sands" project spotted on Starfield voice actor portfolio, prompting Half-Life speculation

Is that you, Gordon?

Aug. 5, 2024 Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

A Vortigaunt holds a headcrab in Half-Life

News

The voice behind Half-Life 2’s Vortigaunts has passed away

Despite a prolific film and television career, Louis Gossett Jr.’s only video game appearances were in the seminal shooter and Episode One

April 1, 2024 Matt Jarvis

A guardian from Destiny, an NPC from Deathloop and a dwarf from Deep Rock Galactic, all wielding large guns, superimposed on a map screen from Team Fortress 2

Feature

The 25 best FPS games on PC

The worthiest reticules of all time

Jan. 1, 2024 Ed Thorn

A close view of Gordon Freeman's HEV suit in Half-Life 2 RTX.

News

Half-Life 2 RTX mod brings ray tracing and DLSS to another Valve classic

Will join Portal in the RTX Remix remaster club

Aug. 22, 2023 James Archer

Feature

Half-Life 2's Zombie Chopper achievement elevates Ravenholm to a true horror masterpiece

The first time I've ever truly cared about failing to get a cheevo

Aug. 2, 2023 Katharine Castle

Feature

The joy of playing Half-Life 2 in VR

Nearly 20 years later, Half-Life 2 feels contemporary all over again

Aug. 2, 2023 Liam Richardson

Feature

More games should steal Half-Life 2: Lost Coast's developer commentary

Tell me your secrets

Aug. 2, 2023 James Archer

Two characters in a cutscene from the Lego Half-Life 2 mod

News

Half-Life 2 mod turns the PC classic into the greatest Lego video game never made

Gordon Freeminifig

July 10, 2023 Matt Jarvis

Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance pose in Half-Life 2 artwork.

Feature

What's better: A silent protagonist, or combat style ratings?

Vote now as we continue trying to decide the single best thing in games

May 24, 2023 Alice O'Connor

Alyx sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle while a head crab man attacks in Half-Life 2

News

Half-Life 2: Episode Two's community-made VR mod arrives on Steam today

Totally free and very not-sickening

April 6, 2023 Kaan Serin

Alyx Vance attacks a zombie and headcrab in Half-Life 2: Episode One VR mod

News

Half-Life 2: Episode One VR fan mod is out today

The free, community-made mod arrives on Steam

March 17, 2023 Katharine Castle

An image of the words Ask RPS on an off-white background

Feature

What's the worst thing you've done for an achievement?

Fachewachewa Asks RPS

March 15, 2023 Katharine Castle

Alyx and the giant robot Dog in Half-Life-2

Feature

"The narrative had to be baked into the corridors": Marc Laidlaw on writing Half-Life

Also yeah, he does regret posting that Episode 3 story

March 1, 2023 Jeremy Peel

A screenshot from Half-Life 2: VR Mod - Episode 1 showing a hovering crowbar and hand in front of a Combine soldier

News

Half-Life 2 VR Mod makers are adding Episode One for free soon

Should be out in the next few months, Mr. Freeman

Jan. 24, 2023 CJ Wheeler

Somone shoots a laser from the top of a domed building surrounded by trees

News

Half-Life 2 mod Evacuation lets you pit antlions vs Combine in the woods

Become a Combine harvester

Jan. 9, 2023 Matt Cox

Someone reloads a gun while a robot shoots sparkly things at a window

News

Half-Life 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. shake-ups top ModDB's 2022 Mod of the Year Awards

Re-hear the call of Pripyat

Jan. 4, 2023 Matt Cox

A screenshot from Half Life 2 reimagining Raising The Bar: Redux showing Alyx Vance standing in a doorway

News

Half-Life 2 reimagining Raising The Bar: Redux releases its next chapter soon

Division 2 is a fully voiced slice of a mod that revives Valve's early concepts for the game

Dec. 22, 2022 CJ Wheeler

The player throwing a can at the guard in the station at the start of Half-Life 2, in Half-Life 2: VR Mod

Feature

Reality Bytes: Half-Life 2: VR Mod is a fantastic adaptation of a classic

Half-Life just works in VR

Nov. 30, 2022 Rick Lane

A Combine soldier on a bridge is visible in the distance and in the scope of a crossbow in this VR mod conversion for Half-Life 2.

News

Half-Life 2: VR Mod beta makes the classic shooter fully playable in VR

Pick up the can

Sept. 17, 2022 Graham Smith

2B poses wearing a giant sword in a Nier: Automata screenshot.

News

Nier: Automata 'secret church' mystery leads to mod tools and memes

Pranksters have recreated the area in Half-Life 2 and other games

July 29, 2022 Alice O'Connor

The RPS Time Capsule header for 2004

Feature

RPS Time Capsule: the games worth saving from 2004

We list our favourite games from 2004, and why they deserve to be preserved above everything else

Feb. 25, 2022 Katharine Castle

Half-Life 2 Gallery

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Games from the Half-Life franchise