Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 (2004)

by Valve, Electronic Arts, NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios, Sierra Entertainment
Genres:Shooter
Themes:Action, Horror, Science fiction
Game modes:Single player
Story:1998. HALF-LIFE sends a shock through the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. NOW. By taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original, and adding startling new realism and responsiveness, Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around them, from the physical environment to the behaviors even the emotions of both friends and enemies.Show more
user avatarAdded by @bobscraphouse
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.
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Stories about this game (9)
What’s your memory of Half-Life 2?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
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user avatar@valkitty346user avatar@valkitty346
January 31, 2025
In my opinion this will never happen as valve the developer of this game owns steam and valve is one of the first companies to have this account requirement and game launcher requirement garbage I have no hate to valve corporation steam is a an amazing platform and their games are great but valve will not allow their games to be on any platform
user avatar@xman1user avatar@xman1
March 12, 2025
Not sure if anyone here has mentioned this or not, but Half Life 2 is already DRM free. You can download it from Steam and run it without Steam. Valve got rid of the DRM on it years ago. I have it saved on my NAS
The Xbox port was awesome and it really defined my teenage years. I hope to be able to grab its offline installers here one day, even if I already own it elsewhere.
they could include this game with its 20th anniversary update, it includes episodes 1 and 2, Lost coast. linking our steam account is optional only to install workshop mods and play HL2 deathmatch.
Definitely in the top 3 FPS games I've ever played. Gameplay, storyline, originality, difficulty built-up as game progresses, all were fantastic. Especially for its era, it was a game that really left many amazed. Needs to preserved, although probably difficult to happen because...valve...
user avatar@Rzulf83user avatar@Rzulf83
March 26, 2025
I liked the story (Please Valve, work on Episode 3! or at least publish a book how the story ends). I liked the weapons (crossbow pinning enemies to a wall, laser guided rpg, gravity gun). The code optimisation must have been amazing in comparison to other games. I was able to run it on a decent level of visual effects on a PC that was below the minimum requirements. I do not remember any other game series working so well despite my hardware being updated somewhere 4-10 years behind what is available on the market. There is a funny parody comic: "Concerned" about Gordon Frohmann who writes letters to the leader of the combine like a concerned citizen on what they could do better in managing their new world order as he follows Gordon Freeman's footsteps through that world. You can find it when googling "concerned citizen gordon frohman".
When Half-Life 2 launched in 2004, it didn’t just meet the high expectations set by its predecessor — it shattered them. Widely considered the greatest sequel in video game history, Half-Life 2 took everything that made the original iconic and elevated it with cutting-edge technology, emotionally rich storytelling, and groundbreaking gameplay mechanics. It is not just a sequel — it is a milestone in gaming, and it deserves a place on GOG to be preserved and experienced DRM-free by current and future generations. Half-Life 2 revolutionized the FPS genre with its advanced physics engine. The introduction of the Gravity Gun turned the environment into a weapon, letting players interact with objects in ways never seen before. Whether launching saw blades at zombies or solving physics-based puzzles, it made the world feel alive and tangible. The storytelling was subtle and immersive. Gordon Freeman, still silent, was surrounded by deeply human characters like Alyx Vance and Dog, who gave the story emotional depth. City 17 felt like a living, breathing dystopia under Combine rule, and the worldbuilding pulled players into a narrative filled with resistance, hope, and oppression. Even today, Half-Life 2 stands tall as a technical and creative triumph. Releasing it on GOG would honor its legacy by giving players a DRM-free version optimized for modern systems. It’s more than a game — it’s a masterpiece, and it’s time for it to find a new home on GOG.
I've loved Half-Life 2 since it was new, but Steam gives me the willies. I originally got the boxed Game of the Year Edition but actually aborted the install when I saw it wanted to sneak in some kind of game client. It was 2005 and that felt shady and gross. I let the game sit for another year before I finally caved, installed it, and enjoyed it immensely. A few years later, when I wanted to reinstall it, I'd lost my Steam account information and was so disgusted with the recovery process that I abandoned the game again. I now own the Xbox port, the Xbox 360 port included in The Orange Box, and the original Game of the Year PC release, manually unpacked and patched to be playable without Steam... but I still don't own a legit, standalone PC copy. GOG, please make this dream a reality. This game is too good to be trapped in the Valve ecosystem.
user avatar@RetroFanuser avatar@RetroFan
June 19, 2025
When this would happened and HL-Games dropping here this would be very crazy - but i would buy it again. But Valve will never selling their games with other platforms. Maybe on consoles which would making more sense. I love the atmosphere and the style of their games. It will never happens, but it would be a very sweet surprise to see it here. :-)
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