Half-Life gets a big update for its 25th anniversary

Valve just released a 25th anniversary update for Half-life which adds a whole bunch of new content, welcome quality of life improvements and even Steam Deck support, according to an announcement on the Half-life website. You can also download the game for free for a limited time.

Let’s start with the added content. The game now includes Half-Life uplink, a “mini-campaign” that was originally only available on CDs from magazines and hardware manufacturers, the company says. There are four new multiplayer maps that Valve says “push the boundaries of what’s possible in the world.” Half-life engine.” Valve also added multiplayer maps and character models from a CD called Half-life: additional data.

Valve also added new settings, including the ability to play with a widescreen field of view and support for “proper gamepad configuration.” The game’s UI has been updated to accommodate larger screens. (“We built most of these for 640 x 480 CRTs and apparently some of you have upgraded since then,” Valve explains.) And Half-life is now Steam Deck Verified, which means it should work fine on the Steam Deck without any tinkering. (This could be a great game to check out on the just-launched OLED Steam Deck!)

You should really check out all the changes and the full list of patch notes – it’s a large update. There are some important notes at the end: the anniversary edition is now “the definitive version” of Half-life, Valve says, but the old version of the game is still available on a “steam_legacy” beta branch. Valve will also “reduce the visibility” of Half-life: Source.