Black Mesa is a dangerous place. Collapsing walkways, exploding pipes, and laser beams burning through the walls. And that’s not to mention the head crabs, barnacles, and special forces soldiers all trying to chew you up and spit you out. The good old HEV suit protects Gordon Freeman, but what about the unfortunate science team? The Half-Life scientists remain some of the most iconic NPCs in all PC gaming. A new multiplayer survival game casts you as the Black Mesa research team, trapped underground, caught between invading aliens and hostile military clean-up crews. With shades of The Forest and Lethal Company, it’s now available to play on Steam.
Half-Life is one of the greatest video games of all time, and just before its 25th anniversary on Sunday, Valve released a significant update for the first-person shooter. One thing is that the base game has now included Half-Life Uplink. It was a demonstration of Half-Life. However, most of the content is outside the actual game.
Uplink first came out on CDs, which came for gratis with magazines (remember these?) and hardware such as audio cards. There’s been a version of it via the web for some time for those who know where to search. However, gamers can now play it via the New Game button in Half-Life, the game itself.
Half-Life turns 25 this weekend, and we're pushing a big update to bring back some of that 1998 feeling with restored original launch day content, brand new multiplayer maps, a look behind the scenes with the original development team, and more: https://t.co/ceV4oePUyP pic.twitter.com/1eOtLiHXbE
— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 17, 2023
Valve has added four stunning new multiplayer maps to top it all off. A few might be familiar, like one that is based on an old Xen outpost and one set in an abandoned satellite launch site for orbital satellites: “If we could turn off electric lines for oxygen and power and even fuel, we may have the ability to light the candle “Valve declared. The company has added three other maps initially available on a disc called Half-Life Future Data.
It is now possible to finally enjoy Half-Life the way it was intended to be played Half-Life in full-screen, without the need to modify or the fan-made remake. Black Mesa Valve has added controller support, under-the-hood updates, UI tweaks, and bug fixes. Steam Networking support should make multiplayer smoother, too.
It’s called the abiotic factor, which is aptly described in terms of the scientific method, which sees the non-living elements in the environment altering that environment’s overall nature. The setting is an ode to Half-Life’s Black Mesa. The elements, however, are very much alive. Monsters, soldiers, and biological hazards plague every corridor, creating a Survival game and FPS whereby you and five friends must use science, crafting, and building to stay out of danger.
Put simply, you’re the Black Mesa research team, trapped in the lab for months and months, trying to find food, shelter, and defenses as the entire place gradually overruns.
Although it’s a critical part of Valve’s history, Half-Life still needs to be verified for Steam Deck. It instead bore the Playable label. turned out to be a disaster didn’t pass very hard.” Valve wrote, “So we fixed it! After re-testing the game, Half-Life officially wears the green checkmark.” So, that means it should run on your new Steam Deck OLED without a hitch.
Best of all, if you still need to get it in your library, Half-Life is free on Steam until November 20.
A variety of Half-Life and Valve bundles are available for sale, and Half-Life Alyx has a 66 percent discount at $20.39.
It’s worthwhile to mention that Valve is now claiming that the edition is celebrating its anniversary of Half-Life “to be the definitive version and the one we’ll continue to support going
ahead.” In this regard, Valve states that Half-Life Source is expected to become more popular on Steam. However, modders who want to keep using the
If that’s not a great pitch, I need to figure out what is. Every play session has different scientific specialties, and the research facility (it looks very Black Mesa, but it’s called GATE) is enormous. Browse through office spaces, search the storage rooms, and then delve into the dirt for your requirements. Find a dark corner of the maintenance tunnels and build a base. Arm yourself. Go on supply runs. Stay alive. It’s Half-Life; however, there’s no Gordon Freeman, no G-Man, and no nuclear weapon. You’re trapped here for the long haul.
“We launched Half-Life on November 19, 1998. We’re delighted with what we created at the time and remain extremely grateful to our players and those who have been taking pleasure in this ever since, “Valve stated. “The game hasn’t been as widely known recenty as the games we have on our list. So we decided that this was an excellent occasion to refresh the game. The player experience is enhanced, and you can add the player experience and add some exciting ways to enjoy the game.”
Lastly, Valve has released a new documentary to mark its 25th anniversary. The film, which runs 65 minutes, includes developers and Valve co-founders discussing the beginnings of Valve’s business and their experiences developing Half-Life. Happy birthday, Mr. Freeman.
It’s still a while before we get a time frame for the release, but Abiotic Factor’s new playtest version, Abiotic Factor, has just gone on the air and will run through January 1. Head over to Steam, and you can sign up and start playing right now.
Alternatively, you might want to try some of the other best FPS games or maybe the best multiplayer games available on PC.