Half-Life 2
The box art for Half-Life 2 shows its protagonist, Gordon Freeman. Dr Gordon Freeman is the silent Protagonist of the ''Half-Life'' series of First-person shooter Video games developed by Valve Software
Developer(s)	Valve Corporation
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal Games (expired) Valve Corporation
Distributor(s)	Electronic Arts (retail) Steam (online)
Engine	Source engine, Havok physics
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release date	Microsoft Windows EU / NA November 16, 2004[1] Steam November 16, 2004 Xbox NA November 15, 2005[2] Xbox 360 NA October 10, 2007[3] PlayStation 3 NA December 11, 2007[4]
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M BBFC: 15 OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 18+ PEGI: 15+ (Finland) USK: 18
Media	CD, DVD, download or Blu-Ray
System requirements	1. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous VIVENDI is a software package for care management and staff organisation published by the German software company CONNEXT and introduced in 1995 Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of computer and video games The Source engine is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. Havok Physics, better known as simply Havok, is a Physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction A first-person shooter ( FPS) is an action Video game from the Shooter game The initial development of Maze War In video gaming, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of Video games into suitability-related groups The Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, Advertising guidelines and The British Board of Film Classification ( BBFC) originally British Board of Film Censors, is the organisation responsible for Film, DVD The Office of Film and Literature Classification is a Statutory Censorship and classification body which provides day to day administrative support for the Classification Pan European Game Information ( PEGI) is a European Video game content rating system. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. USK redirects here For the Usinsk airport see Usinsk Airport. Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is 2 GHz processor, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 7 level graphics card, Internet connection (broadband or better recommended)
Input methods	Keyboard, mouse (a joystick is also supported on PC), Xbox controller, Xbox 360 controller, SIXAXIS controller, DualShock 3 controller

Half-Life 2 is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game and the sequel to the highly acclaimed Half-Life. Microsoft DirectX is a collection of Application programming interfaces (APIs for handling tasks related to Multimedia, especially Game programming and Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just Broadband, is high-speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a Modem In Computing, a keyboard is an Input device partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling A gamepad, also called joypad or control pad, is a type of Game controller held in the hand where the digits (especially thumbs are used to provide input A gamepad, also called joypad or control pad, is a type of Game controller held in the hand where the digits (especially thumbs are used to provide input PlayStation 3 owners can purchase a number of accessories for use with the console PlayStation 3 owners can purchase a number of accessories for use with the console A first-person shooter ( FPS) is an action Video game from the Shooter game The initial development of Maze War A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product It was developed by Valve Software Corporation and was released on November 16, 2004, following a protracted five-year development cycle^[5] during which the game’s source code was leaked to the Internet. Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " In Computer science, source code (commonly just source or code) is any sequence of statements or declarations written in some Human-readable ^[6] The game garnered near unanimous positive reviews and received critical acclaim,^[7][8][9] winning over 35 Game of the Year awards for 2004. Game of the Year (abbreviated GotY or GOTY) is a distinction awarded by various Magazines and Websites to a deserving PC or console Events January 20 — Wired s Vaporware Awards gives its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recurring winner ^[10] Originally available only for Windows-based personal computers, the game has since been ported onto the Xbox, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. ^[11]

Taking place in and around the fictional City 17, Half-Life 2 follows the adventures of scientist Gordon Freeman. A scientist, in the broadest sense refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire Knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices Dr Gordon Freeman is the silent Protagonist of the ''Half-Life'' series of First-person shooter Video games developed by Valve Software Dr. Freeman is thrust into a dystopian environment in which the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident has come to bear fully upon human society. A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος alternatively cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product Freeman is forced to fight against increasingly unfavorable odds in order to survive. In his struggle, he is joined by various allies, including former Black Mesa colleagues, oppressed citizens of City 17, and the Vortigaunts. Vortigaunts are a fictional alien race in the ''Half-Life'' series by the Valve Corporation.

The game uses the Source game engine, which includes a heavily modified version of the Havok physics engine. The Source engine is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of computer and video games Havok Physics, better known as simply Havok, is a Physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. ^[12] Half-Life 2 has been critically acclaimed for advances in computer animation, sound, narration, computer graphics, artificial intelligence (AI) and physics. Computer-generated imagery Computer animation is the art of creating moving images with the use of Computers It is a subfield of Computer graphics A narrator (or the extremely rarely used female equivalent narratress) is within any story (literary work movie play verbal account etc Computer graphics are Graphics created by Computers and more generally the Representation and Manipulation of Pictorial Data Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the Illusion of intelligence in the behavior of Non-player A physics engine is a Computer program that simulates Newtonian physics models using variables such as Mass, Velocity, Friction and As of June 8, 2006, over four million copies of Half-Life 2 have been sold. Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[13] Exact numbers for digital delivery service Steam and retail have not been revealed, but in general, the former accounts for 25% of Valve’s business and is significantly more profitable per unit. Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer ^[14][15] As of July 14, 2006, the Half-Life franchise has sold 16 million units. Events 1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father Philip II of France. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[16] As of February 28, 2007, Half-Life 2 is the second most played online computer game (excluding MMORPGs), behind Half-Life, according to GameSpy. Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with GameSpy, also known as GameSpy Industries, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related ^[17]

Gameplay

Navigating through the canals on the air boat, Gordon comes under attack from a Combine hunter-chopper

In Half-Life 2 the player takes on the role of Gordon Freeman, as in the original Half-Life. Airboats are essentially flat-bottomed vessels propelled in a forward direction by an aircraft-type Propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive Engine Armed with numerous weapons, he has to make his way through a series of levels, encountering both "trans-human" troops, also known as the Combine, and hostile alien creatures. As in Half-Life, the gameplay is broken up by a series of puzzles; however Half-Life 2 also includes physics-based puzzles. For example, one puzzle requires the player to either turn a seesaw-like lever into a ramp by placing cinder blocks at one end, or to stack the cinder blocks into a crude stairway.

The use of physics extends into combat with the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator, or "gravity gun". This unique weapon plays a crucial function throughout the game,^[18] granting the player an unprecedented amount of creativity in its use, such as picking up and throwing objects at enemies, holding objects indefinitely for use as makeshift cover, grabbing med-kits and ammunition from out-of-reach places, pulling plugs, returning enemies' grenades, building makeshift bridges, making crude stairs out of crates, flipping over an overturned buggy, or manipulating objects through Combine forcefields. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the

Vehicles are another major gameplay addition. The player has the ability to drive two vehicles during the single player campaign; an air boat, which Gordon uses to navigate through the "Subzero" canal network, and a dune buggy which Gordon uses to get to Nova Prospekt. A dune buggy is a recreational Vehicle with large Wheels and wide Tires designed for use on sand Dunes or Beaches The design The air boat is initially unarmed, but is later mounted with a Combine weapon from a downed hunter-chopper. The buggy is armed with a Tau Cannon that functions very similarly to the one found in the original Half-Life. It, however, does not overload if the secondary fire is held for too long.

The game also integrates tutorial-like tasks in the storyline itself and includes on-screen instructions on game controls (but no longer includes separate tutorial levels featured in the original) to allow familiarization of the game’s mechanics and weapons for players as they go. Several such examples include an early incident in the game where a Civil Protection unit orders the player to "pick up" a tin can and "throw it" into the trash can (if the player "throws" the can at Civil Protection unit, the the Civil Protection unit will give Gordon a beating for punishment) and Alyx Vance’s introduction of the gravity gun at Black Mesa East, which incorporates an impromptu game of "catch" with her robot, Dog.

Characters and creatures

Although Gordon battles through much of Half-Life 2 alone, he is at times assisted by allies. For the most part these are human members of the resistance, but Gordon is also helped by Vortigaunts, who have the ability to recharge his HEV suit's battery, and later Antlions. Vortigaunts are a fictional alien race in the ''Half-Life'' series by the Valve Corporation. ^[19] This latter insectoid species is new to the Half-Life universe and is encountered first as a fiercely territorial foe, but is later co-opted into acting as an abundant and obedient ally through the use of a pheromone pod, nicknamed "bugbait". Insectoid denotes any creature or object that shares a similar body or traits with common earth insects. A pheromone (from Greek φέρω phero "to bear" + ‘ορμόνη " Hormone " is a Chemical that triggers a natural At several key locations, Gordon also meets up with, and fights alongside, more significant non-player characters like Alyx Vance, Barney Calhoun and Alyx’s robot, Dog. A non-player character, often shortened to NPC, is a character that is controlled by the Gamemaster in Role-playing games or one that is not Alyx Vance is a Fictional character in Valve 's 2004 First-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2, and its following episodes Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of First-person shooter computer games by Valve Software.

Many familiar enemies from Half-Life return in this game, such as headcrabs, barnacles, and headcrab zombies. A headcrab is a fictional alien Parasitoid found in the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 computer game series Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter Computer game series which consists of two full games two episodic games and three third-party A headcrab is a fictional alien Parasitoid found in the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 computer game series ^[20] However, the majority of the game is spent fighting the Combine, who wield large military forces against Gordon and the people of City 17. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the Combine forces are varied and consist of modified humans, biomechanical creatures, robotic weapons, including the use of headcrabs as biological weapons. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the

In many locales throughout the game, the mysterious G-Man can be spotted watching over Gordon. The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a mysterious recurring character in the Half-Life series of First-person shooter computer games Before the player can investigate further, G-man disappears into the environment.

Weapons

Several of the weapons featured in Half-Life 2 are carried over from Half-Life, including the trademark crowbar for melee fighting, and the conventional firearms of a SPAS-12 shotgun, a .357 Colt Python, a crossbow that fires heated rebars, and an RPG launcher as well as the tau cannon, an experimental particle weapon that is mounted on the dune buggy. The SPAS-12 is a Combat shotgun manufactured by the Italian company Franchi S A shotgun (also known as a scattergun) is a Firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number The Colt Python is a.357 Magnum caliber Revolver manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. A crossbow is a Weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles often called bolts A rebar, or reinforcing bar, is a common Steel bar and is commonly used in Reinforced concrete and reinforced Masonry structures RPG or rocket-propelled grenade, is a loose term describing hand-held shoulder-launched Anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided A coilgun is a type of synchronous Linear electric motor which is used as a Projectile accelerator that consists of one or more electromagnetic coils Several new weapons are also introduced: an MP7 submachine gun, a 9mm USP Match, the AR2 Combine Overwatch pulse rifle; 'pheropods' which grant control over Antlions, and most significantly, the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator, or gravity gun. This article lists Firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the 9 mm ( The Heckler & Koch USP ( U niverselle S elbstlade' p' istole, or "Universal Self-loading Pistol" is a semi-automatic pistol This weapon was recently featured in an Electronic Gaming Monthly article that discusses its practicality and historical precedents. Keirsey thought that the weapon lacked practicality in the real world, but acknowledged that use of gravity based weapons do go back even into antiquity. ^[21]

Multiplayer

Main article: Half-Life 2: Deathmatch

Half-Life 2 was released without a multiplayer component, and was instead packaged with Counter-Strike: Source. Counter-Strike Source (commonly shortened to CSS or simply CSS) is a PC Game developed by the Valve Corporation. ^[22] This changed on November 30, 2004, when Valve released the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch component on Steam for US$9. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Deathmatch (abbreviated DM) is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many Shooter and Real-time strategy (RTS Computer games The goal Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer 95.

Like other deathmatch games, the aim of Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is to kill as many other players as possible, using a variety of means, in either free-for-all or team matches. The player spawns with a gravity gun, a pistol, a sub-machine gun, and grenades. In computer and video games, spawning is the in-game creation of an entity such as a player character, a Non-player character (NPC or an item All weapons included in the single player portion of Half-Life 2, with the exception of the pheropod (bugbait), are available and scattered around the maps. Players can be killed in a number of ways, including gunfire, explosions, or through contact with physical objects traveling at high speeds. Vehicles do not exist in the unmodified game, but custom maps and modifications to the engine can add them.

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch's February 17, 2005 update introduced a new map (dm_steamlab) and three new weapons that had been missing from the game previously, or cut before it shipped. Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This included the crowbar (for human player models) and the stunstick (for combine player models), and the SLAM, or Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition, a real-world weapon which can either be thrown and detonated or planted on walls to produce a "tripwire" laser which detonates the device when in contact with an object or person. A tripwire is a passive Triggering mechanism usually/originally employed for military purposes although its principle has been used since prehistory for methods of trapping

While the Xbox release of the original Half-Life 2 contains no multiplayer component, the re-release of Half-Life 2 (packaged as The Orange Box) for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 includes Team Fortress 2 and Portal, in addition to Episodes One and Two. The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. The Orange Box is a Video game compilation for Microsoft Windows, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. Portal is a Single-player first-person action / puzzle Video game developed by Valve Corporation. Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life Half-Life 2 Episode Two is the second installment in Valve Corporation 's series of episodes for the First person shooter Computer game ^[23]

Synopsis

Prologue

The original Half-Life, released on November 19, 1998, largely took place at a remote civilian and military laboratory called the Black Mesa Research Facility. Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) A laboratory (informally lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific Research, Experiments and During an experiment, researchers at Black Mesa accidentally caused a "resonance cascade" which ripped open a portal to an alien world, Xen. Extraterrestrial life is Life originating outside of the Earth. Creatures from Xen flooded into Black Mesa via the portal and started to kill anyone in sight. The player took on the role of Gordon Freeman, one of the research scientists involved in the accident, guiding him in his attempt to escape the facility. Dr Gordon Freeman is the silent Protagonist of the ''Half-Life'' series of First-person shooter Video games developed by Valve Software At the end of the game, Gordon was extracted by a mysterious figure colloquially known as the G-Man who "offered" him employment. The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a mysterious recurring character in the Half-Life series of First-person shooter computer games Gordon was subsequently put into stasis by the G-Man. Stasis (ˈsteɪsɪs or hypersleep, is a Science fiction concept akin to Suspended animation.

Half-Life canon dictates that Gordon Freeman either agreed or was not given a real option with respect to the G-Man's offer. This article is not about Literary canons of influential works of fiction but about the concept of a canon which defines the world of a particular fictional series Half-Life 2 picks up the story with the G-Man taking Freeman out of stasis and inserting him on a train en-route to City 17 an indeterminate number of years after the Black Mesa Incident. Official sources differ on the actual length of this intermission—a story fragment written by author Marc Laidlaw for the development team puts the intermission at 10 years,^[24] while Half-Life 2: Episode One's Web site puts this intermission as "nearly two decades" after the end of the events of Half-Life. Marc Laidlaw (born 1960 is an American writer of Science fiction and horror and also a Computer game designer with Valve Software Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life A decade is a period of 10 Years (since 1594 a factor of 10 difference between two numbers, or sometimes a set or a group of ten (since 1451 ^[25]

Plot

When Doctor Kleiner's teleporter malfunctions, Gordon is momentarily transported to Doctor Breen's office

At the start of the game, the G-Man speaks to Gordon Freeman as part of a hallucination-like vision as he is pulled out of stasis and placed on a train. Doctor Isaac Kleiner is a Fictional character from the Video games Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Doctor Wallace Breen is a Fictional character from the 2004 First-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2, produced by Valve The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a mysterious recurring character in the Half-Life series of First-person shooter computer games A hallucination, in the broadest sense is a Perception in the absence of a stimulus. Gordon exits the train to find that the world has been overtaken by an extradimensional military force known as the Combine. Parallel universe or alternative reality is a self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the ^[26] Gordon meets up with Barney Calhoun and sets out for Doctor Isaac Kleiner's lab while being chased by Combine Civil Protection, meeting Alyx Vance along the way. Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of First-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. Doctor Isaac Kleiner is a Fictional character from the Video games Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Alyx Vance is a Fictional character in Valve 's 2004 First-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2, and its following episodes Once they reach their destination, Kleiner attempts to teleport them to Black Mesa East, but although Alyx arrives successfully, Kleiner's pet headcrab, Lamarr, damages the device when Gordon tries to use it. Teleportation is the movement of objects from one place to another more or less instantaneously either by Paranormal means or through technological artifice A headcrab is a fictional alien Parasitoid found in the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 computer game series A headcrab is a fictional alien Parasitoid found in the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 computer game series Gordon is thus briefly teleported to many places, most notably Dr. Breen's office, who alerts the Combine to his reappearance. Doctor Wallace Breen is a Fictional character from the 2004 First-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2, produced by Valve He finally materializes just outside the window of Kleiner's lab. Barney instructs Gordon to take the city's canals to get to Black Mesa East, where Alyx's father, Dr. Eli Vance, works. Doctor Eli Vance is a Fictional character from the Computer games Half-Life ( 1998) and Half-Life 2 (2004 by ^[27]

While navigating through the city's canals, Gordon is chased by the Combine on foot until being supplied with an air boat at a rebel outpost; by this point it becomes increasingly obvious that Gordon has a heroic, almost messianic reputation with the rebels and outlaws. Airboats are essentially flat-bottomed vessels propelled in a forward direction by an aircraft-type Propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive Engine ^[28] However, the air boat is soon spotted by the Combine and pursued by a hunter-chopper assault helicopter. History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. Using a salvaged hunter-chopper turret, Gordon manages to take down the pursuing helicopter. ^[29] He arrives at Black Mesa East and meets Eli Vance and Doctor Judith Mossman, also rejoining Alyx. Doctor Judith Mossman is a Fictional character in the 2004 First-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. Alyx gives him a tool originally developed for handling hazardous or heavy materials called the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator (also known as the gravity gun) and instructs Gordon on its use while also introducing Dog, her giant "pet" robot. Dog (occasionally written as D0g or d0g) is a Robot in Valve Software 's 2004 First-person shooter computer and video game A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements The lab is attacked by the Combine, Alyx makes it safely back to the lab, but Gordon is forced to escape along an old tunnel leading to Ravenholm. ^[30]

A group of Antlions attacking Gordon

A Combine shelling has caused Ravenholm to be overrun with headcrabs and zombies. Half-Life 2 is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game and the sequel to the highly acclaimed Half-Life A headcrab is a fictional alien Parasitoid found in the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 computer game series zombie is a reanimated human corpse Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled The last survivor, Father Grigori, helps Gordon through Ravenholm and ultimately leads him to the dockyards outside City 17. Father Grigori is a Fictional character in Valve Software 's computer game sequel Half-Life 2, appearing throughout the Ravenholm ^[31] Freeman is alerted by Alyx via radio that Eli has been captured and is being held in Nova Prospekt. ^[32] Gordon travels to Nova Prospekt in a dune buggy, helping to down a Combine gunship after meeting Colonel Odessa Cubbage at another resistance base; Cubbage gives him an RPG launcher for this purpose. A dune buggy is a recreational Vehicle with large Wheels and wide Tires designed for use on sand Dunes or Beaches The design The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country Colonel Odessa Cubbage is a minor character in the First-person shooter Computer game, Half-Life 2, appearing briefly in a Highway 17 (Chapter RPG or rocket-propelled grenade, is a loose term describing hand-held shoulder-launched Anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided The journey is made difficult due to Antlion infestation along the coast, but once Gordon kills their Antlion Guard master, the Vortigaunts are able to extract pheropods which Gordon can then use to control a number of antlions in the assault on Nova Prospekt. Half-Life 2 is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game and the sequel to the highly acclaimed Half-Life Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter Computer game series which consists of two full games two episodic games and three third-party Vortigaunts are a fictional alien race in the ''Half-Life'' series by the Valve Corporation. ^[33]

At Nova Prospekt, Gordon searches for Eli. ^[34] Alyx joins with Gordon again, and together they find both Eli and Doctor Judith Mossman (revealed to be a Combine spy). Mossman creates a distraction and teleports herself and Eli into the Citadel, while Gordon and Alyx teleport themselves to Doctor Kleiner's lab. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the A malfunction in the equipment causes a huge explosion, which causes the time to slow down during the teleportation, contracting seven days into a few seconds. They arrive at Doctor Kleiner's lab a week after they left Nova Prospekt. ^[35] During this lost week, the explosion has been taken as a signal to start the resistance, which has considerably strengthened, turning City 17 into a warzone. The Resistance is a faction of humans and Vortigaunts in Half-Life 2 and its episodic continuations that fight the Combine in the Battle Gordon leads freedom fighters towards the Citadel to free Doctor Vance while Alyx helps Doctor Kleiner escape the lab. Later, Alyx briefly rejoins and accompanies Gordon in a battle to disable a Combine power generator, but is subsequently captured by Combine forces. ^[36] After reaching Barney, Gordon shuts down a suppression device blocking access to the Citadel and brings down a pack of Striders. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the ^[37]

Resistance fighters help Gordon take down a strider

Gordon enters the Citadel through an underground passage. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the All of his weapons are destroyed by a "confiscation field", except for the gravity gun. An unexpected reaction with the confiscation field causes the gun's powers to be amplified, and using this Gordon wreaks havoc upon the Citadel. ^[38] Gordon enters a containment apparatus, which brings him face-to-face with Doctor Breen. Doctor Judith Mossman is with Breen, and he summons Eli and Alyx, who are being held in similar devices. During the confrontation, Breen remarks that Freeman's services are "open to the highest bidder. " As Breen threatens the Vances, Judith turns against him. Breen manages to escape to a "Dark Energy Reactor" at the top of the Citadel with the intent of teleporting himself away from Earth. Gordon and Alyx pursue him, and Gordon destroys the reactor, both to depower the Citadel and to prevent Breen's escape. This triggers a massive explosion in which Alyx and Gordon are imperiled. ^[39] However, at the moment the reactor explodes, time stops. The G-Man emerges, commenting on Gordon's successful endeavors. He places Gordon back into stasis and leaves through a door of pure light. The game ends exactly as it began, in darkness. The story continues from this point in Half-Life 2: Episode One. Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life

Narrative

Throughout the entire game, Gordon never speaks, the action is viewed through his eyes only (i. e. , there are no cut scenes), and there are no discontinuities or jumps in time (from his point of view). A cut scene is a sequence in a Video game over which the player has little or no control often breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot present

There has been some criticism of these narrative holdovers from Half-Life,^[40] since they effectively limit how much of the backstory is explained. In Narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story Due to the lack of cut scenes, the player never directly sees what has happened in Gordon's absence. Ultimately, it is not clear to what extent Gordon exists as a separate character outside of the player's influence. Since the start of Half-Life, Valve has made sure that the player's and Gordon's experience are one and the same. An example of Valve's player strategy is shown during the scene in Eli's lab. Investigation of certain props (most notably the newspaper board) triggers Eli to give some explanation to their meaning and history, thus indicating that Gordon presents emotions that the non-player characters can detect. A non-player character, often shortened to NPC, is a character that is controlled by the Gamemaster in Role-playing games or one that is not ^[30]

The ending of Half-Life 2 is also very similar to that of the original: after completing a difficult task against seemingly overwhelming odds, Gordon is extracted by the G-Man. Gordon is smugly congratulated and told that further assignments should follow. The fates of many of the major characters, such as Alyx, Eli, and Judith, go unexplained. Very few of the questions raised by Half-Life are answered, and several new ones are presented. The identity and nature of the G-Man remains a mystery. A number of these issues are addressed, however, in the sequel games, Episode One and Episode Two. Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life Half-Life 2 Episode Two is the second installment in Valve Corporation 's series of episodes for the First person shooter Computer game

Setting

A Civil Protection officer attacking Gordon. In the background is an example of the cityscape showing the Eastern European style, mixed with elements of Combine architecture

The environments in Half-Life 2 are varied, ranging from the generally Eastern European-styled City 17 and the zombie-infested town of Ravenholm, to the coastal Nova Prospekt prison and the massive Combine Citadel. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire which serves as the primary Antagonistic force in the Viktor Antonov, the art director of Half-Life 2, being a Bulgarian, spent his childhood in Bulgaria, wrote that Eastern Europe was favored as a setting for the game as it is capable of depicting a combination of both new and old architecture, creating a city with history; "gothic themes associated with Prague and vampires" were also overlooked in favor of a different aspect of the region. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living ^[24]

The game's setting sees frequent appearances of Cyrillic letters on signs and graffiti (written in Bulgarian spelling); this has led some to argue that City 17 is in fact a Combine-altered Sofia, Bulgaria. The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by Graffiti (singular graffito; the plural is used as a Mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched scrawled painted or marked in any manner on property Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group Sofia (София ˈsɔfija is the Capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria, with a population of 1395568 in the Capital Municipality The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Old cars scattered throughout the game are Soviet-made and used to be commonly found in Eastern Europe, such as Moskvitchs, Zaporozhets, East Germany-made Trabants, Volgas (GAZ-24), Latvias (RAF-2203), and GAZ-53s. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 For other uses see Moskvitch (disambiguation Moskvitch (Москвич (sometimes also mentioned as Moskvich or Moskwitch The Zaporozhets (Запоро́жец; Запорожець Zaporozhets) was a series of subcompact cars designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ Factory The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state The Trabant is an Automobile formerly produced by East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Saxony Volga (Волга is automobile brand that originated in Soviet Union to replace the venerated GAZ-M20 Pobeda in 1956 GAZ-53 is a 35 ton 4x2 Truck from GAZ, introduced first as GAZ-53F in 1961 During the game, Gordon comes to a coastal Resistance settlement called New Little Odessa; Little Odessa is the nickname for the Russian community in Brighton Beach, where many ex-Soviet immigrants settled (the original Odessa is a major city located on the coast of Ukraine). BrightonCOOPsJPG|thumb|Newly built luxury condos on Brighton Beach]]BrightonSchool1438 ODESSA which stands for the German phrase O rganisation d er e hemaligen SS - A ngehörigen which in turn translates Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Father Grigori has a name common in Slavic Eastern European countries, an accent that is stereotypically Slavic Eastern European, and has been identified as a clergyman of the Orthodox Christian Church, the predominant religious institution found in some Slavic Eastern European countries. Father Grigori is a Fictional character in Valve Software 's computer game sequel Half-Life 2, appearing throughout the Ravenholm The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world

Half-Life 2 differs from many other FPS by incorporating elements of survival horror, most notably in the Ravenholm level. Survival horror is a video game genre inspired by fictional Horror films in which the player's primary objective is to survive and/or escape a threat typical of horror The anguished atmosphere of this is akin to the likes of Silent Hill, combined with a large and intricate level design. is a Survival horror Video game franchise developed and published by Konami.

Reception

Half-Life 2’s public reception was overwhelmingly positive in terms of reviews, acclaim and sales. As of June 8, 2006, over four million copies of the game have been sold. Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[13] This is around half the number of Half-Life copies sold. Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product

Critical response

Half-Life 2 became one of the most critically acclaimed video games in history. It is currently one of the highest ranking PC games at Game Rankings with an average critic score of 96%. Game Rankings is a Website which keeps track of Video game reviews from other sites and combines them to present an average rating for each game Sources such as GameSpy,^[41] The Cincinnati Enquirer,^[42] and The New York Times^[43] have given perfect reviewing scores, and others such as PC Gamer and IGN^[44] gave near-perfect scores (it was one of only four games ever to get 96% from PC Gamer UK, the best score they have ever awarded, and the game is only one of three games ever to get a near perfect score, 98%, from PC Gamer US), while the game became the fifth title to receive Edge magazine’s ten-out-of-ten score. GameSpy, also known as GameSpy Industries, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related The Cincinnati Enquirer a daily morning Newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati ( Ohio) and Northern PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. IGN (abbreviated and formerly known as I magine G ames N etwork is a multimedia news and reviews Website that focuses heavily on Video Edge is a multi-format Computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. ^[45] Critics who applauded the game cited the advanced graphics and physics^[43] along with the relatively low system requirements. ^[46] Maximum PC awarded Half-Life 2 an unprecedented 11 on their rating scale which peaks at 10, and named it the "best game ever made. Maximum PC, formerly known as boot, is an American Magazine published by Future US, and focuses on modern day "

Several critics, including some that had given positive reviews, complained about the required usage of the program Steam, the requirement to create an account register your products and permanently lock them to the account before being allowed to play, along with complications making it impossible to install and lack of support. ^[43]

Awards

Half-Life 2 earned over 35 Game of the Year awards,^[10] 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. Game of the Year (abbreviated GotY or GOTY) is a distinction awarded by various Magazines and Websites to a deserving PC or console The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually hosted by the Game Developers Conference and presented by the International Game Developers Association for outstanding Edge magazine awarded Half Life 2 with its top honor of the year with the award for Best Game, as well as awards for Innovation and Visual Design. The game also had a strong showing at the 2004 BAFTA Games Awards, picking up six awards, more than any other game that night, with awards including "Best Game" and "Best Online Game. In 2003 the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA announced that they would be splitting their BAFTA Games Awards from the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment "^[47]

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 vortigaunt, plush headcrab,^[48] posters, clothing and mousepads. Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous Plush (from French fr ''peluche'' is a Textile having a cut nap or pile the same as Fustian or Velvet. Vortigaunts are a fictional alien race in the ''Half-Life'' series by the Valve Corporation. Plush (from French fr ''peluche'' is a Textile having a cut nap or pile the same as Fustian or Velvet. A headcrab is a fictional alien Parasitoid found in the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 computer game series ^[49]

Technical

Source engine

Main article: Source engine

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 is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of computer and video games The Source engine is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the Illusion of intelligence in the behavior of Non-player 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. Havok Physics, better known as simply Havok, is a Physics engine developed by Irish company Havok.

The engine can be easily upgraded because it is separated in modules. When coupled with Steam, it becomes easy to roll out new features. Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer One such example is high dynamic range rendering, which Valve incorporated into a free download-able level called Lost Coast for owners of the Half-Life 2 game. High dynamic range rendering ( HDRR or HDR Rendering) also known as high dynamic range lighting, is the rendering of 3D Computer Half-Life 2 Lost Coast is an additional level for Valve Software 's 2004 First-person shooter Computer game Half-Life 2

Several other games use the Source engine developed by Valve including the popular Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source, both of which were also developed by Valve. Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous Day of Defeat Source is a team-based First-person shooter multiplayer Video game developed by the Valve Corporation. Counter-Strike Source (commonly shortened to CSS or simply CSS) is a PC Game developed by the Valve Corporation. There is also a large modding community using the source engine.

Steam content delivery system

Main article: Steam (content delivery)

The Steam content delivery system user interface

Integral to Half-Life 2 is the Steam content delivery system developed by Valve Corporation. Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer All Half-Life 2 players on PC are required to have Steam installed and a valid account in order to play. ^[50] Steam allows customers to purchase games and other software straight from the developer and have them downloaded directly to their computer as well as receiving "micro updates. To download is to receive data from a remote or central system such as a Webserver, FTP server, mail server or other similar systems " 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. Hack has several meanings in the technology and computer science fields Cheating in Online games are activities that modify the game experience to give one player an advantage over another player(s depending on the game different activities constitute The Copyright infringement of Software (also known as software piracy) refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer ^[51] 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 given time.

The usage of Steam has not gone without controversy. ^[52] 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. ^[53] 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. ^[54][55] Regardless of whether or not a customer intends to use any multi-player features, the computer on which the game was installed must have Steam and an Internet connection to verify the transaction. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks

Release and distribution

A 1GB portion of Half-Life 2 became available for pre-load through Steam on August 26, 2004. A gigabyte (derived from the SI prefix Giga-) is a unit of Information or Computer Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " ^[56] 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, and on DVD in several editions. A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is 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. Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product Day of Defeat Source is a team-based First-person shooter multiplayer Video game developed by the Valve Corporation. 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. A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a Shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's Torso. Strategy guides (攻略本 in Japan, literally "capture book" are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific Video games The Both the disc and Steam version require Steam to be installed and active for play.

Subsequent releases

The Xbox 360 version of the "Orange Box"

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 Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. Demoware (also known as trialware) is commercial Software released for free ( Shareware) in a version which is limited in one or more ways A video card, also known as a graphics accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card, is a hardware component whose function is to 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 a 64-bit version of Windows. Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. '64-bit' CPUs have existed in Supercomputers since the 1960s and in RISC -based workstations and servers since the early 1990s. x86-64 is a Superset of the x86 instruction set architecture. Windows XP has been released in several editions since its original release in 2001 This update, delivered via Steam, enabled Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games to run natively on 64bit processors, bypassing the 32-bit compatibility layer. WoW64 ( Windows-on-Windows 64-bit) is a subsystem of the Windows Operating system that is capable of running 32-bit applications and is included 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. Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and Managing director of Game development company Valve Corporation. ^[57] 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. ^[58] 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. ^[59]

Xbox port

An Xbox port published by Electronic Arts was released on November 15, 2005. The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. While subject to positive reception, critics cited its lack of multiplayer and frame-rate issues as problems, and the game received somewhat lower scores than its PC counterpart. A multiplayer game is a Game which is played by several players. ^[60]

The Orange Box

Main article: The Orange Box

During Electronic Arts’s summer press event on July 13, 2006, Gabe Newell, cofounder of Valve Corporation, announced that Half-Life 2 would ship on next-generation consoles (specifically, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) including episodes One and Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal^[11] in a package called The Orange Box. The Orange Box is a Video game compilation for Microsoft Windows, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and Managing director of Game development company Valve Corporation. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life Half-Life 2 Episode Two is the second installment in Valve Corporation 's series of episodes for the First person shooter Computer game Portal is a Single-player first-person action / puzzle Video game developed by Valve Corporation. The Windows version was released on October 10, 2007 as both retail boxed copy, and as a download available through Valve’s Steam service. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer The Xbox 360 version was also released on October 10, 2007. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. A PlayStation 3 version was released on December 11, 2007. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Expansions and modifications

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

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 two additional "expansion" sequels. Half-Life 2 Lost Coast is an additional level for Valve Software 's 2004 First-person shooter Computer game Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life Half-Life 2 Episode Two is the second installment in Valve Corporation 's series of episodes for the First person shooter Computer game Half-Life 2 Episode Three will be the third and final installment in a series of episodic expansions of Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Corporation High dynamic range rendering ( HDRR or HDR Rendering) also known as high dynamic range lighting, is the rendering of 3D Computer The level, "Lost Coast," takes place between the levels "Highway 17" and "Sandtraps" and is primarily a showcase for high dynamic range rendering (HDR) technology. Half-Life 2 Lost Coast is an additional level for Valve Software 's 2004 First-person shooter Computer game Half-Life 2 High dynamic range rendering ( HDRR or HDR Rendering) also known as high dynamic range lighting, is the rendering of 3D Computer The first "expansion" sequel, Half-Life 2: Episode One, takes place immediately 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. Half-Life 2 Episode One is the first in a trilogy of episodes serving as the sequel for the 2004 First-person shooter game Half-Life Half-Life 2: Episode Two continues directly from the ending of Episode One, with Alyx and Gordon making their way to White Forest Missile base, the latest hideout of the resistance. Half-Life 2 Episode Two is the second installment in Valve Corporation 's series of episodes for the First person shooter Computer game A further "episode" is set to be released in the future, dubbed Episode Three; being the last expansion, "in a trilogy. Half-Life 2 Episode Three will be the third and final installment in a series of episodic expansions of Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Corporation "^[61] In an interview with Eurogamer, Gabe Newell revealed that the Half-Life 2 "episodes" are essentially Half-Life 3. ^[62] 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. ^[62] 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. ^[62]

Third-party mods

Main article: List of Half-Life 2 mods

Since the release of the Source engine SDK, a large number of modifications (mods) have been developed by the Half-Life 2 community. This is a selected list of Half-Life 2 Mods (modifications This list is divided into single player and multiplayer mods A software development kit ( SDK or " devkit " is typically a set of development tools that allows a Software engineer to create applications Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Computer games especially First-person shooters RPGs and Real-time strategy games Mods vary in scale, from fan-created levels and weapons, to partial conversions such as Rock 24, Half-Life 2 Substance and Smod (which modify the storyline and gameplay of the pre-existing game), SourceForts and Garry's Mod (which allow the player to experiment with the physics system in a sandbox mode), to total conversions such as Dystopia, Zombie Master or Iron Grip: The Oppression, the latter of which transforms the game from a first-person shooter into a real-time strategy game. SourceForts is a multiplayer Capture the flag mod, for the Computer game Half-Life 2. Garry's Mod or Gmod is a modification for the Source engine. It is a physics Sandbox game that allows the player to manipulate objects and experiment Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Computer games especially First-person shooters RPGs and Real-time strategy games Dystopia is a Cyberpunk themed team-based First-person shooter Multiplayer Video game, developed as a total conversion modification Zombie Master is a multiplayer Half-Life 2 modification centered around a zombie-apocalypse Iron Grip The Oppression is a total conversion mod for Half-Life 2 ( HL2) 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, and Resident Evil: Twilight, based on the Resident Evil series. GoldenEye Source total conversion mod in development using the Source engine developed by Valve Corporation for the computer game GoldenEye 007 is a 1997 First-person shooter Video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 Video game console, Resident Evil (known in Japan as) is a Survival horror Video game series and Media franchise consisting of Comic books novelizations Many more mods are still in development, including Neotokyo, Grayshot, and the episodic single player mod MINERVA. Episodic games are those produced and sold in small units that build into a recognisable series (See Expansion pack) MINERVA is an episodic series of single-player mods created by Adam Foster for Valve Corporation's Half-Life 2. The multiplayer Insurgency,^[63] which focuses on realistic modern infantry combat, has recently been opened to the public as a beta. Also a Team Fortress mod has put up applications to join Fortress Forever private beta. Team Fortress (sometimes abbreviated as QTF) is a team and class based online Multiplayer Computer game modification based on Fortress Forever is a Half-Life 2 mod that uses the game's Source Engine. Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, a total conversion, has released a public beta as well. Pirates Vikings and Knights II is a multiplayer team-based first-person action video game developed as a total conversion modification

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. Black Mesa (previously known as Black Mesa Source) is a third-party total conversion mod for Half-Life 2. Level design or game mapping is the creation of levels mdashlocales stages or missions&mdashfor a Video game (such as a Console game or

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 Raising the Bar - A Behind the Scenes Look Prima's Official Insider's Guide is a coffee-table book published by Prima Games in November ^[24] 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. Colonel Odessa Cubbage is a minor character in the First-person shooter Computer game, Half-Life 2, appearing briefly in a Highway 17 (Chapter Doctor Eli Vance is a Fictional character from the Computer games Half-Life ( 1998) and Half-Life 2 (2004 by In addition, the player was to follow a vastly different journey from what is in the final release.

Other cuts from the game included 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". See XM29 OICW for more information on that subset of the overall program The Objective The E3 Media and Business Summit, formerly known as Electronic Entertainment Expo and commonly known as E3, is an annual Trade show for the computer At first Valve was to include a sniper rifle as one of the weapons Gordon Freeman could wield. This weapon was soon replaced by the crossbow.

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. A tech demo (technology demonstration is a prototype rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a product put together with the primary purpose of showcasing the idea performance It is possible that more removed sections of HL2 will be seen in future expansion packs. An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing Role-playing game, Tabletop game or Video game.

Some of the cut content is available in a discontinued 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. An icebreaker is a special purpose Ship or Boat designed to move and navigate through Ice -covered waters This mod has not been sanctioned by Valve, being described as "illegal content,"^[64] and official permission has not been given for the redistribution of modified versions of the original leaked material. ^[65] However, the Borealis was seen in Episode Two as a ship that disappeared one day, taking part of the dry dock with it. It is believed that the Borealis will be seen in Episode Three.

Source code leak

Half-Life 2 was merely a rumor until a strong impression at E3 in May 2003 launched it into high levels of hype, where it won several awards for best in show. The E3 Media and Business Summit, formerly known as Electronic Entertainment Expo and commonly known as E3, is an annual Trade show for the computer It had a release date of September 2003, but was delayed. This pushing back of HL2’s release date came in the wake of the cracking of Valve's internal network,^[66] through a null session connection to Tangis which was hosted in Valve’s network and a subsequent upload of an ASP shell, resulting in the leak of the game’s source code in early September 2003. In common usage hacker is generic term for a computer criminal often with a specific specialty in computer intrusion Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet or in newbie terms a way for you Active Server Pages ( ASP) is Microsoft 's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated web pages An Internet leak occurs when a party's confidential Intellectual property is released to the public on the Internet. In Computer science, source code (commonly just source or code) is any sequence of statements or declarations written in some Human-readable ^[67] On October 2, Valve CEO Gabe Newell publicly explained in the HalfLife2.net forums the events that Valve experienced around the time of the leak, and requested users to track down the perpetrators if possible. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and Managing director of Game development company Valve Corporation.

In June 2004, Valve Software announced in a press release that the FBI had arrested several people suspected of involvement in the source code leak. ^[68] Valve claimed the game had been leaked by a German hacker named Axel Gembe. Gembe later contacted Newell through e-mail (also providing an unreleased document planning the E3 events). Gembe was led into believing that Valve wanted to employ him as an in-house security auditor. He was to be offered a flight to the USA and arrested on arrival by the FBI. When the German government became aware of the plan, Gembe was arrested in Germany instead, and put on trial for the leak as well as other computer crimes in November 2006, such as the creation of a highly successful trojan which harvested users' data. Agobot, also frequently known as Gaobot, is a family of Computer worms A German named Axel Gembe was responsible for writing the first version ^[69]

At the trial in November 2006 in Germany, Gembe was sentenced to two years' probation. In imposing the sentence, the judge took into account such factors as Gembe's difficult childhood and the fact that he was taking steps to improve his situation. ^[70]

Contract dispute with Vivendi Universal Games

On September 20, 2004, the gaming public learned through GameSpot that Vivendi Universal Games (VUG) was in a legal battle with Valve Software over the distribution of Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " GameSpot is a video gaming Website that provides News, Reviews Previews Downloads and other information Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, is a Worldwide French developer publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment This is important for the Asian PC gaming market where PC and broadband penetration per capita are much lower (except Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan). Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Singapore South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. Therefore, cyber cafés are extremely popular for playing online games for large numbers of people. ^[71]

According to VUG, the distribution contract they signed with Valve included cyber cafés. This would mean that only VUG could distribute Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés—not Valve through the Steam system. On November 29, 2004, Judge Thomas S. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Zilly, of U.S. Federal District Court in Seattle, WA, ruled that Sierra/Vivendi Universal Games, and its affiliates, are not authorized to distribute (directly or indirectly) Valve games through cyber cafés to end users for pay-to-play activities pursuant to the parties' current publishing agreement. The United States district courts are the general Trial courts of the United States federal court system. Pay to Play can refer to several different concepts In politics See also Quid pro quo In politics pay to play refers to a system In addition, Judge Zilly ruled in favour of the Valve motion regarding the contractual limitation of liability, allowing Valve to recover copyright damages for any infringement as allowed by law without regard to the publishing agreement’s limitation of liability clause.

On April 29, 2005, the two parties announced a settlement agreement. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Under the agreement, VUG would cease distributing all retail packaged versions of Valve games by August 31, 2005. VUG also was to notify distributors and cyber cafés that had been licensed by VUG and Sierra that only Valve had the authority to distribute cyber café licenses, and hence their licenses were revoked and switched to Valve's. ^[72]

Soundtrack

All listed tracks were composed by Kelly Bailey. ^[73] 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 available for separate purchase via the Valve online store.

(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.

See also

• Category of Half-Life 2 mods

References

External links

• Official Half-Life 2 website
• Valve Developer Community
• Half-Life Wiki