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 | Half-Life 2 Info
Developer: Valve Software
Publisher: VU Games / Sierra Entertainment
Scheduled Release: November 16, 2004 (Worldwide)
In addition to the HL2 info revealed at the 2003 and 2004 E3 events, Valve has continued to conduct interviews and release extra
media to keep gamers happy.
Want the details? Specifics on HL2 are available in the various pages of our Game Info section and preview media can be found in our downloads section.
Game Info: - Story - what we know of HL2's closely guarded plot.
- Characters - Gordon's back. And so are some other guys.
- Enemies - from head-crabs to towering alien tripods, Gordon will have his hands full
- Weapons - what good are a hoard of fiendish enemies without being able to blow them into a billion pieces?
- Review List - see what the press are saying about our beloved game both online and in print magazines.
- FAQ - a myriad of important facts concerning HL2, Steam/multiplayer and the Source conversions.
- Press Links - comphrehensive listing of HL2 related previews and interviews.
- Purchase Options - there are a pile of options for buying HL2. Get the facts so you can make the right choice.
Media:
- Videos - mirrors and information on all the officially released gameplay and "behind the scenes" videos.
- Screenshots - pictures are worth a thousand words and we hear HL2 screenshots are worth even more.
- Concept Art - See the amazing artistry behind the game.
- Wallpapers - fan created images to give your desktop some of that Half-Life appeal.
Summary
Half-Life 2 is a first person shooter from Valve Software currently set for release in the summer of 2004. The original Half-Life, released in November 1998, was a groundbreaking success taking over 50 "Game of the Year" awards and selling over 8 million copies worldwide. In the years since, it has received a number of expansion packs and spawned countless mods making it the most popular online shooter.
It is with little surprise then that its sequel has been so greatly anticipated since its unveiling at the E3 event in May 2003. Gabe Newell, Valve's managing director sent the gaming world into a frenzy with a half-hour presentation in the ATI booth at the expo. Featured in the presentation were extended gameplay sequences and technology demos showing off the new "Source" engine on which HL2 is built. Touting cutting edge DirectX 9 graphics, unprecedented AI and physics and an amazing lip-synching system, the demonstration grabbed gamers' attention the world over. Valve has also revealed the game will ship in a number of different packages - more on that in our FAQ.
Gabe Newell at E3, May 2003. |
While little was revealed about the story, Newell promised a gripping Hollywood-level narrative from original Half-Life script-writer Marc Laidlaw. Newell also announced that the game was scheduled for a September 30 2003 release.
But then disaster struck. What appeared to be Half-Life 2's source code began distribution across the web. Many thought it to be a hoax but Gabe Newell's now infamous forum post confirmed otherwise,
Yes, the source code that has been posted is the HL-2 source code
...
Well, this sucks.
-Gabe Newell, October 3, 2003
A few days later a CNN/Money article reported,
Somewhere on or around Sept. 11, hackers broke into the email of Valve founder Gabe Newell, possibly utilizing a security hole in Microsoft Outlook. Eight days later, they made a copy of the game's source tree. Keystroke recorders were also installed on the computers of several other employees. The invasion was methodical and seems deliberately aimed at the developer.
In early October, hackers released a partly-playable version of the game, which, while extremely buggy and incomplete, spread like wildfire through Warez networks.
In response, VU Games announced that HL2 would be delayed until April of 2004. Many gamers hoped Valve could still hold to the September date but Valve confirmed the delay on September 25. The only other official release information was from an earlier VU estimating a "holiday release" but this obviously never eventuated. Little more was known until February 3rd when Doug Lombardi, Valve's director of marketing, told CNN/Money that Valve was now "targeting this summer for the completion of Half-Life 2". "Summer" was confirmed a number of times by both Gabe Newell and Lombardi but Valve were understandably unwilling to set anything more specific.
A special Steam announcement confirmed the gold news. |
By September, the official line for release had slipped to "Fall". Some thought anxiously back to the events of the previous September. The drama continued with a fake gold post on HL Fallout's forums. Shortly after, Gabe Newell finally confirmed that a Release Candidate had been submitted to VUGames on September 16th. The lack of any news in the following weeks prompted speculation that VUGames might in fact be purposely holding onto HL2 as part of the legal battle between Valve and its publisher. This soon proved to be false.
Rumours started hitting the surface that HL2 was already gold on Friday October 15th. The gaming community held its breath over the weekend anticipating but not fully believing that a gold announcement was imminent. All doubts were cast aside on the Monday, with VUG issuing a formal gold press release. The announcement also revealed an official world-wide release date of November 16, 2004 which is expected to be met without any further difficulties.
For more details on the events leading up to Half-Life 2's release, please check our news archives.
More details on the game are available from the other pages in our Game Info section.
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