Pleasant surprise: Half-Life gets a major update for its 25th anniversary

Valve has added tons of new content to the Half-Lifeofficial support for Steam Deck and released a documentary about this game.

Valve just released a major update for the 25th anniversary of Half-Life that brings plenty of new content, some welcome improvements to gameplay, and even Steam Deck support, according to an announcement on the Half-Life website. Also, you can download the game for free for a certain period of time.

So let's start with the new additions: 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 also four new multiplayer maps that Valve describes as “pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the Half-Life engine.” Valve also added maps and multiplayer character models from the Half-Life: Further Data CD.

You can download Half-Life for free in the next two days

Once you're done reading the lengthy update notes on their site, you can check out the new 25th anniversary documentary that Valve just uploaded to their YouTube channel (directed by Danny O'Dwyer, who you may know from Noclip-a) and we hung it right below this paragraph. If you don't already have Half Life, you can download for free from Steam until November 20 (7 p.m. CET).

Valve has also added some new settings, including the ability to play with a wide FOV and support for a “properly configured joystick”. The game's user interface has been updated to now adapt to larger screens. And Half Life is now Steam Deck Verified, which means it should run fine on Steam Deck without any tweaks.

Finally, there are a few important notes: the anniversary edition is now the “definitive version,” according to Valve, but the old version of the game is still available on the “steam_legacy” beta branch. Valve will also “reduce the visibility” of Half-Life: Source.