Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2. For more information about the 
Original Xbox version, see Half-Life 2 (Xbox).
Xbox 360 & 
PlayStation 3 version of Half-Life 2, included on 
The Orange Box, see The Orange Box (Console).
▶ Launch it now*
🛒 Buy it on Steam (via Browser | Steam client*)
*Steam required, click here to download Steam.
Supported OS: 
Windows • 
macOS • 
Linux + 
SteamOS
Steam Deck status: 
Verified - 
More info on ProtonDB
Also available from the following other storefronts or websites: 
Google Play (
NVIDIA Shield only)
Warning:( macOS only) - This game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.▶ Launch it now*
*Steam required, click here to download Steam.
About Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 defines a new benchmark in gaming with startling realism and responsiveness. Powered by then-new 
Source technology, Half-Life 2 features the most sophisticated in-game characters ever witnessed, advanced AI, stunning graphics and physical gameplay. This was the first game requiring installation of Steam when it came out back in 2004.
Half-Life 2 is the sequel to the 1998 
Half-Life. A sequel to Half-Life 2 was released in 2006, titled 
Half-Life 2: Episode One. A virtual reality prequel was released in 2020, titled 
Half-Life: Alyx.
It is also available for the Original Xbox console, as well as for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 via the console version of The Orange Box.
The game has considerable number of physics puzzles which aren't that common in games like 
Doom, Call of Duty and Halo. Even Half-Life has less puzzles.
Content
- Half-Life 2 maps (
hl2) - Source shared (
hl2) 
Source 2013 Singleplayer engine branch
RTX version
A ray-traced version of Half-Life 2 is currently under development by Orbifold Studios, and promoted by Nvidia, using Nvidia's RTX Remix tool.
This version aims to remaster the entire game with new RTX lighting, RTX reflections, PBR textures, and a lot more without changing the core gameplay, similar to 
Portal with RTX.
Chapters
| Half-Life 2 Chapters
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 Point Insertion d1_trainstation_01 |
 "A Red Letter Day" d1_trainstation_05 |
 Route Kanal d1_canals_01 |
 Water Hazard d1_canals_06 |
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 Black Mesa East d1_eli_01 |
 "We Don't Go To Ravenholm..." d1_town_01 |
 Highway 17 d2_coast_01 |
 Sandtraps d2_coast_09 |
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 Nova Prospekt d2_prison_02 |
 Entanglement d2_prison_06 |
 Anticitizen One d3_c17_02 |
 "Follow Freeman!" d3_c17_09 |
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 Our Benefactors d3_citadel_01 |
 Dark Energy d3_breen_01 |
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Credits
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Notes
Dr. Gordon Freeman can collect wooden planks after destroying wooden boxes. This is unlike 
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.
Limitations/Bugs
☐ Unresolved bugs
Warning:When Valve ported Half-Life 2 to 
Source 2013 during transition to SteamPipe, Valve forgot to compile some of the maps with LDR lighting. This means that if HDR is disabled (by selecting None or Bloom only in HDR settings), mat_fullbright will be set to 1, disabling lighting and making everything bright and flat (relevant GitHub issue).This issue is not affected in previous version of the game (which use older engines), and is fixed in
Half-Life 2: Update.☑ Resolved bugs
Bug:There was a bug with Dropship's gun that was unable to turn, this makes the Sandtraps chapter much easier. Presents since 
Source 2007 on /[confirm] and 
Source 2009 on PC, since 2010 engine update. Fixed in
Source 2013 since 2022's Steam Deck update of Half-Life 2.Other limitations
Warning:As of May 26, 2010, the branch of Source under which Half-Life 2 originally ran (Source 2006) no longer exists on Steam, and subsequently replaced by the updated Source 2009 (which later was upgraded again to Source 2013. Very, very old mods which base themselves directly on the game (as opposed to Source SDK Base) are unlikely to work any more.This also meant that support for running Half-Life 2 on Windows 9x/ME/2000 have been also dropped.
Technical notes
- In
Source 2006 version of the game, being underwater at d1_canals_01, or in some area on that same map can cause performance drop. Fixed in 2010 with engine update ( Source 2009). - Although Source mods are often described as being "for Half-Life 2", they actually use Source SDK Base. SDK Base is available to anyone who owns any Valve Source game and provides all of Half-Life 2's content (except maps and vcd scenes) on a static branch of the engine.
- The Half-Life 2 Collectors Edition, which ships with
Source 2004 version of the game, does not require Steam to run or update (similar to latest version), which meant that it will run on older systems with Windows 2000 and earlier. - The 64-bit Windows version of Half-Life 2, which existed around 2005-2006, is no longer available.
System Requirements
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This system requirements applies to the retail version of the game, which runs on Source 2004 or Source 2006.
 Important:The only way to play the "Old Engine" version without Steam and without piracy/workarounds is to purchase or find the Collector's Edition copies, install then launch the game with  hl2.msi instead of  hl2.exe.
Warning:Old Engine version of the game does not fully support multi-core CPUs! | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This system requirements applies to
 Note:Must be run without Steam (by launching hl2.exe directly) to play on XP and Vista.Important:New Engine updates around 2012, drops support for  Windows 2000.
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Warning:( macOS only) - This game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Note:The system requirements for Half-Life 2 on Linux are unofficial, based off Windows/Mac info, as well as other Source games that support Linux, such as Portal 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
External links
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