All the Half-Life Games Are Free to Play Right Now | Game Rant
Half-Life: Alyx, the next entry in Valve's storied FPS franchise, is coming to Steam later this year, and to get fans prepared for the series' return, the publisher has made all four of the previous main games free to play for the next two months.
"Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and the episodes, but the games share characters and story elements," Valve said in a news announcement today. "The Half-Life: Alyx team believes that the best way to enjoy the new game is to play through the old ones, especially Half-Life 2 and the episodes, so we want to make that as easy as possible."
The original Half-Life released in 1998, and was hailed as an achievement in first-person shooters at the time for its gripping narrative and gameplay that aimed for a more realistic feeling than previous popular FPS games. Half-Life 2 arrived six years later and continued the series's hot streak, still having fans today thanks to iconic characters like Alyx Vance and the Combine, a distinctive set of weapons (including the Gravity Gun), and for the unique narrative style that Valve pioneered.
Fan anticipation for a new entry in the Half-Life series hit a fever pitch after the release of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, with the series going radio silent for over a decade and many of the original developers moving on to other projects inside Valve and elsewhere. The company finally unveiled its newest take on the series in 2019.
The newest game, Half-Life: Alyx, turned out not to be Half-Life 3 or the sequel to the episodes that fans were hoping for, but a VR prequel to Half-Life 2, putting players into Alyx Vance's shoes before she meets series protagonist Gordon Freeman. Steam users who might want to see what all the hubbub is about will be able to catch up with the series so far until Alyx releases in March.
Valve is no stranger to using freebies to promote its newest projects. The company gave away Portal for free alongside the launch of the Mac version of Steam, and both Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive moved to free-to-play models a few years after their original release dates. Fans will probably want to take advantage of the offer and play through the games before March, as a specific launch date for Half-Life: Alyx hasn't officially been confirmed and Valve's phrasing suggests that the games are available as a free trial rather than a full giveaway. Get it while it's hot!
Half-Life: Alyx is out for PC through SteamVR in March 2020.
Source: Valve
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