Half-Life is a first-person shooter video game developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios for Microsoft Windows in 1998. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. Players assume the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who must escape the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is invaded by aliens. The core gameplay consists of fighting alien and human enemies with a variety of weapons and solving puzzles. Unlike many other games at the time, the player has almost uninterrupted control of Freeman, and the story is told mostly through scripted sequences seen through his eyes. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell said the team aimed to create an immersive world rather than a "shooting gallery". They built Half-Life using GoldSrc, a heavily modified version of the Quake engine, licensed from id Software. Half-Life received acclaim for its graphics, realistic gameplay, and seamless narrative. It won over fifty PC "Game of the Year" awards and is considered one of the most influential FPS games as well as one of the best video games ever made. By 2008, it had sold over 9 million copies. It was followed by the expansion packs Opposing Force (1999) and Blue Shift (2001), developed by Gearbox Software. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2001, along with another expansion Half-Life: Decay, and to macOS and Linux in 2013. Valve ported Half-Life to its Source engine in 2004, while a third-party remake, Black Mesa, was released in 2020. Half-Life inspired numerous fan-made mods, some of which became standalone games, such as Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat and Sven Co-op. Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, followed by Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006), Episode Two (2007), and Half-Life: Alyx (2020). Half-Life 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. It is the sequel to 1998's Half-Life. Like the original, it combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, and adds features such as vehicles and physics-based gameplay. Players control Gordon Freeman, who fights the alien Combine with allies including resistance fighter Alyx Vance, using weapons such as the object-manipulating gravity gun. The game was created using Valve's Source engine, which was developed at the same time. Development lasted five years and cost US$40 million. Valve president Gabe Newell set his team the goal of redefining the FPS genre, focusing on advanced physics systems and non-player characters. Valve announced Half-Life 2 at E3 2003 and released it through its new distribution service Steam after delaying it by over a year. A year before release, a hacker stole an unfinished version and leaked it online. Half-Life 2 was released on November 16th, 2004 and received acclaim for its advanced physics, animation, sound, AI, graphics, and narrative. It won 39 Game of the Year awards, and has been cited as one of the greatest games of all time. By 2011, it had sold 12 million copies. It was followed by a free extra level, Lost Coast (2004), and the episodic sequels Episode One (2006) and Episode Two (2007). After canceling several further Half-Life projects, Valve released a prequel, Half-Life: Alyx, in 2020. sorry about the delay! tysm for the support uwu
