Half-Life 2 is here

[g-smooth2k]

Valve's long-awaited shooter sequel available for paid download through Steam service; retail purchasers' copies authenticating online.

Just after the stroke of midnight Pacific time, Valve finally triggered the online authentication system for its new first-person shooter, Half-Life 2, making the game available to thousands of anxious gamers worldwide. The company also issued a brief official statement: "Half-Life 2 is available now for purchase and to play. Those who pre-purchased their copy via Steam may access the game by double-clicking on the Half-Life 2 icon in their Steam Games directory."

This means that those who've either preloaded Half-Life 2 via the Steam service or managed to purchase a retail copy of the game early can finally have at it. This also means that players unwilling to wait through the night for stores to open can theoretically pay for and start playing a digitally distributed copy of the game tonight. Valve's unique digital distribution and authentication system is a necessary step for "unlocking" the game either way. This unlocking process is not instantaneous--it took us approximately 15 minutes on each of several different test systems.

In addition to Half-Life 2, an updated version of the original 1998 game entitled Half-Life: Source is also now available through Steam, for those who preordered either the silver or gold packages. However, Day of Defeat: Source, an updated version of a popular multiplayer mod that's also promised as part of the silver and gold packages, is still being listed as "coming soon."

Half-Life 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to 1998's classic first-person shooter. For more information about the game, read GameSpot's full review, or our exclusive story of the game's development, The Final Hours of Half-Life 2. Or to purchase Half-Life 2 online, visit the official Steam Web site.

Features:
Sequel to the hit first-person shooter
Scientist-with-a-crowbar Gordon Freeman joins a ragtag human resistance fighting extradimensional invaders for the survival of a conquered Earth
Unnervingly realistic graphics the likes of which have not been witnessed outside of a motion picture or pre-rendered cut scene
Realistic physics: objects have varied and appropriate mass, density, physical properties
For 1 player

Game Information
Online Modes: Team Oriented
Number of Players: 1 Player
ESRB Descriptors: Blood, Intense Violence
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Curve: From 0 to 15 Minutes
Stability: Stable
Operating System: Windows 98/2000/ME/XP

Minimum System Requirements
System: 1.2 Ghz processor or equivalent
RAM:256 MB RAM
Video Memory: 32 MB VRAM

Recommended System Requirements
System: 2.4 Ghz processor or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB RAM
DirectX 9 enabled graphics card

Technical Support
Visit VU Games web site at: www.vugames.com/vug/

Gamespot Half-Life 2 Screenshots

Microsoft Windows Media Player Half-Life 2 Skin

EB Games: Reg. $54.99
Collectors Edition $79.99
Gamestop: Reg. $54.99
Collectors Edition $79.99
Best Buy: Reg. $54.99
Collectors Edition $79.99
Circuit City: Reg. $54.99

[broadwayrock]

Just played it and all i can say is WOW.

Although it has a few graphical glitches, it seems to be the game that doom 3 was promised to be.

[hawkburn]

Well I woke up this morning and all my pre-loading was complete but it's not showing up as being released yet within Steam. I already input my cd key etc.. and I'm skipping school today to play it.. so damn hopefully it shows as active soon.

[nasrules]

You have to restart Steam, hawk. Then you have to wait for it to 'unlock the files' (update).

[hawkburn]

You have to restart Steam, hawk. Then you have to wait for it to 'unlock the files' (update).

hehe.. just figured that out... :) thx

OMG!

[black_magiic]

Im probably going to buy the collectors edition of this. I just bought the Original HL a month or two ago and loved it.

[Vampmon]

Installation process was very long and annoying.
- Install Stream
- Install Half Life 2
- Update Stream
- Update Half Life 2
- Validate Half Life 2 (Took about 15 minutes)
- Unlock Files (Took about 20 minutes)

And you need to be connected to the internet to play Half Life 2, not just once, ALL THE TIME, because of that Stream crap.

I had to reboot after doing all that, it really screwed my computer up.
Once playing... WOW, the game is amazing so far, graphics are so lifelike, and by far the best game I have ever played!

[origin]

lol havent played it yet but looking forward to it.

l8

[riderx]

Hmm that sucks to have permission to play a game you brought.
so what if you have no internet access you cant play the game, thats retarted

i am sure a crack will be out for this, if aint already out.
I wouldnt buy the game.
hmm maybe i would.

[my name]

Big companies never loose a chance to make things hard for thier customers. i mean, the only ones that will suffer the activation process are people who actually paid for the game whereas people who
(god forbid) downloaded the game will double click some patch.


P.S

what happens years from now if valve bankrupts, does it mean all the buyers bought an unuseable cd? there will not be any servers to allow installation.

[Vampmon]

Hmmm "MyName" you made a good point there, maybe they'll disable the feature in a years time or something, once all the hype over Half Life 2 is over, or in a years time when they re-release the game (LIke they did with Half Life) It may no longer support Stream, who knows.

LOL @ that picture Origin, at the store i purchaced HL2 from, people were going made, i got my copy at about 2pm, and they were stocking up for the 3rd time.

____

Btw in my last post, i said you MUST be online all the time to play HL2, no that isn't true i've found out, by clicking the Proceed offline" button, it will load offline, or i think it's called that.

[broadwayrock]

I love the gravity gun!!!

And what could be said about her..........

[MACvSOG]

is it absolutely a must to run out and buy one of the new $500 graphics cards to play this? What are you guys who are playing it running?

[Vampmon]

You can check out the specs of users who installed Half Life 2 here: www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html

[ducttapeBigSexy]

this is the same reason why i hate microsoft for including product activation in windows - i legally purchased a copy of windows xp home, and it activated just fine over the internet. However, i tend to screw things up, and over the past two years i've reinstalled a lot (every few months is seemed :P ) - now microsoft claims I've reached my activation limit and if i reinstall, i now have to call it in - i can't just use the internet anymore. which is a real pain if i reinstalled late at night when everyone else in my house is already asleep - i can't be talking on the phone