1998: Half-Life sends a shock through the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. Valve's debut title wins more than 50 game-of-the-year awards on its way to being named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer, and launches a franchise with more than eight million retail units sold worldwide.

Now: Half-Life 2.

By taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original, and adding startling new realism and responsiveness, Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environment to the behaviors -- even the emotions -- of both friends and enemies.

The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people -- people he cares about -- are counting on him.

What is Half-Life 2?

Half-Life 2 is the much anticipated sequel to Half-Life, considered by many as the best first person shooter of all time. Upon its release it was rewarded with over 50 “game of the year” awards by a myriad of publications and is still played by nearly 1.5 million people every month.

Half-Life 2 will mould together the classic story telling and gameplay from the original, and will also feature unprecedented levels of realism with its mind blowing graphics.

Who is developing and publishing Half-Life 2?

The game is being developed by Valve Software and the game is being published by Vivendi Universal Games under the Sierra Studios publishing label.

I hear there is more than one Half-Life 2 package. What’s the difference?

Half-Life 2 will come in two main packages which are; regular, and the collectors’ edition.

I heard there were actually three versions planned, what happened to the other?

There were plans for a value-priced edition wherein the package would include only the single player version of Half-Life 2. However, a recent Q&A article on PlanetHalfLife stated that plans for this have been scrapped since Sierra Studios (Half-Life’s publishing label) closed down this year. The only two versions will be the ones listed above.

Will my PC be able to run Half-Life 2?

The minimum requirements for Half-Life 2 and other Source engine games are:

* 1.2GHz processor
* 256MB RAM
* DirectX 7 graphics card
* Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

The recommended requirements for Half-Life 2 and other Source engine games are:

* 2.4GHz processor
* 512MB RAM
* DirectX 9 graphics card
* Microsoft Windows 2000/XP

When will Half-Life 2 be out in the shops?

Unfortunately there is no definite date for the release of Half-Life 2 yet. The best estimations we have had from Valve indicate that it will be in the shops in November. However, if it is out after that then bare in mind it will be for a good reason!

Will Half-Life 2 be released on Steam before it is in the shops?

No. The publishers would lose too much money by letting Valve do this. It will release on Steam the same day as it will in the shops. Valve are however giving people the chance to pre-order and pre-load the game on to their system before it releases, but the game will not be playable until its release date.

What is pre-loading?

Pre-loading is the loading of content onto people's computers, so it is ready to be unlocked when the game is ready to be released, and once the user is ready to purchase the game or enter a valid product key.

Would I need to pre-load Half-Life 2?

If you have already pre-ordered, then there’s really no need to pre-load, unless you plan on pre-loading Half-Life 2 onto your computer, and activating it with the product key that comes with your box. This is what a lot of people are doing, as it saves the time of installing from CD/DVD to Steam.

Who can pre-load Half-Life 2?

Simply put, anyone can pre-load HL2, but they won't be able to play it without paying or without a valid HL2 product key.

How can people pre-load Half-Life 2 if it is still in the beta stage of development?

Valve are essentially pre-loading content that they know is final, such as textures and the like, these things will likely remain unchanged throughout beta stages up until release. It’s usually a good indication of an imminent release.

What is the difference between pre-loading and pre-ordering?

Pre-ordering is ordering a game from a store, so it will arrive when it is released, pre-loading, as described earlier, is the loading of content onto your computer to await activation.

How long will it take me to pre-load?

As with any download, this all depends on your connection speed and the size of the files involved.

I have never played Half-Life; will I understand the story of Half-Life 2?

Yes. As well as being a great appeal to people who have played the original due to the continuity of the story, Valve have also decided to make the story easy to pick up and follow for new players to the Half-Life universe. Naturally there will be parts of the story or jokes within the story line that new players might not immediately get, but they’ll make a good job of explaining it all.

Will the characters from the original return?

Most the characters rejoin the action in Half-Life 2 such as Barney Calhoun the Black Mesa security guard, Dr Kleiner a research scientist and the G-Man. There are other characters from the original too as well as a great deal of new ones. Head over to our characters page for more information.

Is there any new playable characters?

No, like the first game you can only play as Gordon Freeman.

Is there any drivable vehicles?

Yes. There are many vehicles you will be able to use from speedy red dune buggies to hovercrafts.

Is there a Half-Life 2 demo?

There is no demo for Half-Life 2 although Valve has said it is possible a demo could come out some time after the game ships.

What engine is Half-Life 2 using?

Half-Life 2 will use Valve's own custom built game engine named Source.

Can I play HL modifications with Half-Life 2?

The original and sequel use different engines, however Valve have managed to create tools that will enable mod developers to easily port their HL1 mod to the Source engine. You might see a lot of your old favourites playable in the new engine.

How long will the single player game last?

The single player game is split into 12 chapters each lasting around 3-4 hours which is roughly around 36 hours worth of game time in all.

What kind of locations will the game be set in?

The game play is based on Earth (no trips to Xen this time!) with a large number of different locations such as City 17, a harbour, a jail, the suburbs, a dried up ocean, and an icebreaker ship.

Will you hear Gordon talk in Half-Life 2?

No you will not hear Gordon speak. Like the first game Half-Life 2 has been designed to give you the feeling that you are playing as Gordon.

What will feature as Half-Life 2’s multiplayer?

There wont be a multiplayer component for Half-Life 2 but the game will ship with the multiplayer game Counter-Strike: Source.

Will I be able to play Half-Life 2 on my X-Box? What about my PlayStation 2?

You would be better off buying it for the PC first of all. The X-Box version is completed but it won’t be released until after the PC version. As for the PlayStation 2 and other consoles, nothing has been set in stone yet, but Valve has hinted that we may see it on the PlayStation 2.

Who are the voice actors for Half-Life 2 characters?

The voice acting is an important part of Half-Life 2 and the bulk of the talent comes from the following voice actors, some of which you’d recognise from other productions or games.

* Dr. Eli Vance:
* Robert Guillaume Dr. Wallace Breen:
* Robert Culp Vortigaunt:
* Lou Gossett, Jr. Dr. Judith Mossman:
* Michelle Forbes Alyx Vance:
* Merle Dandridge Barney Calhoun:
* Mike Shapiro G-Man:
* Mike Shapiro Dr. Isaac Kleiner:
* Harry S. Robins Father Grigori:
* Jim French Citizens/Misc. characters: J
* ohn Patrick Lowrie, Mary Kae Irvin Overwatch voice:
Ellen McLane


You may recognise Robert Guillaume as Rafiki from The Lion King or Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren from Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the ever-talented Mike Shapiro and Harry S. Robins from the original Half-Life.

I heard Half-Life 2 is pay-to-play, is this true?

This isn’t true at all. There is an optional subscription package on Steam which will allow you to pay a monthly fee and receive all Valve games free of charge as they’re released. Otherwise, no, Half-Life 2 will not be pay-to-play.

Minimum System Configuration



1.2 GHz Processor
256MB RAM
DirectX 7 capable graphics card
Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
Mouse
Keyboard
Internet Connection

Preferred System Configuration



2.4 GHz Processor
512MB RAM
DirectX 9 capable graphics card
Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
Mouse
Keyboard
Internet Connection

HL2 Set to Release Same Time Across World



quote:
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The question that has been on everybody's lips is at what time will Steam unlock on the 16th or at what time can I buy HL2 from retail? HL Fallout member War_Buddy has sent in some interesting news on this subject, reporting from Vivendi Denmark.

The word is that not only will HL2 be released on the same date across the world, but also the same time. Vivendi are forcing retailers to only start selling HL2 at midnight Seattle time (GMT-8), with taking into account time zone differences. The reason being is that Vivendi are planning to release HL2 across the worldwide simultaneously, for both retail and steam.

We have created a list of the release times for HL2 from each time zone around the world according to Greenwich Mean Time.
Source: www.hlfallout.net
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Ok, VALVe's timezone is -8GMT or Pacific Time. They're located in the State Of Washington.



It's 10:15PM, November 5th -8GMT. (At the time of this post...)

HL2 Will not be playable until November 16th 12:00AM
-8GMT Time (That's Pacific Time in the US)


Figure out which GMT Timezone you're in to understand when YOU should be able to play HL2.

Use the Search feature instead of spamming.

(Times are estimates)

Here are the timezones w/ the provided release time:



-12GMT || 8:00PM (Nov 15th)

-11GMT || 9:00PM (Nov 15th)

-10GMT || 10:00PM (Nov 15th)

-9GMT || 11:00PM (Nov 15th)

-8GMT || 12:00AM (Nov 16th) (VALVe's Time)

-7GMT || 1:00AM (Nov 16th)

-6GMT || 2:00AM (Nov 16th)

-5GMT || 3:00AM (Nov 16th)

-4GMT || 4:00AM (Nov 16th)

-3GMT || 5:00AM (Nov 16th)

-2GMT || 6:00AM (Nov 16th)

-12GMT || 7:00AM (Nov 16th)

0GMT || 8:00AM (Nov 16th)

+1GMT || 10:00AM (Nov 16th)

+2GMT || 11:00AM (Nov 16th)

+3GMT || 12:00PM (Nov 16th)

+4GMT || 1:00PM (Nov 16th)

+5GMT || 2:00PM (Nov 16th)

+6GMT || 3:00PM (Nov 16th)

+7GMT || 4:00PM (Nov 16th)

+8GMT || 5:00PM (Nov 16th)

+9GMT || 6:00PM (Nov 16th)

+10GMT || 7:00PM (Nov 16th)

+11GMT || 8:00PM (Nov 16th)

+12GMT || 9:00PM (Nov 16th)