Couple of corrections: Half Life 1: 1998 Half Life 2: 2004 Half Life Alyx: 2020 --- Half Life 1 was originally released on the PC and is generally considered to be a PC game first and foremost. There are ports to console, with a PS2 port of the original, and a HL2 port to the original XBox. But these are mostly considered lesser cut back experiences to the PC versions. Half Life Alyx is currently PC only. --- Valve owns Steam. They are not separate companies. Steam was released around the time of Half Life 2 where Valve required players to have a Steam account to play the game. This annoyed many people at the launch (in much the same way always online annoys people). --- Anyway, glad you're keen on Half Life. There are some very commited fans of this franchise who have been holding out for the 3rd installment for 20 years (or at least a resolution to the episodes). Many of us are old and tired, but it's good to see revived interest.
Half Life 1 is actually better than Half Life 2. If you are going to get into these games, start with Half Life 1 (1998) or the remake Black Mesa. Believe it or not, original holds up much better than the sequel (even with the clunky 98 graphics). This isn't to suggest Half Life 2 is bad, it's amazing too. It's just that the subtle Mist inspired horror of the first game, mixed with a Die Hard-esk unknown protagonist, mixed with the military ramp up in the latter part of the game .... they didn't recapture these aspects in HL2, but they the core aspects that made Half Life, Half Life. Quite a few fans of Half Life want a resolution to the HL2 story arc, just so the game can return to the style and tone of the original. Here is hoping Half Life 3 does that.
Couple of corrections:
Half Life 1: 1998
Half Life 2: 2004
Half Life Alyx: 2020
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Half Life 1 was originally released on the PC and is generally considered to be a PC game first and foremost. There are ports to console, with a PS2 port of the original, and a HL2 port to the original XBox. But these are mostly considered lesser cut back experiences to the PC versions. Half Life Alyx is currently PC only.
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Valve owns Steam. They are not separate companies. Steam was released around the time of Half Life 2 where Valve required players to have a Steam account to play the game. This annoyed many people at the launch (in much the same way always online annoys people).
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Anyway, glad you're keen on Half Life. There are some very commited fans of this franchise who have been holding out for the 3rd installment for 20 years (or at least a resolution to the episodes). Many of us are old and tired, but it's good to see revived interest.
They already missed the HL2 20 yr anniversary.. crazy
Half Life 1 is actually better than Half Life 2. If you are going to get into these games, start with Half Life 1 (1998) or the remake Black Mesa. Believe it or not, original holds up much better than the sequel (even with the clunky 98 graphics).
This isn't to suggest Half Life 2 is bad, it's amazing too. It's just that the subtle Mist inspired horror of the first game, mixed with a Die Hard-esk unknown protagonist, mixed with the military ramp up in the latter part of the game .... they didn't recapture these aspects in HL2, but they the core aspects that made Half Life, Half Life.
Quite a few fans of Half Life want a resolution to the HL2 story arc, just so the game can return to the style and tone of the original. Here is hoping Half Life 3 does that.