Half-Life 2

Science-fiction first-person shooter mixing physics puzzles with a story campaign

Valve · Released Nov 16, 2004

Action

Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive; 98% of 280K
Recent reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive; 96% of 1,399 in 30 days
Playing now: 847; right now
Steam Deck: Verified
Last update: 1 year ago; Jul 23, 2025

Free demo available, 7 playing it now: get the demo.

Metacritic: 96/100 (critic reviews)

What is Half-Life 2?

A single-player first-person shooter set on an alien-occupied Earth. Research scientist Gordon Freeman fights through a story campaign using firearms, a crowbar, and environmental physics while confronting the consequences of the Black Mesa incident. Episode One and Episode Two, which continue the story, are included.

For you if...

+you want a story-focused single-player science-fiction campaign
+you enjoy shooters combining combat, physics puzzles, and vehicles
+you like oppressive dystopian science-fiction settings

Not for you if...

−you dislike physics puzzles or extended vehicle sections
−you need every story thread fully resolved

What players say

98% of 279,660 reviews are positive · 96% of 1,399 in the last 30 days

Players most often praise the physics systems, campaign pacing, dystopian atmosphere, and story. Common complaints include drawn-out vehicle sections and an unresolved ending; recent players also report crashes, missing textures, and bugs that can block campaign progress.

Screenshots and trailer

Half-Life 2 system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP
Processor: 1.7 Ghz
Graphics: DirectX 8.1 level Graphics Card (requires support for SSE)
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Storage: 6500 MB available space

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Full controller support
Platforms: Windows, Linux
Achievements: 69
Steam features: Workshop, Cloud saves, Family Sharing, Trading cards

Steam Deck: Verified

All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
Shows Steam Deck controller icons
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck

Multiplayer and co-op

Languages

Full audio: English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Spanish - Spain, Russian. Text only: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Swedish, Thai, Bulgarian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese - Brazil, Romanian, Spanish - Latin America, Turkish, Ukrainian.