HALF LIFE 2 NEWS & SCREENSHOTS!

[Rud]

Awww Yea!!
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Half-Life 2 uncovered! (http://special.reserve.co.uk/news/story.php?id=2551&af=ur240403)

Prepare your brain for pleasure overload, it's the grand unveiling of Half-Life 2, with super-exclusive screenshots and game information!
Now we don't do this very often, we've been a bit naughty, but when an opportunity like this comes along, we like to grab it with both hands and hold it down like a greased pig. We usually steer clear of using scanned images from other sources, but just occasionally, a game so epic comes along, we think it's within your interests to see it before everyone else. The last game we uncovered in this manner was Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and that went on to be the biggest selling PS2 game of all time. On this occasion, we'll have PC gamers soiling their seats. Because below, we're uncovering the biggest PC game of 2003... ladies and gentlemen, we give you... Half-Life 2.

Bring! It! On! Every single PC gamer must surely be aware of the monumental Half-Life by now - voted Best Game Ever by countless publications, Valve's atmospheric first-person shooter has sold over 8 million copies worldwide in various guises and shows no signs of slowing, at least, not until its sequel is released. You'll notice above we said 'the biggest PC game of 2003' and that's no misprint - Half-Life 2 will hit stores in the UK on September 30th 2003, quite an achievement when you consider the game was only officially announced earlier this month, even though Valve have been working on it pretty much since work on the original Half-Life wrapped in 1998. That's before Doom III comes out, and we've been salivating over that for donkeys years.

So, what's to know about Half-Life 2? Well, details are predictably thin on the ground, but we have a few essential nuggets of information for you. You'll don the suit of Gordon Freeman (above left) once more, only a little older, and a little wiser. Other characters from the first title will re-appear, including the G-Man and Eli Vance, who also now has a super-sexay daughter named Alyx (she's the lass showing off her pearly whites below). The game will take place in a fictional European-style city called City 17, and you'll be fighting off an all-new alien threat, who are, according to the game desinger, "much more sinister and organized."

What we've seen so far blows us away - the aliens have a definite Starship Trooper vibe, with huge pointed limbs, ready to tear you a new a-hole. We particularly like the huge Strider, a three-storey high spider-beast who might just cause a few sleepless nights. Imagine the enemy AI from the original game, polished and perfected for nigh on 5 years and stuck in the heads of beasties like the ones you see below you - it's far scarier than anything the schlock-horror of Doom III can throw at us.

Thankfully, Valve have put a lot of thought into Half-Life 2, making sure the core fanbase from the original Half-Life won't feel left behind. While games like Doom II admittedly look amazing, your PC will need monster specs to run it adequately. Half-Life 2 on the other hand, will cater for gamers with PCs that don't feature NASA-like specifications - the game will be playable on a Pentium 700 system, although the optimal target will be a 2GHz machine with a GeForce 4 card - no big dent on the wallet. As you can see from the scans below, the graphics of the game don't seem to have been comprimised in any way, due largely to Valve's hard work over the last 5 years perfecting the physics and particle effects. No word yet on the apparent nVidia exclusivity of Half-Life 2 though, keep it peeled for more info on that.

Valve are adamant that Half-Life 2 will hit its intended release date of September 30th 2003, and we'll make it physically impossible for you to forget about it until then - you can click here to place your pre-order now if you'd like. With Doom III, Quake 4 and now Half-Life 2 on the horizon, there's never been a better time to be a PC gamer, so make sure you don't miss out on what's bound to be a golden year.
 
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Shit Hot

[Jome]

Looks dope, but Doom 3 is way beyond it in graphics..

Apparently this is going to be "the game for everybody".. (Doom 3 is not, LoL)
and HL3 is already on the drawing boards..

[7even]

exactly

If a xbox version comes out Im in

[Sub-Z]

wow looks like shit

[js83]

 

[elneckio]

Theres some more facts about HL2 here : http://www.neowin.net/comments.php?category=gamers&id=10532

Most interesting : "Minimum system requirements state that HL2 will support a 700Mhz processor and a TNT2 video card, although GeForce4 or an equivalent ATI card and a 2GHz processor are recommended"

Ouch !  

[Woodrow]

wow looks like shit

[Jome]

^^ WOAH, I guess those earlier screenshots was REALLY early in developlment..
This looks awesome..

[Woodrow]

The screen's I posted up were from get this:

A September 2002 build of the game.

That's right, nearly 8 months old

[T-Dogg]

Plus they were scanned from paper... And although Doom 3 might look better, that's not what counts: it's the content. And what I've read from the previews, there seems to be a whole lot of it... This is the game I've been waiting to come out...

[elneckio]

Plus they were scanned from paper...

If anyone wants to see better quality versions : http://www.shacknews.com/extras/e_halflife_2  has a preview and some of the same pics in HQ.