Exactly 27 years ago, on November 27, 1998, Valve released their first game called Half-Life in Europe. At that time, there wasn’t even Steam, yet Valve managed to revolutionize video games. But why is this game so important for the gaming world?
What is Half-Life actually? Half-Life is a first-person shooter (FPS) that places a strong focus on atmosphere and story.
In Half-Life, you play as the physicist Gordon Freeman, who works in a secret research facility, the Black Mesa Research Facility. During a failed experiment, a portal to an alien dimension is opened and aliens storm the facility. While you fight for survival against the aliens, the military tries to eliminate all witnesses.
Half-Life revolutionized video games with various techniques
Half-Life invented or improved many techniques for video games that are almost standard today. A story with minimal use of cutscenes was new at that time. Valve wanted to give players control and present everything in real time.
A seamless world was also not commonplace in the past. While most games had a progression from level 1 to level 2 and then to level 3, the developers of Half-Life hid the loading screens. For example, they used a corridor or trains as transition areas to create a cohesive complex.
In the documentary about Half-Life on Youtube, Gabe Newell discusses the interactive world. He feels as if a world ignores him when he shoots at it and nothing happens. According to GabeN, a wall should have bullet holes and react when shot at, and soldiers should run away from him when some of them are killed. The world of a video game should acknowledge the player’s actions, and Valve achieved that with Half-Life.
AI was already in use in 1998. Half-Life was not the first game with opponent AI, but it defined the feeling of enemy groups behaving like real squads. The developers trained the AI in test environments specifically created for them. Later, these environments were handed over to level designers to be integrated into the levels. As a result, there is dynamic behavior from the enemies, as they take cover, flank the player, and throw grenades to lure him out of cover.
Half-Life and multiplayer are responsible for big games
Although Half-Life is known for its excellent single-player campaign and still ranks 6th among the best PC games of all time, there was also a multiplayer (see Metacritic.com). In January 1999, Valve officially released the Half-Life Software Development Kit (SDK). With this package, Valve effectively launched the modding community.
Already in the same year, a modder began experimenting with the SDK and created Counter-Strike as a mod for Half-Life. Later, Valve hired the two creators of CS and started the development of the first official Counter-Strike. The current Counter-Strike 2 is among the most played games on Steam and has remained at the top for many years.
Another classic that originated from a mod of Half-Life was Team Fortress. Started as a mod for Quake, Valve was impressed by the game and hired the creators. After Valve purchased the Quake engine even before Half-Life’s release, it was further developed into the GoldSrc engine (GoldSource) – which later evolved into the Source engine and finally the Source 2 engine, used for today’s Counter-Strike 2 or Dota 2. In 1999, Team Fortress Classic was developed as a mod for Half-Life on the GoldSrc engine.
Page 2 continues with the creation of Steam.
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