Half Life 2 came out 10 years ago!

[Big Kev]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... 0-years-on" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I loaded it up from Steam last night to have another run through. Still looks fresh even today.

[wabbit]

"fresh" :P

[Big Kev]

Forgot how hard the ravenholm level was. Jeez.

[Exar Kun]

Holds up remarkably well. But where is Ep3 or HL3?????

[durbster]

Last week I listened to a podcast where they interviewed Gabe Newell. It's the first time I've really heard anything from the man himself.

Bloody hell, he is a smart bloke.

You can see how much thought went into HL and HL2. The story and characters all came first and there is just so much imagination and creativity in the levels, particularly in HL2. That whole world is so convincing and memorable whereas so many games now are, "jungle", "ruined city" or "desolate wasteland".

And it's not that he just knows games. He understands the community like few CEOs - if any - do, right down to recognising that you can't bullshit them because you will be found out, and also that they can create so much more content than Valve could, so all they have to do is give them the world and let them play. He just gets it.

It also reminded me just how spot-on Valve's approach has been from Half Life right through to today. Just like the music industry, most games companies were desperately clinging to outdated models of production, marketing and distribution whereas Valve looked at it as an opportunity and created Steam.