Just in time for the release of Half-Life: Alyx in March, Valve is offering gamers a chance to play the original Half-Life games on Steam for the next two months.
The list of free-to-play games includes the original Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and both expansions – Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.
The only caveats here are the fact that you play the games through Steam – which, for most folks, isn’t a big deal – and they're only free for two months. Once Half-Life: Alyx comes out in March, all the games will go back to their original price.
Click the links below to play the games for free:
- Half-Life (opens in new tab)
- Half-Life 2 (opens in new tab)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One (opens in new tab)
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (opens in new tab)
Travel backwards (and forwards) in time with Gordon Freeman
So, why is Valve being so generous? Primarily to drum up interest for Half-Life: Alyx - its new VR game set before the events of Half-Life 2 and both Episodes.
“Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and the episodes, but the games share characters and story elements,” Valve said in a news post (opens in new tab). “The Half-Life: Alyx team believes that the best way to enjoy the new game is to play through the old ones, especially Half-Life 2 and the episodes, so we want to make that as easy as possible.”
If you just want to play the latest game in the series, Half-Life: Alyx is due out in March and will be available for free with every Valve Index VR headset.
- Need something to play in VR? Here's our list of the best VR games in 2020
