PSA: Half-Life now available for $.98 on Steam
by Randy Nelson 
{ Nov 20th 2008 at 6:00PM }
Valve has taken a crowbar to the price of the original Half-Life on Steam. Originally priced at $9.99, the award-winning, if-you-haven't-played-it-don't-talk-to-us FPS can now be had for $.98. No, that's not a typo – Ludwig checked.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the $99.99 Valve Complete Pack, which, as we reported earlier, contains all of Valve's games – even the newly released Left 4 Dead – plus Peggle Extreme. But seriously, if you haven't played the first Half-Life, do yourself a favor and spend 1/100th of that on the game. You won't regret it. We promise. (It's ninety-eight cents!)
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the $99.99 Valve Complete Pack, which, as we reported earlier, contains all of Valve's games – even the newly released Left 4 Dead – plus Peggle Extreme. But seriously, if you haven't played the first Half-Life, do yourself a favor and spend 1/100th of that on the game. You won't regret it. We promise. (It's ninety-eight cents!)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Fox318 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:04PM
Best $0.98 cents you will every spend.
Jake11- Born and raised in W. Philly @ Nov 20th 2008 6:04PM
you tell 'em freeman
Fox318 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:05PM
You could you the extra 2 cents to learn how to spell ever.
Comments should be editable.
Shmil @ Nov 20th 2008 6:08PM
...uh
Moptimus Slime @ Nov 20th 2008 6:15PM
From the Archives: August 6, 2008 4:36 PM
"Why do they continue Metal of Honor?
Does it really have brand recognition?"
yeah, why do they continue to make Metal of Honor? Its nowhere near as good as Medal of Honor
Temidien @ Nov 20th 2008 6:58PM
@Fox318
You could borrow your own 2 cents to learn how to spell "use"
XP
FYIan @ Nov 20th 2008 9:00PM
@Temidien
But then he would need four cents!
You do realize that he was making fun of his own spelling with that comment, right?
Slaziman @ Nov 20th 2008 9:05PM
I've tried playing this game, but it's terrible. Maybe it's just me, but I really believe this game hasn't aged well, at all.
Dr. Spiegel @ Nov 20th 2008 10:24PM
Oh god! All those spelling mistakes!
offday @ Nov 20th 2008 11:23PM
Agreed. Half Life is one of the top ten best games ever created hands down. I hope a million people take this offer and experience this game.
Alexisonfire @ Nov 21st 2008 12:07AM
I dunno. I'm thinking the 98¢ I spent on Beyond Good & Evil would be better than this.
And they really, really need to get Steam working on macs.
megapenguinx @ Nov 21st 2008 5:54AM
Alex, just sign into you account on a pc. Purchase. Then use crossover or VM spaces to install it into your mac
offday @ Nov 21st 2008 8:37AM
@Slaziman
Ummm yeah. Are you an idiot? It's 10 years old. Who cares how the graphics compare to today's standards? The game is still amazing. You need to learn to look beyond the graphics. You're missing out on a lot of good games because your close mindedness.
Slaziman @ Nov 21st 2008 11:30AM
Did I talk about graphics, douche master? I'm a bit past the second "boss" and so far I've been bored to tears. I bet the gameplay mechanics were awesome back when it was released, but after playing dozens of shooters that came out after Half-Life and probably ripped off most of its mechanics, I can't help but feel I've seen it all before. It's not just the graphics that look dated (not a big deal for me, I still love OoT, and that looks a lot worse), the whole gameplay feels dated. I read some reviews for the game and they are raving about grenades. Of course I'm not gonna be wowed by grenades when pretty much every game has them now.
The only redeeming thing about Half-Life could be the story or the level design, and so far neither has wowed me (I'm like 5 hours in). Sorry for voicing my opinion, douche fanboys.
faptown @ Nov 20th 2008 6:07PM
Bought it today.
Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 6:47PM
Just to bring it to everyone's attention - once you've installed the game, go to this site and hit the top link with Steam running:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/438/
It installs the high-definition model pack, which makes guards, enemies and your weapons look more PS2 than PS1.
Foetoid @ Nov 20th 2008 6:57PM
It's revolting to see how many people still refer to games looking like Ps1 games (like most of you anti-wii-fanboys). I think you all forget how terrible games looked on the Ps1. Half-Life 1 running in minimum detail settings looks better than Ps1 graphics. Kids these days....
Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 7:00PM
Well, the guy on the left certainly isn't looking his best:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:High_Definition_Half-Life_comparison.jpg
Levi @ Nov 20th 2008 9:02PM
@ Haggard:
Dude those pointy faces are totally bringin back memories
Premature ejaculation man @ Nov 20th 2008 6:09PM
Valve sucks. Nickel and diming their fanbase to no end!
=3
WiiFTW @ Nov 20th 2008 6:14PM
This may be one of the only times in my life that I say this but...
YAY FOR NICKLE AND DIMING
I ♥ Valve
Duke @ Nov 20th 2008 6:16PM
Yeah, god forbid that those who never played this great title get to do so now for cheap.
Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 6:46PM
Sarcasm detection fail today I see..
(The Award-Winning) dark_inchworm @ Nov 20th 2008 9:46PM
HAY GUYS, WUZ TAHT A JOKE ABOUT THE GAME ONLI COSTING A FEW NIKKELS AND DIMES? I CULDN'T TEL
Moptimus Slime @ Nov 20th 2008 6:10PM
Don’t Forget to Reload, Dr. Freeman!
Paulmichael @ Nov 20th 2008 9:23PM
Reloading!
Super G-Man @ Nov 21st 2008 6:04AM
Reloading!
xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Welcome Back Party Ultimate Mega Action Force) @ Nov 21st 2008 9:35AM
Owwww, dammit Bill!
gweazel619 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:12PM
Bought it yesterday. Money well spent.
Dante G @ Nov 20th 2008 6:12PM
Ah, the good old days... There's nothing like pwning someone with a crowbar to the face.
Obie @ Nov 20th 2008 6:14PM
Ya know, I never played the original Half Life.
Can I play this game with my controller?
Sorry old school console gamer here. :(
Thanatos @ Nov 20th 2008 6:31PM
*facepalm*
Its herisy to suggest playing Half-Life with anything other than a mouse and keyboard. Trust me, play it the right way (Mouse+Keyboard) you will thank me later.
Thanatos @ Nov 20th 2008 6:32PM
Correction "Heresy"
Obie @ Nov 20th 2008 6:47PM
Dude, I have been playing games for 20 years. Always on consoles, sorry...I am not bashing KB+M, I just like the feel of a controller better since that is what I am used to.
Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 6:49PM
I can't possibly comprehend how you enjoy FPS with a pad more than mouse and keyboard, though I bet you feel the same way (but reversed) to me.
Anyway, the game has joystick support and an auto-aim feature, so I'm betting you could get it to work using Xpadder.
Obie @ Nov 20th 2008 6:52PM
Thanks Haggard, I would give it a try if I had a full keyboard. But my tiny laptop does not play nice that way. But the HL experience needs to happen for me, since I love the series.
Temidien @ Nov 20th 2008 7:01PM
Dudes, why settle for mouse and keyboard? Didn't ya know hardcore gamers use pen and paper! It's the only way to play an FPS!!!
XP
Foetoid @ Nov 20th 2008 7:02PM
Geez Obie, i'd hate to see your reaction to playing Metroid Prime 3 or COD5 on Wii. The controls are vastly superior to dual-analog. I really do feel sorry for you. Playing dual-analog FPS games is such a chore, i had to FORCE myself to finish all the Halo games (still don't know what all the fuss is about) simply because it's such a chore with dual-analog. It's so primitive and innaccurate. I used to think the 360 controls were great for 3rd person shooters like Gears of War, till i played it on PC.
Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 7:04PM
I know what you mean Foetoid, I'm forcing myself through Resistance at the moment, ten minutes at a time.
Worst thing is that I've already been borrowing it for 3 months..
Obie @ Nov 20th 2008 7:06PM
I am not here to argue the stone age argument of KB+M, people are use to certain things...and that is hardly a crime.
Vidikron @ Nov 21st 2008 9:52AM
The Wii controls really aren't as great as fanboys liek Foetoid make them out to be. The movement sucks on those games, especially turning. If you need to turn and shoot you get stuck trying to re-center your reticle so that your character will stop turning. It works fine when you are standing still or justback back and forth, but when any turning is involved it's not the awesome controls that the faboys make it out to be.
waynski1457 @ Nov 21st 2008 10:16AM
It seems no one wants to answer...
@Obie, the game doesn't support it outright last time I checked and you'd have to use a keyboard mapper. I recommend joytokey.
waynski1457 @ Nov 21st 2008 10:18AM
/facepalm.
And thats what I get for reading through the comments... Nvm...
Thanatos @ Nov 21st 2008 12:07PM
@Obie im a concole gamer as well, at least back in the day but after i started PC gaming i cant go back yeah Dual analog does work for FPS the true way to play is mouse and keyboard and hell its alot more accurate and its easier, trust me try it out, im sure it will take a little getting used to and it will be very different to dual analog but im sure youll love it.
@Vidikron Ive never had a problem turning or hitting a target while turning, at least in MP3. I tried out the HL2 Mod that lets you play with wiimote nunchuck and while not as good as KB+M its was leaps and bounds above dual analog. I would've played through HL2 with it but my Bluetooth kept losing connection to the wiimote.
Professor Lario @ Nov 21st 2008 12:46PM
The PS2 version can also be found on the cheap these days...
BxGT @ Nov 20th 2008 6:16PM
im gonna buy 15 of this instead of street fighter.
Samael @ Nov 20th 2008 8:56PM
not to be a troll or anything like that, but I'd rather buy a soda with my dollar. I never... never got into why people love this game. Probably because I tried it on the Dreamcast (don't ask) and Half-Life 2 on the original Xbox. Frame rate and other issues aside, I just don't find this series appealing at all.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 21st 2008 12:02AM
Well Samael, if you're going to play the crap versions, what do you expect?
shibathedog @ Nov 25th 2008 8:44PM
Yeah and that Dreamcast version was a leaked beta. BETA!
Once you have this you can try out all the cool mods for it too, anyone else remember They Hunger?
Duke @ Nov 21st 2008 9:55AM
"Half-Life 2 on the original Xbox"
What? Seems to me HL2 was on the 360. Anyway, the greatness in Halflife came from the time it was released and what it brought to the online gaming community. TF as well as the ability to make great mods made for a new community FPS experience. It was a brilliant game that was made even better by the players.
To just look at the game in isolation now and dump on the graphics and such is pretty damn dumb to me. If you were not playing it in its glory days then you missed out on something that made many of us the gamers we are now.