There can be no conversation about the most influential or groundbreaking franchises in gaming history without mentioning Half-Life. The original set new standards for first-person shooters with its revolutionary focus on storytelling in an FPS, physics-based gameplay, and epic world-building. From there, the series has kept outdoing itself, producing some of the best first-person shooters of all time in the process.
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There hasn’t been a new entry in the franchise since 2020’s Half-Life: Alyx but a lot of fans are hopeful that could change in the not-so-distant future. With that in mind and Half-Life 2 RTX getting ready to drop, now seems like the perfect time to talk about the best of the best. It’s a good time to rank every Half-Life entry, expansion, and Episode based on a mixture of how well they stand up today, how good they were when they were released, their general quality, and how important they were to gaming.
11
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Released As A Standalone Product But Basically Just Multiplayer
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
- Released
-
November 30, 2004
The original Half-Life had a hugely popular multiplayer mode that was missing when the otherwise beloved Half-Life 2. Valve remedied this omission by releasing Half-Life 2: Deathmatch not long after. Unfortunately, it was a standalone product that felt like it should have just been part of the original Half-Life 2.
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At least it was fun. Players could use the Gravity Gun (easily one of Half-Life 2’s best guns) to pelt each other with objects using the Source engine’s impressive physics and the mode included weapons not seen in the main game. However, it has no story to speak and even by the time’s standards, is pretty basic. These days the lobbies are a ghost town, meaning there’s not much reason to go back and play this. Not a bad multiplayer game by any means, but Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is arguably the worst Half-Life game we’ve seen (although to be fair the other games set the bar pretty high).
10
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
A Glorified Tech Demo That’s Still Fun To Play
- Released: 10/27/2005
- Genre: Shooter
- Platforms: Linux, Mac, PC
- Developers: Valve
Some readers might feel this entry is a bit of a cheat since Lost Coast is more of a tech demo than an actual game. However, it is playable, and it does feel like Half-Life, so we’ve included it. Lost Coast is a level originally cut from Half-Life 2 that Valve took and repurposed as a demo to show off HDR and other graphic improvements in the Source Engine.
It isn’t just a walking simulator set in the Half-Life world though. There’s combat, puzzles, and even some lore additions, as well as a very fun and climactic ending. We can’t rank it any higher than this, since it’s short and not technically a game, but Lost Coast is 100% worth playing. Especially since it’s free to anyone who owns Half-Life 2.
9
Half-Life: Decay
A Puzzle-Heavy PS2 Exclusive Co-Op Expansion
- Released
-
November 14, 2001
Half-Life: Decay is the entry even most Half-Life fans have never heard of. There’s a good reason. It was added as a mini-expansion to the PS2 version of the original game, one of the best FPS games to hit the PlayStation 2, and remained an exclusive forever after. That was an odd move on Valve’s part, considering Half-Life has always had a predominantly PC-based community.
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Of all the original Half-Life’s expansions, Decay is also the most different from the main game. Set during the events of the Black Mesa, the expansion follows two of Gordon’s colleagues, Colette Green and Gina Cross. It’s designed to be played in co-op, although single-player is possible, and is much more puzzle-focused than the main game. Despite the short play time, all the puzzles slowed down the pacing and worked to kill the fun. A co-op Half-Life sounds awesome, but Decay just isn’t all that fun.
8
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Seeing The World Through Gordon’s Friend’s Eyes
We’re already getting to the good stuff, and we’re still in the low rankings. Blue Shift was the original Half-Life’s second expansion and let us play as the new protagonist, Barney Calhoun. Calhoun is Gordon Freeman’s buddy and went on to play an important role in Half-Life 2. A large part of the fun of Blue Shift was seeing the events of the main game from someone else’s point of view.
But Blue Shift does have a few issues. It’s pretty short and outside the new perspective lacks unique features that make it stand apart. The expansion reuses huge chunks of the main game’s content and story and just feels too similar to the main game. If it wasn’t for Barney’s blue sleeves you’d barely know at times you weren’t just playing the main game. If you enjoyed the original game, then Blue Shift is more of the same for better and worse.
7
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Playing As The Enemy Was A More Action-Focused Experience
- Released
-
November 19, 1999
Opposing Force is arguably the best expansion the first game received. Like Blue Shift, it lets the player control a new protagonist, but unlike Blue Shift, it shook things up in a big way. In Opposing Force, we control one of the marines sent to take out the Black Mesa Facility and everything within it. Basically, it lets us play as one of the bad guys. Opposing Force is more action-orientated than the main game, featuring fewer puzzles and much more emphasis on letting the player let loose with Half-Life’s best guns.
It also shook up the combat by introducing fun new weapons and Race X enemies, which required the player to use new strategies to take them out. Perhaps the biggest change, though, is that in Opposing Force we fight as part of a team. Having AI-controlled allies who aren’t a burden is a surprisingly big change and makes large combat encounters a lot of fun. At times all the combat might be a bit too much, especially for those who prefer the balance of Half-Life’s main entries, and it can feel a bit more like a more generic military shooter at times. But like Blue Shift, Opposing Forces is a welcome addition to the original Half-Life and certainly worth picking up.
6
Half-Life 2: Episode 1
Expands The Character Of Alyx But Feels Like World-Building Filler
After the success of Half-Life 2, fans were crying out for more of the same. Rather than announcing another sequel, or expansions, Valve decided to start releasing “episodes”. The idea was that they would be able to churn these out more quickly than full sequels, keeping their fans happy, and the cash train running. Sadly, things didn’t turn out that way. Famously, we only ever got two episodes, and the first was a bit of a disappointment.
More Half-Life 2 could never be a bad thing, but Episode 1 heavily relies on reusing City 17’s visuals and assets and plays very similarly to the urban sections of Half-Life 2. This isn’t helped by the fact that its plot moves at a snail’s pace and ends up not moving the overarching plot forward much. If this were an anime, it would be an entertaining filler episode. On the plus side, Episode 1 does do an awesome job of fleshing out Alyx Vance, paving the way for her to become one of Valve’s best protagonists. It also introduced some impressive AI improvements that gave the episode a particular co-op vibe. Episode 1 is still great, but shows why Valve probably should have stayed with full releases. Perfection takes time.
5
Half-Life: Alyx
A Brilliant VR Game Inaccessible To Most Fans Of The Series
-
OpenCritic
-
Top Critic Rating:
93/100
Critics Recommend:
97%
- Released
-
March 23, 2020
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
Half-Life: Alyx might just be the most controversial entry in the series. It has a lot going for it, but that doesn’t change the fact that its announcement deeply upset a lot of fans. Its continued VR exclusivity hasn’t helped things. It’s easy to see why the fans were so upset, and still are. They’d been begging Valve for years to release a Half-Life 2 sequel or at the very least Episode 3. Instead, what they got was a prequel set five years before Half-Life 2 that followed Alyx and could only be played on high-end VR headsets (which very few people still own).
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But, here’s the thing. Half-Life: Alyx is awesome. Five years after it was released, it is still one of the most impressive VR games ever made (and some might say worth the high cost of entry). It helped prove that VR could be more than a gimmick. It’s also an excellent Half-Life game in its own right, fleshing out the franchise’s lore and featuring excellent combat and puzzle-solving. The physics engine is particularly remarkable, and this Alyx still has some of the best VR physics we’ve seen. Some may feel it deserves a higher ranking, but those still feeling salty may believe it should be much lower. We’re sticking it near the middle but would love to see a version made more accessible to the masses.
4
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Ends With One Of Gaming’s Greatest Unresolved Cliffhangers Almost 20 Years Ago
- Released
-
October 10, 2007
Half-Life 2: Episode 1 may be a little disappointing, but the same can’t be said for Episode 2. In many ways, it was a big improvement on Half-Life 2. It’s more fast-paced, crams in an impressive variety of sections that last just the right amount of time, and adds exciting new enemies like the difficult-to-dispatch Hunter. The world itself is more open and a ton of fun to explore, especially since the muscle car is a big upgrade from the original dune buggy.
But there’s no denying Episode 2 also has some problems, lowering its ranking. The final combat/ driving section outstays its welcome and is underwhelming compared to everything that came before it. Valve stuffed so much into Episode 2 that by the end it starts to feel like they were running out of steam (pun intended). The worst part of it all, of course, is the ending. Episode 2 ends on one of gaming’s most infuriating cliffhangers. It’s an ending that makes Episode 2, and the franchise in general, come across as unfinished. Maybe someday we’ll see Episode 3, or dare we dream, Half-Life 3.
3
Half-Life
An Innovative Classic That Still Holds Up Almost 30 Years Later
- Released
-
November 19, 1998
The original Half-Life was revolutionary when it was first released and was one of the 90’s best video games. But the 90s were a long time ago and the game feels pretty dated today, especially if you come in without the benefit of nostalgia. Then again, it’s an old game so try not to be too hard on it. The gunplay still holds up, most of the level design is excellent, and it’s still really easy to find yourself immersed in Freeman’s escape from Black Mesa.
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The game also deserves a lot of credit for having a surprisingly good plot that laid the groundwork for the stories in the sequels. That story is clearly inspired by some iconic sci-fi movies and books and Gordon Freeman and his crowbar have become equally iconic themselves. But Half-Life has one big glaring issue – the ending levels. They were bad in 1998, and they’re still bad now. Half-Life is the kind of game that fans find themselves replaying every year or so, but a lot of them will admit to skipping the Xen levels, especially the beyond-bizarre final boss.
2
Black Mesa
This Fan Project Turned Remake Was Worth The Wait
-
OpenCritic
-
Top Critic Rating:
85/100
Critics Recommend:
93%
- Released
-
March 6, 2020
- Developer(s)
-
Crowbar Collective
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
Pretty much every criticism that can be leveled at the original Half-Life was fixed with Black Mesa. For those not in the know, Black Mesa started life as a fan-made mod/ remake that aimed to update Half-Life’s graphics and bring in major modernizations. It was first released as a free but unfinished mod in 2012 that impressed Valve so much they approved a commercial release. Take note, Bethesda.
Fans had to wait a long time for that commercial release though. After multiple delays, it was finally released in March 2020. It was well worth the wait. A brilliant remake, it makes Half-Life look and feel modern. There are countless gameplay improvements, but the biggest changes were saved for the final levels. We just talked about how bad those final levels were in the original. Thankfully, the Crowbar Collective reworked them in a big way. Every FPS player should go back and play the original Half-Life, then play Black Mesa to see what a truly modern version would feel like.
1
Half-Life 2
Incredible – From Physics, Story, Level-Designs, & More
- Released
-
November 16, 2004
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
It’s hard to believe Half-Life 2 is over twenty years old. Like its big brother, it revolutionized the FPS genre by showing an FPS could be about more than just shooting at baddies and blowing things up. Half-Life 2 let us interact with its world and NPCs in intuitive ways and had an awesome story. Everything before the let-down of a final level is pure excellence and is as good to play today as it was 20 years ago. Seriously, it has aged really, really well.
But its legacy goes beyond how good the game is. Half-Life 2 sparked a community modding movement that led to full-fledged game releases like Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead and there are tons of awesome Half-Life fan games. In many ways, this is the game that made Valve what it is today. This is what makes it so mind-boggling that we’ve never had a proper sequel. Half-Life 2 is special. It took everything that fans loved about the original, dialed it up to 11, and then Valve crammed it full of cutting-edge tech. In fact, with the RT update around the corner, they’re still stuffing in new tech, over two decades later. Half-Life 2 is arguably the best game in the franchise and one of the best, most important FPS games ever made.
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