Half-Life 2: Episode Two promo imageSource: Valve

What you need to know

  • Half-Life: Alyx is scheduled to release in March 2020.
  • The Half-Life Collection is now free-to-play on Steam until until Half-Life: Alyx releases.
  • The Half-Life Collection includes Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

Half-Life: Alyx is on the way and ahead of its scheduled release, Valve has just announced that the entire Half-Life Collection is free-to-play on Steam until Half-Life: Alyx releases. The Half-Life Collection includes Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

In order to play these games for free, you simply need to have Steam installed. Since they are all much older titles, it's unlikely your computer won't have the needed requirements to run them.

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The Half-Life games cover the travails of Gordon Freeman during the Black Mesa event and much later on, the Combine occupation of Earth. If you aren't familiar with the story but are interested in playing Half-Life: Alyx, this is a great way to get caught up on what has happened. Half-Life: Alyx is set after the first Half-Life but before Half-Life 2.

Half-Life: Alyx is currently set to be available in March 2020. For more on that upcoming VR title, you can check out the trailer here.

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Half-Life Collection

Save humanity.

The Half-Life collection covers the different struggles of Gordon Freeman as he survives the Black Mesa incident then helps fight in a revolution against the horrific Combine.

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