Big Download Blog

Developer: Valve Software
Publisher: Sierra Studios
Platform: MS Windows
Original Release: 19 November 1998
Availability: Steam

"Forget about Freeman."

These chilling words, hastily scrawled on a wall of the Black Mesa facility, signified that the special ops team sent in to eradicate any survivors of the Black Mesa incident was to forget about their objective to eliminate Gordon Freeman and evacuate the alien-infested compound. The marines may have been ordered to forget about Freeman, but for 10 years, PC gamers have willingly kept him at the forefront of their minds and hard drives.

In mid-November of 1998, Valve Software released Half-Life, a first-person shooter designed for players who favored the thinking-man mentality over the genre's traditional run-and-gun antics. The result was an innovative first-person shooter with stellar mod support, a story that unfolded via paced scripted events, and tongue-in-cheek humor aimed at gaming's most popular doctor who put his PhD to use by throwing levers and pressing buttons.

In 2008, Gordon Freeman's ground-breaking debut still holds up when pitted against modern genre juggernauts. Join Big Download for a tour of the elements that enable "HL1" to remain a gaming tour de force. 24/11/08