Half Life 2 Tech Demo - E3 2003

Found in my game video archives. Originally dated May 19th, 2003 for me. Filename was hl2_demo_trailer_full.mov
Some of the content appearing in this demo but cut from the final game can be seen in the Missing Information mod. See bit.ly/ML19nX
Since there was some interest about this, here is a write-up in Sharky Extreme about what it was like to view this demo at the time:
bit.ly/2oSdORo
I give my opinion on digitally distributed stuff thrice weekly at / bitshift

[@despedgame]

2003: These physics are awesome 2024: These physics are awesome

[@greenman1200]

Exactly! I can't stop being impressed by Valve on their older games! It's just fantastic work.

[@mylesaway2566]

To this day, I personally feel that the source engine Havok Physics is still one of the most accurate and responsive implementation of real time physics in a video game, obviously the modded source 2 engine in HLA is a big improvement, but I can't think of another game that really nails accurate physics. Maybe the Geo Mod engine for Red Faction Guerrilla...

[@timowthie]

@milou80 but then the story and its outcome would also be based on ai

[@e9198]

@@mylesaway2566 Nvidia PhysX and Unreal Engines Chaos physics system are both more then capable of physically accurate simulation to a much greater degree then havok, however I don't think ive really seen a better use/implementation of physics than the half life series. As far as im aware not many games if any have really gone to the same extent to implement fully physics based environments and character/npc models the way half life did.

[@timowthie]

@milou80 you seem to have a lot of knowledge about this.

[@gonzalo4307]

Seeing this in 2003 must have been like seeing a door to the future, man that is impressive

[@javierg3325]

Not really, the reality is we are living like 15 years ago... The videogames don't evolve like that times...

[@olsonbryce777]

@@javierg3325 you're dumb

[@haidertrash9544]

@@javierg3325 r u am idiot? The source engine was a milestone for physics in videogames

[@javierg3325]

I see that some of you have insulted me, it is because you have not understood what I meant. Well, what I wanted to say is that in 2007 we were used to the games innovating, you could see improvement in a 2007 game compared to a 1997 game, now we see games that their intention is not to innovate but to get money, we can see that there is not much difference between a 2007 game and a 2017 game

[@haidertrash9544]

@@javierg3325 ah yes that makes sense sry for being a jerk before

[@Tezmex77]

I love how old E3 sounds just like some friends show off their skills around a beer in a living room

[@trashtrash756]

Probably the 2003 quality mic and camera

[@DesolateLavender]

To be fair, that's a good vibe.

[@Japsterise]

Damn right it feels comfy as hell

[@Daburubareru]

@@Japsterise I would like to think peoples were very impressed by the devs skills and not judged the player. *cough cough CSGO*

[@WJINTL]

Back in the late 90s, early 2000s that was pretty much the entire game dev culture. Just a bunch of nerds going woah at software. Drinking beer eating pizza, trying to get a car to work or a new type of weapon textured. Now it's corporatised to hell. Probably why games tend to lack charm nowadays, it's all just focused grouped and quotad, investors and executives breathing down your neck over every little thing.

[@HamzaAnsari1425]

I like how the presenter doesn't outright ignore the 486 joke, and instead makes a callback to it.

[@VictorCampos87]

He waited for the best moment to say it. If he said it before, his scripted explanation would desync with the video context.

[@justaneditygangstar]

What is a 486

[@VictorCampos87]

@@justaneditygangstar The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the Intel 386. The i486 was introduced in 1989. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the 8086 of 1978, the Intel 80286 of 1982, and 1985's i386. x86 is part of IBM PC pattern. If you have an old or modern PC running Windows or Linux, you probably have an CPU compatible with x86 set instructions.

[@vgames9207]

@@VictorCampos87 god thanks for the info.

[@Keister00]

@@VictorCampos87 1989? holy fuck i mean at some point you gotta just upgrade..

[@Xenthera]

“It’s been 5 years” *laughs in 13 years*

[@VainestNote]

50 years later...

[@Viviana088]

1000 years later..... and the combine took over earth.

[@mre-man2043]

@@Viviana088 their will probably be people commenting/looking at this long after we are dead

[@sodkikotek8174]

14 for now ☹️

[@jaimdiojtar]

14 years now

[@toaster9922]

“He looks like hell.” *_HL2 Gman comes on screen_* “WOW.”

[@FeniXMinerva]

*HLA Gman comes on screen* “Oh no, he’s hot!”

[@hhnoyeet342]

@@FeniXMinerva you gay?

[@FeniXMinerva]

Hho Yeet Why, you interested?

[@hhnoyeet342]

@@FeniXMinerva just curious

[@FeniXMinerva]

Hho Yeet No.

[@mrgumbyking]

13 years later and this shit is still amazing.

[@pbkrogen65]

Well not the graphics but the physics is more realistic then real life

[@lekooky2877]

no

[@mrgumbyking]

Mark Le yes.

[@lekooky2877]

Bunty King ugh stupid phone i know its great i was trying to reply to winn but for some reason my phone didnt do the reply thingy.

[@rojamb2012]

"more realistic than real life" *We are hitting levels of autism that should even be possible*

[@Tails7212]

Those visuals are absolutely incredible for 2003, remember that most games looked like San Andreas around this time

[@The_Butt_Cracker]

San Andreas came out a year later, lmao.

[@gamerman6243]

@@The_Butt_Cracker this is a pre release demonstration, and he said AROUND this time while using san andreas for an example. the fact you completely misinterpreted this comment then said "lmao" trying to paint op as an idiot really makes *you* look like an idiot

[@The_Butt_Cracker]

@@gamerman6243 I was agreeing with him, dumbass.

[@user-xn3kt6bn5r]

@@gamerman6243 lmao

[@crossetta]

@@gamerman6243 lmao

[@Shadowdreamcast]

I still think the Source engine is extremely impressive.

[@TDRR_Gamez]

It never stopped to impress me, look. When i first played HL2 (It was this year) Boy, i throught that it was released just a year ago, but when i saw that it was made in 2004, i was like "WHAT?! Holy god!" And since then i am a fan of Valve. Anyways, the physics, the graphics, the sound, its all really impressive, still cutting edge.

[@Sl1z3r]

+TailsDoll RollinsR you can see better potencial of Source in Portal 2, TF2. Half-Life 2 Episode 3

[@TDRR_Gamez]

Portal 2 and TF2 were made 3 years after, dude.

[@Shadowdreamcast]

TailsDoll RollinsR Same, I played HL2 and the episodes in 2015 and wow.

[@TDRR_Gamez]

Yah.

[@Abirexe-wu7th]

*Half Life Alyx gets announced* Recommendations: Watch this

[@casinojka]

Same huh

[@Jack-cf7wm]

Source 2 Tech Demo when ples?

[@BargB]

Yas

[@AndreasHorb]

True dat

[@Srcsqwrn]

It's cool to watch at least.

[@comradecannabis7874]

Just by how the audience reacts to the footage you get a sense of how ahead of its time Half-Life 2 was

[@DarkGharren]

It's still ahead of many modern games, imo.

[@MrHallajs]

***** Which is kinda sad.

[@strikeout1991]

aksel Hj What's really sad is that we didn't get Half Life 3 yet.

[@Jahooba]

Turd Furgeson I remember watching this like it was yesterday. This is still amazing to me!

[@fancyslimoshady]

Turd Furgeson It wasent ahead of its time?

[@electrode8239]

"will this run on my 486?" he's the man of culture.

[@jango7889]

that was my grandpa who said that

[@anjotubeJE]

@@jango7889 Source?

[@Thebossstage1]

​@@anjotubeJE Source engine

[@Red_Nine5]

​@@Thebossstage1 His grandpa must've had the "goldsource".

[@blocky_luke]

​@negroheroits a joke duh

[@MaiYass]

The guy at the beginning saying "It's been five years" really gets to me. Half-Life 1 had only been out for five years at that point. Just shows how long ago this all was.

[@user-xp8wk1zt2p]

Ye its called time dumbass

[@jakemoffatt3004]

Wiggity waggity wow, you’re so funny!! Hahahaha! That was so good! You should go into comedy.

[@user-xp8wk1zt2p]

@@jakemoffatt3004 what was so FUNNY? Idiot

[@jakemoffatt3004]

Wiggity waggity Your dogshit comment you inbred fuck. Have some respect

[@cobaltdev]

Wiggity waggity Grow a spine like grooved spines, dumbass

[@Al_Paca]

-seeing the GameSpy logo -cries

[@Armm8991]

So i'm not the only one who misses gamespy... T-T

[@Al_Paca]

Yee ;n;

[@johnnygreenface4195]

Lik if u cri vri tim

[@LegitoTV]

dicks out

[@wigglejiggles]

:(

[@faur0s]

The coolest part is that this game actually came out even better than in this presentation. A rare thing nowadays.

[@santmc12]

Cyberpunk memories

[@zedsdeadbaby]

it really didn't, it lost a lot of ai and graphical effects compared to prerelease footage

[@Levrifon]

Hm not really sure, we have to remember that the source engine updates did improve graphics of HL2 over the time thanks to EP1 and EP2 but here we see the barricade with the door + table which doesn't exists I think in HL2, the level of Ravenholm seems to be "tuned" to be seen for the journalist but I don't remember combine destroying doors or the vending machine spamming drinking cans; the fire + light effects looked quite better than the sprite of HL2 fire, The game did improved but it seems they added fun stuff just for impress the journalist that we don't have in the real game, Also the part with the Alyx dialogue seems to be way better animated and the light is very different

[@DucksFor4]

*(Hello Neighbor flash backs intensifies)*

[@laszlodajka5946]

@@zedsdeadbaby they also had to cut a lot of maps and ideas from the final game.

[@asgjdafghesyusgf]

Impossible to overstate how important this game is. HL2 changed everything.

[@Decenium]

and yet it hasnt because so many games now dont even touch this...

[@martinledermann1862]

@@Decenium doesn't change the fact that what Valve did back then was almost 'revolutionary' at the time.

[@Ephisus]

HL1 did, too.

[@why6212]

And so will HL3, right? Right? 😭

[@martinledermann1862]

@@why6212 It's sad to say but we'll prolly never see HL3 released. It's gonna be like with the last books of G.R.R. Martin :(

[@rabiroden]

If somebody doesn't understand "what's the big deal about Half-Life 2", show them this video and listen to the audience reactions. This was absolutely revolutionary stuff.

[@user-xp8wk1zt2p]

And yet it failed

[@aycj2680]

@@user-xp8wk1zt2p Excuse me sir but i think you talking about some parralel univers in which half life 2 has failed. Because as i know, half life 2 dont failed at all.

[@user-xp8wk1zt2p]

@@aycj2680 tyou do know there is more then 1 half life right?

[@aycj2680]

@@user-xp8wk1zt2p Yes.

[@Leijona321]

@@user-xp8wk1zt2p What are you trying to tell here? Half-life 1 metacritic score : 96 Half-life 2 metacritic score : 96 Half-life 2 ep1 metacritic score 87 Half-life 2 ep2 metacritic score 90 Those are all very good scores. Why are you saying half-life 2 failed? We still have games based on half-life 2:s source engine, we have tons of mods for half-life 2, tons of players still playing it. It is one of the most succesful singleplayer games ever, I cant find one reason why it "failed"

[@Gideon_the_Seraph]

"Will this run on my 486?"

[@Omarlition]

I don't get the joke. Explain?

[@andreyseliverstov3134]

+MrPootisSir 486 is a common name for the family of popular Intel 80486 processors produced in early 90s. They were fairly suitable for gaming at that time running at max of 66 MHz, I believe. That guy just couldn't miss the opportunity to remind Gabe of such milestone.

[@DxDeksor]

+andselisk No, it ran up to 100Mhz (intel side) and up to 133Mhz (AMD side). Some of AMD's 486 were even made to run at 160Mhz (but they were released as 133MHz CPUs). Yes, back then intel and AMD (and plenty other CPU companies) made CPUs that had the same "name" (that's why the next cpu made by intel was the Pentium, to avoid the copy of the cpu's name). And they ALL used the same socket too ! It was like if you could buy a socket 1151 AMD cpu for example ^^. It kept going up to the "socket 7". After that, they started to make their platform

[@radioactivepotato9188]

+David Warburton Probably like source games run on anything

[@RoninDays]

+Deksor It also wasn't suitable for gaming for 6-7 years by the time HL2 came out, lol.

[@DarthBiomech]

13 years later, and that G-man facial expressions are still looking better than most modern shooters.

[@reptids4282]

agreed, while cod is simply copy paste the fucking engine

[@wakesake]

simple because the main focus now are shitty consoles

[@DubElementMusic]

nope

[@MegaSmouke]

Who spread the rumors about shitty consoles and why? Consoles are not shitty, development just more complex, so lot of time going on tech side and actual game still primitive.

[@DarthBiomech]

>What is the fundamental difference between a console and a PC, can you name even one thing? You cannot create new content on consoles. They are purely consumerist devices.

[@ThomasConover]

A 20 year old engine, from 2003, still beating the crap outa 99% of the competition with its almost unsurpassed physics engine simulation. This game engine pushed the rest of the world into a whole new era of gaming never before imagined possible. ❤❤❤❤ a mathematical work of art.

[@DrSabot-A]

You are delusional to say that Source is in any way competitive to today's game and physics engines. 99%? Even the most basic of Unity games today has better physics rendering than Source. You have to remember that Source isnt that amazing when youre away from scripted events, and the devkits rely a lot on addons and mods. And this coming from someone with 2k hours in Gmod, 1.2k hours in HL2, 400 hours each in Epi1 and 2, 600 in Day of Infamy, and 3k in Insurgency.

[@ThomasConover]

@@DrSabot-A I still have not played any VR games that comes even close to Half-life Alyx using unreal engine. Until that day arrives your counter argument is completely irrelevant to me.

[@DrSabot-A]

@@ThomasConover Half Life Alyx is literally Source². Your rebuttal is moot, stop moving goal posts. Besides, Boneworks literally exists. GoldSrc and Source was my childhood, i grew up experiencing its flaws and glory without even opening my first forum account until CSGO was released.

[@ThomasConover]

@@DrSabot-A yes I totally understand you’re a autistic moron. 🤣🤣🤣 and you’re very proud of it.

[@Maximus20778]

Yh tbh doom 3 was more impressive tbh​@@DrSabot-A

[@angryprotester8244]

21:55 Freeman dropping a 'f' in the chat for the poor rebel who got impaled

[@halfer2011]

AHAHHAAHHAHA

[@asais1024]

HOLY SHIT THEY PREDICTED THAT MEME

[@hampTC]

Nice

[@toaster9922]

nah man, he threw an F and then a U. he was saying Fuck You to the strider

[@jughead1357]

@@toaster9922 I just realized that now?

[@SNzero0]

This is REAL next-gen.

[@pandoratv3927]

almost as next-gen as COD Ghosts xD

[@prog_demos]

nothing beats the fish

[@metalvitezek7545]

PandoraTV COD is a piece of crap

[@akeiai]

Seljumnik Nothing? cockroach beats every single AI

[@radioactiva3095]

That can run on 486

[@Vuthakral]

"[signature Source engine click audio glitch]" 7:58 10/10

[@muffinhunter]

tyvm

[@therealbraindawg]

+seinjunkie vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt vvt ft ft ft ft ft ft bb bb bb bbbbb bb

[@chthaman]

That is still in cs go with Lets roll ol ol ol ol ol ol ol

[@bliss9670]

+Vuthakral kissyourself -.-'

[@tryhardgamr3262]

lmao i thought i was the only one who got that

[@gametron5917]

Every time I watch this preview, I put myself into that time period and imagine what games looked like up to this point. Seeing this tech demo back then must’ve been beyond mind blowing! Half-Life 2 and the Source Engine as a whole is such a technical achievement on multiple levels, and 17-18 years later it still holds up significantly well.

[@AJ-po6up]

Geez has it really been 17 yrs already? time flies like crazy... I was too young back then so I never played it in its day but I try to imagine how people must have felt and it blows me away too.

[@rotua98]

that scene when they showed an object like camera-projector to that multiple screen object, that amaze me at that point, probably the only game that do multi rendering is just racing game with its rear view function, and they can even move the object and manipulaye the angle in HalfLife

[@ELNIPLO]

Yes, it was. We used to drool all over this tech demo with our mere geforce mx 440 runing it at 5 fps... betweem half life 2 and doom 3 those years were awesome, even with low spec graphic cards, you could at least execute them and see the new tech by yourself... those were the days.

[@mundocpc]

It was mind blowing indeed... and when the game came out, it even ran well with in 8600GT. I was born in 1980, having my first microcomputer in 1987. From 1987 to 1997, computer and videogame evolution were absolutely incredible (from an Amstrad CPC to Quake, in my case, imagine that). I think that went on, at a much slower pace, to maybe 2007 or 2008 (Crysis was really impressive, for example). From there i feel it was mostly a improvement of resolution, graphics, world size... but nothing transformative anymore. Or maybe I got old and I am not easily amazed anymore after more than 30 years of playing 😕

[@Tschacki_Quacki]

That scene where the barrels drop down through the spikes (you can hear a guy starting to clap in the background lol), had us totally losing our minds. "DUUUDE, IT'S LIKE REAL BARRELS! PHYSICS DUUUDE!" From that moment, we were screaming and cheering like watching a football game. We've spent the whole evening replaying the preview and fantasizing about the great adventures we are going to experience in Half-Life 2 with computers that we probably have to spend a lot of money on. It all came true: Half-Life 2 was great and we needed to spend a lot of money on PCs

[@foxygramp_1973]

One of the biggest reveals of the last decade is being held in what sounds like a living room

[@vgames9207]

@GorboRevix was it really a living room?

[@thedeegee1601]

Behind closed doors reveal, happend a lot back then.

[@defmech]

​@@vgames9207 Not sure of this specific instance, but lots of these small demos were done in hotel suites near the convention center. For huge expos like E3, the publisher/developer booths sometimes had meeting rooms behind them and they'd do closed-door demos and sales showcases for press, retailers, etc. Often only enough room for 2-12 people at a time, so sounding like it's done in a living room makes sense.

[@Forssa1]

People used to be mad that they needed to get a decent PC to play this. Now people are mad that they need to get a VR headset to play Half-Life Alyx. This is what innovation looks like.

[@queuedjar4578]

Same way with HL:1, people used to think 3D graphics cards were gimmicks and were upset that you needed to get one to run the game properly. The thing about source is that it was incredibly optimized so you could still kind of run the game even on older hardware, I mean Half-Life 2 had an official Xbox ORIGINAL port that actually worked somehow

[@calyxman]

@@queuedjar4578 It didn't. It lagged, it ran at 5-25 FPS... It's bad.

[@queuedjar4578]

@@calyxman Yeah it would have dips but the fact that basically the entire game complete with physics was still there, albeit with more load screens, is either a testament to source or original Xbox hardware.

[@shaqm0bile]

I think the big difference is that Valve is also in the VR headset business. If nVidia made a game you needed a 2080ti for (or at least a super expensive GPU), people would be salty about that as well. But yeah, innovation often requires change. There are plenty of other ways to innovate in games, VR just happens to be the one Valve has a boner for. It's also kinda corny to hoover up steam commission, not do any real game releases for over a decade, then release a game that requires $600-$1000 extra hardware. You're basically forcing all of your fans to spend extra money to play your games because you don't want to dev for normal platforms anymore. Nothing wrong with it, just kinda lame.

[@Forssa1]

@@shaqm0bile Valve are into the HMD business because no one else is doing it good enough. That's not their fault, and they do everything to support any other HMD on the market.

[@long_chin_man]

barrel: *falls* human in 2003: "wooaaahh"

[@eere3343]

The barrels falling is what made my jaw in the floor in 2003

[@Helperbot-2000]

people in 1956 "wow, the dot is moving on screen!?"

[@RaimaNd]

I remember that and I was like "woah" aswell. The source engine was 10 levels ahead of everything.

[@Jakerocksteady]

It was absolutely insane for the time. This blew EVERYTHING else out of the water.

[@Spoderfok]

When i saw grabbing object was a thing i didnt believe it

[@KindaGhostyy]

This was undoubtedly the exact room you wanted to be in during 2003. The vibe is immaculate.

[@alexanderjones84]

7:57 after years of Garry's Mod, I will always remember this sound and the infamous line: node graph out of date rebuilding...

[@joebidengaming5525]

F to all gamers who cant rebuild those memories

[@toaster575]

@@joebidengaming5525 rebuild those graphs

[@gucci4512]

Lol I still play garrys mod so I still experience it

[@alexanderjones84]

@@gucci4512 same

[@BigOuterHeaven]

*A.I. Disabled*

[@niogos]

2003: OMG! Imagine how we will use the physics in 10 years!! 2020: 99% of the games have worse physics and don't use them for gameplay, just aesthetically

[@demivideos8887]

cant think of a popular physics based game rn

[@misterkuda704]

Unfortunately most AAA games are that

[@uss_04]

Most they do is environmental destruction and ragdoll deaths that people dont even notice. Using physics offensively or defensively is mostly a fluke

[@LaughingMan44]

Yup, unfortunately it's far .are profitable to churn out unimaginative rehashes and your average consumer wouldn't notice the difference anyway.

[@PTX9017]

only modern game I can imagine that does use physics as actual gameplay is probably Teardown

[@sergiuszmachno5596]

In 2003 face animation was better than in ME Andromeda in 2017...

[@natebit8130]

@downtown_ you just described source.

[@plume...]

@@richardmcsweeney8613 This is true. It's even showcased in the vid when they switch to another language other than english, and it adapts on the fly.

[@plume...]

@@richardmcsweeney8613 That's great.

[@mr_quant9621]

In fallout 1 (1997) face animation better than ME Andromeda 2017...

[@IamTheGreatCornholioo]

It's not about the year but how much work developers put in, so just because many years passed doesn't mean it's easier to develope games you idiot

[@Sirpushyou]

When this was announced it blew people’s minds. Seeing the water and lighting was on a whole another level.

[@vgames9207]

i don't see whats so special about water and the lighting looks really subpar too me.

[@rotta8371]

@@vgames9207 compare It to Any other game from 2003-04.

[@vgames9207]

@@rotta8371 well yea lots games i can think of looks better then this game.

[@rotta8371]

@@vgames9207 Make them

[@Shush959]

@@vgames9207 I see you go around in the comments shitting on peoples opinion about how Half Life 2's e3 wasn't as impressive as it looked. You can cope with that 70% of all games today would never reach the same height as Half Life 2 ever did.

[@long_chin_man]

"will this work on my 486?" -homosapien in the year 2003

[@Riixtard]

everyone : hAhaHaHaAhAAhAHHaAHA

[@RosieSapphireMusic]

Honestly, the Source engine *might* be able to run on that.

[@NOWAXWORKS]

@@RosieSapphireMusic I don't think so, it can barely run Doom.

[@LukesOffline]

@@NOWAXWORKS I think he was joking lol, the presenter said at one point "Now that won't run on your 486,might have to get an upgrade" so the guy says "Spreadsheet runs so well on my 486!"

[@NOWAXWORKS]

@@LukesOffline Oh lol, I regret having said that then haha

[@BetaFury]

“It’s been five years” Oh god that guy wasn’t ready

[@tediumlacie]

Which guy....the subtitles say it was the presenters words.

[@cobgod1415]

@Stix N' Stones There's an entity name in a map in Opposing Force called "duketakemforever," poking fun at Duke Nukem Forever and how long the game was taking to release. Opposing Force was released in 1999, about 2 years after DNF was announced. DNF was released in 2011.

[@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565]

@@cobgod1415 we can blame the director of Duke Nukem Forever for that, they finished the entire game around 2000s but the director Said "fuck It, I dont like the final product lets redo It entirely and fuck up the Duke Nukem series", only for It to take so long to be remade and released that It looked way too obsolete even for the 2000s standarts. The Guy killed a franchise over his own ego, talk about bad decision making.

[@MondySpartan]

@@cobgod1415And ironically Opposing Force was made by Gearbox, who later would end up finishing Duke Nukem Forever.

[@erinpastroje8515]

>developer of the most advanced videogames in the industry >stops making games k den

[@lHDISMAEL00]

erin pastroje sad story

[@michaelbiland5575]

RIP Valve games 1998-2011

[@zyriuz2]

I guess theyre afraid to let people down... Too much pressure on them i guess.

[@tomasjasiulionis3633]

It's valves fault for taking it so long. They made us get hyped and now you are saying that they are afraid to let people down? Pft

[@Zevolish]

So much potential, and then it's all gone

[@Nespalvotas]

To this day - this looks impressive as it can get. The first time I've played Half-Life 2 was somewhere in 2005 and I was completely blown away with everything this game had. This was a complete, life-changing experience for me. So many hours were spent playing this game, getting into the lore, being so immersive... Good old times. This was truly revolutionary.

[@vgames9207]

if you find looking att an empty waste land full of happy go lucky characters as the good heart rebels fight the brain dead ai of the combine who are running an laughable evil dictatorship then sure good for you.

[@ShArp_MK]

Pritariu tau 100%

[@HibHab69]

This must've been mind blowing back in the day.

[@ham_fisted]

It still is pretty mind blowing due to the fact that no game since has been able to innovate more than Half Life did. The only thing that's really gotten better are the graphics.

[@MegaSmouke]

The 50% of mind blowing job was on Havok 2.0, which produce excellent physics. I still remember how I killed first combine and he dropped from stairs, it was amazing. And whole game does like this. That was a golden time of gaming for me, with Thief 3: Deadly Shadows my favor heavy atmosphered games.

[@martinaee]

It was. I saw this back in 2003 and nearly shit myself. We're used to this now and it doesn't seem that impressive, but the Source Engine did so much crazy shit when HL2 came out.

[@endlessevanescence3502]

martinaee And that is why gamers, whether they are fans of the series or not, let alone first person shooters in general, should respect Half Life 2 and what it brought to the table in terms of innovation. Regardless of any personal opinions, Half Life 2 was like lightning in a bottle- it came at the right time in the right place. This kind of stuff is not as impressive today now, but as you rightfully said, Half Life 2 broke a lot of barriers...and not many games can say that anymore because Half Life 2 started it first (or was one of the first to start it).

[@MegaSmouke]

Mitchell 117, In term of impressive there are was Painkiller which also was one of first shooters which used Havok 2.0 in correct manner.

[@damianopodobny]

After 11 years this showcase is still impressive

[@CattaRappa]

I agree. EA can suck it.

[@muntathr_g6830]

After 21 years, this still has better physics than AAA next-Gen games like Starfield

[@prashantmishra9985]

It's still true

[@Exe_red]

Valve 1998: Presents on of the best singleplayer shooter game overall, and it's Half-Life Valve 2003: Presents one of the best singleplayer game with best technologies, and it's Half-Life 2 Valve 2019: Presents one of the best VR game, and it's Half-Life: Alyx

[@AlexEatDonut]

Only took them a decade to write history again.

[@WhoForgot2Flush]

Half Life was used to push the creation of Valve. Half Life 2 was used to push the creation of Steam. Half Life: Alyx will be used to push VR.

[@dead_ciel]

Why one of!? It is the best game for vr

[@HumanGrunt]

@@dead_ciel calm the fuck down, it hasn't even come out yet

[@jmbkpo]

Careful what you say Alyx is very new

[@gdgh4325]

this is so wholesome seeing their reactions and how impressed they were

[@minembo]

I wonder where that 486 guy is now.

[@CossackHD]

+Minembo Probably upgraded to PIII by 2004.

[@goatcanon]

Probably dead, Donald Trump killed him.

[@duckfonaldtrump2515]

+Flipper Productions yea he did kill him

[@khorps4756]

+Minembo he died in a 7/11 2 days after the day before yesterday

[@Razor-qx4ib]

+Minembo I'm pretty sure that guy with the 486 CPU will run MGS V in 500 fps max settings. Kappa

[@Bisqwit]

[signature Source engine clicking sound] They were quite impressed! I know I would have been too. Also thanks for the CC!

[@mateuszw.7905]

U here

[@vgames9207]

who are you?

[@dingas4979]

@@vgames9207yo mama

[@andreimelo135]

The clicking sound happened even after the release lol. Why not correct it? Maybe it’s there on purpose 🤔

[@donaldtrumpling2016]

​@@andreimelo135it would be pointless. It does that when loading

[@mr649001]

3:22 "will this run on my 486?" "...no comment" Although TBH source engine is almost optimized enough for it lol

[@pax1217]

Half Life Alyx: "Will this run on my i3?"

[@StromcekDavid]

@@pax1217 idk but my I7-6700K is maybe capable of HL:Alyx

[@646464mario]

@@StromcekDavid 6700K should be fine, but I advise upgrading if you ever want to stream it or something.

[@StromcekDavid]

@@646464mario I will upgrade it soon, but I still haven't decided what Intel CPU yet.

[@646464mario]

KievanRus233 I suggest a Ryzen

[@TheWigglyLine]

20 years later and this is still the best tech demo of all time

[@notlekrut]

Sad that many games 10 years later don't have half of these technologies and physics. All they have is pretty graphics.

[@sleeping_giant0620]

Red Faction Guerilla had pretty physics and destructible environment,GTA 4 had great physics,but the rest...I don't know,mainly this year.

[@notlekrut]

Fort Gamer I really liked Red Faction Guerilla because it was bold enough to let you destroy anything, and of course for having awesome physics. GTA 4 also had great physics, particularly euphoria physics for bodies and the car physics and destruction was better than any car game. But there are still many games that don't have simple destruction, good physics and all the things this engine shows. It's a bit sad, there are great engines out there but games only come out barely using the engine capabilities and unoptimized.

[@sleeping_giant0620]

notlekrut I forgot,Max Payne 3,it had the same GTA 4 physics,a little optimized.

[@notlekrut]

Fort Gamer I was surprised by Max Payne 3. Awesome graphics and really cool physics but it runs on medium/high on my pretty average laptop.

[@sleeping_giant0620]

notlekrut Your laptop must be so powerful compared with my 2006 laptop which can run at least Need for Speed World on low settings.

[@AmBush2048]

1:55 - Fun fact: This function is broken in retail Source.

[@RickTheSmugLord]

Bummer, No wonder I never saw that anywhere.

[@RedMser]

It actually is broken; the collision model of displacements does not morph when using this entity. developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Env_terrainmorph

[@andyfriederichsen]

It's a shame they removed something that had so much potential.

[@roberthunter6122]

Well it's still in source 2006, but collisions may not work and such. Maybe add a brush where it's suppose to be at or something? Idk

[@sulphurous2656]

Blinking is also broken since steampipe. It drives me crazy.

[@jasperabibas]

12 years later, Source 2 was announced... let's see how Valve will innovate this year with the Source 2

[@EkinoxSupreme]

12 fucking years... Omg

[@WinstonPoptart]

JaksiTaxi sounds like a console

[@EkinoxSupreme]

JaksiTaxi Fkin goben pl0xs

[@meanwhile_0]

Gian Pacayra "Announcing the game you've been waiting for for so long... Half Life 2: Source 2!"

[@Nutty151]

JaksiTaxi 12 plus three letters (years a slave.) That makes 15. 15-12=3! HALF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED.

[@dudelikesWoW]

I was 8 when this footage came out and there was a period of time where my dad and I would watch it every day on his CRT monitor (which would make a very loud “VRRRRR” when you turned it on) and it blew me away every time. It still holds up almost 20 years later.

[@dumdumwilde2428]

It honestly still blows me away to this day!

[@PersonausdemAll]

VRRRR 😄

[@pakoti96]

It's 2015 and seeing this makes me EXCITED! Seriously, you can see the world of gaming and technology take an enormous leap. 12 years later I still haven't played a more perfect game than this.

[@ssbj144]

Peter DD Consoles happened and put stop on "what can be achieved that is groundbreaking and unique". Thesedays it's instead about "how can we get more money from this?" "this needs to be more accessible so that our greedy needs get enough money, DUMB IT DOWN MORE YOU SLACKERS SO IT WILL SELL MORE". Very sad times in gaming currently..

[@MrCarkeys42]

ssbj144 ehhh pretty sure its always been like that. consoles didn't "happen" in 2004 lol and greed has always existed in the gaming industry. valve was the exception, not the rule. shit was just as bad back then as it is now.

[@ssbj144]

Mark Carchidi Really? Then how nowadays everything triple A that get's made, is multiplatform (console designed). Can you now "mr i am right" please then explain it to me that why Half-Life 2 was a PC Game and not designed for controllers in mind or to consoles, when it comes to the gameplay? It's very simple, back then fps wasn't made for consoles, except only some console fps like Time Splitters but mainly it was still PC genre. DOOM 3, Half-Life 2, Far Cry, FEAR..

[@MrCarkeys42]

ssbj144 did you even read what i said? i didnt say today wasnt bad, i just said its always been bad. yeah you are right all the big games are console designed, but you fail to realize its been like that since the early 80s, console games just sell more. the FPS did start as PC thing, but that was because consoles werent powerful enough to handle 3D yet. once they were powerful enough then of course developers started developing for them, to make more money. and also you clearly have no timescale of FPS games, FPS games were popular on console years before half-life 2 and doom 3 etc. ever hear of golden eye? anyway, point is the gaming industry has always been greedy. half-life 2 was an exception because valve want to push the boundaries, they like to innovate. not everyone was like that back then, most were still super greedy. also, half-life 2 was multiplatform. it game out on the original Xbox :P

[@ssbj144]

Mark Carchidi Oh please, don't even try to lecture me.. I know pretty darn well how the fps genre is and where it came from. Reason i just listed you those games, was because you were the one to bring "2004" into this. Those games happen to be from that mid 00's. I take 90's Duke3D levelord level design over them anyday but they sure as hell were better than todays bs. Anything new. Reboot of shadow warrior? Horribad and pathetic. Reboot of wolfenstein? Horribad and pathetic. id's new ip Rage? Horribad and pathetic, Bulletstorm? Horribad and pathetic. You see what they all have in common? They all are linear and slow also dumbed down. HL2 most definitely wasn't multiplatform as you claim. Why else would it have otherwise come a year later to Xbox release? PC version (just like Doom3) came year earlier than console version. HL2 PC date 2004 nov and HL2 Xbox port date 2005 nov.

[@wd357dui]

1:23 G-Man said:"那么，看来你们是没有合作的机会了" it means "Well, it seems that you(plural) don't have a chance to cooperate (with each other)"

[@NikitaGladkikh]

Edgy

[@thecooldude9999]

That's what he says in Half-Life 1 if you refuse to go through the portal at the end of the game.

[@UshankaMaster]

@@NikitaGladkikh what's edgy?

[@NikitaGladkikh]

@@UshankaMaster valve probably trolled other devs with this quote i suppose

[@evil_chuck]

The joke in the sequence is that G-Man asks Gordon to pay attention, because he's going to say it only once. And it says it in Chinese 😂😂😂

[@ReddoX30]

This video really reminded me how incredible Half-life 2 was. Even 12 years later, very few games came close to it's brilliance.

[@bliss9670]

IKR Played it when I was 8 now Im 21 STILL PLAYING IT!!!!

[@ReddoX30]

FuriousG Yes, the graphics still look pretty good, but the most amazing thing about it was the physics engine, which is still used to this day. Back then, seeing an object fall and obeying the actual law of physics was mindblowing!

[@bliss9670]

+Kain Bastien Yeah I like the physics engine,it makes amazing puzzles,thats why we play as gordon freeman,an out of the box thinking scientist.

[@mathesonwarshawski380]

Half-Life 2 was brilliant on a technical standpoint. Otherwise, it's good. Nothing mindblowing, just good. The only other standout aside from its impressive engine is the fact that you never leave Gordon's POV, but despite this people don't view Gordon as a mask put over themselves whilst playing the game, they see him as an actual character separated from the player which means the use of immersion, although creative, didn't quite work.

[@ReddoX30]

Sneaking Sniper You are right, you don't feel like you're Gordon, you feel like you are controlling him. I think the DOOM reboot did a much greater job as far as silent protagonists go. It feels like YOU are in the game, ripping demons in half, not someone else doing the job for you.

[@paprika8795]

i watched this in 2003. it was truly unbeliavable and revolutional. it's hard to imagine that feeling by watching it now.

[@KyleCunninghamCode]

I wanted to add here as well. It's kind of hard to contextualize, but Halo 2 came out a year after this demo, and generally most PC games took a long time to catch up to HL2. This is also 5 years after the release of Half-Life 1, so that's an astounding amount of improvement in a relatively short time.

[@RKroese]

Nope! Takes me RIGHT back.

[@unrealeck]

This is probably the last time I was genuinely in awe of what they had achieved with a game engine. The graphical detail was unseen before. The shader effects were new. Physics in a game like this were new. Facial emotions on this level were new. The way the physics interacted with the player was astounding. The way sound effects worked with objects was even noticably impressive (like jumping on a metal barrel for example). Being able to deform character models like cutting them in half or setting them on fire using the environment this dynamically was as far as I can remember, new. The AI was mind blowing (though it was later found to be almost completely scripted). The general presentation and action scenes were movie like in a quality that hadn't been seen.

[@floofy5529]

I agree, but to sum it up, just how everything was put together really sucked you into the game. The highlights: The Graphics The Sound The Physics And the art really sucked you into it. The Source Engine is by far the greatest advancement I've ever seen. Crysis was very impresive, although it didn't suck me in as the Source Engine in Half-Life 2 did, the graphics were unparalled and the physics were really great.

[@brandon9271]

Kenny Yee Half-life 2 really was greater than the sum of its parts. Even though more advanced engines have come along I still think Half-Life 2 really hasn't been beaten by any game since. It was the atmosphere, the story, the art direction, voice acting.. just everything was stellar. It boggles the mind to think what Half Life 3 would have to do in order to top Half life 2. Full Oculus Rift and Sixense support perhaps? LA Noire style facial animation? Luminous engine type graphics? Personally, I'd be happy with just a continuation of the HL2 story with slightly better graphics but I know expectation are higher for most people and I'm sure Valve will exceed expectations and raise the bar again. :)

[@DavidBux101]

brandon9271 I know! We could have Morgan Freeman in the game!

[@ZahBroskee]

David Bux He can do the developer commentary

[@GnanaPrakash86AP]

For me, crysis is right up there too.

[@duch11]

3:22 "Will this run on my 486?" xD

[@Roderick4057]

jonas holm lol

[@Krystalmyth]

jonas holm lol 'no comment'.

[@mixererunio1757]

It shows how ahead of its time HL2 was

[@OodldoodlNoodlesocks]

The facial animations is what always get me. Incredibly emotive for a video game almost two decades old while the best that devs like Bethesda can do today is flapping lips.

[@vgames9207]

pifffff! you got to be joking me, all the characters do is have a wired/awkward smile/blank face that potarys zero emotive other then all the characters looking high as fuck.

[@vgames9207]

@@shen5533 that's a good combo of emojis not gone lie.

[@fardimnazir666]

@@vgames9207 And how many games from 2004 did you see "realistic" expressions?

[@jhonoscar9179]

@@vgames9207 Pero que pndjo eres jajajaja

[@dragonfist105]

@@vgames9207 you cant see a game with facial animation back then

[@accountdisbanded]

3:22 this punchline is amazing

[@theviktator6341]

2024 Version: "Will this run on my 1080Ti?"

[@DanielWindows]

half-life 3 tech demo e4 2050

[@leonderprofie123]

I think this is exactly why I was so amazed and positively traumatized back when I first saw footage of a source engine based game on KZbin as a young child. It was a GMod video and I almost wasn't even sure if that was a video game or real life because it just looked so realistic, especially for childs. More than a decade later and there's still no other game that can compare to this, incredible. Shame we never got so see another Half-Life game though...

[@Krystalmyth]

Galileel There are plenty of games that can do this today. You're not viewing it in perspective. What do you think seeing something like The Last of Us 2 is doing to a kid today?

[@leonderprofie123]

And you don't seem to have read my comment properly.

[@MarcellDAvis1103]

@@leonderprofie123 i agree even when i was playing hl2 in 2014 i was blown away by the graphics

[@mindsetofadreamer]

Schön dich hier zu sehen, Galil.. leel.

[@samw2670]

Krystal Myth ruining them with sjw politics

[@RosstaFloss]

Anyone else still impressed by this? Most modern game physics aren’t even on this level...

[@matthewlake182]

Half-Life Alyx and Boneworks?

[@ollee609]

Matthew Lake he said “most”

[@rabburtt1841]

@@matthewlake182 Both VR games.

[@varsonn5677]

Not to mention the AI! The metrocops trying to open the barricaded door and then resorting to firing through the windows is so realistic and terrifying!

[@Headlock123456789]

@@varsonn5677 I think that part was scripted, but yeah, Half-Life 2 was insanely innovative.

[@TheDopeyElephant]

Just making them go "woah" sometimes, makes my heart melt

[@vgames9207]

69 likes nice

[@SirEpifire]

Even though our physics systems can perform more accurate simulations now, the problem is that modern developers barely let the player utilize it. One thing that really still shines through today about Source, is it had a component mindset about how it's entities were structured. You had a hard coded base to handle different functions and categories, so that mappers and gameplay designers could easily string together consistent physics experiences throughout all three HL2 games in no time flat. As an artist predominantly using Unreal Engine, one thing I miss from Hammer is all those entity presets. I do understand we're talking about in house, proprietary code functions. But honestly, I wish the internal development with games now would press that design element much more than they do. Everything feels a lot more fake, to me as a player; when everything is static and totally linear. It's a real art when the game feels like it exists outside of our own experience in it. When it feels much bigger than our big adventure taking place in it, our minds scheme up more than the game is showing us. That in my opinion, is where Valve really succeeded in Half-Life 2.

[@doodleboi7034]

The power to use a object, almost every things(except for the story) makes the game a breathing world. This is why I love the HL series,especially HL2.

[@drifter402]

tl;dr games are now movies

[@wekiisha]

@@drifter402 Literally every game with a story is like an interactive movie. Even Half Life. Whats your point?

[@drifter402]

@@wekiisha no they aren't. Video games aren't movies.

[@stanleybochenek1862]

Yeah

[@Gunslingerwashere]

"So, you will really hate your enemies in Half-Life 2, fear for yourself and your friends, and maybe discover a few new feelings along the way." **g-man gives off extremely suggestive look**

[@dirtymonk748]

XD

[@HAL-iv2kd]

And with HL:A we discovered why...

[@Eira_]

Gman making that expression at me triggers me fight or flight response

[@yack8947]

My erection ripped through my shorts when he did that. Never again

[@happydiarrea]

Are you the roblos guy?

[@tom13king]

This is nothing compared to CoD: Ghosts's fish AI.

[@lovefps5792]

Oh look everyone a cod fanboy, ghosts sucked but advanced warfare was a small comeback.

[@tom13king]

I'm a fanboy? I was being sarcastic.

[@lovefps5792]

Oh good

[@odub_]

Love fps Holy shit, *WHOOSH*

[@7dmtuk87]

odubuk There was so much *WWHHOOOOOSSSHHH* it created a sonic boom.

[@Avaruusmurkku]

Resistance fighter: *Gets impaled by Strider leg.* Gordon: *Picks up "F" from the wall and throws it.* Ah, Valve truly was years ahead of everyone.

[@gavinmitchell3709]

Don't forget that he throws the "U" right after.

[@dr.coomer5115]

F U strider.

[@MrDee-ry3fj]

you mean throw "f" to respect?

[@yayos666]

The moment you realize this is 20 years old.....

[@theaveragegamer1719]

These recommendations are direct attack on Cyberpunk.

[@OkachaWasTaken]

Shut up lol

[@atlev]

Except most of this demo is faked lol. The backlash after this was found out in 2003 was massive. "The AI you're seeing is not scripted sequences, it's actually so advanced that it's determining when to help you out in combat." Once people opened these levels up in the stolen files, they found that all of this was scripted and fake.

[@ShinCadian27th]

@@atlev at least it use "real" gameplay

[@hahe8530]

@@atlev I can’t find any results of this when I search up if the demo is scripted or not? I would think that this is documented somewhere but couldn’t find anything.

[@atlev]

@@hahe8530 Download the 2003 stolen files. The map is in there, and if you play it you'll see that this is incredibly scripted.

[@Foetestour]

It really makes you wonder what it would be like if Half Life 3 ever comes out...

[@Mariscos420]

They're probably going to make it VR centric

[@edgydirtbag6144]

2018, 2 years, to be exact though, we have 20 days, one month and a year.

[@thelen4806]

lol

[@thelen4806]

why do you think 2018?

[@edgydirtbag6144]

TheLen valve themselves.

[@cyril1522]

Still impressive in 2016

[@sophiatheodores7985]

17*

[@pira707]

till half life 3

[@prltqdf9]

Speaks volumes on how little gaming technology has evolved since then.

[@Triumph263]

*18

[@smurfsareoppressed9584]

Your profile picture looks kind of like Toby Maguire.

[@bmello452]

This shit makes me want to cry. This game defined PC gaming and was pure magic on release. Made you feel like you were truly experiencing the bleeding edge of technology in a very believable way and this game STILL plays great to this day.

[@CesarJoseee]

Half-Life 2 looks better than some games today...

[@narfolicious]

Um it's better than all games today

[@d.w.hoerak954]

narfolicious Hahaha no

[@narfolicious]

***** Name one.

[@JasonTechTips]

narfolicious Crysis, Crysis 3, Battlefield Bad Company+, Metro 2033+, Titanfall, etc. I can go further but Half-Life 2 has the graphical fidelity of 2004.

[@SpAMCAN]

Jason Winnage "better than some games..." He did not say all, he said some.

[@MediumKeyCubbage]

came back watching this after half life alyx got revealed

[@JukoYT]

Same

[@OneSaile]

1 month already wtf

[@JukoYT]

@@OneSaile wow it went by fast

[@fenkupng]

@@OneSaile 1 year already...

[@Gggmanlives]

5:42 hnngghh that skybox

[@marekvrbka]

Does it matter? As long as it looks good its ok.

[@Gggmanlives]

Please learn to internet :www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hnnng

[@JackTheRaccAlt]

Gggmanlives LRN2INTRNT MRCUSS

[@GPWfiles]

Gggmanlives Please learn to not act like a total bitch

[@JackTheRaccAlt]

Jason Street Is it because of what he said to me?

[@Argooh]

I remember getting hold of a playable version of this tech demo. I spent days just playing with the physics and staring at how beautiful it all was. Steam account got banned for it. Radeon 9700 Pro 128mb back then. Good times.

[@iwastherobloxianminecrafter]

Was it worth?

[@0liver243]

Why did you get banned for it

[@gamertechkid1490]

This was the most mind-blowing moment in gaming history. Games haven't advanced much since Half-life 2 in 2004

[@colbyjackextracheese6249]

GamerTechKid are you sure about that? htc vive,doom,portal 2,skyrim,goat simulator this list will to big if i was to be complete.

[@nickb808]

FD The Gaming Animator Goat simulator? Fucking GOAT SIMULATOR? I would have been fine if you said any game was better than HL2, but I draw the line at fucking GOAT SIMULATOR.

[@ham_fisted]

Also, Portal was made in the same engine as Half Life, in the same universe as Half Life and with the same physics. (P.s Doom and Skyrim didnt innovate that much at all)

[@sau7710]

FD The Gaming Animator goat simulator lmao u joking right

[@apchistuz]

@@colbyjackextracheese6249 portal 2 is the same engine with some improvements

[@popnfreshish]

Pretty much everything in those demos had never been seen before in games. - The textures - The models (both character and environment) - The animations - The facial animations/lip syncing - The particle effects (the fire, smoke and sparks) - The shaders (the stained glass, the water etc) - The physics engine - The interactivity with the environment and other characters (eg. how a character physically hands you a weapon and you see the weapon physically pass over to your hands) - The way enemies react to the environment (burning on contact, floating in water, being cut in half on contact) I don't think I've seen a game since that has pushed so many aspects of games in one single release. I remember downloading all these videos. They were bink videos in a .exe file format. I watched them so many times on my PC with my Radeon 9800 Pro (which I bought pretty much in prep for HL2 and was a beast of a card at the time). Saying that, I was impressed with Valve's Portal VR demo.

[@TDRR_Gamez]

Oh my god, a Radeon 9800 Pro?! Tell me, how smooth did it run at max settings?

[@kyzerbuhnzi6403]

+TailsDoll RollinsR probably better than a gtx r7 690

[@TDRR_Gamez]

That sounds beeyotifool (Best spelling 10/10 IGN)

[@popnfreshish]

TailsDoll RollinsR No idea. It was years ago now. I think by the time it came out I had a higher spec card. I think I had the X800XT Platinum Edition when HL2 was released.

[@Buraz93]

Jack Oh boy I remember when I bought a PC with ATI's X850 xt in prep for Doom 3 and Half Life 2, it ran so smoooth.

[@El-Burrito]

I remember thinking this was the most amazing shit when I saw it for the first time.

[@P4INKiller]

+El Burrito It really was.

[@nopushbutton]

+El Burrito I remember being really disappointed for some reason when I first found out there wasn't really a docks zombie level in the beginning. Now I realize it would have just been annoying falling into the water with no quick way to get up.

[@employee4275]

I still do

[@TheWigglyLine]

To this day, this is still the greatest tech demo of all time

[@MultiMarvelGeek]

I thought the Halo 2 Demo looked f*cking crazy for 2003. Then I see this

[@kappitool5725]

Well Halo was built for console and the game was pretty good looking for time. HL2 was like a fucking "Crysis". I remember we had to wait for a year until one of my friends had a powerhouse computer to play the game. HL2 was well optimized for many hardwares, but for quite sometime I would put my computer to load a level and go downstairs to watch 10 minutes of "Simpsons" :D. Than through out the level my frames would tip under 15 FPS. Crazy HL2

[@Zelousmarineinspace]

I saw this after seeing the D00M 3 alpha, & while I shat my pants & awed at how FUCKING INCREDABLE the textures were, Half-Life 2 blew me away more

[@casmith1998]

Kappi Tool Now Half-Life 2 runs on pretty much every system! Crazy how things change :P

[@Dash123456789Brawl]

Gorblats Can confirm, Half-Life 2 runs on my crappy 3+years old laptop, with very short loading times. (I don't remember how short, and I had to delete it to save hard drive space, but sub-30 seconds, probably)

[@Zelousmarineinspace]

Dash123456789Brawl 5 seconds. Maybe even 2 seconds on my computer.

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

It's surreal how this game STILL looks legitimately impressive 17 years later.

[@Decenium]

I would sooner say "depressing" but sure.

[@botezsimp5808]

Half life:Alex came out and this engine is still holding up! Valorant uses the Source engine as well. The Source engine is probably one of If not the best engine ever made.

[@haileybennett4006]

​@@botezsimp5808Valorant uses Unreal Engine. Riot would have to pay Valve an exorbitant amount of money if they wanted their direct CS:GO competitor to be on Source.

[@agentfuse6416]

I remember when my friend was trying to persuade me into believing that Doom 3 had better graphics than Half Life 2. I later showed him this video, and then proceeded to tell him they came out in the same year.

[@jessegauthier6985]

Doom 3 had cluttered environments that gave the illusion of graphics. Look closely and it all falls apart.

[@jamstonjulian6947]

Agent Fuse Nevertheless Doom 3 had stunning lighting.

[@RockinEnabled]

@@jamstonjulian6947 and fire that was NOT a friggin sprite but a thing that had some 3d volume!

[@MrFreeGman]

Doom 3 had better lighting and more detailed textures but was much more limited than the source engine.

[@MrBratkenSolov]

**sees DOOM 3 vs HL 2 holy war** OH BOI HERE WE GO AGAIN

[@matt_l2003]

One of the best things about HL2 for me was how much the actual gameplay was built around the new tech. Most games with physics like this, even nowadays, just include it as visual eye candy or as a cool 'attention to detail', but HL2 utilizes it all as gameplay; whether it's destroying breakable wood to get to a hidden lambda cache, picking up a nearby object and holding it in the air as cover only to throw it at an enemy, moving objects around to get to a new position, solving a puzzle, throwing nearby objects at enemies, or even zombies throwing nearby objects at you, etc. Hell, the whole highlight of HL2 is the Gravity Gun, which is only possible through their physics engine. They meshed the new tech with the gameplay perfectly, and it's still amazing 20 years later.

[@SauceApple51]

This is 2003... Let that sink in. The tech we get in games these days are so uninspired and watered down, having 'Fish AI' boasted about as something that can be considered a good achievement. Valve seem to be the only ones who are going to lead innovation in the gaming world, while companies like EA and Ubisoft will continue to milk games and poorly code, which is sad.

[@SauceApple51]

darkzler Yes... we do. Guess who has been pushing that tech and doing work on it recently? Valve.

[@SauceApple51]

darkzler Yes, they started it, but Valve are pushing it. Oculous has died out, nobody hears anything about that anymore. Same with Nvidia.

[@SauceApple51]

darkzler I am not really concerned at all about VR, I am more interested in new tech.

[@THEALLROUNDSPACEGAMERTROLOLO]

+Blank ᅚ Facebook fucked them over

[@SauceApple51]

+THEALLROUND GAMER Yeah

[@synqFPS]

THIS IS FROM 2003? WTF

[@sleeping_giant0620]

Yes,the start of the 7th gen (PC,PS3 and XBOX 360) of the games.

[@ethanpuentes3549]

Fort Gamer It was still in the 6th generation

[@sleeping_giant0620]

ethan Puentes I thought the 6th generation was in PC,PS2 and XBOX Classic.

[@ethanpuentes3549]

It is

[@netweed09]

Epic 2003 /fixed

[@VinnieJonny]

Valve: Wow such an achievement we did back then. With our company growing bigger and our experiences with source engines we can make even better games! Lets make Artifact

[@failedabortion1894]

Let's make CS:GO glove skins!

[@bonjoviwankenobi8533]

Hey, they came out with something. It's better than just stopping making things altogether. If people hate everything that Valve makes, then they'll most likely not bother to release anything because they know people will hate it no matter what, either because it ruins the original or because it's not a sequel/update to the original. It's better to leave out the critical panning if it'll hurt our chances of Valve coming out with something new.

[@aeiouaeiouaeiouaeiou4510]

Let's make a prequel IN VR

[@ramiroeatspizza]

Artifact was a good game

[@yack8947]

@@ramiroeatspizza said no one

[@Savannah_Media]

Hard to state just how earth-shatteringly amazing these graphics and mechanics were in 2003.

[@saricubra2867]

Only a NASA PC back then can run Half Life 2, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Doom 3 in the same year.

[@Odin3v]

Fuck you are wrong. I know because I had a great PC back in 2005. All you needed was a rig with Athlon XP 3200+, 1GB DDR400, and a ATI 9800 PRO to run any of those 3 games on high settings at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 and still get 40+fps. Rich PC guys had a 7800GTX rig in 2005.@@saricubra2867

[@CraftosaurZeUbermensch]

0/10 no advanced fish AI

[@ham_fisted]

10/10 advanced bird AI

[@danilafoxpro2603]

Craftosaur Actually there is fish AI coded into the game, but fish models are missing.

[@agentfuse6416]

The Ichthyosaur was originally going to be in the game and is coded. So that's a fish.

[@julkkis666]

Half life 1 had leach AI

[@WENY47]

@@julkkis666 Half life 2 has leech AI too. ( High way 17, Lost coast etc.)

[@ChandlerMakesVidya]

>believable and realistic human beings >gman

[@lychy645]

Gman is not human

[@lychy645]

@J D Yeah that was my joke

[@lychy645]

@J D Yea I was being double sarcastic

[@jab7474]

*you are man.* *he is not man.* *for you, he waits... for you.*

[@kylemaurer9167]

Valve was waaaaay ahead of their time...

[@CrowJam]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havok_%28software%29 havok physics engine bruh. Released in 2000, source uses it. The shadow middle man ; p

[@theobserver4214]

CrowJam But many games didn't use it, Half Life 2 also tweaked it so it ran better and was more realistic

[@CrowJam]

yeah, but havoks influence is undeniable

[@thealandude9146]

What funny is that the leak version of Half Life 2 have a more realistic physic then the retail version

[@txcrix9236]

The best part of this video is hearing the reactions of the guys watching. They were absolutely amazed at the tech demo. Then the game released and they along with the entire gaming world were completely mind blown!

[@thewarden7929]

"Hows this gonna run on my 486" I love that guy , hands down best guy there.

[@johnnygreenface4195]

"But my spreadsheets ran so well…"

[@DanielaViegas]

"It's been five years" In anuciment of Half-Life 3: It's been 58 years.

[@furi7383]

xD

[@_Leo_-]

It's been a loooong time

[@alexandershubin1123]

It's not quite HL3, but it only ended up being twelve years till the next HL game was announced.

[@natebit8130]

250

[@pd3331]

The game still looks great to this day.

[@Alex_1729]

I think they added HDR through Steam. Not sure about this, did it have HDR before? Can someone confirm?

[@phxx8534]

Micic00 The Orange Box featured several engine upgrades that were incorporated into every source based game.

[@Alex_1729]

Hari Kari I haven't played the game when it first came out did you? Has anything major changed during these years with upgrades through Steam?

[@phxx8534]

Yes, I recommend looking up the wikipedia page for the "source engine" which powers all Valve games. Apart from the visual upgrades, the games have been optimized (streamlined) for distribution over Steam. It's likely that all Valve games will again be ported to Source 2 whenever that comes out.

[@Alex_1729]

I know something about that engine. I know also about the new distribution method through Steam, it's better. But I haven't heard of Source 2! That's exciting news

[@rustynuts89836]

When I saw this in 2003, I would have never thought I’d still be playing this game at max settings and 300 FPS in 2021. But here we are

[@Seacat17]

In 1440p resolution with a bunch of graphics mods

[@vgames9207]

never heard of 300 FPS untill now.

[@rotta8371]

@@vgames9207 in other comments you complain that The graphics are Bad but can you run cyberpunk on an old computer with Max graphics and 300fps. Also graphics dont matter.

[@Odin3v]

5120x1440 for me. Still gets 120fps maxed out. @@Seacat17

[@venomousicon8855]

​@@vgames9207you have 100+ comments on this video. Meds. Now.

[@kilodeltanegative4199]

''Will this run on my 486?'' Laughed 12 years ago and I'm laughing now. Never gets old :D

[@user-tt5ll9xc7v]

+Asen Yonchev Does that mean I have to upgrade?

[@ReMeDy_TV]

But, my spreadsheets ran so well!

[@admiralevan]

2003, 2003! let that sink in. I haven't been this blown away in years by anything I've seen except maybe when crysis 1 was first shown. Not much has been revolutionary since then.

[@CYON4D]

I agree man. Seeing Unreal, Quake 3 Arena, Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and Crysis for the first was just amazing. They were all mind-blowing tech in their time. You don't see that leap anymore.

[@vgames9207]

i see nothing revolutionary about half life 2?

[@admiralevan]

@@vgames9207 how old are you? Might depend. I grew up with the game and nothing was like it before, they innovated a LOT. You have the physics simulation, buoyancy, you had new 3d shaders, an expanding storyline as you progress complete with motion captured actors, plus the stylistic choices they went with for the universe were very fresh at the time. What other game could you pick up a rusty saw blade a shoot a zombie in half with it?

[@vgames9207]

​@@admiralevan "how old are you?" am 22, not that it matters since am one this guys who tends to appreciate/love older games more then newer ones. "I grew up with the game and nothing was like it before," thats cool, but what games hade you seen or played before you played half life 2 for context? "You have the physics simulation," begin able to break wood and drive cars is something you could already do before this game came out....and begin able to pick small objects up and have floppy ragdolls does not seem that impressiv to me, unless am missing something? "buoyancy" boats were a thing before this game tho? not sure if wood could float in any game before half life 2? "you had new 3d shaders" this is not first game with new 3d shaders? "or is it" also whats so special about this new one? "an expanding storyline" i would not call going 20 years into the future were everything is ruled by a dictatorship "evan tho you beat the aliens in the first game?" an expanded story. "plus the stylistic choices they went with for the universe were very fresh at the time." no? i would not call a story where the world is under the rule of an oppression evil dictator and suddenly outclassed people somehow fight back as good heart rebels a fresh story, in fact i evan go as far as to call it one of the most unfresh and uninteresting story you can make imo. "What other game could you pick up a rusty saw blade and shoot a zombie in half with it?" that i agree with evan tho its only 15% of the game you get to do that in.

[@jawnaisiri]

7:45 Alyx: Gives Gordon MP5K Gordon: Gets MP7

[@uglies7056]

Beta problems

[@CJ-lz9jg]

Bro be like: 👍 👌

[@vgames9207]

lol.

[@_PsychoFish_]

MP7 - MP5 -> 7 - 5 = 2 They already hinted to Source 2 back then

[@Generic_Handle4573]

@@_PsychoFish_Ain’t no way :O

[@thetwistedsamurai]

Wow, it's insane how good this still looks.

[@HibHab69]

(throws the big F at the Strider) Some guy: F U! (guy doing the demo proceeds to grab and throw the U)

[@desolatedblank5393]

wow :D i dıdnt notice that.

[@Pbairsoftman]

Source still has the best water I've ever seen in an engine

[@SkullRaven]

I guess you haven't seen CryEngine 2/3 and Frostbite then.

[@atomictoothpaste3316]

I love how the crowd says the gman looks like hell, and then is baffled afterwards

[@tomchester3229]

When I saw it in 2003, having I think Celeron 366MHz and Riva 16MB VRAM, for me that presentation was a killer. Absolutely amazing masterpiece on every level. I play this game every single year and I am never bored or thinking, that is ugly or outdated, etc.

[@vgames9207]

"Absolutely amazing masterpiece on every level." well then maybe you shound read my comment on all the janky stuff that is in this demo. "I play this game every single year" how? the game is laughable easy, the ai is brain dead and the weapens are all weak low tier grabage. "and I am never bored or thinking, that is ugly or outdated, etc." well i think the game is laughable ugly, like someone grabed some assists of google and slaped it together calling it a game, as for outdated, its a shity word i don't think has any real vaule.

[@ourchicken]

POV: fortnite player

[@vgames9207]

@@ourchicken who?

[@gordonfeetman445]

@@vgames9207 Nobody cares.

[@waffler-yz3gw]

@@vgames9207 why do people like you come onto videos just to spread incorrect information and shitty opinions? please explain your thought process