Game news One of the best games of all time is getting a welcome facelift, fans will be delighted!
Half-Life 2 returns in an RTX version announced last year, and shown at CES.
Half-Life 2 done part of Valve’s great successes, both commercially and critically. The 2004 game continues make people dream, twenty years later, with this RTX version remastered.
Half-Life 2 RTX, we have images!
We finally have news from Half-Life 2 RTX project, first shown at Gamescom last year. The project of bringing Valve’s FPS up to date was shown during CES 2024 with a new trailer. Developed by Orbifold Studios, in collaboration with four renowned modding teams, Half-Life 2 RTX draws on Nvidia technologies, including the hardware ray tracing of their graphics cards, the Nvidia ReflexTHE RTX IO and the third generation of DLSS.
A showcase for RTX Remix tools
This remastering is made possible thanks to RTX Remix, a modding toolbox announced by Nvidia in 2022. The Half-Life 2 RTX project, still under development, has already recruited a impressive team of 65 modders working on things like reconstructing textures, adding geometric details, and integrating Nvidia’s latest technologies. The trailer shows us a spectacular visual improvement, especially in the city infested with Ravenholm, where the pixel count of environmental textures has increased eight-fold and the geometric details of creatures have increased nearly 30-fold. The weapons have also been improved, since the Gravity Gun saw its polygon count increased by 70 !
In an interview, a representative from Orbifold Studios said:
Realistic lighting and shadows have been added to every part of Ravenholm, greatly enhancing the dark streets, abandoned buildings, and ingenious traps set by Father Grigori.
Although the official release date not yet confirmedNvidia announced that the RTX Remix beta will open to modders on January 22thus offering new possibilities for the community.
Still an up-to-date game, twenty years later
Half-Life 2 was a game ahead of its time when it releasedand the Half-Life 2 RTX project promises to continue this tradition of technology demonstration. The original game, released in 2004, made an impact with its innovative use of physics as a gameplay tool. The Orbifold Studios team strives to preserve the essence of the game while modernizing the title. Previous similar projects, such as Portal RTX, have already demonstrated the power of RTX Remix tools, and Half-Life 2 RTX is a major addition to that list. Beyond the technologies highlighted, Half-Life 2 RTX also arouses considerable interest due to the phenomenal success of the original game. Launched in 2004, Half-Life 2 has accumulated over 50 awards, sold over eight million units in the world and currently has over 144,000 positive reviews on Steam.
Half-Life 2 RTX is still in development.