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“Half-Life” (1998) for PC (Personal Computer) (Last Updated 4/22/26)

Intro:

In case you don’t know “Half-Life” (1998) for PC (Personal Computer) is a FPS (First-Person Shooter) videogame with some modern weapons that exist in real life in the present day and some that are science fiction. It can be played single-player or multiplayer. It was the first installment in what would become a videogame series also called Half-Life. People refer to “Half-Life” (1998) most commonly (when they want to be more specific than just saying “HL” or “Half-Life”) as “regular Half-Life” but sometimes call it “original Half-Life” or “Half-Life 1998” but not “Half-Life 1” as that can also mean all versions of Half-Life before “Half-Life 2” and so a joke of mine is “things were so much simpler back in 1998 when you could just say “HL” or “Half-Life” and everyone knew exactly what you meant.”

Everyone when talking about “Personal Computer” abbreviates it “PC” so I will too from now on in this article.

The different ways you can play the game:

To play this vintage PC videogame today you can pay a small 1 time fee to legally digitally download it through Steam (their website is: Store.SteamPowered.com) and then can play it single-player and also multiplayer also through Steam or buy a disc of it on eBay or somewhere and if the key code has not been used for Steam yet you can enter it there and then without their small 1 time fee play it multiplayer again on Steam and even if it has been used still play it single-player. And there is the newer version for the PS2 (PlayStation 2) that was released in 2001 but you can’t even come close to doing everything that is possible and fun with the game with that version and while it did include “Half-Life: Decay” (a new Half-Life game designed to be played 2 players, co-op (so on the same team against computer controlled enemies), split screen, and by the characters Gina Cross and Colette Green) an unofficial port of that game was released for PC in 2008. And then there is the newer version for PC of “Half-Life” (1998) that came out in 2004 when Valve ported it to its game engine Source as “Half-Life: Source” and while that version does have better graphics it also has a reputation for having more bugs and glitches than the original and that version is also on Steam.

As for the original way of playing multiplayer on the internet by clicking on the game icon on your desktop then clicking “Multiplayer” then “Internet games” then “Join game” or “Create game” it will no longer work and so if you try and play multiplayer that way and so click “Join game” you can’t see any servers up and if you launch a server by clicking “Create game” no 1 can see or join your server up either (but that way still can be used to explore maps alone). But a LAN (Local Area Network) sever not only still can be used to explore maps alone but also still used for multiplayer but other players have to have their computer connected to your computer via a LAN cable (also known as Ethernet cable among other names) and the single-player game also still works fine. Also what will not work is the original way of going to “Chat rooms” as no 1 will be there or be able to see you there either. The reason why is that way to play multiplayer or use chat rooms was through the WON (World Opponent Network) and it was permanently discontinued in 2004 when the switchover to Steam happened. And while the original way of playing multiplayer on the internet will look like it works and so looks like “there just aren’t any servers up” there really are servers up you just can’t see or join them that way and if you launch a server it will look like it works and so looks like “now people can see my server as the 1 server up and join” but they can’t see it or join it because there is no message like there should be that says “the WON way to see servers up and join them or launch a server has been permanently discontinued so will never work again so please go to Steam instead to see servers up and join them or launch a server as that way still will work” and the chat room as well looks like it’s working and looks like just no 1 is there besides you when it’s really not working and also with no message to inform you of what the situation is.

And for the PC versions if your computer is newer you might be unable to play the game initially so to learn more about the ways to play this game read the “Ways to play vintage PC videogames” section in my “Ways To Play Videogames” article I wrote: here.

About the pictures at the top of the page:

The first picture above is a screen shot that shows a player aiming at a Barney in the base of my favorite map for this game of Crossfire with the towers lit up with green lighting signaling that the nuke button can be pressed and the sky color changed to what I feel looks best for this map. The adding of Barneys and changing of the sky color was done with a script.

The second picture above is a screen shot that shows a player inside the Blue Room of also of the map Crossfire. Getting into that room was also done with a script.

About my favorite videogames:

“Half-Life” (1998) is still my #1 favorite videogame of all-time. (My #2 favorite videogame of all-time is “Half-Life: Team Fortress Classic” (1999) for PC and my #3 favorite is “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004) for PS2.)

Notice:

While it’s just the top part of the article for now the rest of the article is coming soon so please check back later!

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