The Seven Hour War is lost. Earth has surrendered. The Black Mesa incident is a distant memory. Half-Life 2 picks the crowbar back up for research scientist Gordon Freeman, who awakens on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted and its population dwindling, thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed years earlier back at Black Mesa.
Brought out of stasis by the mysterious G-Man and dropped into a train arriving at the occupied City 17, Gordon eludes Combine forces and joins the Lambda resistance, including Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa security guard now working undercover as a Combine officer, and Alyx Vance, daughter of Gordon's former colleague Dr. Eli Vance. Re-equipped with the HEV suit and his signature crowbar, Gordon fights his way through the city's canal system, the town of Ravenholm, and eventually the Combine prison Nova Prospekt, gradually gaining access to the Gravity Gun, a weapon capable of picking up and hurling any large object with ease.
Widely credited with forging the framework for the next generation of games, Half-Life 2 combines unprecedented immersive world-building, boundary-pushing physics, and exhilarating combat into a campaign where the player's presence affects everything around them, from the physical environment to the behavior and even emotions of both friends and enemies. This release includes the full Episode One and Episode Two expansions, continuing the story directly from the base game's ending and accessible straight from the main menu, alongside Half-Life 2: Deathmatch for fast, physics-driven multiplayer action and full Steam Workshop support for entire community-made campaigns and content.
