False alarm! Everybody continue about your normal business. This is not some official Half-Life 2 update; this is Half-Life 2: Update. The mod is a community-made attempt to give Half-Life 2 a graphical rub-down—enhancing its ageing visuals with some fancy technical trickery.
A comparison video gives you a look at what's been changed. Er, hopefully your eyesight is better than mine:
What, specifically, does the mod do? Here's the feature list:
- Complete lighting overhaul including enhanced lighting, more detailed world shadows, and full High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDR).
- New particle effects and improved fog.
- Countless bug fixes, correcting both visual and game-based issues.
- An extensive Community Commentary Mode featuring the voices of well-known Youtubers, including Caddicarus, Brutalmoose, Ricepirate, Balrog the Master, ProJared, and Ross Scott from Freeman's Mind .
- Retains the iconic Half-Life 2 visual style and gameplay.
Half-Life 2: Update is due out tomorrow. It's free, but downloaders will obviously need to own a copy of Half-Life 2.
