Half-Life 2 is 11 years old

Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of Half-Life 2.

Eleven years. Whatever your opinion of Half-Life 2, the Valve that made this game is very different from the Valve we have today. Remember all the talk about episodic content being the future (we even got two following episodes)?

Half-Life 2 was also the first game to require players to install Steam to play it, including retail copies. It was Steam's Trojan Horse, in a way. Remember all the rage (and server load) this move produced?

The game itself received almost undisputed praise when it came out in November, 2004. To this day, many count it among their all-time favourite games and we no doubt have it to thank for making things like physics, ragdolls, in-engine cut-scenes, and few other innovations a mainstay in modern games.

The story of Gordon Freeman did not end with Episode 2, and ever since then, fans have been clamouring for Half-Life 3, Episode 3, or anything with the number three for Valve to make.

Happy birthday, Half-Life 2!