Half-Life (series)

This article is about the video game series. For the 1998 video game, see Half-Life (video game). For the property of radioactive elements, see Half-life (element).

Half-Life is a series of video games created by Valve Corporation. The player plays as a character named Gordon Freeman, who is a survivor of a terrible accident at the Black Mesa Science Research Company. A group of scientists make a portal to another dimension, and accidentally let in many alien monsters that start killing everyone.

Half-Life
Genres	First-Person Shooter science fiction video game
Developers	Valve Corporation (Half-Life) Gearbox Software (Half-Life: Opposing Force, Half-Life: Blue Shift)
Publishers	Valve Corporation (Steam) Sierra Entertainment (CD-ROM)
Platforms	Playstation 2 (Half-Life) Xbox (Half-Life 2) Windows/CD-ROM Xbox 360 (Half-Life 2 and Episodes 1 and 2) MacOS Linux
Platform of origin	Playstation 2 Windows/CD-ROM Linux MacOS
First release	Half-Life November 8, 1998
Latest release	Half-Life: Alyx March 23, 2020

In the first game, Half-Life, made in 1998, you play through this disaster and try to escape. Half-Life has received two expansions made by Gearbox Software, Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life: Blue Shift.

Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life: Blue Shift take place in the Black Mesa Research Facility, Before the accident takes place. In Opposing Force, you play as Adrian Shephard, Tasked with Infiltrating the facility to kill everyone, until suddenly The Player’s Designated Helicopter Crashes, and must now team up with Facility Personnel to Survive, Blue Shift takes place Inside the facility moments before the accident and where you play as Barney Calhoun, a security guard who according to the Steam Store Page, “helped Gordon get out of so many sticky situations”.

In 2004, the sequel, Half-Life 2, was released. Half-Life 2 was followed by two expansions, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

A related game, Portal, was released in 2007 and takes place in the same universe. Portal, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, and Team Fortress 2 (a game not in the same universe as Half-Life and Portal) were put together into one package for sale in 2007. This package is named The Orange Box.