Valve's Half-Life 2 is getting remastered with new ray tracing features from Nvidia and updated graphics developed by a talented modding team. Half-Life 2 will reach its 20th anniversary in 2024, and the new remaster appears to celebrate the occasion with major improvements and features supported by modern gaming PCs.

Half-Life 2 originally released in November 2004 on PC and quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed titles on the platform. One year later, Half-Life 2 would release on the original Xbox, introducing many console players to the iconic first-person shooter franchise. The title would be re-released on several platforms, including Mac and Android devices, and receive episode sequels in the form of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two. A prequel titled Half-Life Alyx would release in 2020, bringing the franchise into the VR space for the first time.

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Nvidia has revealed Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project, a new remaster developed by four community mod teams that have partnered to form Orbifold Studios. The remaster will utilize the latest version of Nvidia's RTX Remix technology, which was also used to develop Portal with RTX and Portal: Prelude. Orbifold Studios is rebuilding almost every asset of Half-Life 2 in the new remaster with Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties, Valve’s Hammer editor, and several other Nvidia technologies. As a result, fans can expect a slew of features that weren't in the original release such as full ray tracing, DLSS 3, Reflex, and RTX IO. A new trailer was released to highlight the remaster's improvements and its many RTX-related features.

According to Nvidia, the remaster's world and textures will have nearly eight times more pixels than the original Half-Life 2 game. Additionally, players can expect a great increase in geometric details while playing Half-Life 2 RTX. Since ray tracing will be implemented in the remaster, lighting and shadows have been improved tremendously as well. Half-Life 2 RTX is currently in early development, so Nvidia and Orbifold Studios did not share a release date. However, the developers confirm that they're still hiring modders and 3D artists for the project, and more details will be revealed at a later date.

Since the remaster uses DLSS 3 and the latest RTX technology, Half-Life 2 fans will likely need a RTX 40 series graphics card to support most of the remaster's features. The new features are also CPU intensive, so players must have a CPU that performs admirably in the latest PC games as well. Running Half-Life 2 RTX may require an expensive PC, but the stunning graphical updates and improvements may be worth the price for longtime fans who have desired a remake of Half-Life 2.

Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project is in development for PC.

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Source: Nvidia