It seems like rumors pointing to Half-Life 3's existence are reaching a new fever pitch lately, but, as has been the case for more than a decade now, it's probably better to focus your attention on games in the series that actually exist until an actual launch date is announced. For anyone looking for newer versions of those games, there have been projects like the series' VR iteration, Half-Life: Alyx, the first game's remaster as Black Mesa, and, most recently, a demo section of Half-Life 2 remastered under the title of Half-Life 2 RTX. The latter of these options, HL2 RTX, was fairly underwhelming when it came out in March, but now, as the result of a new update, one of its biggest problems has just been fixed.
The prospect of revisiting horror game, though, its atmosphere depends in part on proper lighting, and poor lighting was one of the main problems with the demo's initial launch.
Fortunately, HL2 RTX has just been patched to address this issue. Creator Orbifold Studios explained that the demo's last patch improved its lighting's accuracy but over-saturated it as well. The new update fixes this and, as a result, make Ravenholm darker, "with more intentional authorship of light and shadow." Alongside this, HL2 RTX now has improved fog effects, a better Antlion model and water appearance, and a number of other fixes for stability and previously missing assets.
If you want to check out the new patch for yourself, you can grab Half-Life 2 RTX for free on Steam right here.
Otherwise, there other great choices to find in our picks for the best old games on PC.
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