Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam; retail editions were published by Sierra. Like the original Half-Life (1998), Half-Life 2 combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, and adds features such as vehicles and physics-based gameplay. Players control Gordon Freeman as he joins a resistance movement to liberate the Earth from the control of an alien empire, the Combine.

Half-Life 2 was created using Valve's Source engine, which was developed at the same time. Development lasted five years and cost US$40 million. Valve president Gabe Newell set his team the goal of redefining the first-person shooter genre.