Half-Life: Source on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Winner of over 50 Game of the Year awards, Half-Life set new standards for action games when it was released in 1998. Half-Life: Source is a digitally remastered version of the critically acclaimed and best selling PC game, enhanced via Source technology to include physics simulation, enhanced effects, and more.
Half-Life: Source is a fps, action and classic game
developed and published by Valve.
Released on June 01st 2004 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux
in 11 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Thai and Korean.
It has received 16,056 reviews of which 11,068 were positive and 4,988 were negative resulting in a rating of 6.8 out of 10. 😐
The game is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Half-Life: Source into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Half-Life: Source through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
Minimum: 1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 level graphics card, Windows XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
Recommended: 2.4 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX 9 level graphics card, Windows XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
MacOS
Minimum: OS:OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3
Memory: 1GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8 or higher, ATI X1600 or higher, or Intel HD 3000 or higher
Network: Internet Connection
Other: Mouse, Keyboard
Memory: 1GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8 or higher, ATI X1600 or higher, or Intel HD 3000 or higher
Network: Internet Connection
Other: Mouse, Keyboard
Linux
Minimum: OS: Ubuntu 12.04
Processor: Dual core from Intel or AMD at 2.8 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8600/9600GT, ATI/AMD Radeaon HD2600/3600 (Graphic Drivers: nVidia 310, AMD 12.11), OpenGL 2.1
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Hard Drive: 8 GB available space
Sound Card: OpenAL Compatible Sound Card
Processor: Dual core from Intel or AMD at 2.8 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8600/9600GT, ATI/AMD Radeaon HD2600/3600 (Graphic Drivers: nVidia 310, AMD 12.11), OpenGL 2.1
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Hard Drive: 8 GB available space
Sound Card: OpenAL Compatible Sound Card
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
The only good thing about Half-Life: Source is that it gives you all of half-life in Garry's mod. Play at your own risk, this shit is cursed by the spirits of source jank.
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Rating: 7/10 Half-Life: Source, released in 2004 by Valve, is an enhanced version of the original 1998 masterpiece, running on the Source engine. While it aimed to improve the visuals, physics, and water effects, it failed to live up to expectations, making it a divisive version among fans. Despite still delivering the legendary Half-Life experience, this remaster feels more like a rushed port than a true upgrade. What Works Well? 🧪 Same Brilliant Gameplay as Half-Life At its core, Half-Life: Source is still Half-Life—one of the most influential FPS games ever made. The engaging story, immersive atmosphere, and smart enemy AI remain intact, making this version playable and enjoyable. 🌊 Improved Water Effects and Physics The transition to the Source engine brings better physics (thanks to Havok) and improved water reflections, which make certain areas look more modern compared to the 1998 original. 🖥️ Smoother Performance and Native Support Half-Life: Source runs natively on modern systems, avoiding the compatibility issues that can arise with the original GoldSrc version. Higher resolutions and widescreen support are also a plus. The Problems with Half-Life: Source ❌ Barely Any Real Graphical Upgrade Despite running on Source, most textures, models, and lighting effects remain unchanged from 1998. This makes it feel less like a true remaster and more like a basic port with minimal effort. ❌ Buggy AI and Broken Scripted Sequences Some of Half-Life’s iconic scripted moments don’t work properly in Half-Life: Source, breaking immersion. Enemies and NPCs sometimes behave worse than in the original, which is unacceptable for an "improved" version. ❌ No High-Definition (HD) Model Pack Unlike Half-Life’s official 1999 update, which introduced better character and weapon models, Half-Life: Source lacks these HD assets—making it feel graphically inferior to an older update of the game. ❌ Black Mesa Exists If you want to experience Half-Life with Source engine upgrades, Black Mesa (a fan-made, Valve-approved remake) is a far superior alternative with fully reworked graphics, animations, and improved gameplay mechanics. Conclusion Half-Life: Source is not a bad way to play Half-Life, but it's also not the best. If you want the original experience, the GoldSrc version is more authentic. If you want a true Source engine remake, Black Mesa is the better choice. 🔹 Rating: 7/10 – Still a great game, but an underwhelming remaster.
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Rating 7/10 Intro It's a bit redundant, considering the original game works perfectly fine, and more so if you attempt to play this un-modded. But it'll function with the Source Fixed mod installed, and you'll need it for Garry's Mod content that requires its assets. Plus, it's still Half-Life. Though be warned, if you attempt to uninstall this, it'll also uninstall Half-Life 2 as well for some reason. Positives + Dismemberment. + Good soundtrack. + Great replay value. + Great enemy variety. + Great weapon variety. + Weapons have good impact. + Good aesthetics and graphics. + Character models can ragdoll now. + Flashlight casts a dynamic light now. Negatives - Xen has the worst level design in the game. - Enemies are bullet sponges on Hard difficulty. - Uninstalls Half-Life 2 as well when uninstalled for some reason. - Retroactive physics inclusion has some unforeseen consequences. - It didn't get the full Source engine treatment that Counter-Strike got at the time of its release. Half-Life: Source Fixed Mod: https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-source-fixed Half-Life review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/70/ Half-Life: Opposing Force review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/50/ Half-Life: Blue Shift review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/130/ Half-Life 2 review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/220/ Half-Life 2: Lost Coast review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/340/ Half-Life 2: Episode 1 review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/380/ Half-Life 2: Episode 2 review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198096811507/recommended/420/
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Is it worse then normal HL1? yes Is it a fun way to experience HL1 if u already played it? yes (i love ragdolls) Is it the buggiest and most broken valve game? yes Despite all its issues I cant hate on it and will still reccomend it. if it got fixed it would be a great port. It is still fun even with the many issues it has but.. Valve pls fix give hl:source the love it deserves <3
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Half-Life Source is developed by Valve and released in 2004. This is the Source Engine port of the first Half-Life, originally using the GoldSrc engine and released in 1998. Half-Life is a masterpiece of the FPS genre, unanimously acclaimed by players and the specialized press. You can also read my review of Valve's first game [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/AymericTheNightmare/recommended/70?snr=1_5_9__402]here . Half-Life Source was billed as a remastered version of the 1998 title, with updated graphics and improved physics. If HL:S is fun to play, just like the original game that is great, however, things need to be clarified from the start: the Source Engine brings anecdotal new features to Half-Life, and the game is riddled with an incalculable amount of bugs, especially since the 2013 SteamPipe update. Let's say that Half-Life Source is not inherently bad, but it's clearly not the best version of Half-Life 1 either. I'm going to do my best to try to explain in detail, what makes Half-Life Source such an unique game. The graphics are unchanged with identical textures, but slightly brighter than the original GoldSrc maps, due to the new light effects provided by the Source engine. Despite this, many places are quite dark and dull. Half-Life 2's skybox system provides a little more realism, compared to the simple pixelated sky textures of the past. Those of the "Surface Tension" levels are quite pretty, especially in the "c2a5a" map of "Surface Tension" (the cliff, with the Valve Theme). The water is much more detailed as well, but contrasts with the game's outdated graphics. NPCs have ragdoll physics when they die. If this is supposed to be more realistic, thanks to the Havok physics engine, this often gives rise to funny situations because of the angular models of the characters. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to explode corpses. Too bad for those like me who love to stain all the places they visit with blood... The characters, the creature, the H.E.V Suit, and the weapon models are more detailed with high-resolution textures. They resemble the models from the High Definition Pack that came with Blue Shift and those from the PS2 version, both created by Gearbox Software. But what many don't know is that Valve chose unofficial models for HL:S from a fan-made mod, called "High Definition Source" created by a man named Denisov in 2006... The movements are clumsy, as are the fights. Some weapons suffer from exaggerated recoil, like the Beretta pistol and the M16. The C4 throw has a ridiculously low range, making this explosive almost useless. We actually pick up the Snarks themselves rather than their nest. Apache Helicopters fire the same rockets as Half-Life 2's APCs and Hunter-Choppers. The impact effects are different, and change depending on the surface you shoot at. This Source version of Half-Life is famous for its plethora of bugs and problems of all kinds. Here are the many mperfections that I noticed while playing… Several sounds are missing, such as reloading certain weapons, or scripted sounds. The music reboots after each loading of "Black Mesa Inbound". Others are cut off because of level transitions, for example in "We've Got Hostiles" or "On a Rail"! There are spawn bugs, like items floating, and a scientist levitating above his chair in the "c1a0b" map ("Anomalous Materials"). When I play the game in French, the voices of the H.E.C.U. Soldiers. remain in English, except in a few scripts in "On A Rail". In this same chapter, in the map "c2a2g", the sniper entrenched high up is harmless, he does'nt shoot. NPCs constantly repeat themselves when injured, while others are as mute as Gordon Freeman. In the maps "c1a4i" ("Blast Pit"), "c2a5x" ("Surface Tension") and "c4a1b" ("Interloper"), Tentacles are harmless. The electrified water of "c1a4f" from "Blast Pit" is invisible. The Barnacles' tongue is not displayed correctly in some rooms, you can get trapped if you are incautious. The "c2a4c" level of "Residue Processing" has terrible bright, colorful and psychedelic display bugs (see [url=https://youtu.be/o0cvPIdJdw4]here and [url=https://youtu.be/iCTf7zejoU0]there ), worthy of an acid trip. On Xen, when Gonarch spits his whitish substance onto the ground, a large black square texture appears. Even though I've already encountered the bug where Gonarch stays on his web despite receiving damage, I didn't get it while writing this review. In short, the list of bugs is endless, and I may have forgotten to note some… And I consider myself lucky enough not to have suffered certain bugs that I read or saw on the internet... So, is Half-Life Source a bad game? Of course not, but its quality is clearly lower than its predecessor. The game is often mocked, even ridiculed, by fans of the franchise. The improvements made by the Source Engine are minor and only noticeable to veterans of the original game. On the other hand, the bugs are legion and don't pay homage to either Half-Life or the Half-Life 2 engine. For a large number of players, Half-Life Source turns out to be a port without much ambition on a new engine. However, it is useful to Garry's Mod players thanks to its assets, and it's the same thing for Counter-Strike Source. I was able to launch all the Half-Life Source maps in Counter-Strike Global Offensive, in my "CS:GO x HL1" project (see [url=https://youtu.be/AXm4kQpNP-Q]here and [url=https://youtu.be/coQVlkT8BSs]there ). If it is true that the classic Half-Life at GoldSrc is undoubtedly the best version, HL:S remains relatively pleasant to play and still has a certain charm. You can have fun looking for little differences and bugs everywhere, if you feel like a beta tester. But there is no point hoping for a possible future patch, the last big update dates back to 2013, and it's this one which broke a good number of things in the game. Worse still, Valve delisted the game during Half-Life's 25th anniversary, recognizing the original game as the definitive version. So prefer the original Half-Life from 1998, cult in every way possible and technically impeccable. Half-Life Source is nevertheless an interesting element of Valve's history, a game to be appreciated for its true value. Keep in mind if you play it that it'is just a simple port from one engine to another. It's not really a Remaster, and even less a Remake. If you ever want to play a truly modernized version of Half-Life, the talented and passionate developers of Crowbar Collective have created the excellent Black Mesa, an excellent remake respecting the awesome original game while bringing a lot of great new features. You can by the way read my review of Black Mesa [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/AymericTheNightmare/recommended/362890?snr=1_5_9__402]here .
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Frequently Asked Questions
Half-Life: Source is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam.
Half-Life: Source is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 9.75€ on Steam.
Half-Life: Source received 11,068 positive votes out of a total of 16,056 achieving a rating of 6.79.
😐
Half-Life: Source was developed and published by Valve.
Half-Life: Source is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Half-Life: Source is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
Half-Life: Source is playable and fully supported on Linux.
Half-Life: Source is a single-player game.
Half-Life: Source does not currently offer any DLC.
Half-Life: Source does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Half-Life: Source supports Remote Play Together. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.
Half-Life: Source is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Half-Life: Source.
Data sources
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 09 June 2025 09:13 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 11 June 2025 12:37 |
| Steam price | 15 June 2025 04:44 |
| Steam reviews | 13 June 2025 11:58 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Half-Life: Source, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Half-Life: Source
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Half-Life: Source concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Half-Life: Source compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
8
Developer
Valve
Publisher
Valve
Release
01 Jun 2004
Platforms
Remote Play