Ten years ago this very day, PC gaming changed.

It was on November 19th, 1998 that Valve Software, after a year's delay, released Half-Life. In that time, it has spawned an absolute legacy that it richly deserves. It earned countless Game of the Year awards, topped almost as many Best Ever lists, paved the way to an even better sequel, and gained the undisputed title of the King of Mods.

My first hands-on experience with the game was in a college computer lab where someone managed to install it on several systems. With a few friends, we killed time with several matches of HLDM and Team Fortress Classic. One guy was a total nightmare with the crossbow, anything in his sights was dead. Every time, without fail. My first memorable experience with TFC was in a game of Kick, I was on Blue playing Heavy Weapons, defending our goal. Another friend of mine was playing a Medic on Red and had managed to get the ball and was coming in to score. As soon as she entered the room, I held down fire and didn't let go. I kept the crosshair on her as she ran through the room, up the ramp, and just inches away from the goal she finally dropped. A good time held by all.



It wasn't long before I got a copy for myself. The single player mode was unlike any other shooter I had played up to that point. A continuous narrative that only took away control from me when Gordon was knocked out. No cut scenes, no witty dialog from the hero, no level cuts, no power ups, no scores... I loved it. From getting help from scientists, teaming up with the Barneys, outsmarting the marines, getting scared shitless by the alien grunts; it was a joy. Oh, and there was also turning on the cheats so you could go on a mindless killing spree in the first few levels. “Ah, hello Gordon Free- AAARRRGHH!”

Mods just made a good thing better. At first it was kind of slow, but with Valve offering full help to the community with kits and mod expos, the scene just exploded. Everyone knows Counter-Strike, and with good reason. For years it kept Half-Life at the top of the GameSpy player lists, often having ten times as many players then the game in second place. It was fantastic to follow the version updates throughout the beta phase. I remember when it started with a handful of weapons and the only way to tell the terrorists apart from the CT's was that the terrorists wore short sleeves. There was also that experimental phase with the APC that led to hours of comedy from teammates getting backed over



But other mods should not be forgotten, since there was a lot of great ideas out there.. There's Scientist Hunt and Scientist Slaughterhouse, which was pure madcap mass-murder mayhem which was fantastic as a lan game. Science And Industry, where you got points and better weapons by kidnapping the other team's scientists. The They Hunger series, which made zombie slaughter fun before it got cool. Action Half-Life, which took a good idea and made it better. Vampire Slayer, which was another fun apples vs. oranges mod. Day of Defeat, one of the first good World War II mods. And one should not forget the dozens of single player campaigns. If you found a good set, it was fantastic.

There was a time that I would check Planet Half-Life every day, back when Fragmaster still ran the place. Always on the lookout for the newest mods, game updates, and Walter's World every week. It's pretty weak nowadays, but back then it was worth checking the site everyday. I picked up Opposing Force on the release week, showing it off to my coworkers when I was working at a shitty call center for a month. I picked up all the PC Gamer CDs that featured USS Darkstar and every episode of They Hunger. I still own all the boxes.



Half-Life or course led to Half-Life 2, which in turn gave us Portal, Team Fortress 2, Dystopia, Garry's Mod, Left 4 Dead, and so on. There is no way to add up all the time I've spent on this series. All the single player action from so many expansions, and all the multiplayer matches in so many mods over the last ten years. It has every right to be considered the best of the best of all time. So go load up Steam, dig out your old product key iif you don't have the game installed, download some mods, and kill some time.