In a surprise announcement, a new version of a classic Valve title was revealed. NVIDIA announced Half-Life 2 RTX as a community-made project, updating the game to make full use of ray-tracing capabilities in the company’s modern graphics cards. Similarly to Portal with RTX, this update promises new models and textures on top of realistic lighting, giving Half-Life 2 a more modern look overall.
Though this project was announced by NVIDIA themselves, the minds behind it are not officially affiliated with Valve. Half-Life 2 RTX is part of NVIDIA’s “RTX Remix” platform, which aims to bring classic games to the modern era. Community members are using this platform to develop this update, allowing them to make full use of the company’s technologies such as DLSS and Reflex.
This new version of Half-Life 2 is still in development, and no release date has been shared as of yet. It’s difficult to say how far along the project is at a glance, especially since the trailer only showed off the early-game area of Kleiner’s Lab without any NPCs outside of the Headcrab Lamarr. Even so, those interested in the project can visit its main website to keep an eye on updates. There’s even a spot where visitors can apply to join the team behind it if they believe they can assist with development.
Related: Half-Life: Alyx Review
NVIDIA has shown dedication towards updating classic games with modern looks. Outside of Valve titles, the company has also taken a crack at classic hits from Bethesda, and they’ve even looked at remastering popular mods for old games. Whenever Half-Life 2 RTX comes, it will likely be a gateway to further RTX remixes of other beloved Source titles. It will still be some time before fans can expect RTX versions of Episode 1 or Episode 2, but they can still expect a technically-impressive update to one of the most iconic games of the last few decades
