Upgraded Download: Backward compatibility done right

In honor of my return to school — something I haven’t done in years — I decided it would be appropriate to do a couple of other things I haven’t in years, play Half-Life 2, and write an article. In this piece, my aim is not to comment so much on the design aspects of the game itself — it’s been out for over 7 years, some things will undoubtedly have not aged well — instead, I’m speaking more to the experience of playing the game now compared to when it launched.

Back in 2004, I was playing PC games at a resolution of 1280×1024 (a 5:4 aspect ratio), and settling for a framerate that would regularly dip into what was likely the single digits. The top graphical showpieces at the time were the recently released Far Cry, Doom 3, and the forthcoming Half-Life 2. And, while not technically as eye-catching as Doom 3 with its dynamic shadows, Half-Life 2 had artistic flair and, more importantly, the ability to experiment with physics. As with all games, however, time passed and the game became less and less visually impressive. This didn’t mean it was any worse, really, but for those looking to play it for the first time, it was now quite a different experience. Other games regularly had features that Half-Life 2 now lacked. Enter The Orange Box.

Half-Life 2 today looks different than in 2004.

Up to this point, Half-Life 2 had widely been considered one of the better games in recent years (and by some, like myself, to be one of the best games of all time), but with the new console generation now in full swing, many without PCs had only heard of it, or maybe only seen a thing or two related to it. Valve, having the foresight to seize an opportunity, took it upon themselves to not only release episodic expansions to the Half-Life 2 story, but also bundle additional new games in the form of Team Fortress 2 and Portal. I don’t think it can really be argued that The Orange Box is both one of the smartest moves a developer has ever made, and one of the best deals a gamer could ever find. Regardless, though it took some time to happen, the PC version of Half-Life 2 received a huge update, adding features from the console versions of the game like controller support and dynamic shadows.

Now, in 2012, I can boot up Half-Life 2 in full 1080p, run it at an unwavering 60 frames-per-second, smooth out every visible “jaggie” with tons of anti-aliasing, and play it on a big-screen TV with a controller. The funny thing is there was no HD re-release, and I didn’t even have to keep track of any install discs over the years. That’s one of the biggest things I love about PC gaming, and one of the reasons I’m wary of digital distribution on any other platform. The PC offers nearly infinite backward compatibility. I bought Half-Life 2 back in 2004, and I just re-downloaded it last night as a result of that purchase nearly 8 years ago. In addition, it’s a much more improved version of the game than the one I paid for, but I didn’t have to do anything to get it. I’ll be surprised if I can download Shadow Complex 5 years from now, let alone play it on the next Xbox. Now, not every game is as fortunate to have the long line of support that Half-Life 2 has enjoyed, but even so, older games that I’ve played recently like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Painkiller, and Psychonauts are also better than ever before due simply to being run on vastly more powerful hardware.

Even  with 2004 texturing that’s suit’s still iconic.

That said, lately PC gamers have seemingly taken offense at the unusually long console cycle we are currently stuck in because they feel things are being “held back,” but I think that ire is misplaced. Really, the truth is that because of the consoles somewhat standardizing things, the PC has stabilized as a platform. Now, nearly every game released is best played on the PC as a result of the developer having targeted such ancient hardware. There are also other things — like more official controller support — that the PC space has benefited from. Hopefully we’ll see more improvements made as the next generation of consoles gets underway. For now, though, don’t be afraid to “Jump in™”.

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