Valve quietly ports Half-Life to OSX and Linux

After a fifteen-year wait, OS X and Linux users can finally enjoy the original Half-Life on their Macs and Linux PCs. Valve has not yet officially announced the port, but Cult of Mac has confirmed that the game does download to, install and run on OS X, and is available for $9.99 (approx Rs 500) on Steam. Geek claims that the game also works on Linux PCs.

One of the most iconic FPS games ever released, Half-Life has been out since 1998, but has never been available on OS X through Steam for Mac. Surprisingly, especially considering its popularity, Half-Life was the one of the handful of Valve games that had not been ported to Mac.

Valve has ported Half-Life to OS X and Linux

Last year, the Black Mesa mod for the Source Engine of the game was released. The mod recreated the entirety of the original Half-Life and is available for download on the official website. Valve also released a follow-up to the original game. Half-Life 2 was initially released in November 2004. The game was developed alongside Steam. It introduced the Source game engine and was one of the first games to require online product activation.

Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 was a great success and was critically acclaimed for its advanced physics, animation, sound, AI, and narrative. It won 39 'Game of the Year' awards and also won the "Game Of The Decade" award at the 2012 Video Game Awards. Over 12 million copies of the game have been sold till date.

The original Half-Life was released in 1998 and you played it through the eyes of Dr Gordon Freeman, trying to fight your way out of a secret research facility in New Mexico. For its time, it was a revolutionary game, even though it may seem a bit dated when compared to the games released nowadays.

Fans are hoping that the release of Half-Life could signal the coming of other games such as the original Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Opposing Force and Blue Shift to Mac and Linux.