Half Life 2 RTX Remix hands-on - Hard to believe that it's a mod and not a remake

Seeing Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project in action and you get the sense that it's more than a mod, this is like if Valve decided to remake the game.

Half Life 2 RTX Remix hands-on - Hard to believe that it's a mod and not a remake
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After seeing Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project in person, it's quickly become one of my most anticipated games currently in development. Developed by Orbifold Studios, a global team of modders, coders, and artists, Half-Life 2 RTX looks and feels like a built-from-the-ground-up remake, even though it's a mod.

Half Life 2 RTX Remix hands-on - Hard to believe that it's a mod and not a remake 06

Like Capcom's recent Resident Evil 4 Remake or the brilliant Dead Space remake from EA and Motive Studios, it's new and familiar all at the same time. With new textures, new highly detailed models for objects and characters in the world, shiny new weapons, and full path-raced lighting, Half-Life 2 RTX breathes new life into one of the greatest games ever.

There's no denying that Valve's Half-Life 2 is one of the most celebrated and beloved first-person shooters. Initially released in 2004, Half-Life 2 RTX presents a modern 2024 spin on the all-time classic with incredible visual fidelity.

Even though Orbifold Studios is a team of roughly 100 people, Half-Life 2 RTX is made possible thanks to NVIDIA's RTX Remix tool, which gives modders and budding developers the tools to remake, remaster, and reimagine classic games. To provide a very basic (and non-technical) overview of how it works, RTX Remix can take a scene from just about any DirectX 9 game, convert everything to support modern lighting and effects, and then provide a complete recreation of that scene for modders to go in an tinker with assets and various details and settings.

For Half-Life 2 RTX, Orbifold Studios is updating and recreating, and enhancing every object in the game, right down to the bolts and screws holding things in place.

The only downside from our brief hands-on and hands-off with it was that we could not play through an entire level. Instead, we simply got to experience various rooms and scenes from the game's Nova Prospekt level. From this, it's probably safe to assume that Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project is still far from complete, which makes sense when you factor in that the core game is vast and has a wide range of environments and levels.

For those familiar with Half-Life 2, Nova Prospekt is the 'prison' level in the second half of the game that ramps up the action. The immediate impression you get from seeing the revamped RTX Remixed Nova Prospekt in Half-Life 2 is that it looks like a modern cinematic version of a game you remember well.

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Much of the 'wow' comes from the full path-traced or ray-traced lighting and the switch to physically based materials and lighting. There's also additional detail everywhere you look, from debris to more visible wear and tear, giving the environments a more lived-in and realistic look.

In Half-Life 2 RTX, flashes and light bounce off Gordon Freeman's weapons, and the smoke from pistols dissipates into the air (there's even an excellent smoke ring effect). It all looks realistic, and to highlight the level of detail in the new weapon models and animation, NVIDIA put the game into 'slow-motion.' Like with NVIDIA's Portal with RTX release, the result is awe-inspiring. It's a mod that looks like a brand-new game.

Heading into the session, I didn't need to be sold on Half-Life 2 RTX; the trailers had already done that. However, once you see it in person and get a real sense of the immersive and impressive new lighting and detail, it makes you realize that this project is more than the sum of its parts and that RTX Remix is something developers and publishers everywhere should embrace to remaster and remake older PC games for the current generation of gamers.

In the meantime, I'll be sitting here counting the days until I get to play through Half-Life 2 RTX from start to finish.

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Kosta is a veteran gaming journalist that cut his teeth on well-respected Aussie publications like PC PowerPlay and HYPER back when articles were printed on paper. A lifelong gamer since the 8-bit Nintendo era, it was the CD-ROM-powered 90s that cemented his love for all things games and technology. From point-and-click adventure games to RTS games with full-motion video cut-scenes and FPS titles referred to as Doom clones. Genres he still loves to this day. Kosta is also a musician, releasing dreamy electronic jams under the name Kbit.

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