alf-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. The player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is overrun by aliens following a disastrous scientific experiment. Its gameplay consists of diverse combat, exploration and puzzles.
Half-Life is the most culturally weighted PC big-box of the late 1990s. Valve's pre-Steam identity is locked in this artifact. Half-Life: Alyx (2020) restored mainstream attention; perpetual HL3 speculation keeps cultural pressure high. Original 1998 box is structurally rarer than the GOTY reprint that replaced it within 12 months. UK PAL and US NTSC are distinct regional variants worth tracking separately.
