The “Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection” is a continuation of an older mod. Back in 2015, Filip Victor released Half-Life 2: Update for free on Steam. It’s a subtle upgrade of HL2, with a “complete lighting overhaul including enhanced lighting, more detailed world shadows, and full high dynamic range lighting (HDR).” A few bugs have been fixed in the interim, and an extensive commentary track using well-known YouTubers was included as well. It didn’t change how the game played, just how it looked. It was known that Filip was working on a similar mod for game’s episodic content, and he commented earlier this year that “The new version will put hl2update/episodes to shame. But sry no release date tho.” So this new mod is essentially a remaster of a remaster. It’ll probably be a largely visual overhaul of Half-Life 2 and its episodes, but not a Black Mesa head-to-tentacle do-over. It should have elements from Valve’s newer engine work, including their slicker Panorama UI that was added to CS:GO in 2018. You could have a look at Filip’s work so far by grabbing Half-Life 2: Update from Steam, but that work is now six years old. It still looks good, but a little bit of patience will hopefully get you a whole lot more.
