Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Developers
	Valve Corporation
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	October 9, 2007
macOS (OS X)	May 26, 2010
Linux	May 9, 2013
Reception
Metacritic	90
IGDB	70
Taxonomy
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Shooter
Vehicles	Automobile
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Eastern Europe, Post-apocalyptic, Sci-fi
Series	Half-Life

⤏ Go to series page
Half-Life	1998
Sven Co-op (unofficial mod)	1999
Half-Life: Opposing Force	1999
Half-Life: Blue Shift	2001
Codename: Gordon	2004
Half-Life: Source	2004
Half-Life 2	2004
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch	2004
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast	2005
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source	2006
Half-Life 2: Episode One	2006
Half-Life 2: Episode Two	2007
Portal (series)
Half-Life: Decay (unofficial port)	2008
Prospekt (unofficial game)	2016
Half-Life: Caged (unofficial mod)	2017
Transmissions: Element 120 (unofficial mod)	2016
Hunt Down The Freeman (unofficial game)	2018
Half-Life 2: Year Long Alarm (unofficial mod)	2018
Halfquake Trilogy (unofficial mod)	2018
Black Mesa (unofficial remake)	2020
Half-Life: Alyx	2020
Half-Life: Restored (unofficial mod)	2020
Half-Life: Absolute Zero (unofficial mod)	2020

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

General information

Unofficial Half-Life Wiki

GitHub Issue Tracker for Half-Life 2: Episode Two and other Source-based games

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Steam		DRM-free when launched directly from the executable with -game ep2 command line argument.[citation needed]

All versions require Steam DRM.

Soundtrack is available for free with purchase here.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use -novid command line argument

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Steam	<Steam-folder>/SteamApps/common/Half-Life 2/ep2/cfg/

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Steam	<Steam-folder>/SteamApps/common/Half-Life 2/ep2/save/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Approx. 100 MB available. Syncs save games and settings.

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD			Interface scales poorly.
Field of view (FOV)		Values between 75° and 90° horizontal can be set via ingame slider. For higher values use this guide.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate or refresh rate cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

-window -noborder
Find Half-Life 2: Episode Two in your Steam Library Right-click the game name Select Properties Select Set Launch Options... Input -window -noborder Press OK Launch the game

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game mouse/gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Use the console command exec 360controller to automatically setup Xbox controller support (if not already configured at startup).
Full controller support		To make controller vibration work, download an updated version of the SDL2 file and replace it with the one in the HL2 folder. SDL This works for any Source engine based game.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

DualShock 4 controllers

Tracked motion controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Hook input (legacy mode)
Official controller preset(s)
Steam Controller button prompts

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Over-all game volume and separate music slider.
Surround sound		7.1, 5.1 surround sound, 4 speaker surround. 7.1 output may require DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		"Silence the audio while the game window is in the background" check box.
EAX support		Set snd_legacy_surround 1 in console, 4 speakers in options, and use DSOAL for binaural HRTF mixing.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		10	Use Synergy.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		See Documentation: Dedicated Servers.
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	Native	GG3D	Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game. Momentarily not on official vorpx game list, but assuming through some forum talk the game should be 3D.A profile is available at the factory profile list.
Headsets	Native	Notes
HTC Vive		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer (compatibility list).
Oculus Rift		Available under Video Settings. See Oculus Rift for more information.
OSVR
Windows Mixed Reality		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer (compatibility list).
Devices	Native	Notes
Tracked motion controllers
Traditional controller		See Input settings for details.
Keyboard/Mouse
3RD Space Gaming Vest
Novint Falcon

Oculus Rift

By default VR mode will run full screen, to switch back to a borderless windowed set the vr_force_windowed convar.

Issues fixed

Purple and black broken textures

A generic fix for this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Low draw distance

Default draw distance is too low resulting in noticeable pop-ins of vegetation during the driving sections.

Use console commands
Download hiquality.cfg and put it in <path-to-game>\ep2\cfg Enable console commands, open console using ~ button and type in bind "F11" "exec hiquality" and press ↵ Enter When a new map loads, press F11 to switch to high quality configuration.

Pickup Icons cut off at the bottom

Misaligned HUD causing pickup icons to appear cut at the bottom in certain resolutions.

Instructions
Download HUD FIX and extract it in <path-to-game>\hl2\custom

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6, 7, 8, 8.1, 9
OpenGL	2.1	OS X and Linux only.
Shader Model support	2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			[citation needed]
Linux			[citation needed]

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	Bink Video	Used for startup videos and in-game movies.

Console commands

Games running on the Source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.

Enabling the console in Source games
Launch the game From the main menu select Options Select the Keyboard tab Click the Advanced button Check the box next to Enable developer console (~) Click Apply Notes Press ~ to open the console. Some commands may first require you enabling sv_cheats. You can do so with sv_cheats 1. Users without a US keyboard could experience some problems.

Launch options

View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.

Enabling a launch parameter
Find the game in your Steam Library Right-click the game name Select Properties Select Set Launch Options... Input your selected launch options and separate each command with a space Press OK Launch the game

Mods

For popular mods, see Mod DB's "Half-Life 2: Episode Two Mods" section.

Research and Development

Research and Development is a Source Mod that requires Episode Two, download it from Mod DB.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz	Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4.6 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce FX 5700 ATI Radeon 9500 128 MB of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X800

Windows 2000 was previously supported, but as future updates for this game and Steam occurred; the support was dropped, even with retail copies.

Must be run without Steam to play on XP and Vista.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.5.8, 10.6.3
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4.6 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8 ATI Radeon X1600 Intel HD 3000