Currently, there is no way to financially support the self-funded fan-site, but there are plans to potentially open a Patreon in the future. LambdaGeneration seems like the inevitable next step in this saga, a hot-spot for Half-Life devotees to enjoy.

Where the AK is a sledgehammer, the M4's more of a scalpel due to its incredible accuracy. It doesn't pack the same punch, but it's every bit as deadly and lends itself well to firing in short, controlled bursts at mid-ra

The platform is not quite finished yet, mostly because there are plans to expand and breathe more life into it. "We have a lot of plans for the platform," Alex says. "Everything you see has been coded by just two people. I have a background in design and front-end web development. David - our CTO - is an ex-military software developer and created the system and servers behind it all. Our most requested thing right now is a native app, which we plan to work on later in the year once we feel the website is more complete. For now, we have sub-communities for major Half-Life games, mods, and topics in the work. We’re also releasing new features every week. Last week, we added mentions. Now we’re working on multi-image posts."

The AWP is practically the franchise mascot . This classic one-shot showstopper has been the bane of many servers, and the boon of any player that has taken the time to master it. Everyone knows and either loves or fears its trademark firing so

While all of these seem a bit overwhelming, Siege does help genre newcomers get familiar with skills only pros often learn over time. Due to Siege 's mechanics , newcomers can train on precision aiming, listening to odd sounds around them, and the value of quick thinking in high-stress situati

"Reddit feels quite outdated," Alex tells me, "I personally find it hard to use, and I know many others do too. We wanted to build a modern site, more in line with the easy-to-use interface that people have come to expect from platforms like Twitter. The Half-Life subreddit also has a huge amount of meme content and while I enjoy a good meme, we want to appeal to serious content too. For example, last week we added a 'Fanart of the Week' section to our sidebar. We also noticed that a lot of people shared their work on our Discord and while it is great for discussion, it’s not intended for long-term archiving due to how quickly things get buried. We wanted to create a platform that was fully public, organized, and search engine-friendly."

While others emphasized what Valve was up to, this blog was all about what fans were doing. It started out as a website before transitioning into a Discord server and a Twitter page. Now, it’s a fully-fledged social network in the making. I’ve long followed LambdaGeneration, so I was ecstatic when they reached out to me about an interview for the new initative. This group has always been the go-to place to find what the community is up to, or to uncover hidden gems - a new resource like this is a total game-changer.

Platforms: PC , PS5, PS4 , Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One

Despite the sheer depth in terms of lore and mechanics, Destiny 2 remains quite a friendly choice when it comes to newcomer accessibility. Since its release, recent Destiny 2 changes finally gave players a free-to-play option, allowing newcomers to give the game a shot while locking its deeper features, content, stages, and stories behind purchases of DLCs and Expansi

By now, everyone is familiar with battle royale video games. From games like Apex Legends , Fortnite , and Call of Duty: Warzone 2 , battle royale titles seem to have flooded the Highly recommended Online site gaming market and have left a permanent imprint on the multiplayer shooter genre. However, within the selection of free-to-play options in the battle royale genre , CS:GO Danger Zone seems to be one that has been largely underrated since lau

The M9 Bayonet — not to be confused with the regular bayonet from earlier in this list — features the famous Crimson Web skin. The cosmetic gives the serrated knife a bright red coat of paint and black web marki

The ping mechanic is one of the most useful non-verbal ways for teammates to help each other during a game of Danger Zone . This is because a player pinging can reveal an enemy, a supply crate, or can direct the focus of a team to a particular po

As the name implies, this weapon skin features the iconic Greek gorgon . Players with this skin will find Medusa’s green face on one side of the AWP’s stock — with the back of her head present on the other side. The purple snakes that make up her hair are sent out in tendrils along the weapon’s b

Half-Life fans are a dedicated bunch. Even in the absence of content from Valve , the series has thrived with mods, community content, and unofficial games such as Lambda Wars and Black Mesa. Half-Life: Alyx didn’t fully reignite the torch, but it helped to keep the flame fans have managed to carry all these years flickering. There were community forums of like-minded individuals sharing each other’s work, news websites specifically catering to Valve fans after Episode 3 faded into obscurity, and then there was LambdaGeneration.