To accompany the just-released NVIDIA RTX Remix featuring DLSS 4 and RTX Neural Shaders, we can soon visit the classic horror level fromHalf-Life 2featuring the complete RTX package. Technically, it looks great, but do we like it?
The remaster was made by Orbifold Studios, a community studio that clearly cares about the game. I love seeing Valve and NVIDIA not only allowing the existence of remasters such as these but straight-up promoting them via their official channels. Still, many fans likely won’t be pleased by this trip down memory lane.
We don’t go to Ravenholm RTX
Ravenholm looks very well-lit in RTX, probably too much so. Like, the game itself looks spectacular — especially for something that’s over two decades old. Still, this is absolutely not the vibe we got from the original Ravenholm — and likely not what the devs had intended it to feel like when sending us in there.
Ravenholm is the most unique of all the locations in the two mainlineHalf-Lifegames. It was meant as a peculiar palate cleanser, one where the game would make a turn to full-on horror territory for one level, and people loved it. To this day, Ravenholm is one of the most well-remembered areas in the history of FPS games. Fans love it because it manages to perfectly adaptHalf-Life 2’ssmart puzzles to this hellish survival horror-esque scenario. We know Valve also thinks Ravenholm is special because they’ve talked about it at length, but because they heavily featured it as far back asHalf-Life 2’sfirst gameplay reveal to showcase its excellent usage of the game’s (then) new physics prowess.
Ravenholm also served as a great showcase for lighting by featuring an unnerving lack of lit areas. It used to be dark and scary, the place “you don’t go to.” Now it looks almost inviting, which probably isn’t ideal for a horror level.
I’m sure many of the options will be customizable, meaning that we’ll probably get to tweak RTX Ravenholm to be scarier, but I just don’t get why they’d decide to show it in what looks like daytime.
Still, I’m glad that it exists because it doesn’t replace the classic mode and is a neat addition that might bring in new fans. Also, I’m pretty sure the rest of the game can look fantastic through the RTX lens. For now, you’ll be able to experience Ravenholm RTX on March 18.
