Half-Life 2 is getting an updated UI nearly two decades after its release.
As demonstrated in a video shared by Twitter user Gabe Follower, Valve has updated the user interface for its classic 2004 shooter, giving the UI a modern facelift with larger text and other updated menu elements such as thumbnails for chapters and saved games. The settings menu has also been revised with a cleaner feel.
To activate it, you need to enable “beta” build and add -gamepadui launch command pic.twitter.com/gtDnHFwaFz
— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) January 25, 2022
While the update hasn’t been officially rolled out yet, Half-Life 2 fans who want to test it out now can do so by going into the game’s properties in Steam, clicking on the “Betas” tab, and then selecting “beta updates” from the dropdown menu. Adding “-gamepadui” (without the quotes) to “Launch options” in the general tab should then activate the new UI.
Half-Life 2’s UI update was presumably prompted by the impending release of the Steam Deck, as the game’s original interface would have been highly impractical on the portable’s relatively tiny screen. The user interface update should also be a welcome addition to users with 4K and other higher-resolution displays.
Source: Gabe Follower