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"Fast multiplayer action set in the Half-Life 2 universe! HL2's physics adds a new dimension to deathmatch play. Play straight deathmatch or try Combine vs. Resistance teamplay. Toss a toilet at your friend today!" Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is bundled free with any Half-Life 2 package in retail stores or Steam.
History
In early 2003 we first heard about Half-Life 2’s development. As some of you may know it was certainly a rocky development phase that Half-Life 2 went through and the multiplayer component was kept a big secret until the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2004. Though a nice surprise, it was disappointing to learn that the only multiplayer component to be shipped with Half-Life 2 would be Counter-Strike: Source.
Though hopes were still held high to the run up to the release of Half-Life 2 that there would be a deathmatch component for the game, people were pretty disheartened when it was finally confirmed that there would be no HL2 themed multiplayer. People did start adjusting to the fact, however, and many mod teams started to take up the project to make their own deathmatch component.
On the 30th November 2004, just fourteen days after the release of Half-Life 2, the above image was released by Jess Cliffe, the co-creator of Counter-Strike and now Game Designer at Valve Software. It could only mean one thing: Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was on its way. And indeed it was, for five hours or so later, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was released via Steam.
Gameplay
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is the culmination of the immersive environments, detailed characters, and super-realistic physics system of Half-Life 2, all thrown into deathmatch gameplay. Sprint around levels carrying your gravity gun, yanking toilets off of walls and then launching them into anything that has a face. What could be more satisfying?
Community
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was very much so demanded by the community, but it appears as though the novelty quickly wore off. As I write this, only 0.5% of the online Steam players are currently playing Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, though could this be down to Valve themselves? When HL2: Deathmatch first hit us, there were only two maps which very quickly increased to 6 after Valve launched a competition to find some talented map makers. Shortly after there was another map released, but since then the community has seen nothing new from Deathmatch, and there appears to be no sign of this changing.
