The Half-Life games are free on Steam for the next two months

Just in time for the release of Half-Life: Alyx in March, Valve is giving away copies of the original Half-Life games on Steam for the next two months.

The list of free games up for grabs includes the original Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and both expansions – Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

The only caveats here are the fact that you need to download the games through Steam – which, for most folks, isn’t a big deal – and you only have two months to claim the games. Once Half-Life: Alyx comes out in March, all the games will go back to their original price.

Click the links below to download the games for free:

Travel backwards (and forwards) in time with Gordon Freeman

So, why is Valve being so generous? Primarily to drum up interest for Half-Life: Alyx - its new VR game set before the events of Half-Life 2 and both Episodes.

“Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and the episodes, but the games share characters and story elements,” Valve said in a news post. “The Half-Life: Alyx team believes that the best way to enjoy the new game is to play through the old ones, especially Half-Life 2 and the episodes, so we want to make that as easy as possible.”

That said, don't look a gift horse in the mouth as they say. With the right mods, all these games really hold up and are well-worth experiencing if you didn't catch them the first time around in the early Aughts.

If you just want to play the latest game in the series, Half-Life: Alyx is due out in March and will be available for free with every Valve Index VR headset.