You can play the Half-Life series for free until March

This offer on Steam lets you sample all titles in the franchise before the release of Alyx in a few months.

Valve is currently preparing Half-Life: Alyx as the next entry in the acclaimed series, taking the franchise to the world of virtual reality, but they've revealed that - until the game launches in March - those who haven't played the games yet can try out all of the past titles for free.

This applies to Steam users, and you can play Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life: Episode Two for no added cost, showing players why people love Gordon Freeman's adventure so much.

Just as a reminder, Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2, so if you play these you'll recognise characters and elements when Alyx is released. Even the team behind the new game "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".

The first Half-Life released in 1998, becoming a hit for Valve, and has since led to ongoing requests for more entries in the series, especially since Half-Life 2: Episode Two came out all the way back in 2007.

Have you tried the series?