Released in 2004, Valve‘s Half-Life 2 redefined the first-person shooter genre with its cutting-edge graphics, physics-based puzzles, and immersive storytelling. The game pushed the limits of PC hardware at the time and went on to sell over 12 million copies. But speedrunners like waezone continue to find new ways to push Half-Life 2 even further, exploiting glitches and employing superhuman reflexes to complete the game in a fraction of the intended time.
Speedrunning has become a global phenomenon in recent years, with runners competing to set record times in classic games across genres and platforms. It‘s a testament to the ingenuity and skill of these players, who find ways to break games apart and reconstruct them in a form that even the original developers never imagined. And within the speedrunning scene, waezone‘s Half-Life 2 run at Games Done Quick stands out as a defining moment.
Old Engine vs. New Engine
To understand the complexities of Half-Life 2 speedrunning, it‘s crucial to distinguish between the two primary versions of the game: the Old Engine and New Engine. The Old Engine refers to the unpatched, original release of Half-Life 2 from 2004. This version allows runners to exploit a technique called frame perfect jumping, which involves landing jumps on the exact frame that momentum is gained, allowing them to build up speed rapidly. Old Engine runs also permit the use of scripts to automate actions like bunny hopping (repeatedly crouching and jumping to maintain speed).
In contrast, the New Engine is based on a later build of Half-Life 2 with certain glitches and exploits removed. It‘s a more challenging version for runners, as tricks like frame perfect jumping no longer work. However, the New Engine introduced its own unique exploits, most notably accelerated back hopping (ABH). By jumping backwards and strafing in a specific pattern, runners can actually move faster than the game‘s default forward running speed. In fact, the New Engine world record of 40m 42s by runner maltemller heavily utilizes ABH.
Inside waezone‘s legendary run
Clocking in at 1h 08m 59s, waezone‘s Half-Life 2 run at Games Done Quick is a symphony of technical skill and split-second decision making. He employs a wide array of movement techniques to shave seconds off the clock, from bunny hopping and ABH to precise grenade jumps and voidclipping (passing through solid objects by wedging yourself into map seams).
One of the most crucial skills for a Half-Life 2 speedrunner is memorizing the game‘s intricate maps and geometry. Waezone demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of each level‘s layout, knowing exactly when to veer off the beaten path to skip entire sections. In the "Water Hazard" chapter, for example, he uses a carefully timed series of grenade jumps to launch himself onto a pipe running above the level. From there, he can simply walk to the end of the map, bypassing a lengthy airboat sequence.
Equally important is the ability to manipulate Half-Life 2‘s physics engine to perform seemingly impossible feats. Waezone frequently picks up objects like barrels, pallets, and sawhorses, positioning them in specific spots to allow him to scale walls or cross gaps. In one memorable segment, he grabs a wooden plank and rides it up the side of a fence like a makeshift elevator. These tricks require pixel-perfect positioning and timing, and can easily go wrong, costing precious time.
Speedrunning by the numbers
To put waezone‘s 1h 08m 59s run into perspective, consider that a typical first playthrough of Half-Life 2 takes around 15 hours. Even players rushing to complete the main story with minimal exploration clock in at 10-12 hours on average. In other words, elite speedrunners like waezone are completing the game more than 10x faster than a standard playthrough.
Here‘s a look at the current world records for Half-Life 2 across major categories:
| Category | Runner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Old Engine – Scriptless | Cryor_ | 1h 14m 23s |
| Old Engine – Scripts | iNSM | 0h 41m 51s |
| New Engine – Any% No Void | InCar5 | 0h 42m 41s |
| New Engine – Any% | maltemeller | 0h 40m 42s |
Data sourced from speedrun.com as of April 2023
These times represent the culmination of years of route optimization, rigorous practice, and collaborative effort within the speedrunning community. Runners like waezone will grind out thousands of attempts to save frames here and there, constantly honing and tightening their runs. A world record might be broken by mere seconds after standing for months or years, requiring a perfect storm of execution and luck.
Speedrunning as a driver of innovation
While speedrunning is often associated with retro games, the practice actually serves as a catalyst for innovation in gaming technology and design. Runners are constantly probing the boundaries of what games are capable of, exposing flaws and limitations in software and hardware alike. In a sense, they are white hat hackers for gaming, identifying exploits and glitches that developers can then patch to make their games more robust and optimized.
Moreover, the speedrunning community itself is a hotbed of collaboration and knowledge sharing. Runners work together to theorycraft new routes, test potential skips, and refine their movement techniques. They build custom tools to analyze game data and code, creating mods and hacks that allow for new types of run categories and challenges. In this way, speedrunning helps extend the lifespan and replayability of classic games while also pushing the boundaries of what‘s possible in gaming as a medium.
Speedrunning as an art form
At its core, speedrunning is about mastery – the ability to take a complex system like a video game and bend it to your will through skill, knowledge, and creativity. A great speedrun is as much a work of art as it is a feat of gaming prowess. Runners like waezone are not merely playing Half-Life 2, but rather composing a virtuosic performance within its digital space.
When waezone pulls off a perfectly timed grenade jump or seamwalks through a map boundary, it‘s akin to a dancer nailing a difficult leap or a musician hitting a high note. There‘s an artistry and expressiveness to high-level speedrunning that transcends the simple act of playing a game quickly. It‘s about finding new ways to interact with and appreciate a beloved piece of media, to uncover hidden depths and possibilities that even its creators never anticipated.
In this sense, speedrunning is a celebration of the enduring power and potential of video games as an art form. It‘s a testament to the idea that a great game is never truly finished, that there are always new frontiers to explore and discoveries to be made. And as runners like waezone continue to push themselves and their games to new heights, they are writing a new chapter in the history of this medium – one defined by relentless innovation, boundless creativity, and an abiding love for the art of play.
