Play Half-Life: Uplink in your browser via WebAssembly. The official 1999 Valve demo with 3 unique missions not found in the full game.
Game Data
- Half-Life: Uplink — The official Valve demo (1999) with 3 unique levels set in Black Mesa's underground labs. Freely redistributable.
Engine
Powered by Xash3D-FWGS — an open-source reimplementation of the GoldSource engine, compiled to WebAssembly via Emscripten (GPL-2.0). Features WebGL2 rendering and Web Audio support.
Controls
- WASD — Move
- Mouse — Aim
- Left click — Fire
- E — Use / interact
- Space — Jump
- Shift — Crouch
- R — Reload
History
Released by Valve on November 19, 1998, Half-Life revolutionized FPS storytelling with its seamless, script-driven narrative — no cutscenes, no chapter breaks. Players experience the Black Mesa incident entirely through Gordon Freeman's eyes. The GoldSource engine (a heavily modified Quake engine) powered not just Half-Life but also Counter-Strike, the most popular competitive FPS of its era.
Gameplay Tips
- Use the crowbar — Break every crate you see. They often contain health kits, ammo, and batteries.
- Crouch-jump — Hold crouch while jumping to reach higher ledges. Essential for navigation in Uplink.
- Conserve ammo — The Uplink demo gives limited supplies. Use the crowbar on headcrabs and save bullets for soldiers.
- Listen to scientists — NPCs give hints about what's ahead. Pay attention to their dialogue.
Did You Know?
- Half-Life: Uplink contains 3 levels that don't appear in the full game — they were designed exclusively for the demo.
- Half-Life was almost cancelled when Valve showed it to Sierra in 1997 — the publisher thought it wasn't fun enough. Valve scrapped 12 months of work and started over.
- The lambda (λ) symbol represents the half-life decay constant in physics — a direct reference to the game's title.
See Also
Solo Arcade · DOOM (Arcade) · Quake (Arcade) · Wolfenstein 3D (Arcade)