The unceasing vigil of Half-Life 2’s numerous NPCs is finally over, as they are finally all able to blink again after being unable to do so for the past five or so years. To rewind a bit, five years ago Valve changed the way it pushes updates to Steam via Steampipe update, which saw all Source engine games getting moved to a new distribution system. Since then, the Half-Life 2 NPCs would only blink when told to do so in cutscenes; those out in the field that Gordon Freeman comes across were literally no longer able to naturally shut their own eyes to the horrors of the Combine and their ilk.

Valve recently took to the Steam news page to announced a small update that would be coming to Half-Life 2, Episode One, Episode Two, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, and Half-Life: Source. Alongside bug fixes like missing sounds on Combine soldiers and hitches when saving games, the company also stated that it had “Fixed NPCs not blinking.”

• Fixed a hitch when saving games
• Fixed SteamVR running when entering the settings menu
• Fixed missing sounds on combine soldiers
• Fixed NPCs not blinking

It’s a bit of a wonder that Valve decided to do something about this after five years of blatantly ignoring various posts from players asking for a fix. Still, it’s better late than never, and I’m sure the NPCs are thankful. Does this mean that this newfound attention to the Half-Life series will result in news about a sequel? Probably not, but hey, at least like us, now the NPCs can dream.

So, thoughts on the latest update? Plan on playing through Half-Life 2 again to see it for yourself? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!

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