Half-Life 2 and Other Secrets in Code of New Portal Collection

This past Tuesday, Portal: Companion Collection, a set containing both installments of Valve studio's excellent puzzle game series, has debuted on Nintendo Switch. Fans started enthusiastically analyzing the data files of this collection and discovered a lot of interesting things.

Half-Life 2 on Switch

Portal: Companion Collection was found to contain a large part of Half-Life 2. In practice it's the entire game except for maps and music.

1. Files suggest this is the Nvidia Shield platform version with Xbox 360 port elements thrown in.
2. A fan known by the handle OatmealDome managed to add the missing files and run Half-Life 2 on Nintendo Switch:

This version of HL2 does not function fully properly, of course. Levels take a long time to load (this was cut from the video above), there are numerous errors, and the save system does not work, but it is still an impressive achievement.

Half-Life 2 on Nintendo Switch looks nice and runs smoothly, and the controls are up to the task. So it remains to be hoped that Valve will develop an official port of this classic.

Things hidden in Portal: Companion Collection

In turn, youtuber Ossy Flawol has discovered that the collection contains many elements from the beta of Portal 2, which ultimately did not make it into the full version of the game, such as maps, an early variant of the ending or developer tools.

Recall that the first Portal was released in 2007, and the sequel debuted four years later. Valve also enabled other developers to create projects from this universe several times, resulting in the puzzle game Bridge Constructor: Portal and the You Monster expansion for the tower defense strategy game Defense Grid: The Awakening. Valve revisited the brand a few months ago in Aperture Desk Job, a small free game designed to familiarize users with Steam Deck.