Half-Life 2 pre-load hits phase four

While the world waits to find out whether Half-Life 2 will actually come out this year, or whether lawyers will manage to bind it in so much red tape that no crowbar in the world could cut it free, developer Valve Software has quietly begun the fourth phase of the game's pre-load via content delivery service Steam.

The fourth phase "will allow users to download the majority of Counter-Strike: Source in encrypted form," Valve's website reads. For those confused, CS: Source will ship with Half-Life 2 both online and off, and consists of considerably more content than the recent beta version, which met with a warm reception when Valve demonstrated it to critics.

And, as ever, the Steam website echoes the disclaimer, which we might as well reprint here for clarity's sake: "No purchase is required to pre-load Half-Life 2, but is required to activate the game. The moment the game is made available, those who have pre-loaded and purchased the game via Steam will be ready to start playing."

When we hear anything new on the subject of that "moment", we'll let you know. With a release candidate in publisher Vivendi's possession, and one of the first 'exclusive' reviews going to print in the US PC Gamer magazine this week, it might not be too long now.