As amazing as Half-Life 2 was when it was first released in 2004, time has not been kind to the original release's graphics, which can look a bit flat and dated compared to modern PC games. Enter Romanian modder Filip Victor, who's ready to release the final version of a massive, Source engine-powered graphical update for the game on Steam for free tomorrow.

As shown in a slick comparison trailer and detailed in a PDF brochure, Half-Life 2: Update offers graphical improvements like high dynamic range lighting, improved fog and particle effects, world reflections, more detailed water rendering, improved background models, and other effects that just weren't feasible back in 2004. The update also fixes a number of animation and cut-scene-activation bugs that have persisted in the original release and adds optional fan commentary from a number of high-profile YouTube personalities.

Despite all the graphical changes, the update leaves the original gameplay, level design, character models, textures, and animations intact. "The goal of Half-Life 2: Update is to fix up, polish, and visually enhance Half-Life 2, without ever changing the 2004 original’s core gameplay, or time-tested style," Victor wrote in the update's brochure. "I wanted to ensure that the update was something that would be enduring, and worth the time it takes to play it. I hope that both newcomers and veterans of the Half-Life series will enjoy seeing the work that went into its creation."

Victor has been spearheading the update effort single-handedly for over four years now, attracting over 250,000 downloads for work-in-progress mod packages released during that time. Valve wasn't directly involved with the development, but Victor says the company supported the project throughout and has been very helpful in getting it onto Steam. Victor also received support from the likes of Origin PC, EVGA, Nvidia, Softpedia, and Secure Online Desktop, who sponsored Victor's efforts by providing hardware and development tools over the years.

Though the final version coming to Steam tomorrow is being packaged as a "standalone release," Steam users still have to own (but not necessarily install) the original game before downloading the update. Victor says he's unsure if he'll continue to apply his update efforts on the two DLC episodes released for Half-Life 2. He'd better hurry up on that decision, because Half-Life 3 could be released any day now. Right? Right?!