


It fixes all of the lighting, changes some particle effects so they look better, and other more subtle stuff like that. It mostly just fixes a lot of ♥♥♥♥ that got broken when Valve moved the game to the newer version of the Source Engine. Half-Life 2: Update doesn't do a ton to the visuals. It also replaces all of the music with generic orchestral stuff. Cinematic mod takes way too many liberties with the game's visuals, and butchers the look of the game as a result.
