Playing HL2 without Steam activation
 

My friend recently borrowed a copy of Half-Life 2 from another friend, and due to the nature of our school's network (proxies etc) he can't activate it. He wants to be able to use the Gmod, and from what I understand you need Steam to use it.

So, is there any way to get the game working (with mods etc) without having to activate it online or continually update Steam? It all seems like far, far too much hassle.

Short Answer: No.

Well, then.

Fuck.