The greatest game since Half-Life 1; that's the only way to describe it.
Half-life 2, Half-life 2.... Is there any way to describe it? The answer to that question is ‘yes’. There is a way to describe it, and I’ll do my best to do so. First off, this game will undoubtedly please any fans of HL1, and will be just as pleasing to someone who hasn’t ever played the first installment. So anyways, the review... My two favorite moments in a games storyline both occur in this game. The first is the beginning, and the second is the ending. When the familiar G-man’s face appears on the screen and begins to talk, even though it had been months since I had played Half-life 1, I was instantly brought back to the feeling of mystery, suspense, and thought-provoking intensity of HL1. “Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman. Rise and shine. Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job. No-one is more deserving of a rest. And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until... well, let's just say your hour has come again. The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So, wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes.” When you first walk off of the train and make your way to Dr. Kleiner’s lab, you can tell this is Half-Life, but it’s been improved, if that is at all possible. When the metro cop knocks the soda can off of the trash can and commands you to pick it up, you can feel the immersive game play that you’re in for. When you see Dr. Kleiner, Barney, and Dr. Vance, you feel right at home, as if these computer-generated people know how you feel, and what it was like back at Black Mesa. You quickly fall back into the old tricks of dodging barnacles and headcrabs, and you remember the key places to hit the zombies. As you, through Gordon, see how the Xen have seemingly merged with our planet, you can just feel how ominous everything has become. The game play is fluent and tweaked to perfection. Unlike most games I’ve played, there never was a moment in which I said to myself, “Darn! I wish this stupid game would let me do this!” The game never offers a moment where you’re able to say that, because the game is very open. The outcome of an engagement will be your responsibility. In most games, they set you up at each fight so much that you’re smothered into doing it a certain way, or dying. But in HL2, you can run in, SMG blazing, pick off from afar with an arrow or rocket, or sometimes allow the zombies help deal with the combine. The tone of the game is also very versatile. When you begin, it’s just kind of “Okay, here I am.” Then, when you’re being pursued by the Combine, you would like to say something, but you’re too busy shooting and moving. Then, when you get shoved into Ravenholme, you find yourself slipping on the keyboard from your cold sweat. You don’t want to talk above a whisper to anyone else in the room, for fear of alerting to the zombies. You find yourself hoping that “No more of those fast-zombies come back”. Then, you get pulled out, back into the main engagement with the Combine. And when you hear that Dr. Eli Vance has been captured, it turns personal. You feel the energy in Nova Prospekt that emanates from its very walls. And when you get back to the heart of City 17 and fight alongside other rebels, you can almost hear the steady drumbeat of patriotism that keeps you and your comrades going.
The storyline is my personal favorite element of the HL series so far. The immersive plot that takes so many twists and turns throughout its path just keeps me hooked and coming back for more. For me, the Half-Life series as a whole is the best game series in the world. Even the ones that haven’t been made yet; I know that they will be good as long as they are any semblance of the three out now. In short, Half-life 2 is definitely a game that would merit some investment in its purchase. To wrap up, I give Half-Life 2 a 10/10. I find no lacking element of the game.