A truly remarkable game. Overall, Half-life 2 is the best First Person Shooter yet to be created.
1. Excellent graphics. I believe this is the best renduring of humans, in any game. The people in this game have an ablity to show realistic facial expression and certain emotions through there mannerism and face. Their body movements are more natual, and fluid than most games. They even have a glimer in there eyes, that changes depending on the lighting. The world itself is also very well done, building, water, vechicles, secenry and the sky all have a realistic look to them. Though the vegitation is not as well rendered as in Fry Cry, nor do you have the 1.2Km draw as you do in that game. The lighting is also quite good, with detailed shadows, and natural lighting though I believe FEAR might beat it in this dept. Overall the graphics in this game are outstanding, though certain games might be better in one aspect over HL2.
Unlike the first Half Life, I do have issues with the lack luster AI in HL2 of the NPCs, both the Rebels and the enemy including Combine, alien creatures and zombies are all pretty easy to kill. None of them are intelligent foes. They rarely use the enviroment to their advantage, nor do they use any real tactics. Alot more could have been done with the AI. Friendly forces constantly get in the way in tight quarters. All friendly NPCs are very expendable.
Also the puzzles though interesting and well designed, are not very difficult to solve or rewarding. Most just become a pain after a short while. There are also very long sequences when the player is traveling through waterways around City-17 with a airboat. All of it begins to look to much alike in short time. It would be better if the Waterways sequence was broken up with more walking adventures.
Sound:
I beleive the sound is excellent in this game. All the sound effects sound realistic. Voice acting is top notch, with some good actors doing the voices of the main characters. The the music is sparse in this game, and for good reason so not to overpower the sound effects. Music is good in creating a certain mood or build tension when needed.
Story:
Well the story itself is well rounded. It has a intrguing plot that carries you through the game. HL2 has some of the best most memorable characters in any game that I have played. A few return from the first game, there are also several new characters that are introduced in this game. There is enought suspense, in the game to keep things interesting. Granted nothing is resolved at the end, it does create a good spring board to the next game in the series.
In ending this is the best FPS yet to be created. Though lack luster AI and the easy puzzles distract from the game it is still overall a great game to play. The visuals and attention to detail make up for alot of the easy game play. Yes, some newer games might, have better vegitation, AI or lighting. HL2 has alot going for it, making it one of the most memorable games out on the market today.