No other game has ever lived up to six years of hype and then left gamers so glued to their PCs that 24 hours later.
Although one might compare Half-Life 2’s completion to that of a soap opera, this game is absolutely worth the setbacks. Half-Life 2 is nothing less than a revolution in the gaming industry that will keep gamers busy for years to come, just as the original did.
Many people predicted that Half-Life 2 would not live up to the hype that it had received. Others said HL2 would be of lesser quality compared to recently released games of the genre. These predictions were dead wrong. Valve faced numerous difficulties: pressure from fans and problems related to the stolen source code; but they pulled through to create the best game I have ever experienced. There are games, and then there is the Half-Life legacy. The level of quality and perfection in this game left me in awe after completing it, something that no other game has yet to achieve. Valve has taken gaming to the next level, and their years of hard work have proven the company once again.
After six years it is finally time to play the sequel to what has been called the greatest game of all time. The story in Half-Life 2 is compelling as you find yourself in the midst of familiar characters like Barney, Dr. Kleiner, and the mysterious G-Man, while also being introduced to new characters such as Alyx Vance, Father Grigori, and Dr. Judith Mossman, as well as a group of people I’ll refer to as freedom soldiers, (who treat you like a hero) that accompany you on your mission to stop a dictator-like scientist named Dr. Wallace Breen who has taken over the city. The story and character development is well done but the end leaves more questions than answers. It leaves quite a bit of room for more Half-Life games and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Gordon and the crew.
Gameplay
The familiar gameplay and interface were great things to see again, though they were tweaked to allow improvements and additions. Due to the new physics system, thanks to the Havok engine, and the certain properties on every level one can experience, no game has ever been this real. Half-Life 2 and its predecessor are simply the definition of first person shooters. Other games strive to become this but Half-Life 2 blows these copycats out of the arena and asks for more. Everything is tweaked and tuned to such perfection that for a moment you may forget you’re playing a game. When you realize how far games have evolved, you can only begin to imagine what the future might hold. Valve really is on the mountaintop looking down at other gaming companies.
Graphics
The graphics in Half-Life 2 are some of the best I’ve seen in a game. One of the first things you will notice is how large and open the maps are. Screenshots don’t do the game justice, you have to play the game to understand how good everything looks. Everything feels extremely lifelike, especially when you look at the character models compared to the original models and then compared to other games in the genre. Characters have a full range of facial expressions and their mouths are in-synch with their words, while in most games character’s mouths look like a loose trap door: never seeming to match up correctly with the dialog. Other things you will notice are the lighting and reflective surfaces, the extraordinary water, the extremely realistic sky in all of the maps, and haze and clouds that aren’t as obvious but really add to that sense of realism.
Sound
Whether it’s the sound of a fly buzzing past you - one of the multiple environment sounds - or the crash of distant gunfire, the sound and music in Half-Life 2 are another one of the main factors that add to the incredible sense of reality. Sound in games is something that is often overlooked as a minor detail; however, to make a game seem as lifelike as possible, sound is one of the most important aspects. The game is filled with all kinds of noises that will both excite and terrify you. The unearthly groans in Ravenholm will leave you feeling uneasy and the many types of music in the game will get your blood pumping, justifying the fact that this intense FPS is the complete gaming experience. Multiplayer
Counter-Strike: Source is “the multiplayer” of Half-Life 2, even though this is not really the case. I’ll get to that, but first how does Counter-Strike: Source compare to its world famous original? It’s really quite amazing and has caught on very quickly. CS: Source was our first look at Valve’s new engine, with its beta release in early August, which definitely gave frustrated fans concrete evidence that the game would soon be released, something much needed at the time. Hard core Counter-Strike players might have had a bit of a difficult time conforming to the new version but it seems like a much needed change after relatively little change over the years (as far as graphics and models). The updated maps look absolutely spectacular compared to the older ones, as do the weapons and character models. For those who are not familiar with the one-time mod turned standalone game, it pits counter-terrorists against terrorist in a very deep skill-involved strategy game. The reason I don’t consider Counter-Strike: Source to be the only multiplayer of Half-Life 2 is of course the fact that the huge mod community is in place. Many mod teams have come together since Half-Life 2 was first announced and when the SDK is released all of these teams will start developing their mods that they have been planning for quite some time now. This is something that many people are very excited about because Valve has put in place a system where mod developers can charge potential customers for their mods. Even if the teams choose to charge or not they still have the potential to become the next Counter-Strike or Day of Defeat.
Replay Value
As far as replay value is concerned, I can definitely see myself playing the game over again. The other huge thing to acknowledge is Counter-Strike Source and all of the other mods that will be released in the coming months and years. Modifications have kept Half-Life alive all this time and with the new engine to work with it really gives anyone a fighting chance to make a great mod. Not only that but Valve has developed a way to port old mods to the new engine which many teams will be doing with the popular Half-Life 1 mods. It is just so amazing what Half-Life has done to the gaming community and it’s something that other developers should look at when developing their own games. For any game’s life to last over six years really shows that Valve knows what they are doing.
Overall
Half-Life 2 is a masterpiece and as I mentioned earlier, nothing less than a revolution in the gaming industry. It is a rare event that a game of such quality and perfection comes along. I could not imagine anyone being disappointed with the game and if you’re a fan of FPS games, Half-Life 2 is a must have. The only thing that I could possibly complain about would be that your teammates get in the way once and a while. However, such a minor thing really doesn’t do much to the entire experience and I would not take any points off for it in the overall score. Valve Software is obviously a perfectionist-type of company and has delivered a phenomenal game that has, in my opinion, exceeded the hype that it was given. Half-Life 2 will keep gamers busy for years to come, just as the original did.