Half-Life 2 fails to live up to its hype on most accounts, and it also fails to live up to its fantastic predecessor.
User Rating: 6 | Half-Life 2 PC
After endless delays and claimed thefts of the source code among other things, Half-Life 2 was finally released in November last year. Deliver or not was the question for one of the most eagerly awaited games in computer- and video game history. Everyone and their aunt had seen the videos of the amazing interactivity of the source-engine and expectations were set space rocket-high. The first Half-Life was an extraordinary experience, a game like no other. It truly reinvented the FPS-genre with its immerse atmosphere of horror, catastrophe, disaster and stuff generally going on a straight path to hell. The adventure elements and the great story brought whole new levels to an already very intense and suspenseful game in the action genre. It was sheer originality all the way through, including the perfectly natural journey to the alien world Xen that so many people seemed to have problems with. It’s important to be clear about what made Half-Life 1 such a great game since HL2 inevitably will be compared to it a lot. Namely it makes pointing out the many weak points of the sequel that much easier. To start with the game play, it is very standard FPS by now, in fact it is in most places even worse than a standard FPS - and of standard FPS I'd say Far Cry is a good example. There are balance issues with the arsenal that obviously has been rearranged since those juicy videos first were released. You kind of feel like a kid on Christmas getting a sweater instead of something more exciting when there's no OICW, no sniper rifle and so on. Weapons that are there are hard to use, and have a ridiculous low amount of extra ammunition available. You constantly run out of ammunition, no matter how much you try to spare on it. Also, an SMG with a grenade launcher? Only in HL2 perhaps. The game plays way too easy and it is too short. I finished it in two days, which is not that satisfying considering the fact that this game has been in development for seven years! More than one element of the game feels rushed, which also is peculiar considering the long time it took to get the thing out on the market. The feeling of a fresh new experience like the original game is nowhere to be found, in spite of the source engine. This mostly because playing around with the physics engine is childlike joy-fun for about ten minutes, but after that it becomes tedious. The strongest part of the game is the graphics, but even the visuals aren't THAT great. Both Far Cry and Doom III outdo this game in this area hands down. The sounds sound rather uninspired, especially the weapon sounds. Voice-acting is good, dialogue is not so good. This brings me to the story. The "story" in this game is some sort of sorry mess that leaves you with more questions than answers. The ending of the game is as anticlimactic as it gets. Open endings are risky but ok, however they should not make you want to throw your monitor out the window out of frustration. Anyone who has not been hiding under a rock for the last five-six years or so have played Counter-Strike just as much or little as they wanted to. Much like the first thrill of the physics engine, Counter-Strike: Source's improved visuals are fun for a few minutes but then well... You get the point. All in all, HL2 is a huge disappointment, it's not much more than a mediocre FPS, but no one seems to care since it is praised as the 42nd coming of Christ. I find it a strange world we live in when a game like Doom III gets complaints for only having good visuals and nothing else, and the only thing HL2 really has going for it is its graphics? I recommend trying this game beforehand if you're planning a purchase. 
