The best game EVER!!!! Seriously.
-Gameplay
This game is the emphasis on true FPS action. In the game, you are Gordon Freeman. You escaped Black Mesa in the first game and then a figure only known as the Gman puts you in a frozen cryogenic sate until he needs you again. It seems your time has come again as you are suddenly awaken without any warning and find yourself on a train heading into the port. You step off only to see strange supperiors literaly pushing citizens around and a giant projector to which a mysterious man is convencing his people to not fear change and the challenges it brings. You are in City 17. From there the game takes you to a number of locations to the sewers of this city, to a zombie infested town. There are plenty of enemies to lay waste to such as the classic headcrab zombie and the headcrab itself (watch out for other versions aswell) to the new supieror only known as the combine. Half-Life 2 takes great care in supporting the first game's story to set up a new story here. It doesn't mean that the story is going to be spoon fed to you. You will need to interact with characters and eviorments to sort out all that has happened while you have been away (its chocked full of information, so don't mind Halo noobs who say there is no story). There are such things as listening in on chracters conversations, to reading stranded newspaper clippings. The characters from the first game are back such as Dr. Kliner to the infamous Barney Calhoun. The amazing thing here is that even though these characters meet with certain set backs in the first game (for one there many of the same characters), Valve has brought these chracters to life and given them all great personalities. There are some new chracters here also, to the insane monk/priest Father Gregori who helps you through the town of Ravenholm, to the Daughter of Eli Vance. Who is Alyx Vance and a great addition to a great cast of chracters aswell as enemies. The weapons are all cool and useful, but the real attraction here is the Gravity Gun, which lets you mess around with the physics. You actually never get tired of the gameplay as one minute you are shoting the combine, the next throwing razor blades at zombie, then you are trying to solve a cool little puzzle, then the next you are driving on a horny antlion covered beach to which they will do anything to attack you. The A.I. is good here and does not get enough credit. It is certainly much better than Halos. The reason the game may be easy is because you are so freaking powerful that nothing can stand in your way. One shot from the shotgun from a 7 foot distance is enough to take down an enemie. Also the enviorments are also so large and so varied that I can see the A.I. struggling to think what to do next. Where in games such as FEAR, the A.I. has a small arena and doesn't have to calculate all the places it can go. Though the enemies do use squad tactics. This game pretty much has the best gameplay I have seen around
-Graphics
Even with all these new titles coming out. This game still manages to stay up with the big boys such as Unreal Turnament 2007 and Crysis. Though this game goes for a much more photorealistic look to it, and I will tell you, it works expecially with HDR. Just go look at the lost coast screenshots.
-Sound
Top quality voice acting keeps the characters alive where most games just die out. The enimies sound scary and incredible at the same time. From the screaching to a headcrab, to the dieing sound of a strider. This game has varrying and incredible sound effects. The music, when there is some, is awesome giving you a heart racing, subtle, and sometimes haunting techno soundtrack. The weapons sound crisp and clear, if only they could have been a little louder. The sound is a real highpoint in this game.
-Replay
The game is so fun that you actually want to go back and go through the scripted sequences again just to feel the magic once again. The action is so intense that after completing one of the segments, I actually quit and started where I last saved just to enjoy that firefight again. There is also HL2: Deathmatch which is lots of fun and you have CS:Source.
Overall this game has to be played, so stop reading this get your cheeto staind, leatard wearing, fat ass of the computer. Go get the game then set all of the various attributes I just said down in your comfy chair and get to playing the damn game. Also loose weight if you fit my discription.