I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible. Thus I will not be discussing weapons in detail or levels in detail. Small tidbits about how the story opens are revealed as are a few other minor details like character names and such. If you want to play the game totally fresh, which I recommend, skip this review. However, if you're on the fence about buying the game, rewad it. I think this will help you come to your decision.
Controversy has been swirling around Half-Life 2 since the day it was announced. In the beginning, it was simply a question of the game living up to the strong standards set by the original. Then the code was stolen right before it was to be released. Valve then announced "Steam", the biggest controversy of them all.
If you wish to skip the "Steam" portion of this review, scroll down until you see words in bold.
Steam must be talked about during this review, so I'll get it out of the way now. I understand the reasoning behind Steam, but Steam sucks. Before you think Steam doesn't apply to your interest in Half-Life 2, understand that for Half-Life 2 to play, you must install Steam onto your system. Steam then launches when you boot your PC and runs in the background at all times.
Hint for those of you less technically inclined: This should be throwing up red flags to you.
The purpose of Steam is three-fold:
1. To distribute games without users needing to go to stores and buy games in the conventional manner. Also in this vein, to act like an external hard drive.
2. To prevent piracy. Steam accomplishes this by verifying your license and CD everytime you start the game. (You can play Half-Life offline in single player, but I haven't really looked into how or if it then cancels the license check as my PC is always online.)
3. To provide a multiplayer service so people can find games easier and theoretically without cheaters.
Steam performs as advertised (I didn't check for a lack of cheaters yet), but there are bigger ethical questions raised because of its existence.
If you perchase a product, shouldn't you get a physical copy of that product? If you purchase a product, shouldn't you have the right to give that product away when you're done with it? If you purchase a product, shouldn't you be able to trade it in? If you purchase a product, does that give the product's creator/distributor the right to monitor your use of that product?
Not only does it raise those ethical questions, but it also shows yet another example of why consoles do better than PCs in game sales. Consoles represent that ultimate in easy access. Steam creates all sorts of nightmares for a gamer.
It took me about 30 minutes or so to install Half-Life 2. That included the time it took for Steam to install. Add 15 minutes for the registration process that you're forced to go through.
Then, everytime I started Half-Life 2, it was about a 5 minute process to get into the game. Just so everyone understands, my processor speed is 3.4 GHz, I have a gig of Ram, I run a cable modem, and I have a video card that's one step down from the top of the line. All that, and it still takes 5 minutes to start the game.
I fully understand that a lot of that has to do with the loading of the engine, but I also know that a lot of that time is Steam doing shit in the background. To me that is totally unacceptable.
Steam to me breaks down like this: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I understand there are software pirates out there stealing money from the pockets of the developers, but treating your customers like criminals and hijacking their PCs isn't the answer. All this action does is cause more trouble. You now openly challenge hackers to come after your company, you alienate your customers by treating them like criminals, you alienate new customers with what is essentially spyware, and you start a really bad trend of the corporation dictating to the customer. I guess the customer isn't always right anymore huh?
That's not to mention the whole Big Brother thing that they're advocating.
Ok, enough about Steam. Let's review Half-Life 2.
Odds are you played the original Half-Life and were blown away by its revolutionary take on First Person Shooters (FPS). You probably heard about Half-Life 2 and were wondering if it could match the hype of the original combined with the pressure of a new release in todays market.
Well, I'm happy to say that Half-Life 2 lives up to the hype. In fact, Half-Life 2 is the game of the year. Hell, its easily the best FPS ever made.
Half-Life 2 again puts you in the role of Gordon Freeman, a mild mannered scientist turned mercenary/lacky by a mysterious "G-Man".
The storyline is outstanding and pulls you into the world Valve so lovingly crafted. Indeed, with this go around Valve really went all out in providing more of a "soul" for their universe. Characters who were merely pawns in the first game are brought to life and fleshed out in this sequel. Specifically, several scientists and Barney are given more depth to their characters and a much larger role. Other new characters to the series include Alyx, a scientist's daughter and "Dog", whom you're gonna LOVE.
Even the villains get more airtime with this game. The zombies are much improved with different variations walking this world than the last. I'll spare you the details as they're quite fun to see "fresh", but I will say that one of these new versions is one of the most curse inducing monsters in gaming history. Even the headcrab has a few variations, one more aggressive and one much more harmful. The best touch though is the humanoid face put onto the overloads who now run the Earth.
Did I mention that Earth appears to have been defeated? Don't worry, that's not a spoiler. I promise. Still, let me come back to that after I finish with the characters.
Ok, back to the villains. The majority of enemies you will fight are the "walking dead" and other nasties you fought in the original, but this time there is also an alien military that control the planet (?) whom you'll be fighting almost non-stop. They bring some sweet ass shit to the battles too. You're gonna love to hate the Striders, giant machines right out of Orson Wells' brain.
On your side, alongside the aforementioned people are various medics and soldiers who are fighting their oppressors in a desperate bid to win their freedom. These nameless heros will be there when you least expect them and will provide you with muce needed support.
There is one other character that I could discuss, but I am going to refrain from doing so in detail. This individual is different from all the rest in the game and thus doesn't fit into this review in any other form than that of minor spoiler as they are only around for a small part of the game. Thus, I will leave this person out. I will say this though, you'll come to like this character, and I hope somehow this character makes the trip to future sequels.
While we're talking characters, let me just say that the AI is pretty good. We've all heard the hype about it and it does a good job of living up to that. My only complaint is that it might be too smart. One thing that's always driven me nuts in games is that the AI knows where I am all the time. If the lights go out, if I'm sneaking around, and/or if I'm in the middle of mass chaos, the AI should lose track of me. Occasionally in mass chaos they will, but I still see too many times where the AI is shooting a wall it knows I'm behind despite me moving way down to the end or something like that. Eh, its something for the industry to work towards.
Ok, now let's get back to that storyline.
To review, you play as Gordon Freeman and you start the game EXACTLY where it ended in the original. G-Man will say a few words to you and then deposit you in City 17. This city appears to be a European town, although everyone speaks English. Eventually, you will learn about the resistence against the overlords who run things and that's when your adventure begins.
You can't help but laugh as the action begins since you are Gordon Freeman and you have to consider his past. From here the game begins a long rollercoaster ride with few pauses for air. Its not Serious Sam in regard to number of enemies, but you will be on your toes CONSTANTLY.
This is where Half-Life 2 puts itself well above all other FPS games. "Pacing".
From one moment to the next you have no idea where you'll end up, no idea who/what is around the corner, and no idea what's going on. That's the beauty of that game.
The Halo and Half-Life series are setting themselves apart from the pack due to their unique storylines that are almost like novelettes.
What sets Half-Life apart from Halo, besides the kick ass graphics, the engine, and the deeper characters, is the varied, detailed, and well designed levels. Half-Life 2 never lets you get bored or used to an area before you're thrown into a new situation. In Halo, entire bases are setup with a single chair, or PC, or desk, etc. In Half-Life, the game world is more detailed than any you've ever seen before. (I compare Halo to Half-Life 2 because they are the two best in their genre for their systems. Not because I'm picking on Halo.)
Games have done this before, moving you from one place to another, but never like this. Its just done so easy and smoothly. It all makes sense. The game world fits together like a jigsaw. If that doesn't make sense, think of your city with roadblocks and obstacles everywhere. No think about how you'd work around them to get places. That's how the Half-Life 2 world operates.
The gameplay is awesome. Everything works perfectly, although I'm not sold on Sprint power and Flashlight power being the same. I AM sold on how "mortal" Gordon Freeman is in this version. You can get into situations where you can be easily killed. If you're too aggressive, you're dead. If you're too cautious in certain areas, you're dead.
The weapons, without getting into too much detail, are phenominal. All seem to be balanced perfectly. You'll find your standard fare of pistols, shotgun, machine guns, grenades, etc. However, it should be noted that 2 weapons will stand out. They will remain anonymous so as to not spoil your fun. However, let me just say, that these two weapons are easily two of the best weapons in an FP ever.
Speaking of best things in an FPS ever, the physics and graphics in this game are unrivaled. Ok, DOOM 3 and Farcry are great looking as well, but Half-Life 2 has them beat. Maybe not so much because of the engine, but because of artwork and design. Half-Life 2 seems real in every way. DOOM 3 never felt real. It was creppy and pretty, but the world never felt "functional". Ditto for Far Cry, I mean who puts that many visible outposts around a secret and hidden research center? This engine is impressive and is easily one of the best things to happen to gaming in quite some time.
I think the best thing that can be said about Half-Life is that it seperated itself from the pack in its details and fine touches. It sucks you into the game world like no game before it. It is so well designed that it seems like a real place more than any other FPS...ever. No more being stuck in one base for a whole game. No more "warping" to a new battle area for no reason. No more running around places that feel more like fiction than non-fiction.
Ok, so maybe it doesn't do all that perfectly, but it does it better than any other game ever made.
It does have its problems:
-Its not as long a game as it probably could have been, but its also not as short as Halo 2 or as single minded as DOOM 3.
-There are some bugs. For example, if you miss an opportunity to go through a forcefield and it goes back up, its very possible you're now completely trapped and will need to reload.
-Its associated with Steam.
Bottom line, the game is awesome. Its very much worth the money and aggrevation of Steam. Everything about it screams professionalism and caring from a company about their product. Now if we could just get them to love their customers that much...
Half-Life 2 is a fantastic voyage from start to finish. I anxiouslt await any new addition to this king of FPS games.
9.8 out of 10 stars. (Really.)
Half-Life 2 - The Rant and Review
If you have this game go to Fileplanet.com and check out their HL2 mods. There's a pretty cool one called Antlion Troopers that is a recreation of the scene in Starship Troopers where they were stranded at an outpost and had to fight off waves of bugs.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”