I played the demo for the first one thinking it would be sweet. Instead I ended up with just about the worst headache ever. I can only assume it was HAWX induced. Also it was not remotely fun.
I remember being a little tired of the game by the time I got to Xen. I was ready to beat it, and the game had continually led me to believe that my goal was in the lamda complex. It was of course, but once I reached the Lamda complex the game was nowhere near over. There were certain frustrations in Xen as well of course, the Gonarch being one (I thought it must have been the end boss, again, fooled me)
At least I can say I beat it without using a guide. Oh except I had to use one to beat the Nihilanth..... yeah Xen was definitely hard by todays standards.
Part of me agrees with the poster who said "gravity gun". This was my first reaction to the title question. When I first played the game (in probably 2008, orange box), the gravity gun made my jaw drop. It just works so well. It allows so much versatility in gameplay (see achievements such as "The One Free Bullet"). This was the first game in my mind to have a physics system that worked incredibly well. It was obviously developed around and for the grav fun first and foremost. It also adds to the experience that you get a teaser of the Super Grav Gun. Just a tease to make the end of the game stand out with a feeling of absolute power.
It's not just the grav gun though. The game is so well polished that, in combination with the art style, it makes a shooter that still looks good today. AND - Doesn't use the engine well? Seriously?
Mods support is another reason it's highly praised for sure. The company that made the game is one of the biggest supporters of FUN in the industry. I had fun playing this game, and I had fun playing HL1 (probably also in 2008). Someone mentioned sound quality. This is one of the features that you might overlook, but sounds really increase the satisfaction of performing actions in a game world. Look at the sounds of the boat and the car in HL2. Those for me increase the satisfaction of operating the vehicles.
I have been itching to play HL2 again. Just so many other games to play....
I don't have the time to devote to endless multiplayer anymore. I used to buy just one game and play it into the ground (Warcraft III is a good example, probably the only game I bought for two years in college), but now I prefer single player. The only problem with that is I don't feel that $50-$60 is a fair price for a single player game. The result is that I wait for months to years and buy them after many price drops. I bought Dragon Age for about $35 on Steam and that's probably the most I've paid for a game in a while. I just finished GTA IV which I bought on Steam for $7.50
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