Hey, you were right: Half Life 2

By benpack December 25, 2010 31 Comments

Having grown up with a really crappy iMac, the only PC game I played was StarCraft. I am now going back and playing the "must play" PC games. My first game of this series is Half Life 2 and its expansions.
 
So, I can see why everyone wants a new Half Life game. 
 
Anywhere you look, you seem to see pretty much universal appreciation of many of Valve's games. And while some might not approve of their business model (Left 4 Dead 2), many admit their games are both fun and have led to steps forward in the industry. So with all this hype and playing it six years after it's initial release, I was worried it would not live up to its hype. 
 
Needless to say I was surprised when I booted up Half Life 2 and started making my way through City 17 that I was having a blast. The game still looks and sounds great. 
 Sure there have been graphical advancements in PC gaming since 2004, but everything looks good. The atmosphere is still holds up, while showing it to a friend he said "Jesus, why is everything so depressing."  Everything, at least for the first part of the game, does a good job of creating a very oppressive environment.

The game controls right, especially the Gravity Gun. I don't think I'm alone in saying that playing around with that for the first time was one of the best parts of that game. Even the story does a good job. I did not play the original Half Life, but I read up on it before hand and while I'm sure playing it would make more of this game make sense, the game still did a good job of explaining enough to keep me interested in the characters. 

The moment where this game clicked for me was where you had to cross a river under a bridge, jumping from beam to beam while fighting those future helicopters.
 

I would have to say that Episode 1 is easily the weakest point in the series for me. It basically consists of "Hey, get the hell out of this city, oh and shoot some zombies." You have no idea how long I was stuck in that underground parking garage before having to look up a video FAQ. Even with all its faults, it's still a fine game and does a good job setting up Episode 2. 
 
Needless to say I want to see how this story ends. And while I haven't  been waiting three years like many of you, the sooner the better, Valve.
 
Next Time: Deus Ex

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