So I finally manned up and started playing Half-Life 2 again.

I finished the game the first time it came out, way before there were Steam achievements, then I never touched it again. Didn't really find any use for the achievements.

I'm not sure why I booted it up, I think Zach suggested I play it again and I agreed with him, and I think I caught the achievement bug.  After an hour or so, I started thinking, "Holy shit! Half-life 2 actually holds up even after all these years! That's crazy!" The shooting still feels good, and it actually looks good after all these years... Well, admittedly, it looks a little dated, and it has some age jank in it, but all in all, it's still a really good game.

Gotta get that grav gun again and throw cans of paint at stuff!

Only it makes me a little sad... I want me some Half-life 3!  or at least Half-life 2: Episode 3.

Hope Gabe Newell and the Valve people are doing well with that.

Yeah I only just got the motivation to play Half-Life 2 for the first time around November/December last year and was utterly impressed and entertained. Fantastic game. Haven't gotten around to beating Episode 1 yet though..

Indeed. I wanted to beat them last spring break, but only managed to beat portal 1 with most acheevos, and episode 1. Will do vanilla hl2 and ep2 completely, this summer...

Hell yeah that game is great.  It is timeless.

Still love that game.

I like the parts where you aren't in a boat.

" Hell yeah that game is great.  It is timeless. "

" Indeed. I wanted to beat them last spring break, but only managed to beat portal 1 with most acheevos, and episode 1. Will do vanilla hl2 and ep2 completely, this summer... "

Yup, still one of the best shooters I ever played.

" I like the parts where you aren't in a boat. "

" Yeah I only just got the motivation to play Half-Life 2 for the first time around November/December last year and was utterly impressed and entertained. Fantastic game. Haven't gotten around to beating Episode 1 yet though.. "

" @LordXavierBritish said:

" I like the parts where you aren't in a boat. "

yeah the game is great except the boat part goes on way too long "

Yup person who started following me on twitter, indeed. My favorite game.

Probably one of the most timeless games of all time. It's amazing how it holds up

I agree.
I agree so much that I framed my half-life 2 poster and hung it on my wall

Even the original Half-Life holds up well compared to other shooters that came out around the same time, and even a couple years later.

But yeah, episode 1 had some interesting parts like the dark level, but I feel like an edited down version should have been the end of Half-Life 2. HL2's ending felt a little anti climactic to me, and the SPOILERS ******* train ride at the end of EP1 would have felt better IMO.

Episode 2 was great though. The vehicle part started to feel a little disjointed, as in drive, get out, solve puzzle, drive some more, get out, ect. But man, so many cool gameplay moments in EP2 and the story was awesome too.

I played through the first half-ish of it  a few months ago- didn't care for it. I guess I just don't get why everyone thinks Gordon Freeman is so rad- when that scientist told me I was a man of few words, with a wink and a nod, I just wanted to shut the game off.

" @LordXavierBritish said:

" I like the parts where you aren't in a boat. "

yeah the game is great except the boat part goes on way too long "

" @TheMustacheHero: 

I think episode 1 is worth playing for the elevator level alone. 

"