"A good game, but not the best."

Let me start off by saying that Half-life 2 is definitley one of the best fps shooters out, and this is someone who's played such games as Halo, UT, Quake, Duke Nukem, and Doom. However most reviews I've seen are made by obvious fan boys. It is a great game, but not a perfect game. Anyway:

Graphics: 10/10

Yep. At the point of release Half-life 2 had by far the best graphics. This is because of the famous Source engine. This allows for great, realistic, and detalied graphics, as well as smooth animations. Even today, 2 years later, it makes many newer game graphics look crappy. Another great thing, it'll run on most anyones computer. If you bought a computer 2 years before it came out, you could probably run it on medium low settings, and very smoothly. It will of course, take quite a computer to run Half-life 2 at its best, but that's neither surprising or much of a downside. Since no other graphics have beaten Half-life 2, it definitley deserves a 10/10

Sound: 5/10

While the quality of sound and voice acting in Half-life 2 is great, the way is put into the game falls short. For example, there are only 3 songs used in the game if I'm correct, give or take a few. That's really not enough, as there are MANY large exciting battles where the music would excite you, making you want to play again and again. Also, music can make a good storyline even better. For example, take the storyline of the first Halo. In my opinion Halo had the best storyline of any fps out there to date, that was because you felt like you were in the game, you were a real being, you could interact with cortana, and much more. The battles were intense, and when you met face to face with a helluva lotta enemies, the music would start playing. It wasn't rock, mind you, but actually a kind of fast-paced opera. Then the tempo would go down after you left the ring world, and it would actually make you fell bad about your fallen comrades. However, if Alyx ever died in Half-life 2, while you were escorting her, I know I would be rather relieved, since there is never any music during the "scenes". However the quality alone deserves a 5, the music coordinators could've done a much better job.

Storyline: 4/10

I can't believe while looking through reviews how many people give high marks to the story! Basically there is more story in Doom than there is in Half-life 2. The problem is, the developers seem to try and make many riddles and mysteries during the game, and it worked in the first Half-life. However in this sequel, I find myself thinking that the makers make these riddles without actually thinking of a possible awnser for them. They seem to delay them. That will make it hard when Half-life 3 comes out, and they finally have to awnser all the riddles. What people where looking forward since 1998 was some awnsers to the mysteries protrayed. A good game should have one big mystery that goes throughout all of the sequels, but at least some things should be explained in every epsiode. Instead, you are now facing MORE questions in Half-life 2. I'm all for realism, but when your former enemies are now on your side, and some new portal device is made, I don't find it realistic that everyone finds you a hero and yet never explain anythings to you. Also, you have been gone for about 20 years or so it seems, and now you have not aged a bit and you are wandering in a trainstation, and yet the most surprise anyone shows is when the Dr. Kleiner says tranquily that he can't believe his eyes. No one else seems to care. One last setback is the silent Gordon Freeman. In the first game, it was great, and it made that character seem cool. However, HAlf-life 2 crosses the line. There's a difference between being cool and only talking when you need to, and being mute. While things are being explained to gordon, not only does he never question them, he never even regards them. This gets worse when alyx is flirting with you. She's pouring her heart over him, almost talking TOO much, Gordon doesn't even nod. He stares at her without changing expressions or moving a muscle. The only reason I gave this a 4 is because a lot of other fps games have no story whatsoever.

Gameplay: 8/10

For most of the time Half-life 2 fighting scenes are pretty adrenaline raising. Almost all battles are straightforward and close up. You'll never find and stealth-fighting moments. Unfortunatley this makes the crossbow near useless. When you're not fighting you're trying to find the one passageway that leads you where you want to go, or the one switch that activates whatever it is you need. Also unforunate is the fact that there are few puzzles in this game. Most of the time a "puzzle" will qualify as putting a few boxes up so you can climb something. The only creative and difficult one I know of was having to sneak through a room of pipes with random lasers sticking out of the walls. If you happened to cross one, the turrets on the roof begin to blow your brains out. It makes you wonder why these turrets don't automatically sense you, and how the hell someone is supposed to enter the room to check what's behind it. It does however, awnser something as well. It now makes sense why you can't go prone. One of the most popularly talked-about aspects of Half-life 2 is the gravity gun. This allows you to pick up objects, drop them, or throw them. This is useful in tight situations to use boxes and tables as shields, and later on when your gun is charged, it becomes fun to pick up enemies or simply push them off the edges of platforms. It is a great aspect and is sure to cause much fun in the gameplay. This brings me to another popular aspect of the game, the physics. Notice I'm not making another section of this review for the physics. That is simply because most good Half-life reviews are based off a newly created section. Not all games have physics engines, and while it makes the Half-life 2 gameplay better, it is still not a necessity in game. Right off the top Half-lfie 2 physics are anything but realistic when in comes to characters. If you want realistic physics play Doom, Halo, or any other games. This is not to say the physics are bad. The physics make for great fun using the gravity gun, and you'll get a quick laugh here and there because you killed an enemie and he died in a certain position. The name of Half-life 2's type of physics engine is called ragdoll physics. That is simply because the character will bend in any direction possible, unless you add "bones", which makes that certain part of the body stiff, similair to a stuffed doll, hence the name. Where the physics really shine, however, is in the objects. That's because objects don't have joints, and the fact that almost any object can be thrown, turned and stacked is great, and realistic. Round objects will roll down hills, and depending on how hard the object dropped to the ground, it will bounce a different amount. The actual "fun" of the gameplay is great, but not flawless, so I give it an 8.

Replay value: 7/10

While you probably won't go through the entire campaign again too many times, you'll probably be playing your favorite levels a few times through. I don't really much other of an opinion on this subject, so I'll give it a 7/10. It can vary depeding who you are so don't argue with me on this too much please.

Total: 7/10

I usual don't just rate totals on the average of the other scores, since some subjects are more important than others, but the average of this game is the same as what I feel. To me a 7 is good/great, that's why I rated it this. It's a great game with potential, and while the engine is definitley revolutionizing, the game itself, in my opinion, isn't. I'm pretty sure that most people who disagree with this review, probably just the people who played the first Half-life and loved it as I do, but just because of that is no reason to not rate Half-life 2 as it's own game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06