Half-Life 2

"Stunning. This is the one unmissable game"

Ok, first off, regardless of what you think of my review, please try the demo. If you don't like it, fair enough, just give it a try. It really does live up to the hype.

Graphics: 10/10

Even without any Antistropic Filtering or Anti Aliasing this game looks incredible. You don't even need an amazing PC to run it well, and for a 3 year old game the graphics are astounding. The level design is excellently designed to make you feel immersed and involved, and the world feels extremely believable. When you talk to desperate rebels you really feel their desperation, and you are more motivated to fight for them because of it. A robot swoops down and takes a picture of you, a combine guard attacks you with an electric stick after you've thrown a brick at him, the citizens have conversations with each other and display realistic emotions.

The sense of immersion is incredible. The character models are superbly made, and the facial expressions are still the best in the business, even 3 years on from its release! The whole graphical experience is sublime. With a good PC and all the settings turned up, the game still looks better than most modern games.

Sound: 8/10

The sound is great, even from very early on. What's more impressive than the way it sounds though, is how much of it there is. All the time you're playing there's some little detail making the experience better, drops of blood dripping off the ceiling, combine guards making requests for backup or the ominous howl of a zombie in the background. Dr. Breen has some long speeches that obviously had real effort put into them.

The character dialogue is excellent, especially the way in which 2 NPC's can interact realistically with each other, and they seem like real people, not just robots. One thing that wasn't great was the sound of the guns. The pistol sounds more like a paintball gun being fired into a cushion than anything else, and it's a similar case with the sub machine gun. The other weapons sound pretty good, but it's definitely not the best part of the game. There are a few points in the game where music is put in, usually intense action sequences. This adds to the effect superbly, and really gets you pumped up.

Gameplay: 10/10

There's so much stuff to mention here that I don't know where to begin…well, let's start at the beginning of the game. You step off a train, and look up to see Dr. Breen making a speech on the big screen. Walking around the station, you see the combine (an alien race who have invaded earth, that's all the information you're given for now) giving the civilians a hard time, beating them up, or taking their possessions. At one point an officer tells you to pick up a can. I threw it at him, ran around him when he tried to chase me and ran through the now unguarded exit, amazed that I was even able to. The first 2 levels don't even give you a weapon, and they're still hugely enjoyable. However, one of my favourite levels is Ravenholm. This level displays some of the games features wonderfully, most notably, the gravity gun. If there's a more fun weapon in a game, I haven't found it. Want to toss a paint can at a zombie, smothering its face in white liquid? Go ahead. Want to chuck a saw blade at that same zombie, and cut it clean in half, along with the 4 others behind it? Be my guest. The range of ways you can kill things with the gravity gun (or zero-point energy field manipulator, as Dr. Mossman likes to call it) is staggering. You have to stifle a cry of appalled delight every time you kill someone, which brings me on to the physics engine.

Another of my favourite points is where 4 guards are on a wooden bridge. Hmm, looks like there are some explosive barrels under the bridge. How convenient! Shoot the barrels, and the whole bridge explodes, launching all the guards into the air, and then sending them spiralling back down into the ground. I had to reload the game 5 times before I'd had enough of it. The entire game is hugely varied. Whenever you think to yourself, “I hope I get something new to do soon”, it comes. In Nova Prospect, there's a set-piece involving 3 gun turrets and waves and waves of guards. I ended up having to hole up in a toilet to survive it, you're always forced to improve your playing, and come up with new ideas. It pushes your imagination, and sometimes makes you create the fun, and it's so much more enjoyable and satisfying because of that.

There are so many more places just as good as this that it would take hours to list them all. The enemies in the game are slightly limited in their numbers, but the enemies that there are are superbly varied, and get tougher and more interesting as the game goes on. 3 different variations of zombies and headcrabs, including some where they're combined, many types of combine guards, dripping tentacles hanging from the ceiling. They are all very, very all different to each other, each with their own way of attacking and moving. The AI is great, enemies will take cover and move according to your actions. The replay value…well it's nothing to be honest, except finding more details and trying things in new ways. The first time you play through, you will be absolutely blown away. The second time through, you probably wont. You've seen it before. Savour your first time, there won't be a gaming experience like it for a long time.

So, to conclude, HL2 is one of the best, if not the best game ever. Everyone who owns a PC needs to buy this game. It deserves to be played by everyone. It is a masterpiece of gaming innovation, and the crowning jewel in the PC game market. Buy it now.

10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/08

Game Release: Half-Life 2 (EU, 11/16/04)