"Best game yet in the world of PC games."

Valve, the developer who created Half Life that set the standard of FPS gaming, has created its sequel that was in development for six years at the budget of 40 million dollars, a game that a was roller coaster ride* for its fans and developers (Gamespot- Final Hours of Half Life 2). From this, you would expect the sequel to be a game that will again set the standard of FPS gaming, and at many subjects it did.

PHYSICS

Before the game was released, the PC community had a lot of expectations with the physics powered by Source engine, a heavily modified Havok engine by Valve, many fans awaited and dreamed cutting zombies in half with sawblades, throwing paint cans, bricks, and radiators at their enemies, and slapping headcrabs with the crowbar. And indeed it has met and exceeded my and most of community's expectations. Valve has integrated the physics engine into the game seamlessly and polished it with no bugs in sight. Before the release of this game, recent FPS games such as Far Cry and Doom III had already integrated physics for gamers to be more immersed into the world, but the feature did not have a major role in the progression of the game nor did people could do much with it, at most, the only thing you could do was roll barrels over enemies, move boxes, and play around with the ragdolls feature. But Half Life 2 has given physics a major role to advance in the game, the game challenges you with puzzles and contraptions which requires exploration and meddling with the physics. However, clues, critical objects, and other problem solving objects are place in an obvious way that almost no creativity or imagination is needed. However, some puzzles are more difficult that people can get frustrated and ask for help, I never did ask for solutions because I loved exploring and thinking of possible solutions.

But before you think: “I can do anything in this game!!” Don't be surprised, there are many objects that are not affected by the physics other than bullet holes to keep the player in place on the map. I have to admit, I was disappointed how I used the physics with the puzzles as it had only one solution so I used the physics the same way as I did the last time. Nevertheless, this game has the best physics you'll see and use yet in the FPS genre, if not, out of all the games developed.

GAMEPLAY

I use gameplay heavily to judge if the game's good or not, and Half Life 2 has one of the best gameplay I've played since Sonic the Hedgehog 3; or to be more prudent, Far Cry. The physics, characters, and the atmosphere immerses you into the world of City 17, the coast, the suburb, and other environments you'll be playing through. Words fail to describe the atmosphere, and what I've felt during the game, I've gotten a good number of spine chills from several moments as I played the game. Compared to the original Half Life, I found this game to be short, I've played an average of 6-8 hours in Half Life 2 per day and I only stopped because of school, sleep, and fatigue. Because of my long hours of gameplay, I was able to finish this game in four days, I'm still somewhat sad because I felt as if I fast-paced through the game without savoring the moments, yet I do not regret. The controls follow the standard of FPS games; WASD for movement, E for use, CTRL to crouch, Space to jump, etc. The controls never become a spiky needle in your path, in fact, it makes it even more enjoyable because of the simplicity and easiness of the controls such as being able to switch the gravity gun (this gun really shines the Source engine to the point your eyes go blind) with a single key than having to press “1” twice and a mouse-click. But now let's get away from the controls and to your weaponry, you have the famous headcrab killing crowbar, the usual shotgun, the spray-and-pray SMG, and the magnum with its silver bullet. There are other surprising and fun weapons but I'll keep it under dark. One bump you'll see with the weapons is that certain weapons such as the magnum can only carry 18 rounds, and the small variety of weapons, only 11 weapons are available (this may sound a lot, but Half Life and its expansions had a lot more) which can disappoint for some.

The environments are spectacular, the atmosphere immerses you into the world, and the physics make anything possible (to a certain limit), but it's linear. Yes, linear, you would expect with physics there would be several paths and ways to progress the game like Far Cry, but just like how most puzzles have one solution, you can only progress the game by going to one spot to another spot, but it's sugarcoated and hidden well by the details, objects, and the environment. However, this doesn't make the game boring, the game is always fresh and new with gameplay always at its high.

Now, I've talked so much about the environment and atmosphere, yet haven't gone into details with them. The game has so many environments from canals, urban areas, haunted suburbs, mechanical building, and others that give you a different feel. There were times where I was pumped up to kill EVERYTHING with my shotgun and magnum while on certain maps I wanted to avoid every enemy, small or large. Now, this game does have some freaky/scary events, but not much as the beginning of Doom III, whereas I quit immediately after you know what happens to the you know what. But this doesn't make you stop playing the game, I never had to push myself to progress and the complete the game and there are many comical humors, scripted and unscripted, to relieve you from the atmosphere.

Another touch I enjoyed is Valve added some tiny touches and details such as in the map “Coast,” there's a house with windows blocked, blood on floor, stairs destroyed, and unoccupied by the Combines, I began to wonder what's so different and as I explored, I found the answer. Another touch is the scream from the zombies. They scream when lit in fire, but when you reverse what they scream, you'll find It speaking in English (credit goes to Outc4st), but I want you to find out what it's saying.

From the awe at the beginning to the hectic feel at the end, Half Life 2 has one of the most beautiful environments that rival Far Cry and the best immersive atmosphere out of all games yet.

STORY AND DEVELOPMENT *NO PLOT SPOILERS*

Half Life was known for having a good plot development, immersion into the environment, and fantastic gameplay without the use of cutscenes, narration, clips, or other things that takes you out of the main character you control. And Half Life 2 follows this concept: you are Gordon Freeman, and always Gordon, you will never see yourself, you will never get out of your character, and you will never let your character talk (yes, he's still mute), you are in control of this guy, and let's your enjoy the game even more.

Because you're always stuck inside Gordon Freeman, you can't know what's happening to the world unless if you see it with your own eyes or someone tells you. Half Life 1 ending made people wondered what happened to Black Mesa (answered by Opposing Force) and what happened to the world, answered by Half Life 2. Well, you will know what the current situation is in Earth after Half Life 10 years later, but that's about it. You will never be informed what happened in that ten-year gap other than vague headlines from old newspapers and articles that you'll need to search. If you have high expectations that many of the questions will be answered in the sequel, you will be disappointed, most of the plot in Half Life 2 keeps it within the game, and only few answers will be revealed what happened outside the game and Half Life 1.

Do note the real game has left out some scenes and maps that many of you have seen in previews or E3 trailers including Trapdown, Docks, and the epic Strider battle, not, I was kidding on the last one, or did I?

GRAPHICS

Another reason why Half Life 2 was one of the most anticipated games last year and this year was its graphics. And the game does indeed have impressive graphics, especially in urban and rural areas. In many scenes, the light and shadows make objects and textures look like real. To give some comparison of the graphics, Half Life 2's graphics is better than Far Cry, but below Doom III, but this does not mean HL2 won't have stunning graphics never seen before, in my personal opinion, I found HL2 to use the graphics better than in Doom III with the environments and details. However, there are some weak points to it, many doors, windows, trees, pipes, backgrounds, and other objects are in 2-D, this did not tick me at all, but it would've made HL2 better. Many models, objects, and textures really open your eyes such as the face of a zombie without its parasite or details of many monsters and enemies you'll face. This is assuming that you have a gaming computer that can handle HL2 at high settings with good performance, so don't go ranting that HL2's graphic suck because you ran everything on low.

Half Life 2 has set another standard in one of the most unlikely yet important subject in FPS gaming: Non Playable Characters. The characters have the best face expression and movement I've ever seen in any games. Their faces look almost real and no more will you think NPC's as another dumb faceless pixel with its true dark purpose of making your gameplay miserable, but as a real character that's vital to the progression of the game, even those NPC's that are not necessary to advance through the game. Expression is only a fraction of what HL2's NPCs can offer, another major step in NPCs is their lip synch. Their lip synch of what they say is almost perfect, not like many other games in which lip synch is comparable to those cheap animes with its voice translated into another language. There are some gripes, many non-important NPCs have only about 5 variety of skins, and many of your allies are dumber than the enemies, I would understand that the rebels are weaker than the higher powers, but can that really justify one of my NPC launching a rocket to the ceiling killing all my squad?

Half Life 2 is one of the top 5 FPS games with the best graphics for the PC, but I believe it uses its graphic better than any other to make the game more enjoyable.

CONCLUSION- (or the review of HL2 for people with short attention span)

Half Life 2 is one of the best games I've played since the day I touched my first NES controller. It has surpassed my expectations in gameplay, environment, and physics, and the best $50 I've spent in games (well, it was free from the ATI coupon I got) and this will be the same for you too. No doubt Half Life 2 has set the standard for NPC, value of physics, and the enjoyment in gameplay, and hopefully new games will use the Source engine to make spectacular games such as Half Life 2.

This is my first review in Gamefaqs and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/04