"Don't listen to those who say this is the best game ever. _Believe_ them."

Well, y'know. I can't really say it's the best game ever. But it's really, really, really, really good.

Yes, the wait for Half Life 2 was long. Yes, there were a lot of problems along the way. Yes, it was quite an annoying time, but... No, they aren't interesting subjects to be included in a review. So let's get on with it!

Before I start with the review properly, here is a nice little two-step-tip for reading it.

1. Print out this review.
2. Read this, whilst making way to purchase Half Life 2 from local game store. (To save time, y'know)

Right, let's get on with it.

Half Life 2 is the sequel to Half Life 1 (No, really) which won numerous awards for game of the year/decade/century/eternity. So, HL2 had a lot to live up to. But after finishing it, it appears to me that Valve did not think they had to live up to it, but surpass it by a good few billion miles. To put it simply, Half Life 2 is rather good.

The gameplay of Half Life 2 is by far it's most-outstanding part. Not to say the other parts of it don't stand out from other games. But the gameplay is the most-outstanding part of an already outstanding game. The main reason for this is the fantastic physics engine, and how it is implimented into the game. You use it to kill enemies, you use it to solve puzzles, or even - if you're a bit bored. To make cool little castles, or towers! Anything is possible and you'll never get bored of messing around with it. One example of a part that sums up why the gameplay is excellent is a part in the game where using the gravity gun you can pick up these razor blade wheel things and blast them at zombies, chopping them in half. Excellent! Also, there's a certain satisfaction in lobbing explosive barrels at enemies, or igniting one explosive barrel in a line of many and watching the chain of explosions destroy anyone, and anything, in it's vicinity. The gameplay is just so... fun. Very addictive and very immersive.

The story of Half Life 2 is this... You, as Gordon Freeman, wake up on a train knowing nothing other than what occured in the previous game and what happened at it's end. You go through the game learning of the world as Freeman does. This is done simply by the game never leaving the eyes of Gordy to give an effect of total immersion, from waking up on the train to right at the end at *Cough*. I'll not really go into the story much as it's better to play it knowing as little as possible. Which brings me onto another point, one bad thing I feel about HL2 is that due to all of the media released on it, you know a lot of the places that you're going to be visiting througout the game. Don't get me wrong, it's still an excellent experience going through all the places you already know are in the game, but it would have been a better one if they were all surprises.

Anyway, yeah. The story is very good and is told in a very immersive manner, which is a great experience.

Sound... Hmm, Yeah. I never really know how to review the sound for a game so... it's good. The soundtrack though is pretty much all techno and goes well with the game and specific songs suit their specific scenes. The weapon sounds and the general sounds of the world are pretty good too... like I said... it's just the sound. Nothing much to say about it.

Graphics though! You could write a bloody book about the graphics of Half Life 2 which would no doubt include a lot of in-depth jargon of why you can get such great performance from lower-end machines and a lot of other pretty uninteresting stuff. So, because I don't want to bore you with any of that stuff (Well, because I don't know about any of that sort of stuff) I'll just keep it simple. The graphics are good. The floor looks nice when it is shiny and you move around. Very pretty. The characters look gorgeous and their facial expressions add an extra dimension to the immersion of the game. The game-world is very, very pleasing to the eye. It's obvious a lot of time has been spent on the presentation of this game, which is a great thing. So basically, Half Life 2 is very, very pretty.

I've only just finished the game and I intend on starting up a new one very soon, so the replayability is excellent. It's mainly due to the fantastic physics engine and all of the possiblities it opens up for you. But just because it's mainly due to the physics certainly doesn't mean the physics is the only reason. I don't know what to say, Half Life 2 is just bloody fantastic. It's hugely entertaining and extremely fun.

Concerning the playtime... Well... seeing as a load of reviews are saying it's around 20 hours, depending on the skill of the player. So, I'll say that too. I didn't time myself, and I'm hoping there isn't something on the game that measures how long you've been playing because I'm going to look a plonker for putting this. But yeah, the game isn't amazingly long, but it's not unsatisfyingly short either. It's just right.

I really haven't gone into how great this game is as much as I could have done, I'm just trying to put it to you, the reader as simple as I can.

Go, now, buy Half Life 2.

Alternatively, you can...

Stay, Now, Buy Half Life 2 using steam.

It's your choice, well. Purchasing it isn't your choice. That's essential. The method is your choice.

Right, if you followed my simple-two-step-tip at the beginning of this review you should at least be on your way to your local game store, or at least a percent or so downloaded using steam. If not, I hope you've already got the game and are just reading through all it's reviews because you love it so bloody much.

Please, go and buy the game. It's really good. Really.

10/10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/04