"Half-Life 2: The Curse Gets Worse"

(Just so you know I stole my subheading: “The Curse Gets Worse” from Monkey Island 3)

INTRODUCTION:

The long anticipated sequel to the widely praised Half-Life, Half Life 2, is here and it's time to get past the hype and the constant fan-boy worship and have a look at just what Valve has really managed to come up with. Put simply Half-Life 2 is great – it has some of the most incredible physics, atmosphere, voice acting, and visuals to date, and although not groundbreaking like it's predecessor, it is certainly one of the best First Person Shooters of our time.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

The visuals in Half-Life 2 are outstanding. Compared to Doom 3 Half-Life 2 competes very well with excellent water effects, awesome model design, and well-crafted surroundings. Whilst Doom 3 is graphically superior (with more advanced lighting and shadow effects), Half-Life 2 presents much more gritty and realistic representations of the in-game environments and characters as apposed to Doom 3's shiny, smooth visuals. As in the original model faces are highly detailed whilst less attention has been paid to their clothes etc (all the stuff that you won't be focusing on), and the weapons all have their own distinctive style and look.

Animation is also incredible adding immensely to the game – enemy Combine soldiers move quite fluently while friendly characters have numerous expressions and actions. Important characters touch each other's shoulders and smile during the in-game cut-scenes and conversations. Alyx, for example, gives you a convincing nervous smile when her father (Doctor Eli Vance) embarrasses her in front of you when you first personally meet with him. The characters become far more life-like and interesting with their animations, which are just as important as their dialogue.

SOUND: 9/10

A lot of work has gone into Half-Life 2's sound effects and music; it certainly shows with the amazing variety of individual sounds for different actions. Just about everything makes it's own noise – flinging a glass bottle into a concrete wall sounds completely different from chucking a wooden box off the top of a building onto a patch of grass below. Understand that there are literally hundreds of items in the Half-Life 2 world and none of them make out of place noises when thrown, knocked over, blown-up, or shot-up. Weapon effects sound brilliant, if not a little weak, as shotguns and sub-machineguns sound just as you'd expect while the more exotic weapons make their own individual noises – the Rocket Propelled Grenade's scream through the air before making dull thuds as they explode into their target. The vehicles in the game (yes, Half-Life 2 has vehicles) also sound superb – the buggy sounds excellent whether it be the engine's screeching as you start up the ignition, the mighty revving sound as you initiate the turbo, or the sound of it's wheels spinning against the dirt as you plant the throttle from a standing start.

Voice acting is also top of the line, and although only a hand full of voice actors have been hired for the game, they are all well done. Particularly impressive are the voices for the key-characters who you'll encounter throughout the game such as Barney, Doctor Breen and Alyx. The only thing stopping me from giving 10/10 for the sound would be the music. The music has not changed a great deal from the original and thus becomes boring. Usually music slowly charges up before an intense moment – at one part, after fending off an enemy attack with fellow resistance fighters, you are instructed to make a dash for the nearby lighthouse and use the rockets stored there to take out an enemy dropship. At this point a very desperate and intense theme starts playing, it works well during the game, and music never gets to the point of distracting your playing, but the tunes are very similar to the music from the original – not a lot has been done with it and most of it seems uninspired.

PLOT: 7/10

The story is probably the weakest link in Half-Life 2 – don't get me wrong for a First Person Shooter it is pretty good, but realistically it raises too many questions and has few answers. Half Life 2 Starts the player (Gordon Freeman from the original) off in a train arriving at City Seventeen – a dull, rotting city patrolled by intimidating ‘Combine' troops and inhabited by oppressed workers. It is obvious right from the start that the people of City Seventeen are yearning for a savior to break off their chains and remove the controlling forces. The only features distinguishing this City from any other modern metropolis (other than the fact that this metropolis almost looks abandoned) are the large television screens displaying speeches by the city's leader (a seemingly self-justified autocrat) – it is very much like something out of George Orwell's novel ‘1984'. Later you discover that this despot is Doctor Breen, your former administrator at Black Mesa who was given administration over City Seventeen when he negotiated a surrender with the Combine. After your arrival a Combine soldier takes you aside, he soon reveals himself as Barney the Security Guard From Black Mesa (from the first Half-Life) and reintroduces you to some of your former colleges who are now secretly working in City Seventeen. It's not long before you find yourself moving about the city and surrounding area tasked with meeting up with resistance fighters, and saving important people from the Combine, and eventually leading the uprising intent on removing the city's leader from power.

Although the game does have characters from the original half-life and some mention of the Black Mesa events, Half-Life 2 really has little to do with the first game. This game could have just as easily been made without the return of some of the original half-life enemies and a different main-character and no one would notice too many Half-Life connections (assuming they didn't have the Half-Life references and characters). I suppose basing the game loosely on the original and claiming it as a sequel was probably the way to go in that it would probably have greatly boosted sales and acknowledgement (as the first was highly successful), plus since the original did not exactly have a ‘Final Fantasy' style plot it is harder to base something on it. As in the first Half-Life, the story simply moves the action and exploration along, however this time round with far more interesting characters and settings the story manages to hold more interest and develop more appropriately. Throughout the game you can pick up small pieces of information and clues about the state of the world and other aspects of the plot – listening to television broadcasts and character conversations, and reading newspapers and graffiti give you a small insight into more of the story. I was probably most frustrated with the short, boring ending which I had expected to explain some of the events of the game and the connection between this game and the first Half-Life – it did not. I don't have a problem with the game leaving some questions unanswered ready for the third game, but really the ending was, in the words of the G-Man, ‘rather an anti-climax'.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

Without a doubt Half-Life 2 shines in the most important category offering almost relentless action and exploration. Half-Life 2 follows a pattern very similar to the original, it introduces most of the key characters in the first two chapters and allows the player to get to know City Seventeen. The first couple chapters after you are reunited with your trusty crowbar, and after you manage to get your hands on a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, are rather slow action-based levels much like the early levels in the original. Don't despair, however, as the following levels progress well with a wide range of level types: vehicle levels see you outrunning enemy patrols and stopping at Combine outposts to clear them out; the ‘Ravenholm' level is very much a survival-horror style level pitting you against innumerable zombie creatures in a dark and creepy abandoned town; and another level sees you controlling scores of alien creatures as you attack a Combine prison. Later levels are full of nonstop action as you defend Alyx and yourself against legions of Combine soldiers using automated turrets and help resistance fighters overrun Combine defenses and destroy hostile drop ships and deadly ‘striders' (massive robots armed with machineguns and beam weapons – very much like the alien machines from ‘War of the Worlds'). There is rarely a gap in the action except when you are faced with a ‘physics puzzle', these puzzles have been called intelligent and complicated but really they are no more advanced than any of the puzzles in the original. These puzzles have been placed throughout the game to allow the player to do something different and to show off the amazing (although not unique due to Max Payne 2's groundbreaking physics) physics engine. Puzzles include stacking up boxes to reach a windowsill, using the gravity gun to suck out a plug beyond an impassable force field to disconnect it, and using a massive crane with a powerful magnet attached to it to move large shipyard storage boxes and move your buggy into the previously inaccessible area.

In addition to the physics puzzles you are able to take advantage of the physics engine to manipulate items for attacking and defending – this is made possible with the ‘Gravity Gun'. I was skeptical when I first heard about this weapon while the game was still in production and thought maybe it was just a simple novelty, in fact the weapon completely changes the game as it allows you to exploit the physics engine to the utmost. The Gravity Gun is essential in some of the physics puzzles, and can be used to hold objects in front of the player as shields against incoming bullets and to stop headcrabs from jumping at you, but it is most fun used to hurl filing cabinets, chairs, tires, and even buzz saws at enemies. Doing so saves ammo (very important in levels such as Ravenholm) and causes some interesting deaths – flinging a buzz saw at a zombie results in the creature being severed in-half, very satisfying. Because of this you'll find yourself using the Gravity Gun over the other conventional weapons (it's hard to resist pulling out the Gravity Gun and sucking in a recently thrown enemy grenade into it's field before hurling it back at him). The other conventional weapons unfortunately are few. In some ways it is good because the lack of weapons reflects the fact that you are fighting for poorly equipped resistance fighters, but you can't help but miss the high-tech energy weapons for the original and it gets a bit boring always using the RPG Launcher to take down the heavily armored enemies. In all there are ten weapons (excluding a special weapon used only at the end), but some of them do have alternative attacks like a grenade launcher (for the submachine-gun) and an energy ball-type shot that can be used with the Combine's standard issue assault rifle. Ammo is quite limited unlike the original, most weapons can only hold three or four magazines which makes the action more intense and forces you to move to supply points when you are fighting Striders and dropships (giving it a more desperate feel). Ammo is rarely in short supply between firefights though, as you can usually find a lot around the levels.

I've talked about the guns and you are now probably wondering just what you'll be shooting at with them. Some of the enemies from the original return such as the headcrabs, the zombies, and the barnacle creatures (the ones that attach to roofs and use their ‘tongue' to suck up their prey). There are also some nice variations on these original aliens such as the ‘super-zombies' which are very entertaining to fight. Most of the time you will be fighting the Combine soldiers who are essentially the same as the soldiers from the original. The AI in Half-Life 2 is not that gripping, it is very similar to the original – Combine soldiers fight in groups, run to new positions of cover, throw grenades, run when you throw grenades, and shoot at you. From what I've observed it's not really all that advanced, friendly NPC's (Non-Player Characters) are the same when they fight with you – they run along with you and move to positions and fire at the enemy. Team combat is not particularly complex as you can only tell your team to move to a spot or follow you, but they do take down some of the baddies and draw some fire away from you (besides team-based combat is not what Half-Life is about). Interestingly there are no bosses in Half-Life 2, one of the original's strengths was it's interesting bosses which could usually only be killed through special means. Some people have commented that it would be a cliche for Valve (the developers) to have boss monsters in the game but that's nonsense, I could claim that it's unoriginal to have levels, and guns, and enemies just like every other First-Person Shooter. If anything Valve was lazy, they've been working on this for a long time (five years due to a one-year break), including bosses would have given them a chance to do something new and unique with them – a final boss fight would have also helped remove the feeling of emptiness once you complete the game.

The inclusion of vehicles in Half-Life is superb and works brilliantly – the buggy and the airboat both provide great levels and a change from the rest of the game (although they can drag on a bit). The vehicle levels are always fast and entertaining, they basically see you moving from place to place, making jumps, shooting at Combine soldiers and aliens, and stopping at checkpoints to open gates held by enemy forces. The vehicles also feel great as they both slip and slide around and both having very cool makeshift looks and feels. Doing a massive jump off a cliff is risky as your buggy might crash all over the place, but you feel great if you succeed (especially if you manage to perform a flip or two). Fans of the original will also be glad to hear that, like the first Half-Life, in-game cinematic events are also a big part of Half-Life 2. Finally the difficulty in Half-Life 2 is just right, everyone can enjoy it from First-Person Shooter veterans to those playing a First-Person Shooter for the first time. The easiest difficulty will probably only see you dieing a handful of times (if at all) and you can simply ‘run and gun' your way through most of the game. Hard, on the other hand, creates some real challenges as the enemy becomes much tougher and you'll take greater damage from their attacks – the hard difficulty will require you to think out situations and firefights rather than just rush in into them.

LIFESPAN: 7/10

Another weak point is longevity, though I only say ‘weak' because that is comparing it to the rest of the game. Half-Life 2 is about as long as the original which was quite a long game – especially for a First Person Shooter. My first attempt at finishing the game took around fifteen hours, a second attempt would probably take around ten or eleven hours. So it is pretty long but it feels a little short when you consider just how long this game has been in development, you'll most likely finish it (assuming you spend a good time each day on it) in about a week. Replay ability is limited because it is a linear game with few extras and no alternative paths, however you may want to play it a second or possibly third time on a harder difficulty to test yourself or more likely just to mess around with the game's physics. Adding to replay value is the fact that the game is divided into chapters so you can replay any of the fifteen sections of the game when you start a new game (assuming you have passed them). Since the chapters are quite large you may find that you will still need to make save games at the parts you enjoy the most if you want to play them again.

Having said that there is the question of multiplayer which can often affect a game's lifespan dramatically, Half-Life 2 has no multiplayer but all versions of the game (whether downloaded off of Steam or bought from the store) come with Counter-Strike Source. Counter-Strike Source is a team-based multiplayer game pitting terrorists against anti-terrorists; it is apparently much like the original Counter-Strike which has become the number one online action game. Counter-Strike Source is a solid multiplayer game; although it is a little disappointing that no multiplayer mode is available in Half-Life 2. Taking into consideration the modding potential of Half-Life 2 I'd probably have to give it's Lifespan a 10/10 – however I won't because I am reviewing the game itself not the legions of mods it may possibly spawn.

CONCLUSION: 8/10

In conclusion Half-Life 2 truly is a great game and I came very close to giving it a 9/10, however the slight weakness in plot and lifespan prevented me from doing so. There are a few other niggles with the game namely bugs – the game crashed on my first two attempts at playing after only ten or fifteen minutes in (but I didn't experience any crashes afterwards), and I did find myself getting stuck in the environment a few times (but I could usually get out of it pretty easy). Counter-Strike Source has also failed to run when I've tried to play online (either because it wants to update but it won't, or because it crashes) which I find a bit aggravating. Many people paid for and downloaded their copies of Half-Life off of the Internet and it would seem that they got the more polished versions with fewer bugs. I bought mine from the store the old-fashioned way and felt a bit cheated that I only got a box and paper CD cases (no manual or anything). The other problem is Steam, the online server that authorizes your CD-key. Some people are quite happy with Steam (it does provide access to Valve-related information and allow you to purchase games online), but after a troubled first few days after the release of the game (as people tried to open user-accounts or get their CD-keys authorized the server was slowed dramatically, and this should have been foreseen) and the fact that pirates will bypass the authorization soon anyway, makes it seem unnecessary. It also seems a bit unfair that the game requires Internet access to play for those without it (and those who don't have broadband as downloading takes a much longer time for them). Then again when games first started coming out on CD's not everyone had CD-Rom Drives, maybe this will be something more widely used in the future.

Half-Life 2 is truly an amazing game with many positives about it, it is just a few minor problems that made me decide to give it an 8/10. It is certainly worth the price and will certainly prove a highly enjoyable First-Person Shooter experience for any serious gamer. A lot of people have said it and I'm going to say it too: Half-Life 2 sets a new standard in First-Person Shooters.

SUMMARY:

Graphics: 9/10

Sound: 9/10

Plot: 7/10

Gameplay: 9/10

Lifespan: 7/10

Conclusion: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/04