"Innovation in technology at it's finest!"

It's finally here. The first Half-Life was a groundbreaking achievement in FPS games, even though it's ending kinda sucked. Valve went to work right away on the second, but then, a tragedy occurred. Somebody stole the Source code. Valve either had to keep going even though somebody had the basic game already, or start over. They chose to start over, and it took them 6 years to finish this game. Luckily, it's well worth the wait. This game breaks new ground in every aspect of gaming, and is easily a treasure of gaming history.

Graphics: 11/10
This game is played out in entirely first-person. This means there aren't really any cutscenes, but you still see all of the people and the story unfolding around you. Like you really are Gordon Freeman. The characters all look incredibly realistic. For a moment, you get this game confused with real life. Then you see the aliens. The horrible, grotesque looking aliens. They may be fugly, but they are beautifully fugly (if i'm making any sense at all). The environments, while somewhat similar, are all interact-able thanks to the new physics engine. More on that later, but you can see damage in the walls if you shoot at it. It looks real when you shoot a person or alien (that is, however real it can get shooting aliens). Seeing damage effects are really a landmark for this game, and the immersion is almost surreal. It's that good. The only problem is, because this is high-power we're talking about, you need a lot of memory, and a lot of power, otherwise you're gonna be a while.

Sound: 10/10
Celebrity voice-overs grace this game and all of the v-o's are incredibly well done. Sound effects are in their squishy glory. From shooting aliens to making them roadkill with a car on a conveyor belt, this game sounds painful and yet very appealing. The music is kind of an orchestral mix, and not really that noticeable, but in games like these, I'm too worried about shooting to recognize the music. It won't bother you at all.

Story: 9/10
The story picks up right where the first one stupidly left off. You saved the world last time, but apparently not for long, as you're taken over by the Combine. There's a growing resistance movement, and you become the head of it and bring it out of the shadows. Not much here, but hey, still pretty cool.

Multiplayer: Non-existent
There is no direct multiplayer that ties into the Half-Life 2 universe. It does come with Counter-Strike: Source, which is fun to play online. But since there is no true "multiplayer", the rating is null and void.

Replayability: 10/10
This game will take you forever to finish, especially on a slower computer. It took me a good 40 hours to finish this one. Since this game is so fun, which I'll explain later, you'll want to play it again and again. Like I said earlier, the multiplayer is Counter-Strike: Source, and it is very fun to play online. That only boosts the score higher. If they had some sort of deathmatch mode for Half-Life 2, even though some guy made a mod for that on Half-Life 1 that will inevitably come out for this one, it would have sealed the deal.

Gameplay: 11/10
YES! I GAVE IT AN 11! IT'S THAT FREAKING AWESOME! The main reason why is the physics engine. This thing adds an even greater realism to this game, as things look and move like they would in real life (if aliens existed in real life), from how they blow up, to how they look when they get blown up. The main weapon that ties directly to this engine is the Gravity Gun. With this, you can alter physics of a certain object for yourself (mainly shooting it very fast at your enemies). There are also certain reactions to anything you do to the environment that look real. For example, you push a lever, and a car held up by a crane comes crashing down on the aliens, squishing and killing them in an instant. This can lead to some pretty clever traps for your enemies to walk straight into. It's just fun to watch all of the carnage from the physics engine. One moment in the game, I had a little fan thing set up. When the aliens came by, I activated it, it spun and chopped some of them in half. Then the thing came flying off. I quickly grabbed it with my Gravity Gun and shot it at the enemies. It looks a lot cooler in execution, and if you don't think it is, you're in the wrong hobby buddy!
Now that I've gone through the bulk of the gameplay (physics), let's talk about the rest of the stuff. You get to drive stuff this time around, and it's pretty cool. The cars and dune buggys handle easily and you can run over enemies too. Other than that, the core of the game is shooting and directing a team around (later in the game). There's an occassional puzzle, but nothing too difficult. Another big thing of this game is the sense of immersion. You really feel like you're in this universe just because you can do so much. The constant first-person view helps, too. You can easily get lost in this game

OVERALL: 10/10
BUY THIS GAME NOW!!!!!

RECAP:
+Incredibly cool physics
+Fun driving sequences
+Great voice-overs
+State-of-the-art graphics
+Counter-Strike: Source is fun online multiplayer option
+Decent music
+Puzzles are easy and yet difficult at same time
+Cool moments come from this game
+Well worth 6 year wait
+You can get totally immersed from this game
+Great overall story
+Overall is the best game I've ever reviewed
-We had to wait 6 years for this thing
-No true multiplayer that ties into Half-Life universe
-Need powerful machine

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/05