"Steaming with quality."

Half-Life 2 is more than I expected, put simply. The direction the game has taken since Half-Life had made me curious before play, until my curiosity disappeared after one minute of play. This game easily takes its rightful place as my favourite PC title to date, leaving me in awe at first as I admired the incredible detail put into the beginning environment. The powerful graphics, great voice acting and movement of the character all seemed to give me an authoritative sense of freedom, and this was only the starting sequence of the game. Just around the bend and then on held so much more surprises awaiting me, not without a few problems, but great nonetheless.

GRAPHICS 10/10

A tremendous moment during the beginning of the game was the facial movement of the characters. The dialogue fit in perfectly with expressions, and the lip syncing had also had a lot of effort put into it. This really helped getting to know what was going on around the area, as you could tell the people were anxious and afraid, which really helped to notify me of the setting. This game, without a doubt, has some of the best character movement I have ever seen, from head to toe of each and every person, using the environment around them to a proper degree.

The environments in the game are remarkable. A vast amount of detail has been distributed throughout the gargantuan world around you, and no place is left with a feeling of something missing within it. The inside environments are detailed efficiently and they contribute to the atmosphere with great delight. The detail on the walls is notable, as the cracks and dirtiness in rundown areas are one of the main signs that an area is actually rundown.

The outside environments look even better than the inside environments. The water looks almost as realistic as possible, and I haven't seen water as good as this in any other game before. When you shoot or move in the water, the reaction of the water works perfectly. This doesn't just go for water, either. The buildings are almost faultless when you look at them from the outside. Whether you're looking at the apartments in the city at the beginning or the isolated buildings along the highway, you will admire the features from both the outside and inside. Better graphics than I expected, and then some. They contribute to the atmosphere marvellously.

IN SHORT: Marvellous. Incredible detail and great environments that contribute powerfully to the atmosphere.

SOUND 8.5/10

The sound, in most cases, is very good. The voice acting is high-quality for most of the characters while some are a little unfitting to the dialogue. For the most part, the voices work well with the happenings around the character and the expressions and movements they are doing. For others, they just don't fall into place as well, taking away from the atmosphere a tiny bit (and this is one tiny bit).

The sound effects are put together nicely. While I don't believe they are anything jaw dropping, they are still executed a lot better than most games. The vehicle sounds are perfect, working well with the design and look of them. Simple things such as doors and footsteps have no real bad issues worth discussing; they're fine. I thought the guns didn't sound as powerful as they should of, with some of them sounding weaker than they looked. None of this really bothered me, it was just simple knickknacks I noticed along the way. Toward the end of the game, some of the sci-fi noises became plain annoying. Huge alien screeches and the sounds of energy going 'BER...BER...BER' are not to my liking.

The music is great. The rock/techno beats that appear every so often really give credit to the atmosphere, giving an attitude like 'lets kill some people'. The first time I heard a loud techno beat I got this attitude, and was brutally destroyed soon after.

IN SHORT: Great music and voice acting. Most of the sound effects work well, but some can grow annoying.

STORY 7/10

The story is probably the biggest letdown in the game. While the entire storyline is fairly basic, it doesn't answer questions that should of been answered. After completing the game, you will not get the ending cutscene that is deserved, instead it is something that will be quick and leave you wanting more. The story is still GOOD, but far from remarkable. The gameplay, sound and graphics all help to cement the story into the game to give your character a purpose.

IN SHORT: Doesn't answer questions it creates, but is still 'pretty good'.

GAMEPLAY 9/10

The gameplay has been crafted brilliantly, giving a real challenge while it still remains fun. You have an overwhelming access to a variety of methods you can use to achieve certain objectives throughout your wacky adventure. The freedom in the game is very well-built, allowing you to explore a lot of fun ideas you might get while playing.

The shootouts in Half-Life 2 are carried out perfectly. Whether you're fighting a simple soldier or a massive laser shooting alien, the fights are extremely fun and very realistic. After fighting off a group of soldiers or defeating a boss, I always felt relieved and was proud of my accomplishment. You have to rely on the environment and objects around you to defeat enemies sometimes, which are able to be used at your expense. Some enemies will keep away from you if you run to designated areas that keep them away, kind of like a scarecrow would keep away birds. Other times you'll have to rely on running inside a cabin or hiding behind a wall for protection as a horde of soldiers are blasting toward you. These moments are very exciting and hold an unexpected realism. My only gripe with the shootouts is that they become repetitive toward the end of the game, but it's nothing worth getting annoyed or mad over.

Among one of the greatest moments in Half-Life 2 is vehicle use. You'll find yourself cruising along water and burning down highways on vehicles designed for such measures. Freedom is abundant during these moments, so they can be enjoyed to your own maximum.

At times the game can be painfully difficult. You might find yourself dying over and over while you try to come up with a plan that will destroy your foes. While the game is not extremely difficult, it's still hard and provides a challenge that beginners won't find too pleasant. Still, there is always an easy mode available for use.

The physics of the game deliver greatly to the gameplay. You have the ability to pick up many objects, shoot them, throw them with a specific gun designed to do so and take them for later use, while the game still obeys the laws of gravity better than any other game I've seen before.

Overall, Half-Life 2 is plentiful when it comes to things to do throughout the game. With an arsenal of weaponry and many different tactics possible, the gameplay makes this my favourite single player first person shooter ever.

IN SHORT: Buy this game.

LASTABILITY/REPLAYABILITY

This depends on whether you will make use of Counter Strike: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch or not. If you do, then replayability will last a very long time, and the fun has only begun after beating Half-Life 2. In this case, replayability would get a 9/10.

As for the game itself, there are many cheats you can use that will allow you to experiment around the game, wherever you feel like in some cases. This will be fun for a while, and you can always play the game through again, but unfortunately there are no unlock-ables waiting for you after completion. Half-Life 2 itself gets a 6/10 replayability.

As for lastability, the single player mode should last from 15-20 hours.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

Buy this game for one of the greatest atmospheres in video gaming. I haven't been so pulled into a game since the two Zelda games on the Nintendo 64. I recommend this to all PC gamers.

SCORE: 9.4/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/05