Half-Life

"Your hands will "Decay " from playing this game for " Half " of your " Life ! ""

First, I just got my PLaystation 2 and I needed a good FPS to start my PS2 game collection. I've seen this game on PC at game stores so I said to myself, this game looks tight. Then one day I saw this game at Gamestop for $29.99. Oh, I just had to pick it up , and I was amazed:

Graphics 8 The graphics are not Final Fantasy X or, Gran Turismo 3 but they get the job done. But come on, it's PS2, the graphics are going to be good.

Sound 10 The sound is perfect. There is not too much music but the sound effects are superb. Especially when you kill a monster and their agaonizing screams fill the air. The voices aren't like my last FPS shooter I played ( DC, Soldier of Fortune ). The gun shots are very good too.

Fear Factor 10 I wasn't expecting this for this game at all. I was expecting to go kill everything thats not human, but this game is the exact opposite. Since there is not much music, you can monsters moving around in the next room. Also, this one part made me turn off my PS2 because a monster jumped through a door scaring the ''you know what out of me '' and I was home by myself. I don't know how I'm going to handle Silent Hill 2.

Controls ???? Don't take my word. Well, I'm being weened from the Dreamcast controls ( R.I.P). The controls took me a long time to get used to, but after a long time, I finally got them down.

Story 8 There aren't too many good stories for FPS's but this story is particularly interesting. I really didn't follow the story too much but my friends thought it was interesting.

Buy or Rent ??? I say buy. Only if you have family or friend who is your age and likes playing video games because there is also a 2 player cooperative mode. Thats also very fun.

Overall 9 Half Life may not have the do - whatever - you - feel - like - doing like Grand Theft Auto 3 or the long game play like State of Emergency and finally, the action packed Max Payne. Honestly, Half Life is more of a strategy if you asked me. In most other FPS's, health and ammo is plentiful but not in this game. In this game, you have to conserve ammo and play very carefully trying not to cause any trouble that you can easily avoid. I say buy, $29.99 is not much to dish compared to $57.99 Rockstar games. by the way, have tubes connected to your arm that supplies food and water because you won't leave your seat for a long time. Thats why it s called Half Life. Finally, press pause, move your hands a little so you don't lose the feelings in your hands!!!!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/02, Updated 04/01/02