Half-Life

"Will the sequel be called Full-Life?"

I had already played this game to death on the PC when it came out. I couldn't help it, I just thought it was so cool. When Red Faction came out, I bought that and enjoyed the hell out of that as well (except for the fact that it got insanely difficult near the end). But when Half-Life was released for the PS2, I was excited. Not because I had never played it, but I was glad to have it on a console that I know and love very well. The Decay game sounded pretty cool, too.

GAMEPLAY - 10/10

Identical to its PC counterpart, and also very similar to Red Faction, if anyone even cares. This is the best First-Person Shooter I have ever played (Max Payne was also great, but the third person perspective disqualifies it from the FPS category). The game is very simple, with the player controlling Gordon Freeman, a lowly scientist who must escape from the humongous underground laboratory where he works after a failed experiment causes evil aliens to start teleporting in and wreaking havoc. Gordon starts equipped with simple weapons, such as a crowbar and pistol, but it's okay since the enemies start out simple and do a great job of easing you into the gameplay. You get brawnier weapons a little later, like machine guns and laser tripbombs to compensate for later levels with tougher enemies, specifically the military grunts who are sent in to make sure that all persons involved with the incident are eliminated (that includes you!).
The game starts out simple, becomes a bit more challenging, takes a break near the middle with some calming jump puzzles and train-track confusion, and then resumes with the all-out shoot-a-thons with the aliens and marines. The game is quite lengthy but never gets boring, and stays entertaining all the way up to the incredibly surreal last levels.

GRAPHICS/SOUND - 8/10

Surprisingly, the graphics in this game actually aren't that impressive. I suppose that is easy to understand, seeing as how this is a port of a PC game that was released back in 1998. Even though many models and backgrounds have been upgraded a bit from the PC version, the overall look of the game is very simple. Most of the environments (with the exception of the end levels) look very similar. They aren't very colorful, either. Red Faction had better graphics than this, I think. There are also scientists and security guards all over the place, but there are only about three character models, so everyone ends up looking exactly like everyone else, which can look pretty retarded. While the characters and backgrounds aren't revolutionary, they don't really take away from the game, and they are PRETTY good, they're just not great. One thing that I loved were the updated weapon models. They look incredibly realistic and have awesome reload animations. Another cool thing is, if you wait stationary with a weapon for a few seconds, Gordon will usually do some funny things with his weapon, like start to examine it or stretch his fingers. It's really cool.
Most of the game is played in silence, which adds to the realism, but music will kick in at key moments, and its usually awesome when it does. Sound effects are fair, but the voice acting is a bit questionable. It's not that it's bad, it's just that (once again) all the scientists have the exact same voices as everyone else, and that is just so dumb! I hate it! One cool voice you'll hear are the marines talking to each other in low, spooky radio tones. When you hear them talking but can't see them, that will freak you out. The enviro-suit that Gordon wears for protection will also talk from time to time in a soothing woman's voice, which is neat. If you get shot, it will sometimes say stuff like: ''Blood loss detected, administering morphine.'' How cool is that!?
Another thing: what's with Gordon being a mute? He doesn't utter a single sound the entire game. You'd think getting shot in the balls would make someone at least go ''Oof!'' or something, but not Gordon. I think part of his science attire must include duct tape over his mouth.

CONTROL - 8/10

Identical to Red Faction, once again if anyone even cares. Controlling Gordon is done with the two analog sticks. The left one moves him forward and sideways, while the right one makes him turn left and right and look up and down. A bit tough to get used to, but easy once you spend some time with it. Auto-aiming is done with the circle button, which will automatically make you aim at the nearest threat. Again, a bit tricky, but time heals all wounds, and by the end of the game you probably won't even be thinking about what you're doing. There is also a hazard course (training mode) that players can go through to hone their skills. I recommend doing this. It helps a lot and is pretty fun.

DECAY - 6/10

Well, it looks like I got rammed when it came to the so-called ''extra game''. Decay was nowhere near as fun as I hoped it would be. I would have much rather gotten Blue Shift or something to that nature, but instead I got stuck with this crappy co-op nonsense.
The story in Decay is actually not too bad. You control either the female trainer of the hazard course or her friend as you attempt to work together and escape the facility at the same time as Gordon Freeman. Too bad the game is so messed up most people won't finish it to see what happens.
First of all, don't even try to play this game by yourself. It's nearly impossible, since you have to switch back and forth between characters and whoever you aren't controlling is practically useless. Even with two people, you can hardly call this game fun. The split screen makes it hard to see where the heck you are. The guns don't even show up onscreen because there isn't enough room for them. Decay is broken down into a number of missions, but you can't save wherever you want like you can in the main game. You have to beat an entire mission before you can save, and some are damn hard. Doing pain in the ass missions over and over again because one of your characters dies is not my idea of a good time. If you're looking for entertaining co-op along the lines of Halo for XBox, look elsewhere, believe me.

OVERALL - 9/10

While Decay is a piece of crap, the main game is so much fun you won't even care. I highly recommend buying this game if you love FPS's or have never played it. If you liked Red Faction, you should certainly like this. In fact, the difficulty in this game isn't quite as steep as Red Faction's so you may find it even more enjoyable, like I did. The graphics may not be anything special, but graphics don't make a game great. And seeing as how this is an awesome game, that saying definitely rings true here.

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