Half-Life

"My review doesn't do this game justice"

Intro
Winner of over 50 ''Game of the Year'' awards (source: www.half-life.com), Half-Life for the PC was long heralded as one of the best games ever made. And upon going through the PlayStation 2 version I can't say that I disagree with that. For those that don't know exactly what Half-Life the game is, I'll explain as best I can.

Half-Life is a first-person shooter (FPS) originally released in 1998 for the PC. As stated before, it won over 50 GotY awards from many respected gaming publications and magazines. GearBox later ported this game over to the PS2 a few years later.

In the game you play as Gordon Freeman, designated lab rat at the Black Mesa facility. It's your first day on the job and already things get weird. The beginning of the game pops off when during an experiment in which you are in the center of goes horribly wrong. But you can sort of guess something is going to happen the way the experiment is built up story-wise. Creatures overtake the facility and you have to get out of it, all the while investigating what in the world is going on.

Gameplay
Half-Life is a FPS like no other before it. For one thing, it's not a level-based game. This means that you run through the game in one seamless stream (with loading and chapter names in between). Accompanied with in-game events such as walls exploding and scientists talking to you makes for an immersive game to behold.

At the beginning you are outfitted with a bio-suit that protects you from the environments. This suit even allows for recharging at stations for health and suit armor. I love the idea behind this because it makes the game seem less fake and it makes managing health and armor much easier than other games. You eventually get a crowbar and then some real weapons such as a pistol and shotgun. In simpler terms, the guns you get later in the game are quite impressive and must be seen to believed.

While I'm not sure of all of their names, the enemies range from creepy to downright frightening. You'll encounter these little things that look like Thanksgiving turkey jumping at your face. A crowbar works miracles on these little fellows. Then you have your tougher enemies like special forces that carry machine guns with the intent to kill. These guys are just plain bad ass. You can hear them talking to each other at times, planning how they're going to attack you. This has to be the first game I've seen where such a thing happens. It gave me goose bumps the first time I encountered these guys.

Navigating the corridors of The Black Mesa facility is easy enough. The controls are fluid, actions are easy, and everything is in proportion for you to explore. You can adjust the control systems to what suits you best so there's no complaint control-wise. Besides, I find that the default setup is great the way it is.

Multiplayer includes your standard deathmatch and an expansion that's exclusive to the PS2 called ''Decay''. The deathmatch isn't that great and is merely there to wet your appetite for some fraggin' fun with your buddy (it's only two players), but co-op is were the multiplayer fun is to be had. In Decay you and your partner control two women who also work at the Black Mesa facility. The goal in Decay is to work together to solve the puzzles and defeat enemies like you would in singleplayer with Gordon. But the main difference is that these are completely new missions that show you some of what went on behind the scenes. Think of Decay as a whole new game because it really is. You two have to work together or you cannot progress in many of the areas without doing so. Decay is an awesome addition, period.

Uplink is an *real* add-on pack that many might not be aware of. It is totally new singleplayer missions for you to play after you've beaten the game. However, they can only be played if you have the Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM) demo disc from issue 57. I won't say too much about it because I'd be risking ruining the story. Just get the disc after you've completed the game, that's all.

Graphics
For its time -- when HL was originally launched for the PC -- it was a pretty impressive looking game. What was great about it (and still is) is that you didn't have to have a great processor to run the game. Hell, you didn't even need a graphic card to run it. That's something unheard of this day and age even for simplistic games that don't rely on 3D environments much. Fear not though, the graphical quality carried over to the PlayStation 2. While the graphics certainly don't look the greatest texture-wise, the environment are very detailed and so is everything else. The guns all have their own distinct look and so do the enemies.

I've been told that the game uses a modified Quake II engine. Now I'm not sure if this is true or not but your hand and weapon models look much like the renders in QII. But that's about the extent of it since everything else looks totally different from QII.

When it comes down to it, you probably won't be impressed by the graphics too much. Some later parts look good, though. Gamers nowadays are used to higher resolution textures, life-like shaders, and texture mapping out the yin yang. You can't see that here, but the graphics do their job.

Audio
Audio for the most part is tops. Music only plays in a few periods in the game (particularly when you're coming upon an important fight), so it's hard to say what's there. From what I heard it sounded good and gets you prepared for inevitable death!

The guns sound great and the environments like enemies and footsteps are crisp. A sweet little touch that just made the game more immersive is how you can overhear the special forces talk to each other. Speaking of which, you can even here your enemies exclaim things like ''die!'' or even make noises as they flee.

Lastability
Half-Life is one straight, lengthy experience. There's no levels so you don't realize how much you're progressing. And with the Decay co-op missions the replay goes through the roof. For those who aren't that great at first-person shooters, the lock-on feature should prove helpful for you. Finally, if you have a taste for more blood after going through singleplayer and co-op, give the deathmatch a try.

Conclusion
Everyone has their favorite games. Some have a clearly defined list of their favorites of all-time. While my list isn't that clear, I would probably say that this is one of my top five favorite games of all time. The singleplayer mode is just so captivating that I really didn't want the game to end, and not many games make me feel that way. The story, seen as stupid by those who weren't paying attention, is perfectly laid out as you go; and I love it. Everything about Half-Life is just so unique and oozing with quality. Half-Life is not only a game, it is an immersive experience.

Graphics: 7/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Audio: 9/10
Lastability: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/08/04