"It may be a port, but Dr. Freeman is still as powerful as ever."

10 years after the incident at Black Mesa research facility Gordon Freeman finds himself in a whole new world,or so it seems. An alien race called the Combine has taken over the earth and as Mr. Freeman it's your job to take it back!

Playability: Half Life has always been a game that you could count on for responsive controls and great replay value. Half Life 2 follows in it's little brother's footsteps in these aspects. Half Life 2 doesn't have to be an hour long game session in your living room every time you play it. Thanks to the ability to reload a chapter or save at any point in the game, picking this game up for a quick play is quite easy. Being that this is such a large game, the load screens can be quite tedious while in the middle of a firefight, they are only a minor problem I have with this game and they don't occur too often so it's like a said, just a small gripe. Aiming is made quite easy with a reticule that is stationary to the middle of your screen, and switching weapons is made easy for when you're in the middle of a firefight. The physics engine in Half Life 2 (courtesy of Havok) adds a touch of realism to your firefights and puzzles.There truly is no better feeling than picking up a saw blade with your gravity gun and cutting a zombie in half. Enemy A.I. is great in this game, you really get the sense that your enemies want you dead, and they want it to stay that way. If you hide behind a wall from someone or something, you better be all reloaded and ready to kill them, because rest assured in the time it takes you to reload that magnum, that Combine soldier is going to be in your face trying to take you down. The squad based combat later in the game is alright. Telling your rebels where to shoot and hide is a good way to keep your enemies off of you, but in a heated firefight, I wouldn't trust them more than a shark,and I mean that in terms of defense. In heated firefights, they're pretty much just human shields, but that's cool, as long as you don't die they did their job.

Graphics: For an Xbox game the graphics are pretty impressive. The real time shadows are done well and the lighting effects from a fire to a ceiling light are yet again, quite impressive. Although graphics aren't the reason you'll be buying this game.

Sound: Everything from Combine radio chatter to the screams of a blood-thirsty howler zombie really satisfies your ears.Reloading and firing of your weapons is almost realistic in HL2,from the sound of fire crackling to the sound of an enemy screaming in pain will keep you feeling like you're really living in the game the whole story through.The sound effects in this game are so amazingly well done that playing any other game after this is almost like a sin for your ear drums.

Overall: If you like first person shooters with great replay value,tough A.I.,great sound and visuals and not to mention a physics engine then you should go pick this game up now. At the time of this review, the game is only twenty dollars. I highly recommend this game to anyone who fits the description above.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/07