Half-Life 2

"The Zenith of all First Person Shooters"

Over the years, this gamer has played through countless shooters, from the popular Doom series to the obscure PO'd. They have brought me much joy and fun as well as anger and frustration. I'd heard from many sources that Half-Life 2 was quite the enjoyable game, far surpassing its predeccessor. I'd like to talk to those sources if I could and tell them how much of an understatement they made. Half-Life 2 is my favorite First-Person Shooter, hands down, no doubt about it. So much to tell...

GUNS AND AMMO
The very first thing to mention is always the most prominent, and in this case, Half-Life 2 delivers. Valve realized the most important aspect in a shooter- guns. They carefully crafted each one to be satisfying and easy to use. I've seen plenty of games that have hastily thrown in a shotgun or assault rifle that's either inaccurate or too weak or too strong and it ruins the entire experience *leers at Red Faction 2*. In comes the perfection of Half-Life 2 to prove that a little effort pays off.

The first weapon you get is the crowbar, just like in Half Life. And as before, it's powerful and easy to use. The handgun is what handguns should be. It can fire quickly, it makes a nice "pop"-ing sound, carries lots of ammo, and does the right amount of damage. Making the first gun in the game useful and fun has an importance that most developers seem to miss... Beyond that, the shotgun is fantastic- capable of single- and twin barrel firing. The grenades are pretty decent, but nothing spectacular. I could go on and ruin all the surprises the weapons have to offer, but I wouldn't rob that from anyone, much less you hopeful, faceless readers.

I will, however, mention the Gravity Gun. If you've heard anyone talking about Half Life 2, then you've probably heard of the Gravity Gun. About a quarter way through the game, you obtain a useful and unique weapon. With it, you can utilize the Havoc physics this game employs to the max. You may remember Havoc physics from games such as Psi-Ops and The Punisher. With a tap of the Alt. Fire, you can command small- to medium-sized objects across a room to your Gravity Gun. There may be a box of ammo across an uncrossable pit. Pull out your Gravity Gun and make it come to you. It always reminds me of Telekinesis, which is cool. The primary fire shoots a burst of energy to move things out of your way in a dramatic and forceful way. The gun has unlimited ammo and countless uses. Be creative and you can use anything as a shield or build ladders or bridges. Oh, and I won't even tell you the surprise in store at the end. I'm glad it wasn't ruined for me and I won't ruin it for you, but it's fantastic!

THE OBJECTIVE
I absolutely love the premise of this game. You start off in a train (just like in Half Life...). The strange-spoken man in the suit from the first game is talking to you to give you a vague and cryptic introduction. Then you're on your own. You walk around this city, full of people you can interact with if you want to and lots of things you can see. It looks like Earth, but there are soldiers everywhere, strange floating cameras taking pictures of you, and a general sense of dystopia. The sense of realism is uncanny; you really feel as if you're in a totalitarian society full of oppression and control. You're never told exactly what has happened to the world or how you fit in with anything going on, and that's what's so great about the story! It's intentionally vague so as to allow you to figure things out on your own. It's entirely optional if you're not up for that. The first time through, I didn't really care so much of what was going on- I just enjoyed the action. Going through again, I made my own assessment of the story and what I think it means. It's not so much complicated as it is vague; a perfect combination to make the perfect story line. Your character, Gordon Freeman, doesn't speak, either. Doesn't even grunt. He's a total mute, which adds to the experience. Other characters will refer to you as Dr. Freeman, but you still feel like it's you in that HEV suit. Truly, there's no other experience like it.

The characters are as well-done as the rest of the game. Good voice acting, with the same voices from Half Life playing the doctor and the guard. I especially enjoyed the voice of the dictator person, Dr. Breen. It's just what you'd expect out of a real person. I like how the characters can make facial expressions. Valve somehow captured the slightest eye movements to express feelings such as shyness, awe, and surprise; all done fluidly and perfectly.

GAMEPLAY
As if my ode to the weapons weren't enough, the gameplay is outstanding. The controls are fined-tuned and tested to perfection. The guns have the right amount of accuracy and err. There's also a sprint function, which is now a must in FPS's. I love how you can pick up objects, as well. Seemlessly, with a tap of a button, you can pick up objects that a normal person could carry and do what you want with them, whether it be move them or even stack them. One of the many little touches that make this game great. Weapon selection has been nearly perfected here. Valve opted to have the Arsenal way of shooters, in which your character can carry a ridiculous amount of weapons and ammo, seemlessly and unobtrusively. I actually prefer this over the Realistic way used in games such as Halo and Killzone. To select a weapon, you only need to hit the directional button no more than three times. I won't describe the entirety of it, but I am impressed at the ease and speed in which this was done. After all, you'l be changing weapons a lot since they're so fun to use.

To keep the game from getting stale, there are segments that define each part of the game. In one, you'll be piloting a airboat across radioactive aqueducts in a sort of race for survival against a number of enemies. All quite thrilling. In the next, you may be all alone in a horror-setting. Your ammo is running short and the only thing to keep you alive is your wits and your Gravity Gun, used in tandem to make for some exciting results. I won't spoil the rest, but these segments are just long enough to enjoy, but not too long as to get bored with them.

The enemies are decent, but not exceptional. Valve chose not to concentrate on A.I. and instead made the rest of the game fantastic. I agree with their decision. Many of your foes will chase you around a corner only to be blown away by you with your shotgun. It's not the worst A.I. I've seen, as they'll throw grenades, hide behind things, and sometimes even shoot explosive barrels. Despite the lack of intelligence, they're all fun to shoot. After all, isn't that what you play these games for? I know I like to just pick it up and mow down enemies with my unstoppable self, not peek around corners and engage in long, enduring battles with single enemies. So it's appropriate for the type of game it is.

DIFFICULTY AND LENGTH
This game is not a great challenge to overcome. It is accessible to the average gamer, but fun for seasoned as well as novices as well. With the great arsenal of weapons and the lack of A.I., most of the game won't present too much of a challenge. Not to say that it's easy by any means. Playing through on my third time, I still died on occasion and had many close calls as well. The thing is, the game seems to adjust to your skill. If you're running low on health or ammo, the ammo boxes littered throughout will yield that which you need or enemies will drop accordingly. Also, you can save anywhere, which always makes things a little easier. Plus, there are checkpoints so that you don't have to. My greatest complaint with Red Faction was that you had to take an agonizing 30+ seconds to stop the gameplay and save your game or else you could end up dying and having to repeat a long stretch of game due to the lack of checkpoints. Half-Life 2 earns my respect in that. And, of course, the wonderful "Restart last segment" option. On that note, I must commend someone, whether it be Microsoft or Valve or both, for the subtle, automatic saves it does. At the beginning of every segment, the game makes a save, to the hard drive I think, so that if your power goes out (as mine tends to do), you don't have to start way back from your last save. This came in handy more than once and I can rest assured that I'm taken care of.

As for the length- the first play-through, it took me nearly 13 hours to complete. Yeah, that long. The second time, I was able to trim it down to about 8 1/2 hours. Whatever your skill level, this game is long! There isn't much, if any, replay value, as it's all the same every time through, but the game is fun enough to want you to play again. At the end, I wanted to keep shooting stuff, even though I'd been doing it for 8 hours!

IS IT PERFECT?
I've mentioned a couple of faults- the lack of A.I., the replay value, but is there anything else to complain about? Yes, there is, and it sucks. The doorways I must mention. Somehow, Valve messed up with the doorways. When you walk through a doorway, you'll often find yourself stuck or caught. I'm not sure how to classify this complaint but it certainly is apparent. I'll be running from an enemy (for cover, not because I'm a wuss..) through a doorway and what happens? I slowly slide through, my back getting hammered by gunfire. This by no means ruins the game and is only really an actual problem a handful of times throughout, but it is prevalent in the game. Another similar problem goes with crawling. It seems like crawling takes considerable effort for Gordon in a similar way to the doorway grab. I guess it's all the weapons he has hanging off of him- I'd probably have considerable bulk too, if I was carrying all that he did.

WHAT AN ENDING
In Half Life, the ending was pretty decent. Bizarre and open-ended, I'd say. Half-Life 2 continues in this fashion. Of course I won't ruin it, but it's very original, however short. The last boss presents a good challenge, as well. The lead-into the ending is really the best part of the end of the game. The story wraps itself up-ish, and much happens to finalize the game. I loved it! To all the shooters out there- It's going to be hard to top this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/17/08

Game Release: Half-Life 2 (US, 11/15/05)