Half-Life 2

"You're Not Fully Free Until You're Freeman Free"

Introduction

Until Bioshock came along, Half-Life 2 has been the top game featuring dystopian societies and incredible weapons. Ok so maybe Half-Life 2 is still better than Bioshock for a couple of reasons, but at the time I played Half-Life 2 it was the only dystopian society "fight the system" game that completely knocks your socks off. What is it about Half-Life 2 that makes it such an incredible game? Is it the concept of fighting an evil alien race that has turned our dear sweet planet Earth into a dystopian society run by some unforeseen force that we cannot fully understand? Is it the characters you meet? Perhaps it may be the fact that this game features everything you could ever want in a single player experience and of course my love for this game lies mostly in the Gravity Gun.

Story

I'm not one to fully dive into what the story is about other than what the game presents you with as you play the game. So my brief and highly inaccurate description of the story goes like this: You are Gordon Freeman, the ultimate four-eyed gun wielding freedom fighter who is going to lead all humans against the dystopian society set up by the alien race that has invaded and turned ordinary life into a peeping Tom's best dream. Alien spy cameras are everywhere along with these black armored clad troops that look humanoid enough and as you go along you will meet an uncanny scientist and some more friends to create a very strong resistance and help the developers create a bunch of episode games to further pinch your penny...er I mean further expand your Half-Life enjoyment. But all sequels aside, Half-Life 2 contains everything you ever wanted to have in a dystopian experience and then some although I felt the ending made no sense whatsoever and felt kind of cheated by that.

Game Play

The great thing about fighting in a resistance is that it opens your mind and makes you see things more clearly. That empty can of soda laying on the floor...that could be used as a weapon. That cardboard box that was discarded in a corner...there is no coincidence that it was placed there-that too could be used as a weapon. Anything in this game can be used as a weapon including the enemies themselves! Well let's not get ahead of ourselves. I really don't want to spoil the fun of the Gravity Gun for you if you have not played this game yet. Anyway, the beginning of this game is probably the first time I have really been impressed with an opening to a dramatic and fateful scene. There will be plenty more for the Xbox 360 games, but Half-Life 2 still takes the cake for the beginning levels to this game. For me I was ready to start the resistance and kept throwing things at the alien humanoids and hoping they wouldn't see me do it. Of course they have eyes in the back of their head so you will immediately be given the "beat down" about this society you are in. The controls are very easy, but a little awkward for vehicle driving and the weapons are phenomenal as well as your enemies. You won't just encounter humanoid aliens, although they are the bulk of the bad guys that you will fight, but just think War of the Worlds when you go to play this game. The missions/levels are very expansive and you do a lot of distance traveling throughout the game. You get to do a lot of exploring and some areas call for you to do a little platform jumping, but mostly you will be a one man fighting machine throughout this game. I was greatly impressed by all of the aspects of the game play from character interaction with your allies, to the weapons, to the level-there is just way too much to praise about.

Graphics/Sound

The graphics are very impressive. With the expansive levels you get a lot of "Easter Egg" moments as well as distance visuals that reveal plenty of scenery as well as detail to items you pick up right on down to facial features of the remaining humans still alive. The mood of this game is really creepy and isolated and there is plenty to watch out for. The music to the game is not all that memorable, but the dialogue certainly is with this game having no cut scenes and all of the dialogue is featured in-game as your allies talk to you in person or through headset communication. You will also run into a lot of other situations where people are talking as well as listen in on the Combine troops. Killing a Combine trooper has a weird effect like a microphone falling. It is pretty cool.

Replay Value

Half-Life 2 is most definitely a great game to go back and replay. If only I had bought it and not borrowed it from a friend...anyway Half-Life 2 is a very lengthy game that will take you a few days to get through and while other versions of this game feature a multiplayer, unfortunately Half-Life 2 for the Xbox is only the single player campaign. It could have easily featured a multiplayer and better yet an online multiplayer, but this is basically a single player exclusive game. The missions are very fun to play over thanks to some very creative weapons featured in this game. Fans of this game know exactly what I am talking about.

Final Recommendation 9/10

For such a highly rated game you may be surprised that I would suggest you not buy the Xbox version of Half-Life 2. Thankfully, you have a lot more options with acquiring Half-Life 2 and experiencing a more extended game either on the Orange Box, or getting the game for PC. Half-Life 2 is a great game with a very original story that somehow manages to never have Gordon actually say anything despite all of the interactions you have in the game. But a man for no words backs everything up with what he does and what he does is make Half-Life 2 one heck of a single player first person shooter.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/18/08

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