"A smart, inventive FPS"

Half-Life 2 is a great game that is ultimately marred by it's transition from the PC to the (now) technically inferior Xbox. However, if you can look past the hardware issues, and delve into the gameplay, you will surely be pleased. The focus of this game is on the singleplayer experience, which deftly combines action, invention, sci-fi blather, and great level design, and then sets in on a platform that is not quite equipped to handle it.

Framerate

Let's be honest, the fact that Valve was able to port this game (well, the singleplayer experience, anyway) onto an Xbox, is incredible. My hat is off to them for pulling off quite a stunt. When you see some of the vast environments, and action going on, you can practically hear your Xbox groaning.

And, boy, does the framerate suffer because of this.

Now, let me preface this by saying that there are MANY people who are swearing that this game has NO framerate issues. They are saying that the game runs fine on their Xbox (oddly enough, most of these people say they have the old, much-maligned Thompson drives, which plays the game perfectly....) So, we have three camps of gamers who say that the game runs fine, the game is almost unplayable, and then the game is somewhere in between.

I am in the last group. This game LAGS. It lagged the first few seconds I started to play, and it lagged, off and on, until the end. Not constantly, and much of the time it wasn't bad at all, but it was noticeable. And, in some places, so bad it cost me lives. Some people have even been complaining of feeling ill because of this (motion-sickness) and all I can say is if you are a technical "freak" that demands a rock-solid framerate, with no drops, then either skip this game, or wait to play it on the Xbox 360 where (hopefully) the issue will be resolved. For everyone else, I say rent it first.

Graphics

Nice graphics. I wouldn't rate them higher than Doom 3, but they are slightly better than Halo 2. Some of the textures I have never seen on an Xbox game before, and I have to wonder if the developers could have upped the framerate instead of having shiny floors. But, whatever....

The AI people who I interacted with in the game were nicely modeled, and there are pleasant graphical surprises that await the first time player.

Controls

My main issue is with Gordon freeman and doorways. The two don't seem to mix. I was constantly getting hung up in doorways. I would have to back up, or strafe until I found the "magic zone" where the game would allow me to pass. It may seem a petty gripe, but after you get shot down by enemy troops because you were unable to get through a doorway, it starts to get pretty irritating.

Anyway, standard Halo controls are in place, and completely customizable.

AI

Dumb as rocks. Annoying. Complete imbeciles. Yes, the AI has the distinction of being incredibly bad. Enemy troops seem to have but two tactics when it comes to fighting.

1. Rush headlong towards you with guns ablazing, and then stop directly in front of you as to allow you to shoot them more easily

2. If unable to rush at you, run to the left, stop, shoot, run to the right, stop, shoot, repeat...

To be honest, the game is too linear to allow anything but simply offering up a few enemies at a time in easily handeled chunks. And, many of these enemies have scripted deaths (i.e. enemy troops standing next to explosive barrels, where they can be easily exploded and tossed into the air) that are meant more to show off the physics engine, than anything else.

You won't find the enemy AI much of a challenge in this game, although you will find the teammate AI much more devious, in their aim to get you killed. Your "teammates" (or "leeches" as I call them) want to be three inches in front of you, and behind you at all times. You must endure these things for the last 1/4 of the game, and it's just a shame you can't shoot them and put them out of their misery. They will block your path forward constantly. They will set off booby traps at the least inopportune moments, they will block your path if you need to retreat. They are just plain silly-stupid. Luckily, they are just as dumb when enemies are around, and die easily enough. Good riddance.

Audio

Fantastic audio in this game, couldn't ask for much better. The guns sound cool, the creepy sounds work, and everything fits like I hoped it would. A+ on this, good job. I liked the music, it was ominous in the right spots, and fit well (unlike the cheesy, 80's, Hair-Metal riffs from Halo 1+2.)

Storyline

There was a story? I missed most of it. I still have no idea what was happening half the time. What year was it? Hell, what PLANET was it? Did the developers intentionally leave us guessing, to create an aura of mystery? It sure worked. The original Half-Life seemed to be set on present day Earth, and Half-Life 2 supposedly picks up where the original left off, but we never get answers to alot of questions. I kept waiting for someone to give me the run-down on what was going on, but it never came.

Which is too bad, because the setting was incredible. The atmosphere of the game was immersive and believable. The game progressed in a way that had me actually wondering what kind of creative things were going to happen next. Despite the lack of information, things occurred and impacted my experience like very few other games have (including most RPGs). It seems that Valve decided to let the game tell the story, and if you felt lost, or didn't know what was going on, then you'd just have to deal with it. There's no narrative of any kind, which somehow makes this game feel more real. It's hard to explain, but Valve did a better job of NOT telling a story, than most games do by telling one.

Gameplay

There's one thing in this game that makes it different than any other game I've played. The physics in the game. You are going to have to use the games "laws of gravity, friction and buoyancy" to make it anywhere, and it's simply the most realistic effort I've ever seen in that direction. Ragdoll physics? Psshhh, that's SO two years ago. Now EVERYTHING has physics, and you'll have to use it. Alot.

Needless to say, it's simply amazing at times. You'd be surprised at how much time you can waste by playing with the gravity gun and assorted trash.

HL2 falls short (no pun intended) when it tries to make some attempts at platform levels. Jumping from beam to beam, or onto rocks never quite feels natural, and it always feels just a little too "tweaked". This is a problem with many first person shooters when they try to incorporate precise jumps into a game where you can't see your feet, tho. it doesn't ruin the game by any stretch, but games like "Metroid Prime" seem to have nailed it by now, so let's get with the program, guys...

Some of the best level design in FPS in recent years on this game. Anyone who has played the "Ravenholm" level knows what I mean. The people at Bungie need to play this game, and see what clever level design can do for a game.

Because some of the levels are so big, they all have loading times throughout the game ala "Morrowind" style, where the game will pause and load new data. Thankfully, the loading times are brief, and don't seem to happen nearly enough as Morrowind does (although, this game is much more linear in fashion.)

Multiplayer

There is none. But, let's be honest, I couldn't imagine playing this game online with lag on top of the oft struggling framerate. And, why add multiplayer when they can sell Counterstrike Source by itself? This is a singleplayer experience only, for better or for worse.

Review

A good game, with great ideas, that has problems with the execution. The technical issues are minor to some, major to others. Some aspects of the gameplay (sub-par AI, collision detection, some levels run too long, for a singleplayer game only it's pretty short) left me feeling cheated when compared to other parts of the game. But, overall, it is definitely a one of a kind experience on the Xbox. I recommend you get it, but because of the problems it has, I also recommend you wait until the price drops.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/05