Half-Life 2 for PC

Kamiyu006 · #1 10-16-2005, 03:54 PM

Highly anticipated does not come close to describing this game before it was released. The sequel to 1998�s award winning Half-Life, the aptly named Half-Life 2 hits the gaming scene with so much hype behind it, that even my 5 year old brother knew about it. But does it live up to it?

Story
Poor Gordon Freeman is truly a victim of a raw deal. In the first game this guy lands a job at a high profile research facility and what happens? An experiment goes awry and he is forced to become a overnight commando. And this was first day on the job� Half-Life 2 starts with our favorite man of mystery, the G-Man, telling us �his time has come�. You start your adventure on a train heading towards City 17. From the outset you can tell some indeterminable amount of years has passed. Earth is now under the control of a hostile alien race called the combine, who came through the portals the scientists were fiddling with in the first game. Early on you run into some familiar faces that are now part of the resistance present in this time. Your journey will take you from the alleys of City 17 to the headquarters of your human oppressors. A thrill ride from start to finish.

Gameplay
If you played the first part you have an idea what to expect. Gordon traverses the game in his HEV (AKA Hazard suit). This provides him with armor, enhanced physical functions, and a helpful computer that tells you when you�ve sustained injury (yes�I�m serious). As for the enemies, there are some returns from the original (headcrabs, zombies), and new ones thanks to our friends, the Combine (20 foot tall walking tank anyone?).
There aren�t as many weapons as before, but what is there is pretty good, especially the gravity gun. Using the engines ability to handle physics calculations, the gravity gun makes the surrounding environment a dangerous weapon. You can hurtle cars, explosive barrels, saw blades, and even the kitchen sink at your enemy. I can�t begin to tell you how fun it is to watch someone get smacked with a hunk of porcelain. The span of its use doesn�t end there either. The Gravity gun can be used to setup defensive barriers and solve some of the games puzzles (which aren�t too difficult).

The AI is there, but not as good as the AI found in the original. The Combine use flank and grenade tactics but not as good as the military did in the first game. Further in the game you will have the opportunity to use some basic team tactics. Your squad AI is good, but it would have been nice to have a regroup function.

Graphics and sound
Having been in development for quite sometime, Half-Life 2 boasts some of the most impressive game design out there. The powerful source engine brings everything to life especially the characters faces. Valve has taken the art of facial animation to the next level with this one. Characters show fear, disgust, worry and humor to a very believable extent. Havoc physics make sure your foes collapse and fall realistically (and often very in very funny ways).One strike against the graphics is that unless you have top of the line hardware, you�ll have to sit through some pretty long load times, which can break up the action at times. On the sound end of the game, things are on point. Voice acting is excellent (some big names in there), and guns, explosions and other various mayhem is loud and jarring as it should be. The music, is mostly incidental, and really doesn�t help the game in any way

Conclusion
While it�s pretty much a given that any fan of the FPS genre owns this game, I must highly recommend it to any videogame fan. Its balance of action and story is great, and while it benefits from a powerful rig, it doesn�t need one to run smoothly. And in my eyes, it is one of the few titles that did justice to the hype it generated. 10/10.