Half Life 2

[xfighter1138]

The following words that I will say about this game is a review and more of my opinion on it. This will be longass, so prepare to read. I think that will be catchprase on this forum.
Moving on, Half Life 2, is touted as one of the best games of all time. Like Halo 2 and Resident Evil 4, there is serious hype and fan following to be found. I suggest you shelve those ideals, and the idiots who rave this is the best game ever. It's not. Yes, I will explain why, but first, let me cover some other ground.

For one thing, Half Life 2 is visually, stunning. More so, that beyond the pretty outter shell, there is alot to be found here. To start, objects in the world often react to your presence. Boxes break, bridges creak, bottles crack, and all of it, can be manipulated by you. This is the most talked about point of Half Life 2, the Havok physics engine, and it does not disappoint. Firefights that could have been boring, are enhanced by the physics, where barrels won't just sit there are they are barraged with a hailstorm of bullets, they will react. This is one of those things where, you have to experience it, to understand what I'm talking about.

Though Half Life 2 delivers in other areas as well. The Dystopian European cityscape, and it's dilapidated structures look great. Even on low settings, this game will impress you. Everything is modeled great, though despite the awe inspiring view...as you get closer...

...you will see pretty grainy textures at times. Bear in mind, I wasn't playing this on max settings, so it might have just been me, but I noticed things like this on halfway to max settings. I also noticed odd things like, how my gun would reflect just fine in light, but in the dark, it had some kind of texture issue, and it looked strange. Still nothing all that serious here.

Sound is another area that cover the atmosphere, and it works well here. You will feel tense while playing, because the setting, and the slight music cues that play, add to the suspense and feel of the game. About 20 minutes into the game, you'll hear the "Half Life 2 theme" play, as you take out a few soldiers, and it's a real rush. You get to manipulate exploding barrels, dodge gunfire, and emerge either alive, or dead, and that song, really fits. Not to mention, it's cued with the entire scene, the farther you get, the louder it gets, and then, as quickly as it came, it goes, fading out as you hit the next "checkpoint"...and "checkpoints" are a serious gripe of mine.

The "checkpoints" are points on a map, where the game will load a new area, and they are somtimes a bit annoying. For one, they have bad placement. When you finally get to the vehicles, you will run into about 5 instances each, where once you hit a tunnel, the game will load the next area. This completely takes away from the rush you get racing around, and dulls the sense of excitement, as you stare at the words "load". More annoying yet is that, the game seems to have a brief moment of gameplay stutter as you enter a new area, so after the load, you need to let the game sit for a moment, or else you'll be playing a at a very choppy framerate.

Another issue I had with the game, is the somtimes uncertain path to follow. Often times I could figure it out, but somtimes, I wished the game would point me in the right direction if I was straying too far from it. Admitedly, these wrong ways were mostly my fault, but for a first time through, your bound to get lost once or twice.

The final annoyance, was with a stange problem that would pop up occasionally, and belive me, it made it's presence known. For whatever reason, the game would seem to be running choppy, meanwhile, the framerate said it was moving at 40-80 fps. Now, I've seen 20 and below FPS, and this was not the case. This was the game not playing nice with my PC. Again, this may have just been me, but annoying enough to make note of here.

Gameplay wise, I have little to complain about. This is an action packed ride, that keeps a good pace, but somtimes, will diverge from it, for a puzzle or moment to rest your trigger finger. The characters who populate the world, are in fact, some of the most realistic and loveable bunch of characters in a game...shame they aren't seen much during the game.

Thats the main problem with Half Life 2 in fact. It has a great opening, and lots of dialoge, and then you spend the next 3-6 hours wandering around killing stuff, not talking to anyone really, and then all of sudden, your thrown more storyline, and it's back to wandering. I felt the story fell flat at times due to this...but still, it's a great experience with these characters, in particular Father Greogry, the seemingly insane preacher in "Ravenhome". He will stick with you long after you escape from that place, because of how Valve ended his character involvment in the game. A serious "chill down the spine" moment. Also to be said...the ending kinda hurts. Not exactly the typical "to be continued", but I feel Valve should have done a better ending. Still, it fits with the original Half Life's ending, in the sense that, you know so little, and soon it will be told.

Last gripe, I promise. The damned buggy car you get, is about as responsive as a tank with a boat propeller. I understand Valve wanted to grab the "Hollywood" feel with all the bumps and jumps, but trying to stear with the keyboard, and aim a gun with the mouse, will cause you to fly all over the place. Perfect example of this to be found on Highway 17, when you get to the part with the "Magnet". You will be stuck for a bit trying to figure it out, and the fact that it's not clear what to do, conpounded by the fact that driving isn't easy...yeah, you'll curse a bit.

I feel the reason so many are raving about Half Life 2, is not because the game is good, but rather, it comes with Counter Strike, which is the MOST OVERRATED online multiplayer game to date. Half Life 2's deathmatch is so much more fun and rewarding. Let me ask you, have you ever killed anyone with a toliet? If you play Half Life 2 deathmatch, you will...and there is nothing like it.

So in the end, I really enjoyed Half Life 2, but because of all the hype and people around me claiming it was the "Next coming of Jesus as a computer game" I was put off when I actually played it from start to finish, and noticed it wasn't the flawless package so many claimed, and still claim it is. You'll also notice that people who rave about these games, haven't played, or know the better stuff, that seems to get burried under the hype and buildup.

Half Life 2 is like Doom 3 and Far Cry. Overhyped to no end, but still a very good game. Just don't go expecting to see the "Godsend" of PC games when you play this. Set your expectations a bit lower, and you'll have a great time, no doubt about it.

Oh yeah, I have nothing bad to say about Steam, because it took no more then 10 minutes for Steam to run, and allow me to play the game. Steam is only a pain in the ass, if you bought this game through it. Then, you need to wait for the ENTIRE game to download. I know because thats how my friend bought it, and I remember him waiting two days just to play the game. Also, 56k is dead people...get broadband, or get out. You can not play this game online, or download the game, with 56k...and right on the box, it mentions "broadband internet recommended" so you can say you weren't warned.

Also, Steam doesn't charge your card for updating or downloading the game, unless you just bought it that same day. Normal CD/DVD users won't even need to put in a credit/debit card number, so to a certain reviewer, your claim on that, is complete and utter bullcrap.
Hope you like this text review, cause more reviews are coming on the way.