Product Description
Half-Life 2 delivers a new level of realistic action and excitement. Players return to the world of Gordon Freeman, as he returns to the Black Mesa research facility. The aliens are pouring into our world, and Freeman becomes part of a resistance group to stop them. New weapons, new enemies and new characters are waiting -- along with major enhancements in animation, artificial intelligence and graphics.
Amazon.com Review
In many ways, creating a sequel to Half-Life is an unenviable task. After all, the goal is to craft not just any ordinary game, but an improvement to a title that is widely considered to be the high water mark for first person shooters. Fortunately, Valve does not disappoint on their sophomore effort. Half-Life 2 picks up exactly where its predecessor leaves off, with gamers stepping once more into Gordon Freeman's HVAC suit as he awakes at some indeterminate time in the future, now apparently in the employ of the mysterious G-Man. Humanity has been sold out to alien forces, and your job is to escape their thrall and lead the resistance to victory.
HL2's key successes are in a few critical areas, the first of which is the new physics & graphics engine, called Source. People and objects fall, fly, tip over, float, and break in an extraordinarily realistic fashion, and in-game puzzles often require you to use simple applications of physics to progress. Second, an elaborate facial structure system coupled with excellent voice acting make for some of the most believably human NPCs in gaming history. This is no small thing; you will find yourself actually caring about the characters who surround you, even those that are normally regarded as cannon fodder. Third, the level design exhibits a subtle brilliance, which frequently fools you into feeling like you're making your way through an organic environment and not a forced linear path. These elements combine to form one of the most truly immersive experiences ever captured on a PC.
This gaming bliss comes at a cost, however. If your computer isn't running the latest and greatest hardware, you may find yourself turning down a lot of the slick graphics to keep the machine from choking. Also, at the time of this writing the only two bundled multiplayer games are a barely updated version of Counter-Strike and HL2 DeathMatch. Counter-Strike: Source is every bit as fun as the original, but the DeathMatch is lackluster and contains only a handful of uninspired maps.
Overall, Half-Life 2 is a smashing success, every bit worthy of the prestige and respect that the franchise has been awarded. This is absolutely a game that every computer gaming enthusiast is going to want to have in their collection. -- Jon "Safety Monkey" Grover
Pros:
- Advanced graphics and physics system provide highly immersive experience
- Believable, expressive non-player characters
- Fun, realistic level design
Cons: - Requires a very fast computer to play with all bells & whistles on
- DeathMatch mode has few maps and is not terribly entertaining
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Review
Great gameplay, featuring the first usage of the revolutionary gravity gun. A great universe and backstory, Half-life 2 is as fun as it was genre-defining. The coding has been the base of hundreds of mods, and its just plain great. Go on, buy it. You will not regret it.
Rating : 10/10
Classic
The very first level I think added so much atmosphere to the game for me, hearing the various cycled speeches while being filtered through a train station into City 17 by Combine soldiers was just a really fun experience.
The physics added to the HL2 Source engine I believe were ground breaking for their time, and continue to get heavy use in any Modification built on this game.
9/10
Rating : 9/10
Review
I had hours upon hours of fun with this game. I was engrossed in what was happening around me but more impressed with how I could manipulate the physics of my surroundings. The original half life game raised the bar to a new level, and its sequel has done the same, putting other FPS games such as Doom 3 (which was released around the same time) to shame.
Rating : 10/10