Review: Half-Life 2

The original Half-Life is regarded widely as a defining moment in the first person shooter genre. The game's use of story and in-game scripted elements changed the expectations of game players and spawned a bevy of imitators. The sequel, Half-Life 2, has been in the works for almost six years and is one of the most hyped and anticipated games of 2004. It was launched last week after delays, a code theft, and lawsuits frustrated the anxious fans waiting for a chance to play. Post-launch the game has received wide praise and, thanks to the unique distribution and authentication system called Steam, many complaints as well. Read on for my impressions of Valve's Half-Life 2.

• Title: Half-Life 2
• Developer: Valve
• Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
• Reviewer: Zonk
• Score: 9/10

The first component of Half-Life 2 that a player is likely to encounter is the massive hype that has surrounded the game for over a year. Advertising, articles, and player expectations have elevated Valve's second game to a level that ensures a certain level of disappointment. Regardless of the actual merits of the game, there are some players who have been waiting for this game since late last century. The game is not a defining moment in civilization. The lame will not be made whole by playing Half-Life 2.

As we've reporting in the past week, many players have experienced difficulties in getting the game running after installation. The initial load on the Steam servers caused by the large number of people attempting to play the game at once caused massive slowdowns in authentication and file downloads. For the most part these problems seem to primarily be reported by individuals who purchased the game in a retail store in a box. I purchased the game via Steam and downloaded it in the space of about three hours. I have experienced no problems in playing the game.

With all those caveats out of the way, Half-Life 2 is an incredibly impressive experience. In playing the game you step again into the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who originally worked at the Black Mesa facility. The first chapter of the game finds you arriving via train in the dystopian atmosphere of City 17, a ramshackle series of buildings raised from the remains of a now mostly destroyed civilization. A mysterious organization known as the Combine exerts control through police forces and alien troops. Via televised transmissions the citizenry is controlled mentally, spiritually, and even reproductively. From the first moment you enter the game Valve does an excellent job of imposing a sense of despair and barely contained anger rippling within the populace of City 17. What we are not imparted with is a sense of what has happened to Freeman since the events of the previous game. While clues are unearthed during the course of the game as to what has occurred, there are no firm answers to the many questions players are likely to have. With confirmation already in the news that Valve has begun work on Half-Life 3, the impression that you're left with is that this only part of a larger story. The story stands well on its own, but don't expect to come away from the game with all your questions resolved.

The new graphics engine that Valve created for their second game, Source, is an incredible achievement. The level of detail in the game is nothing short of breathtaking. From the reflectivity of water and tile flooring to the incredible facial animations, the game engine places Gordon Freeman directly into the world and makes exploration a joy. One of the best moments of the early game comes in a lobby. You emerge from the depths of the train station and face one last room before the freedom of open air. It is dusty and decrepit, filled with lost souls looking for nourishment rations handed out by inhuman robotic servants. Light pours into the room from windows set high in the external wall, and these amazing shafts of light fill the room. Motes float inside the light beams, lending an almost reverential air to what is essentially a ruin.

The physics of the game are wonderful to behold as well. The tech demo at E3 last year was quite an eye opener, and Valve allows you several opportunities to enjoy the physicality of the Half-Life world. At two points in the game you take control of vehicles. The wildness of the bouncing white knuckle ride you get with the airboat and dune buggy make for memorable gaming moments. The airboat in particular makes for excellent visuals as you speed across the water in a series of canals, ripples and waves speeding away from your craft and beautiful splashes marking where you hit the water after a jump. The gravity gun displayed in the tech demo is indeed as much fun to use as it is to watch. The weapon allows you to snatch objects from distances and launch them as projectiles. While the uses of the gun are usually more practical than some of the opportunities shown in the tech demo (the number of saw blades lying around in Ravenholme is kind of disturbing), there are a number of creative opportunities scattered periodically throughout the game. Beyond the vehicles and the gravity gun, there are constant reminders of the physics underpinning the game, as enemies push objects aside rushing at you and heavy objects swing like deadly pendulums through obstacles and crush opponents.

Once you step outside the door of the train station, your moments to stop and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings are few and far between. Almost immediately you as Gordon are connected up with the Underground Railroad, populated with peoples not willing to submit peacefully to the Combine. You reconnect with old friends from the previous game and after an experiment accident, you find yourself on the run from Combine forces. The instant the crowbar returns to your hands is truly a sweet moment. From there you move through the urban landscape of City 17, hop an airboat to duke it out with Combine troops in flooded waterways, and explore the Lovecraftian ruins of a small town inhabited by alien hunters and a mad priest. The game keeps you engaged with a constantly changing backdrop of locations and a series of pretty memorable characters. I was particularly impressed by the voice actors, all of whom do an excellent job of getting across what their characters are about. Each of the non-player characters has a nice moment to talk to you and make an impression. Dr. Vance's daughter Alyx is actually the one who introduces you to the gravity gun, and the quirky time spent with her may be the funniest, best written part of the game.

The visuals in the game are astounding, but the auditory experience is fairly impressive as well. The musical moments in the game are few and far between, and are used to accentuate tense or impressive moments. The music tends towards electronic stings and they raise your heart rate by a good deal when they're used. The sound effects range from pretty standard clinks and clunks to the viscerally gripping howls of stalking predators. The atmosphere in the town of Ravenholme, where the predators live, is phenomenally creepy all around, and is conjured by the pervasive sound environment. The weapon sound effects are all very competently executed, with the satisfying blast of the revolver being a personal favorite.

Overall, the game is an incredible accomplishment. Valve has done an excellent job living up to the expectations their first title has prompted in the gaming community. The lack of closure in the game's story is the only real flaw in the plot, which otherwise provides excellent motivation to keep moving and find out what will happen next. Gameplay elements stay true to the previous game, providing action and some simple puzzle solving moments. The visuals and physics of the Source engine make for a beautiful and interactive world to move through. The deep audio environment keeps the player rooted in the moment, while the excellent voice acting makes the non-player characters come to life. The collaboration of individuals who created Half-Life 2 has proven again why video games are a unique art form. I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys first person shooters, horror and suspense, or engaging storylines.

Comments

To recreate the feel of an FPS:

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Start by putting on blinders. Peripheral vision does not exist.

2. Learn to walk, jog, and run in a perfectly fluid fashion. Never skid or stumble. Your locomotion should should approximate driving a boat on calm waters more than anything else. This balance is impeccable, regardless of nearby explosions, physical blows or bodily condition.

3. Climb, vault, and crawl at designated points only.

4. Assume all physical hazards have the impact of nerf bats to at most a strong punch. Revel in the fact that you can absorb blow after blow with only slight visual distortion when the immediate hit is made. (counterstrike players ignore this rule)

5. Most important: Strap your right hand to the trigger of a large gun. This shall be your primary interaction with everything. Never allow it to leave your field of vision unless swapped with another weapon. .... so am I the only one that thinks the FPS genre feels like so much new paint? Now that I've become a recent console convert, I must say that third person, paradoxically enough, feels more immersive.

horribly written review

[pgilman]

look. i'm not trying to troll, here; honestly, i'm not, but this "review" is absolutely wretched. the misuse of "quid pro quo" was only the tip of the iceberg; the entire thing is filled with misused language and poor structure and development. it reads like an essay by a 7th grader who thinks he can fool the teacher into giving him good marks by using "big words."

why doesn't slashdot follow the journalistic practices of proofreading and editing? seriously, i'd really like to know. what excuse is there for the horribly low standard of writing here?

go ahead, slashbot mods; slam me for daring to criticize, but i'd really love to know the answer to this. on the off chance that anybody in authority actually reads this and cares, *yes*, i *do* volunteer to do it for you. give me a job; i'll clean up the language for you and turn it into a source of pride instead of the embarrassing laughingstock that it is now. but even if not me, please, i'm begging you, get *someone* to do it!

- disgusted with the proliferation of illiteracy

Zonk on writing

[u-238]

Glaring errors

As we've reporting in the past week


Clichés

white knuckle ride

The musical moments in the game are few and far between

the beauty of your surroundings are few and far between

level of detail in the game is nothing short of breathtaking

the quirky time spent with her


With all these shortcomings, he still manages to bumble through each paragraph painstakingly, sentence by sentence, without any flow or transition between them, as though he were a 6th grader writing a book report the night before it's due after having watched the movie adaptation. Stick to posting user-written submissions from now on.

Re:I want to, but should I?

[CountBrass]

I don't believe either of your statements about Jesus in your sig is true. I'm not a believer but I don't think you could call him either a liberal (he was pretty conservative when it came to religion: kicking the money changers out of the temple) nor conservative for the same reason, let's face it a conservative would have simply given them tax breaks to help their business.