Half-Life as a franchise is cool as fuck. I can't think of any other company other than Valve that's able to put as much thought and detail into it's world to this extent. The level designs blow my frickin mind at how they balance such an immersive and natural-feeling atmosphere with epic set-pieces and a raw sense of genuine exploration. The original Half-Life's best understated feature is how it makes you feel like a hero. It's not the feeling of your typical schlocky action hero played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson; Half-Life makes you feel in your soul that despite your limitations, and the daunting task you're faced with, the adventure you're on is the most important thing in the world, and there's absolutely no way you're gonna back down. Inconsequential freedoms the game allows the player to do sells this feeling even more, such as the ability to lead and rescue civilians caught in the mess. There is absolutely no consequences for rescuing people OR becoming a serial killer and mowing them down for fun, and it's that level of immersive freedom that really makes Half-Life special. For me, the original Half-Life stands to be a technical feat in pairing a high-quality story with a carefully perfected location to harbor the action.
Half-Life 2 brings you right back to that. There's no question to be had at this point that you, Gordon 'mother-fuckin' Freeman, are a hero and inspiration to the not-so-free world. What Half-Life 2 does is the admirable way to go about making a sequel. Whereas Half-Life confines you to march through the endless halls, tunnels, deserts, and sewers of Black Mesa, Half-Life 2 opens the lid on the world and gives you a car with a gun strapped to it for safe travels. You explore a richly defined world with new characters that fight by your side, new enemies that terrorize you in unique ways, and new weaponry that defines the game as a whole. The Gravity Gun is such a batshit crazy thing to put into a game like this, but it's not only the best weapon in the game - it's the single funniest tool in a video game since... well if it came before everything else, I guess I can't say "since", but... oh you know what I mean, I don't need to make a comparison, it's more or less the funniest tool in any video game.
While the less-confined world negates the feeling of heroism in some ways, the large interconnected world featured in Half-Life 2 is on the exact same level of quality as it's predecessor. Every location and set-piece you come across weaves into the story and gameplay beautifully, mastering what makes a game like this fun and exciting. The only thing I can begin to dislike about this game, is it's final chapter. It's very good, with exciting story twists and a fun gauntlet to get to the end, but the ultimate climatic final showdown was unimpressive. I'm sure that Half-Life 2: Episode 1 & 2 will satisfyingly continue where this game left off (Hell, maybe I'm being a bitch for not playing the following episodes before reviewing Half-Life 2), but from where I stand, the "final boss" wasn't a strong end to to this game, and I was really hoping for a lot more considering how highly I think of the game as a whole. I liked the whole ending, but it just felt a bit lacking. G-Man's cool though, I love that scrinkly little guy.
I appreciate the FUCK out of this game/franchise, and it blows my mind to think about every innovation it brought to gaming as a whole. Anyways, I'll shut up now and go play Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and 2. To give it a score for you score lovers, I'd generalize it at an 8/10, but if you zoom in closely, it's like an 89/100. Actually, I'll round it to a 9/10! If you ask me to pick which Half-Life game is better I will explode because they are both equally great.
Half-Life 2 brings you right back to that. There's no question to be had at this point that you, Gordon 'mother-fuckin' Freeman, are a hero and inspiration to the not-so-free world. What Half-Life 2 does is the admirable way to go about making a sequel. Whereas Half-Life confines you to march through the endless halls, tunnels, deserts, and sewers of Black Mesa, Half-Life 2 opens the lid on the world and gives you a car with a gun strapped to it for safe travels. You explore a richly defined world with new characters that fight by your side, new enemies that terrorize you in unique ways, and new weaponry that defines the game as a whole. The Gravity Gun is such a batshit crazy thing to put into a game like this, but it's not only the best weapon in the game - it's the single funniest tool in a video game since... well if it came before everything else, I guess I can't say "since", but... oh you know what I mean, I don't need to make a comparison, it's more or less the funniest tool in any video game.
While the less-confined world negates the feeling of heroism in some ways, the large interconnected world featured in Half-Life 2 is on the exact same level of quality as it's predecessor. Every location and set-piece you come across weaves into the story and gameplay beautifully, mastering what makes a game like this fun and exciting. The only thing I can begin to dislike about this game, is it's final chapter. It's very good, with exciting story twists and a fun gauntlet to get to the end, but the ultimate climatic final showdown was unimpressive. I'm sure that Half-Life 2: Episode 1 & 2 will satisfyingly continue where this game left off (Hell, maybe I'm being a bitch for not playing the following episodes before reviewing Half-Life 2), but from where I stand, the "final boss" wasn't a strong end to to this game, and I was really hoping for a lot more considering how highly I think of the game as a whole. I liked the whole ending, but it just felt a bit lacking. G-Man's cool though, I love that scrinkly little guy.
I appreciate the FUCK out of this game/franchise, and it blows my mind to think about every innovation it brought to gaming as a whole. Anyways, I'll shut up now and go play Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and 2. To give it a score for you score lovers, I'd generalize it at an 8/10, but if you zoom in closely, it's like an 89/100. Actually, I'll round it to a 9/10! If you ask me to pick which Half-Life game is better I will explode because they are both equally great.