Since i’m not very inspired to do some proper writing, and considering there’s hardly anything that haven’t been said already about HL2, this review will be mostly a list of random incoherent thoughts
- Half-life 2 is even more linear than HL1. HL1 was more puzzle oriented, therefore involving lots of backtracking.
- All in all HL1 was a more cerebral game, while HL2 is a lot more focused on action, even with the incorporation of the new physics
- HL2 has almost no flaws
- HL2 shows how to properly design levels around a gimmick: Whether it’s based on a vehicle, a particular weapon, or a special use of NPCs, HL2 proves that there is nothing wrong in gimmicks as a design choice (Take that you Barrel O’Fun haters), specially when they add more variety to the gameplay. In a very reductionist way, you could even describe HL2 as a succesion of gimmicks.
- Gameplay in HL2 is absolutely perfect
- Despite sharing a common story, showing similar design and aesthetical choices, HL1 and HL2 seems to me like completely different beasts. It would be like comparing Doom to CoD: MW2, which would be a pretty silly thing to do. I do have to recognize that i had more fun playing HL2, even if, up until this day, HL1 was one of my all time favourite games ever. I feel like i could replay HL2 next week already, while replaying HL1, instead, feels like a harder thing to do.
- One point where i think HL1 does slightly better is in it’s storytelling. While both stick to this idea of leaving many things unexplained and relying on the environment (which i really enjoy, it’s basically deviating from the Netflix norm of explaining everything way too much), i think they somehow handled things differently. In HL1, things unfold at a very slow pace, there aren’t many characters, and all in all little really happened, like the whole narrative was a lot more minimalistic. HL2 instead introduces many characters, the whole Combine vs Rebels conflict, and actually there’s tones of action going on all the time. HL1 felt like Ridley Scott’s first Alien movie, while HL2 is more like a Michael Bay movie. And don’t get me wrong, HL2 is great at doing that. But probably, if i ever had to write a script for a videogame, i would probably do something more in the vein of HL1 than HL2.
- A little nitpicK: The latter NPC’s. Alyx, Barney, Dog, the Priest, and specially the Antlions (they fucking rock), every NPC here is just fantastic. But the Citizens in the latter levels were just too clumsy, at times they felt more like an obstacle and even kinda ruined those episodes for me, specially in the tighter areas. Of course, those episodes were a lot better in the wide open areas, specially those were you were fighting gunships and sentries.
In conclusion, this is simply one of the games of all time. I think the only questionable thing about HL2 is it’s influence on the FPS genre, which is, of course, not really HL2’s fault, but mostly a problem of how the industry misinterpreted it. Thank god for the boomer shooter revival.
- Half-life 2 is even more linear than HL1. HL1 was more puzzle oriented, therefore involving lots of backtracking.
- All in all HL1 was a more cerebral game, while HL2 is a lot more focused on action, even with the incorporation of the new physics
- HL2 has almost no flaws
- HL2 shows how to properly design levels around a gimmick: Whether it’s based on a vehicle, a particular weapon, or a special use of NPCs, HL2 proves that there is nothing wrong in gimmicks as a design choice (Take that you Barrel O’Fun haters), specially when they add more variety to the gameplay. In a very reductionist way, you could even describe HL2 as a succesion of gimmicks.
- Gameplay in HL2 is absolutely perfect
- Despite sharing a common story, showing similar design and aesthetical choices, HL1 and HL2 seems to me like completely different beasts. It would be like comparing Doom to CoD: MW2, which would be a pretty silly thing to do. I do have to recognize that i had more fun playing HL2, even if, up until this day, HL1 was one of my all time favourite games ever. I feel like i could replay HL2 next week already, while replaying HL1, instead, feels like a harder thing to do.
- One point where i think HL1 does slightly better is in it’s storytelling. While both stick to this idea of leaving many things unexplained and relying on the environment (which i really enjoy, it’s basically deviating from the Netflix norm of explaining everything way too much), i think they somehow handled things differently. In HL1, things unfold at a very slow pace, there aren’t many characters, and all in all little really happened, like the whole narrative was a lot more minimalistic. HL2 instead introduces many characters, the whole Combine vs Rebels conflict, and actually there’s tones of action going on all the time. HL1 felt like Ridley Scott’s first Alien movie, while HL2 is more like a Michael Bay movie. And don’t get me wrong, HL2 is great at doing that. But probably, if i ever had to write a script for a videogame, i would probably do something more in the vein of HL1 than HL2.
- A little nitpicK: The latter NPC’s. Alyx, Barney, Dog, the Priest, and specially the Antlions (they fucking rock), every NPC here is just fantastic. But the Citizens in the latter levels were just too clumsy, at times they felt more like an obstacle and even kinda ruined those episodes for me, specially in the tighter areas. Of course, those episodes were a lot better in the wide open areas, specially those were you were fighting gunships and sentries.
In conclusion, this is simply one of the games of all time. I think the only questionable thing about HL2 is it’s influence on the FPS genre, which is, of course, not really HL2’s fault, but mostly a problem of how the industry misinterpreted it. Thank god for the boomer shooter revival.