Half-life 2 is one of the most well made games I've ever played. It took me a little over 8 hours to beat but it was some of the most fun and enjoyable 8 hours I've ever had while playing a game. Almost every single level in the game adds a new gimmick or weapon and asks the player to go ham with experimentation. It's world is incredible and expanded on the present but lacking story of the first game, as that game mainly focused on the atmosphere and apocalyptic consequences of the black mesa experiment. This game however expands further on the results this experiment caused on the world, as you play as Gordan Freeman and slowly lead a resistance against the mysterious and powerful combine. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give to this game however is the incredible physics engine that make this game up there with some of the greatest of all time. Physics in games has always been a feature I love messing around with, and something that really makes or breaks a sandbox experience to me. While HL1 by no means had a bad physics engine, and was actually quite competent at the time playing that game in the modern era really makes it show it's age. Contrastingly, I never not once in my playthrough of HL2 believed for a micro instant "this game came out in 2004 and it really shows". Whilst playing this game, I firmly believe one of valve's greatest goals with Half Life 2, other than making an incredible game, was to really show off their fancy new source engine, and in that aspect, they fucking knocked it out of the park. Half Life 2, whilst being one of the earliest entries of games made in the source engine, still is one of the best games that utilizes it to it's fullest potential. The movement in this game feels absolutely incredible, doing parkour feels so natural aided by the layouts and level designs complimenting this aspect greatly, especially compared to the first entry. Smashing windows takes off individual chunks that depend on what part you hit off, making me incredibly immersed in this world. The iconic gravity gun is one of my favorite weapons ever added in a video game, and breaking boxes and throwing exploding barrels is still incredibly satisfying.

Half Life 2 in conclusion is by far one of the best games I have ever played, and I can definitely see this game as one that I go back to countless times to experience it's incredible plot and gameplay over and over again.