Wonderful improvements and clean visuals let Half-Life 2 stand as one of the greatest FPS' of all time.
Ever since 1998 the gaming industry has never been the same, so many
influental and revolutionary games were released in that year,
Half-Life being one of the most impressive. With Half-Life First-Person
Shooters became more respected and viewed as more than just a run and
gun frenzy. Half-Life was not only challenging but it also required you
to think about your actions before you made them, to an extent, thanks
to the vastly improved AI that the game boasted. Not since the first
Doom had a FPS been showered with the kind of attention that Half-Life
was recieving. Upon the next millenium another Half-Life was only four
years away, to fans anticipation.
Half-Life 2 was released near the end of 2004 to a firestorm of
attention and praise, unlike its predecessor HL2 would deliver more
than what its players sought in the end. Half-Life 2 begins with the
mysterious blue-suited GMan from the original telling you what is going
on. After GMan's little speach you, Gordan Freeman, will be en-route to
City 17, on a train (didn't leave the train from your last expedition
Gordon?) City 17 is a slum and the Earth is under control by the aliens
you thought you had destroyed. Upon exiting the train you will realize
that, yes the control scheme is the same as any other PC game,
thankfully, but now there is something different with how the game
plays. Realistic physics and gravity are present in every aspect of
this game from the get-go. After you exit the train you will notice an
array of boxes and objects near your, walking up to a object with
wheels will cause it to move interacting with every object around it
making it, making each of those other objects move accordingly to how
they are supposed to. Realistic physics for boxes, paint cans and
luggage carts doesn't seem like a real step forward in the beginning of
the game. The physics won't be taking a real leap forward until later
in the game. Familiarizing yourself with the surrounding physics will
be fun for a few minutes but once you are done messing around getting
serious about the game will lure you in deeper, progressing through the
train station through City 17 interacting with fellow comrades and
seeing first hand what is going on you will realize what has been going
on in the world. Cruelty and poverty envelope everything around you.
With the cruelty going on there is no doubt that the human race is
upset, of course there is a resistance movement going on, that is why
you are here. As you leave the train station and make your way through
the cities obstacles you will discover you are not wanted, beginning on
a run for your life, which is more like you figuring out how to move
around certain obstacles, because there is no training in Half-Life 2.
Even though there is no training mission in Half-Life 2 there is no
need for one, its a sequal, anyone playing the game should have already
played and beaten Half-Life before stepping up to Half-Life 2. Needless
to say if you ARE a veteran of Half-Life noticing the visuals that
Half-Life 2 is delivering is most likely astounding you, even to this
day the graphics hold up very well. Getting the most out of this game
will require a mighty system to get the true potential of this game.
Seeing as the recommended requirements will chug the game along at a
snails pace with lack-luster graphical features, although the game will
flow nicely in a few areas at recommended specs it won't astonish.
While astonishing people with graphics is a strong point the smaller
details are what will captivate the truly dedicated gamer, with the
water interacting with the physics engine and the lighting effects
interacting with every movement you make it really takes a good eye to
notice what kind of improvements have really been made to the visuals.
Visually speaking as well as with interactions with the physics and you
there are going to be interesting moments in which this game will leave
you experimenting with just what the Source engine is really capable
of, the buggy or the watercraft don't take the engine to its true
potential. As soon as you enter Ravenholm with the gravity gun you will
know what the engine is truly made for.
Although this game is really influental and revolutionary visually and
life-life with its physics the game does have small short-comings that
any average gamer or any low-budget gamer will have to deal with. First
being the amount of money it will cost to achieve maximum specs with
your computer for this game, as satisfying as it may be. Secondly the
loading times, even with 512MB of Ram the loading can take a while,
making 1GB of Ram recommended for the large areas this game takes you
through.
With the areas you travel through it would only be fitting to back the
atmosphere with nice music and sound-effects. Kelly Baily has created a
masterwork of music for Half-Life 2, like on Half-Life the soundtrack
accompanies the locations and the story-line as it progresses, having
both climactic, hectic, and reassuring pieces of classical and
industrial/techno music. Improved upon from the original.
Half-Life 2 takes its place in the FPS hall of fame in my opinion,
sealing itself as one of the greatest of all time, as well as one of
the greatest PC games of all time, not giving this game a chance would
be disgraceful towards yourself and your PC, download the demo if you
have second thoughts.
