After blasting my way through a recent disappointing sequel, I decided
to go back and revisit one of the best in the gaming industry. Simply
put Half-Life 2 is one of the best games ever made. More so however it
is a perfect example of a sequel done well and how to play to the
strengths of the PC platform. Even six years after its release it still
stands as one of the most well designed games in the first person
shooter genre and a landmark title showing that innovation can be
achieved without betraying what came before it.
It wasn't that surprising that Half-Life 2 left such an impression when
it was released back in 2004. The original Half-Life released six years
earlier had helped propel the genre forward in its day with its unique
story telling mechanic of never taking control away from the player,
scripted but interactive set pieces, unparalleled detail, smart and
varied enemies, simple yet clever puzzles and constantly changing game
mechanics which never had the player doing the same thing for too long.
Just when you felt like the game was just another Quake-clone of
endlessly shooting aliens it would throw you a curve ball, like having
to navigate an active tram system, or use the environment to sneak past
and kill an almost invincible monster. Two separate hostile factions
would attempt to stop not only you but each other producing some
unforgettable combat scenarios which would later become a staple of the
genre, seen in titles such as Halo and the more recent Crysis.
Half-Life 2 brought all that across with an impeccable level of polish
and new gameplay mechanics which raised the bar once again. Players
resumed the role of Gordon Freeman, probably the most bad-ass scientist
ever to earn his PhD, one who can ridiculously operate and use all
military weapons and vehicles and drop an entire army squad or alien
horde without any combat training what-so-ever. In the first game you
both unleashed and quelled an alien invasion which brought about the
interest of the G-Man, a shadowy, human looking but undoubtedly alien
entity who recruited you for future use. As he so eloquently says to you
at the beginning of Half-Life 2, your time has come again and he
deposits you in a dystopian world in the not too distant future where
earth has been conquered by an alien menace called the Combine and
mankind has been enslaved. Now you must navigate through City 17 and its
surrounding locals, hook up with a small underground resistance and
once again save humanity, always under the watchful eye of your
mysterious benefactor.
Just like the first game Half-Life 2 is an unashamed old-school first
person shooter. Your progression through the eight to ten hour campaign
is completely linear, without any real exploration available. You can
carry an entire platoon's worth of weapons ranging from your trusty
crowbar to pistols, shotguns, machine guns and rocket launchers. You
take damage from enemy attacks which require healing from health kits
frequently scattered about the environment along with ammo and energy
for your special Hazard Suit which acts as your amour and allows you to
sprint short distances. Where this game improves upon its predecessor is
in its sheer quality and polish. You can tell that every single aspect
of the game has been run through rigorous testing and redesign
throughout its six year development cycle to became practically
faultless. Every level is well laid out and full of little details, the
ratio of combat to puzzle solving is spot on, and the pacing is just
right with the game constantly throwing new challenges and obstacles in
your way.
The game's fifteen chapters are broken up into seven or so unique areas,
each with their own gameplay nuances. After a fairly traditional FPS
opening, players will find themselves navigating down canals on a
hovercraft as a helicopter gunship attempts to blow you out of the
water. Next you'll find yourself in a horror themed, zombie infested
town using traps to conserve ammo as you find your way to safety. One
extended section has you driving down a long and winding coastal road
dodging Combine ambushes and traversing a huge railway bridge from
underneath as it shakes around violently. Afterward you'll become pack
leader to a horde of alien Ant Lions which will kill everything in the
path you point them in. Later in the game you'll be fighting from block
to block within City 17 itself with other survivors in a quasi-squad
based unit against towering mechanized horrors called Striders which
periodically blow entire sections of the city into smithereens. The best
thing about all this variety is that it feels smoothly integrated into
the game itself. The controls are always simple and no one element
sticks out like a sore thumb.
Just like its predecessor Half-Life 2 features various enemies all with
their own unique AI patterns which frequently mixes up the gameplay.
Man-Hacks buzz around you trying to cut you into little pieces, Combine
gunships attempt to shoot down your incoming rockets, huge Bull Ant
Lions charge blindly in your direction, while the unique sounds of a
Black Head Crab will have you scanning around the environment in horror
trying in pin point the little bastard before he leaves you utterly
defenseless. Oddly enough the AI for the human enemies, something the
original Half-Life excelled in, isn't as memorable in the sequel. While
far from stupid they don't exhibit the same sense of awareness as their
contemporaries at the time such as in the original Halo. Still they will
flush you out with grenades, take cover and come at you from various
fronts. Coupled with consistently clever level design and the game
provides a welcome challenge which rarely becomes frustrating.
Of course the real star of the show is the new physics system allowing
players to interact with the environment in realistic ways. Every object
has mass which is affected by gravity and resistance. Explosions will
break objects apart and scatter them across the environment. In one
great sequence you can control a giant crane with a magnetic grappling
hook and throw entire cargo containers at enemies. While it wasn't the
first game to introduce physics, it was the first to integrate them so
well into gameplay instead of just being window dressing. Nearly every
puzzle requires the use of physics to solve such as creating a makeshift
bridge or teeter board to reach otherwise unreachable areas. The game
even goes so far as to introduce the Gravity Gun, a weapon solely
designed to attract and repel objects at high velocities. Once obtained
it is possible to play through the entire game using nothing else,
dispatching your enemies with anything you can find, from barrels to
park benches and even saw blades with satisfying results.
All of this wrapped up in stellar presentation. Even six years later the
game's graphics hold up strong. While it doesn't have the extremely
detailed textures and filter effects of modern games, it more than makes
up for it with smooth and clean visuals and high quality animation.
Everything moves as it should and the expressive nature of the NPCs,
along with the memorable dialogue and the best voice acting in the
industry, will have you genuinely caring for the game's characters.
These elements also help overcome the rather vague and deliberate story
telling which refuses to hold the player's hand and fill them in with
unnecessary details. Whilst you are always aware of what needs to be
done, you'll still have to pay close attention to the finer details of
the world and listen closely to characters to figure out the larger
story. My only minor niggle is with Valve's continual choice to leave
Gordon Freeman a voiceless, characterless vessel. This isn't some RPG in
which you inhabit an uniquely designed character. Everyone in the game
refers to you as Gordon Freeman and the box art even shows you what he
looks like. Surely giving him a voice and realistic responses to the
ongoing events wouldn't have broken the game's immersion. Even some of
the other characters jokingly acknowledge this, referring to you as "A
man of few words."
All in all Half-Life 2 is a crowning achievement of game design and
execution. It's not only a fun and innovative game in its own right but a
worthy sequel that doesn't fix what isn't broken, but instead refine
everything and give the player more to do. The only thing left to say is
"Where is the final chapter Valve?"
