Half-Life 2

First of all, to mcottier, bbspot.com is a satirical website so yeah, sorry--no groundbreaking physics here.

what you do have however is one of the most amazing games ever. period. it's remarkable. I had never heard of halflife my freshman yeah in college.

someone bought it for me. all of a sudden, in a haze of FPS, Counterstrike and TFC it was the end of sophomore year and time to pick a major ;p ;p

now i'm a first year med-student and hl2 has come out...and all i have to say is don't get sick in my hospital! b\c this game is going to destroy my future--but it's so worth it! 10/10

First off, let me clear up a few things. Ignore "A poor game and STEAM is crapware." That person clearly doesn't know what they're talking about. Yes, your forced to install STEAM. But the program is on the CD/DVD (depending how you got it). Second, the graphical problems they're having are a problem with THEIR compputer. Either Matrix29 has a poor video card or outdated drivers. I have a poor FX5200, and I've had no graphical problems. It runs great. Of course, I have it on low settings, but still it runs great. Finally, STEAM (From Valve, not Sierra) is a good program.

Anyway... I'll just talk about my experiences, not anything about the story. Half-Life 2 runs great on lower end systems. I'm getting at least 25 - 30 fps(frames per second). This shows how Valve wanted great graphics and technology while having a large amount of gamers being allowed to play. And the water...well, it's the best looking water EVER. Good A.I. Take note that on easier settings, the A.I. wont be as good. The story is great. It really doesn't require you to have played the original Half-Life to understand the story.

So, in closing, this is a must own for any PC gamer. Just for the fun physics, or tossing stuff and getting your a** beat by metro cops in the train station.

"Half-Life 2" really elevates videogames to a new art form. For someone such as myself, who had taken a long hiatus from gaming, this was a refreshing revolution of the medium. There will always be the classic arcade games and the great Mario games for NES - but "Half-Life 2" takes gaming into a new dimension. This is the game that will blow away those of us who always thought games were simplistic. Its plot is better than 90% of action films today and it seamlessly blends realism with science-fiction.

Curiously enough "Doom 3" received more attention for blending cinema with gaming but I think "Half-Life 2" did so much better - there aren't cheesy cut-away scenes such as there are in "Doom 3" (which was still a fine game) and you actually feel like you ARE in an alternate reality. Valve - as they first did with the original "Half-Life" - provides similar scenes of plotting and character dialogue, but you never leave the POV of Dr. Gordon Freeman. And with the advancements in technology since the first game, "Half-Life 2" takes advantage of this to its fullest.

When I first got the game I couldn't play it. I was on a 2001 PC with outdated specs and had dial-up - Steam (which is a major pain and the only downside to this game) takes forever to download mandatory updates and "decryption" files in an effort to cut back on Internet piracy. The irony is that the game has made its way online anyway while people such as myself who purchased it often experience troubles with Steam because if you forget your password, or someone else uses it before you, you have to buy another copy of the game and they won't just replace the password itself.

Apart from Steam (the worst idea ever conceived by any gaming company) "HL2" delivers non-stop. I was surprised how the game combines so many different styles - first you start out in a bleak future-world reminiscent of "1984" and you join the resistance to fight the fascist ruling. The first few levels are eerie and brilliant; what's really scary is that they seem so realistic and not-so-far-away from where we are now.

Then it becomes a sci-fi game with zombie creatures and similar monsters. Then one level evokes atmospheric tension by placing you underground (think "Doom" minus the chainsaw) and then the game ends with a stunning apocalyptic-style war which also blends sci-fi and action together - yet all the while I felt like I could be playing a WWII battle game; the genre-bending is superb.

The storyline is solid and the game's engine is remarkable. The expansive surroundings and beautiful rendering is breathtaking at times. And the physics are the most realistic I've ever seen in any game, ever. It blows everything else out of the water.

The gravity gun at the end of the game is almost too good to be true - I've never seen anything like it in a game before.

At first I wasn't too sure about "Half-Life 2" because it has a fairly slow beginning; but by the end I couldn't stop playing. I re-played most of the game again and the second time around I really enjoyed the opening; it builds up a lot of tension and develops the storyline.

Overall this exceeds in the same areas that many games fail - it effortlessly combines every gamer's fantasy with mixed genres, great action, realistic settings and stunning graphics. I don't think any other game I've ever played has left such an impact on me. This is definitely one of the best games ever and possibly the best of its genre.

Pros:

• Great story & characters
• Great fast-paced gameplay
• Amazing AI
• Great physics mechanics
• Great graphics (for 2004)
• Intricate level design
• Good variety of weapons
• Good variety of enemy types

Cons:

• None

Verdict: A game that is way ahead of it time; in its gameplay, graphics, story, AI, and physics. It is a must play for all gamers.

10/10.

PC Game: Half-Life 2.

Genre: Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter.

Developer: Valve Software.

Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games.

Release Date: 16.11.04.

Engine: Source.

Protagonist: Dr. Gordon Freeman.

Settings: City 17 and its outskirts, somewhere in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Romania or Ukraine).

Start of Half-Life is, PC Gamer certified, the brightest gaming moment ever. Start of Half-Life 2, the sequel to Half-Life, and the whole feeling till the end are the most positively shocking moments in MY history. Graphics, sound, music, the whole world around you – KO, brilliant. Still, 3 years after HL2’s release, there is no large commercial game that perfect. At the start of the game, the G-Man speaks to Gordon Freeman as part of a hallucination-like vision as he is pulled out of stasis. The world has been overtaken by an extradimensional military force known as the Combine. Gordon meets up with Barney Calhoun and sets out for Isaac Kleiner's lab while being chased by Combine Civil Protection.

Taking place in and around the fictional City 17, Half-Life 2 follows the scientist Gordon Freeman. Freeman is thrust into a dystopian environment in which the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident has come to bear fully upon human society. Freeman is forced to fight against increasingly unfavorable odds in order to survive. In his struggle, he is joined by various allies, including former Black Mesa colleagues, oppressed citizens of City 17, and the Vortigaunts.

Throughout the entire game, Freeman never speaks, the action is viewed through his eyes only (i.e., there are no cut scenes) and there are no discontinuities or jumps in time (from his point of view).

There has been some criticism of these narrative holdovers from Half-Life, since they effectively limit how much of the backstory is explained. Due to the lack of cut scenes, the player never directly sees what has happened in Gordon's absence. Ultimately, it is not clear to what extent Gordon exists as a separate character outside of the player's influence. Since the start of Half-Life, Valve has made sure that the player's and Gordon's experience are one and the same. An example of Valve's player strategy is shown during the scene in Eli's lab. Investigation of certain props (most notably the newspaper board) triggers Eli to give some explanation to their meaning and history, thus indicating that Gordon presents emotions that the non-player characters can detect.

Half-Life 2's gameplay is broadly similar to that of the original. Players make their way through a linear series of levels, encountering both human troops and hostile alien creatures. As in Half-Life, the gameplay is broken up with a series of puzzles; however, Half-Life 2 includes physics-based puzzles. For example, one puzzle requires the player to either turn a seesaw-like lever into a ramp by placing cinder blocks at one end, or to stack the cinder blocks into a crude stairway.

The use of physics extends into combat with the gravity gun. This unique weapon plays a crucial function throughout the game, granting the player an unprecedented amount of creativity in its use, such as picking up and throwing objects at enemies, holding objects indefinitely for use as makeshift cover, grabbing healthkits and ammunition from out-of-reach places, returning enemies' grenades, building makeshift bridges, flipping over an overturned buggy, or manipulating objects through Combine forcefields.

Vehicles are another major gameplay addition. Although Gordon battles through much of Half-Life 2 alone, he is at times assisted by friendly allies. For the most part these are human members of the resistance, but Gordon is also helped by Vortigaunts and later Antlions.

Many familiar enemies from Half-Life return in this game, such as headcrabs, barnacles, and headcrab zombies. However, the majority of the game is spent fighting the Combine, who wield large military forces against Gordon and the people of City 17. Combine forces are varied and consist of modified humans, biomechanical creatures, robotic weapons, including the use of headcrabs as biological weapons.

Several of the weapons featured in Half-Life 2 are carried over from Half-Life, including the trademark crowbar for mêlée fighting, the conventional firearms of the SPAS-12 shotgun, .357 Magnum revolver (resembles Colt Python handgun), crossbow, and rocket propelled grenade launcher as well as the Gauss Gun, or Tau cannon. Several new weapons are also introduced: the Combine AR-2 pulse rifle, H&K MP7 SMG, new H&K USP pistol, and most significantly, the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator, or gravity gun.

Original score by Kelly Bailey consists of 53 tracks in .mp3 format (some of them borrowed from HL) and 2 tracks in .wav.

Half-Life 2 Deathmatch was released later.

As of June 8, 2006, over four million copies of Half-Life 2 have been sold. Exact numbers for digital delivery service Steam and retail have not been revealed, but in general, the former accounts for 25% of Valve's business and is significantly more profitable per unit. Half-Life 2's public reception was overwhelmingly positive in terms of reviews, acclaim and sales. Half-Life 2 became one of the most critically acclaimed video games in history. It is currently one of the highest ranking PC games at Game Rankings with an average critic score of 96%. It was one of only four games ever to get 96% from PC Gamer UK, the best score they have ever awarded, and the game is only one of two games ever to get a near perfect score, 98%, from PC Gamer US, while the game became the fifth title to receive Edge magazine's 10/10 score. MobyGames – 95%. Gamespot – 92%. Absolute Games – 91%. My rates (compared to 2004’s level, of course):

Gameplay: 9.5/10.

Graphics: 10/10.

Sound: 10/10.

Score (OST): 9.5/10.

Story: 9.5/10.

Controls & Interface: 9.5/10.

OVERALL: 10/10.

If you like this game I also recommend: Half-Life, Half-Life Uplink, Half-Life Opposing Force, Half-Life Blue Shift, Half-Life 2 Lost Coast, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1,2,3, F.E.A.R., F.E.A.R. Extraction Point, Doom 3.