Half-Life 2 Review

Half-Life 2 has made the transition from PC to Xbox mostly intact and the result is one of the best gaming experiences on the system. The game only features single player and includes none of the great multiplayer modes of the PC version, which is disappointing, but the single player campaign is among the very best you’ll ever play so it is still absolutely worth picking up.

Story and Setting

Half-Life 2 once again puts you in the role of Dr. Gordon Freeman. The game takes place a few years after the first Half-Life and in that time a group called the Combine have conquered the planet. You are quickly thrust into the resistance movement and find yourself fighting not only the black-clad Combine soldiers but familiar creatures and spooks from the first Half-Life. The story overall is very good and is filled with great characters that you really get attached to. The entire single player campaign from the PC version is included and if you haven’t already played it this is an experience that should be required playing for serious gamers.

Gameplay

As far as the core gameplay goes, Half-Life 2 is actually a little disappointing. The shooting feels clunky and moving through the environments is annoying because you can get stuck on pretty much everything. Even the simple act of walking through a doorway can be frustrating because if you aren’t perfectly lined up you’ll get stuck and have to back up and try it again. You can also get yourself wedged into a corner or somewhere you weren’t supposed to be and the only way to get out is by jumping and crouching and spinning around to try and escape. Bad times. Also, the game is fairly linear and there is very little room for finding alternate paths. In fact, if you do find an alternate route past an obstacle the game won’t actually let you proceed because you didn’t go through the set piece you were supposed to.

There are also vehicle sequences scattered throughout the game which break up the on foot action a bit. You’ll drive a hovercraft and a dune buggy and while the controls aren’t exactly sharp, you can generally get where you need to without too much trouble.

A Thinking Man's Shooter

Half-Life 2 isn’t just about shooting stuff, however, and it is in the puzzles and overall atmosphere that makes this game something special in spite of some gameplay issues. The world you explore is absolutely amazing and is filled with cool set pieces and sequences that are best described as “holy crap” moments. Fighting zombies in Ravenholm and the giant “spider” walkers in City 17 are just a couple of these moments. The puzzles you have to solve along the way are also really great and actually make you think. Half-Life 2 uses a very sophisticated physics engine and pretty much every object in the game world is affected by it. Some puzzles require you to do things such as put heavy objects on one end of a lever to press it down so you can reach a high area or placing floating barrels underneath a ramp so you can jump over a wall with your hovercraft. These puzzles are very satisfying to find and solve and keep the game very interesting in between all of the shooting.

Review continued on Page 2 ...