Half-Life

Platform: PC
Developer: Valve Software
Release: 1998

At the time Half-Life was released by Valve Software in late 1998, the first-person genre had fallen into a bit of a rut. The genre was still relatively new, and the market was awash in Quake clones and Doom clones that delivered only derivative gameplay. As 1998 drew to a close, two highly anticipated games were approaching release that offered hope for fans of action-packed shooters: SiN and Half-Life. Many placed their bets that SiN would be the game to win out in this duel, because of developer Ritual Entertainment's close ties to id Software. We all know how that battle turned out.

Just another day at the office.

Half-Life succeeded not because of bleeding-edge graphics technology or an over-the-top, original arsenal of weaponry. It captured everyone's imagination because it succeeded in telling a great story and immersing you deeply into the game without breaking your suspension of disbelief. Instead of being divided into disruptive and discrete levels, the entire game was pretty much seamless from start to finish. To accomplish this, the world was broken up into zones. You'd notice a loading hiccup whenever you crossed from one zone to another, but other than that, there were no obvious transitions or clumsy interruptions. Even the start of the game didn't bore you with paragraphs of bland text to give context. You simply stepped on to a tram that took you on a short ride into Black Mesa Research Facility, which effectively set the stage for the game in much the same way a film would.

Even the design of armor, health, weapon, and ammunition was carefully planned. Gone were the industry-standard floating health boxes and spinning weapons that looked awkward and broke the immersion, and instead, health, weapons, and ammo were distributed in a more realistic, logical fashion. The hazard suit that protected you could be recharged from thoughtfully placed power stations. Ammunition could only be gained from storage lockers or the bodies of dead soldiers.

Scripted sequences were used to great effect.

Half-Life also used scripted sequences in an artful and effective manner, depicting soldiers and scientists doing battle with aliens as you chose to participate or merely observe. These sequences gave the impression that you were only a small part of a much bigger story going on around you. In fact, those compelling sequences became the subject of a couple of Half-Life expansion packs like Opposing Force and Blue Shift, both of which added more meat to the Half-Life story. Other sequences played up the game's sci-fi, disaster theme, with lights winking out and buildings collapsing around you. Impressive AI design also played into the realism of the game, as the commandos would use team tactics against you, making effective use of cover, throwing grenades, and retreating when injured.

Another contributing factor to Half-Life's place as one of the top FPS games of all time is the design of its protagonist, Gordon Freeman. Instead of playing as a burly, hardened superhero, you took the role of a scientist at his regular job. While not all of us are genius physicists who work for top secret government laboratories, it was still easy to connect with Freeman, an otherwise ordinary man just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact that a simple crowbar became the signature weapon of the game speaks volumes about how the game's fans identified with Freeman's human instincts for survival and improvisation in the face of adversity.

If you're still somewhat unconvinced about the original Half-Life's significance to the industry, the fact that it still sells today should erase those doubts. The original game has enjoyed unbelievable longevity on store shelves, with the publisher simply repackaging the game over the years with add-ons and mods. More than five years later, platinum editions are still stocked at major retailers for upward of $40.

Anticipation over the impending release of Half-Life's sequel has gone beyond fever pitch. Though Valve missed its initial ship date promise last fall and has suffered the unprecedented setback of having its source code stolen by hackers, fans still eagerly await Half-Life 2, probably because the epic single-player experience from the original game has been matched by so few, if any, games since then.