Half Life 2 is Simply the BEST!!!
First of all... the graphics. Oh My Gosh! Can you say simply the best out there! Hands down the developers spared nothing when they made this game. From dirt and water to sky textures and everything in between... it is just the bestest eye candy money can buy!!! The environment looks as if you could just step right out into it thru your monitor and join Alyx & Gordon on their quest. Shoot a wall or an object and the impression from the bullet is put in the object just like real life. Come back several minutes later and it is still there. Not like other games that wipe out all traces of what you just did. They keep it real in this game. The water.... is so real you just want to jump in and go for a swim. Reflections from light, fire and sky all have the most realistic effects on the surface. When you go inside building that are old and decrepid... they have that feel to them because the developer took the time to design each and every aspect of the game. The vegitation blows in the wind, and not just the same direction each time... but inconsistant as if in real life. Vehicles have the worn down appearance, muddy, greasy, and used... not that just off the showroom floor look you get in other games.
Sound... in this game it is just music to your ears. Bullets richochet off of things and you can hear the ping of the metal on metal. If it happens in the distance and you have sound surround... you are in for a real treat as it will immerse you right into the environment. You can hear the soldiers comming up behind you and or chatting in the distance just like in real life. Water dripping, metal on metal, engines grinding, hellicopters whirring, fire crackling and a great many more realistic sounds await you in this game.
Storyline is totally immersive! I need to play the original now to get the beginning of the saga so I know what and why... but I do know that the game keeps you wanting to know more about your character and his quest. The end of the game leaves you with a tasty tidbit of a loose thread that lets you know that it will continue... and it does in Half Life 2 : Episode !.
Gameplay is the greatest thing going here, and that is to just top the cake as everything else is TOP NOTCH! I love the physics of the game. Just like the real world... everything actsl the same in this game. In the game you get a weapon called a Gravity Gun which allows you to pick up objects and throw them (or would the term jettison them) be more appropriate here. You can for instance pick up a wooden pallet with the gravity gun and then launch it at an enemy to either mame or kill them. It all depends on the object you have and how it would react in the real world. If you do launch a pallet at an enemy or a wall... when it hits them it will explode into alot of pieces just like in real life. Then you can pick up those individual pieces as weapons as well. Some barrels in the game are explosive. Using the Gravity Gun for them can be both helpfull as well as damaging. If you pick it up and don't launch it in time... your enemy can shoot it and explode you into nothing in seconds. The world and the objects (which there are plenty to choose from) are your arsenal with this gun.
Equally as well you have other weapons to choose from as you go thru your quest. Weaponry is strictly give to you as you kill other enemies. You start with a pistol and then must accumulate your other weapons as you find them on soldiers you kill or laying around. Drop and swap is the name of the game for weapons here. Find a better weapon... drop the one you have and pick up the better one. Use all of the ammo in that weapon... and need a new one... remember where you dropped the last one and go back and pick it up if you like. This makes for a very creative game play for each individual person.
In conclusion... this game has so much to offer a gamer. Immersive environment, awesome graphics and sound, non linear at it's finest, along with tactical gameplay ensure you hours of fun just in the single player mode. There is also an online mode to play deathmatch against others which I have personally not done... but I have heard that it is probably one of the finest multiplayer environments out there for games. This game does not loose it's value in gameplay easily as each adventure, while the end result of each level is the same... can be reached differently depending on your style of gameplay. Three little words for you that have not played Half Life 2 as of yet... GET THIS GAME!!! :)