This was an excellent, masterfully done game, but it was too short to fully realize its potential.
I will start off by pointing out that I have had some bad luck with this game and crashes in the past. The system that I'm running is more than strong enough to handle the Source Engine at a crisp and consitant frame rate. However, I often let the drivers lapse, and as a result, the game crashed a few times. Even some of the drivers have been a bit buggy but I've got a stable enough set up for now.
Enough semantics, on to the review.
This game has a masterfully done story. The cast of characters and the intriguing story twists were more than enough to keep me playing. The game begins with an odd close-up shot of the infamous "G-Man" who left us dangling in the end of the first game. His speech makes several strange implications including that you were, in some way, being kept out of time and space. It also states that you are being placed in your current scenario by forces that are somehow pulling his strings. They also did an amazing work with his voice over, giving the player the distinct impression that an earthly tounge is something to which he isn't very accustom. The G-Man fades away and you're left on a train to "City 17". You come in with very little time left on the ride and you can already tell by the other characters' jumpsuits and worried faces that you aren't in Kansas anymore. Your first step off the train and the gorgeous Source engine smacks you in the face with a total Police State. There are menacing looking, armed guards at every turn and everyone either looks mentally defeated or terribly worried. Obviously, this brave new world isn't what it should be. To cap it all off there are several massive video screens broadcasting Dr. Breen, a man labeled as the former head of the Black Mesa facility from the original Half-Life, delivering a specious speech about City 17. Shortly hereafter you are reunited with a face from the past: Barney! Our loveable, gung-ho Black Mesa security guard friend. Since there were several who aided you in the first game there's no way of telling which is which and his name was actually taken from the player model rather than an actual character. Either way, you are also re-aquainted with Dr. Kleiner, and Judith Mossman from Black Mesa whom you (disputably) met shortly before and after the test chamber incident. You also get to meet a few other survivors including one of the best female "extras" ever placed in a video game: Alex Vance. She's a crucial secondary character who helps out Gordon Freeman in some very big ways. As you push deeper into the game you push deeper into the story as well. You find out that something possibly pretaining to the alien invasion you had to combat at Black Mesa carried out a massive invasion in your absence. They took over, attacking the planet and Dr. Breen became humanity's savior by folding faster than Superman on laundry day. Now the invaders are human kind's "benefactors" and have decided to herd people into these delapidated ghettos which seem to echo the Nazi's treatment in parts of Europe. The new enemy that rears its head in this game is referred to as The Combine. They're a detestable lot, clad in uniform jumpsuits and some kind of gas mask. They weild machine guns and other weaponry and are, at times, assisted by massive bio-mechanical creatures that seem to be part insect and part vessel. Granted, without spoiling the game for the few of you who haven't finished it yet but plan on it, the ending is quite a downer and fails to answer even a single question from either game and it is a little short, it's still entertaining enough for me.
Since the game is done completely from the first person perspective and there are no real cut-scenes to speak of the game does an incredible job of keeping you in the moment and at the center of all that affects Gordon. This is an excellent touch, and with a good enough PC the only real loading screen is the initial one. The game discreetly pieces the game's massive world together and every so often you hit a little hesitation but nothing else. Now that isn't to say that the AI characters don't have plenty of scripted animations and a ton of well acted dialouge (because they do). But through all of that you are still granted complete control of Gordon. You can even walk away and explore the rest of a room while the AI stands there and does its best to face you as you wander.
This brings us to the Source engine. I've already said it is a beautiful graphics engine, what I didn't mention was the corresponding physics model. This is both the game's blessing and its curse. It is a blessing because more than once you are called upon to solve puzzles using the game's physics. These are just weight distribution on large scale levers, but it is a nice way to showcase this feature. It is a curse because I have noticed that during this most recent run I was actually victimized on more than one occasion by the physics and some spotty collision detection. There is a part that seems to be a scene right out of tremors. These large bug monsters will attack you if they sense your vibrations from stepping on the sand under which they live. You can use the game's Gravity Gun (a large device that can push, pull, and lift heavier objects from a distance) to pick up debris such as busted doors, wood palletes, and discarded pieces of sheet metal and make a path for yourself. Often you find yourself taking only a couple of pieces with you and turning to pick up the last one as you step onto the next. I have had occasions where I stepped on something that stayed still under me multiple times before and it just slid away from me or I place something safely on the ground only to watch it bounce wildly away because of a spotty collision it detected with the ground. I've also had a couple of moments of getting stuck on top of small things on the ground which should have been otherwise pushed aside by my movements. On a rare occasion I actually watched as a dead Combine officer actually passed through a solid wall and out of sight. Aside from this they also add in some great little touches here and there such as a very small scale transporter model in Dr. Kleiner's lab. It has two pads set up and you can actually set something on the active pad (say, one of the loose books nearby or the cactus which was placed there when you first see it) and actually teleport it back and forth between the pads. You can pick up and break bottles and throw just about anything in the environment that isn't "nailed down" so-to-speak. The sticky parts are still enough of an annoyance this time around that they bear mentioning.
The Source Physics Engine also gives rise to a new feature in Half-Life 2 which works quite well. The addition of two vehicles: A sort of home-made swamp boat and a similarly built automobile. Now these are not things to which you are granted unrestricted access. Each is only available for its respective part of the game. The handling of the two vehicles is impressive enough, handled largely by the physics engine. The W, A, S, and D keys are your primary movement and steering controls and the mouse is only used to aim and fire each vehicle's mounted weapon (or look around, since the boat's weapon is only equipped later on in your run). On the plus side, the level designers did an impressive job of constructing the vehicles' sections to exploit them. Each features some unique challenges through which you are expect to maneuver. The boat sections in particular feature a lot of insanes stunts and some portions calling for split second maneuvering on your behalf (which feel incredibly gratifying if you succeed without incident). Some of the jumps in the boat sections are almost inhuman. I mean, what's the fun of running through a fictional boat area without some equally fictitious stunts, right? The car's section isn't as crazy as the boat section and it features several portions which require you to exit your vehicle and find a way to remove Combine road blocks, clear the way, or cope with other types of threats. On the whole this is a nice touch to help move the story along and get you from location to location in the game.
Turning to the Combine AI...this is a real low point in the game. Enemy AI is pathetic at best. Their use of cover is questionable, often making it appear more like hiding than making use of a strategic vantage point. Either that or they just don't use cover and will mindlessly attack you until you waste them. Granted, they do use grenades to flush you out or attempt to do massive damage from a distance. However, they are just too easy and the only real threat they pose is when they attack in large numbers. They are so unaware of their surroundings at times that you can actually sucker them into the sticky tounges of the creatures that hang from the ceiling. Later on in the game the human resistance rises up against Dr. Breen and the tyrannical rule of his so-called "Benefactors" in a full scale revolt. During your part in this you are often accompanied by a squad of people. Prior to this you are also given control of a small number of large bugs you get to use as attack dogs. You have full "control" over this squad and can issue simple commands which equate to "go where I am pointing" or "come back here". They should have given these mindless drones a "get the hell out of my way" command. I expected the bugs to be mindless and overly simple, but there is no excuse for the humans to be so stupid. If you make a wrong turn and end up in a small room or alcove of sorts (or even one of the rooms or out-of-the-way places used as a supply point) your AI squadmates will pile on top of the doorway, effectively blocking you in. They do occasionally apologize for blocking you and try to get out of the way, but it's usually too little too late. If it weren't for the medics (who can heal you) they would only be useful at times as cannon fodder. Now, in all fairness, they do shoot well enough. There are times when you have to fight massive insects that act as tank-like vehciles called Striders and the other squad members weilding rocket launchers are comepetent enough to help here, but you often find yourself losing squad members because they don't seek cover or follow you into situations only you could cope with anyway. And their tendency to stick so closely together makes them an easy target for grenades. The squad was an ambitious idea and it serves it purpose, but I'm not too upset about not being given access to this feature more often.
The sound is another excellent part. The combine employ devices known as "man-hacks", flying garbage disposer blades with cameras attached and their appearance is often foreshadowed by the sound of their sensors beeping and their blades whirring through the air. When they hit walls or other parts of the environment your treated to the sound of the blades grinding into whatever they hit, as well as a shower of sparks. This also screws up their movement, knocking them off course and disrupting their actions. Another excellent touch. Also, at times, you are forced to cope with snipers who have tucked themselves away inside open windows. You have to sneak up close to the window, using cover since they can hit you so easily, and lob in a grenade. Listen to some of their comments when you lob one in. Succesfull combine kills are accompanied with an audible death rattle and their vital monitors flatlining. Dr. Breen's messages to the people also echo hauntingly in open courtyards adding a subtle, but much appreciated ambience to the streets already filled with broken down, terrified civillians.
The dead bodies all go rag-doll upon dying which helps to add a grim sort of reality to their demise. This is backed up with some viscious directional blood spatter on walls and other surrounding surfaces. Other than that killing enemies is killing enemies. It's fairly well executed, but sometimes the unexpected hang up occurs and you can get bodies propped up on a flopping arm or other similar obstruction. Even the smallest of enemies (head humpers) are given the rag doll treatment, which helps to preserve the consistancy of everything.
There are times, particularly towards the end where you are truly part of a cut-scene and are forced to just go along for the ride. Granted, you are physically restrained so it almost gives the villains this sort of "Bond Bad Guy" feel as you are forced to sit and listen to their long winded (but very well acted) speeches.
In the end this game is incredibly well made but it does have plenty of flaws that give its detractors plenty of ammo. Among them the occasionally spotty collision detection, terribly unsatisfying ending, and the fact that this ending gets there way too quickly. I was quite pleased with this game from all my initial impressions but the more I replayed it the more I realized that it is far from perfect. It is quite the solid effort, and it is worthy of some praise, but I feel that the terrible ending (which is nothing more than an obvious set-up for the next Half-Life game) capping the otherwise excellent story was a crucial weak point. Also, the game's length was a tremendous let down. They could have added so much more to the story. It could have been stretched out a lot farther than it was. At the very least they could have made it a little more difficult. Not only was it short but the lack-luster AI allowed you to breeze through it. The game itself had some brilliant points, but with it being so short there's almost no time to enjoy them. So, in the end, I have to say the media hype behind this title, and it's often glowing reviews built up an expectation for this game which I feel it failed to fully meet due almost exclusively to its disappointingly short play time.