Valve has done it again, Half-Life 2 once again completely raises the bar just like it's predecessor.
In Half-Life 2, you once again assume the role of Gordon Freeman, the theoretical physicist who saved the world from an alien invasion at the end of Half-Life. Or did he? Half-Life 2 starts you off facing the infamous G-Man, the mysterious blue-suited character from the first game who employed you forcingly after the last game, and you start the game in a train entering City 17 for your introduction into this new world.
City 17 is a run-down urban center with all of the remnants of a defeated humanity. Half-Life 2 takes place an untold number of years after the Black Mesa incident, but it's clear that much has changed. A mysterious enemy known as the Combine has conquered the planet and installed a human puppet government to carry out its rule. Black-clad security forces patrol the streets, while propaganda blares endlessly. If there's one thing that Valve does extremely well, it's capture a sense of atmosphere--this vision of a dystopian police state is chillingly effective. But you won't spend a lot of time soaking in the scene before you're thrust into the struggle to defeat the Combine and free humanity.
Valve has this time around used facial expression graphics based on real life people and this added with enhanced graphical surrounds makes this game win the spot for best graphic winner of 2004. The action is very engaging and the level design is incredibly realistic but smart from room to room fighting to deep and dark tunnels. Some weapons reappear from the last game, the old crowbar is back along with some new twists and the introduction of vehicles. Each level is incredibly long and you'll remember it for years to come from the creepy ravenholm level and the mysterious churchman known only as father to City 17 and the humanity there fighting for their right to survive.
The only thing that this game lacks is that there is not more of it to satisfy and that just proves how fun this game is, the story is gripping, at the end of the game in City 17 you'll get this feeling of anger on the combine and you'll start to hate them so much that you'll probably won't worry about your life for the sake of vengeance. Really a review can not do justice to how good this game looks and feels.
Now because valve has released this game on both pc and xbox, there is some noticeable difference, the pc version has better graphics, a good frame rate and the ability of multiplayer from counter-strike: source. In conclusion whether you get the pc version of the game or it's xbox equivalent, this is certainly a must have. Kingdom