Half Life 2 is probably the most anticipated game of 2004 besides Halo 2, and lets face it, Half Life 2 has some big shoes to fill. Valve has some serious competition this time around. Doom 3 and Halo 2 have been released and have really shaken up the FPS genre of gaming. Doom 3 is considered to be the most beautiful game on the PC at this time and Half Life 2 aims to take that crown away. Halo 2 is really where the trouble begins for Half Life 2. Halo 2 has a great storyline and a truly spectacular campaign that is topped off with a truly remarkable multiplayer and xbox live experience. Half Life 2 has its work cut out for it. A few years ago when Valve sat down and picked up Half LIfe 2, theyhad no idea what they were getting into, but they set out to create the ultimate FPS, while it is clear that they failed that objective, it is clear that they made something truly revolutionary. By any standpoint, Half Life 2 is an impressive game that stands out as the best FPS on the PC since the original half life so many years ago. The strongest points of Half Life 2 are its graphics and sound. The graphics are the best in any videogame ever made, with a smooth framerate and details that flow perfectly, noticably better then Doom 3. The sound is loud and beautiful to hear, streaming explosings and gunshots that put you right in the middle of that action and deliver a better experience then what graphics alone could bring. That being said, Half Life 2 definetly missed out on some major aspects of what could have put it above Halo 2 as the most respected first person shooter game of all time. Valve got the gameplay right in Half Life 2, its fast and fun with variety and plenty of aliens to kill as Gordon moves throughout his various environments. However, the joy of this game is extremely short lived. After you beat the surprisngly short (for 6 years in development) campaign, you look for more to draw you back to the spectacular experience, but find nothing. No true multiplayer and no huge extras cause the replay value of Half Life 2 to fall to rock bottom. The game gives you a great first impression and falls down from there. Bottom line is that after 6 years in development you would have expected more from HL2, thats not to say that Half Life 2 is bad, but that it pails in comparison to other games like Halo 2 that have risen above the bar and made a much more enjoyable FPS experience. After 3 days, I was back to Halo 2 full time, Half Life 2 fals short of its own high standards, and therefore fails to deliver the ultimate first person shooter experience that it promised 6 years ago.
1998, half life comes out, rocks the planet. Six years later, half life 2 comes out, rocks the galaxy. Gordon is back and so is perfection. For six years the world has been waiting, and now it is here. The game play ... Read Full Review
First person shooters changed forever in 1998 when an unknown gaming developer known as Valve released a game known as Half-Life. It revolutionized the genre with cinematic gameplay, intense combat, and a story filled wi... Read Full Review
