Of course there is no such thing as perfect, ever, but 10 means it has perfected gaming it self. And boy does HL2 do that and then some. It has been 6 years of waiting to get back into the shoes of Gordon Freeman, the doctor who was the saviour of Black Mesa. At first I was a tad skeptical, I wondered if Half-Life could be topped, it has don't worry about it. First graphics...wow. That is all I can keep saying, though it may not have the heavy dynamic lighting that DOOM 3 uses *too much...a huge gimmick* The grahpics are just amazing, after you see the character models in HL2, all others will look like pure crap in comparision. For once I felt emotions from a game, each character really spoke to me in more then just words, they would look hurt, sad, happy, and pretty much any characteristic you have ever seen done by one of your friends, it has been done here to perfection. The water, the fire effects, everything is just perfectly done. I encountered no frame rate issues (I admit my machine is very powerful). But this game out does every other game artisticaly and by just pure brillance of programing. The sound in this is excellent as well, having my 5.1 Klipsch Ultra's cranked up, I jumped, screamed, cheered many times for my team mates. The music matches the mood, and every sound is great. The voice acting is the best ever, I have played thousands of games on many platforms and this is easily the best voice work ever done by any game, these are truly virtual actors. And some of the sounds the zombie's make, just make tingles go up and down your spine. The sound is just perfectly done, and I never found any glitches with it at all. Value wise this game is a complete package, I played for about 22 hours strait, and I'm about to go to bed. I am a master with FPS it is "my" genre that I've always been good at and it took me a good 20-22 hours to complete, and I wondered around and absorbed everything. The pacing and length is just perfect, you never get bored, and when you think your about to the gameplay changes. Also I recieved HL Source and CS Source, great additions. CS:S will keep you busy for years to come. Office is well done, and got everyone off of playing Dust and Aztec too much. And the great thing is, is Valve is all ready working on some NEW maps for CS:S that have never been seen before, they will come out in December. It's a shame there is no HL2 DM out of the box, but from what I've heard I"m sure Valve will work on it right away. But this game is worth every penny, you will play the single player at least twice, and CS:S almost feels re-born, and will keep you entertained for hours on end. Gameplay, ahhh now for the meat of HL2. I love how the reviewer from Gamespot said that there is not much new here...well no crap it's a FPS, the core of a FPS is SHOOTING in first person. If you made it too much else it would turn into a RPG or an adventure. But for the FPS genre this game has gone leaps and bounds, with it's polish and mainly it's execution, and how IMMERSED you get into this game. The story is great, the first half you are asking questions, then it is all revealed, and more questions asked, the story is truly entertaining and unforgettable, you know there will be an HL3. This game has also revoltionized the entire industry, now the industry will have to keep up with physics and the emotion put into HL2, no game...I mean NO game can come close what so ever. This game will grab you and never let go. The AI was well done, and the challange was perfect, I really don't know what this Jason reviewer was thinking....this game has changed the way all other FPS's will be done. Bravo Valve. Bravo. To put this in a few words, Half-Life 2 is bigger then any of us could of hoped, and if you are going to get into a stupid Halo 2 vs. Half-Life 2 debate...just let the people play both of them, and if they come back still claiming Halo 2 to the throne, you know they are legaly retarded, this game is just plain enough to see it is intellegent, emotional, powerful, and heart pounding. Stop reading my review, go out and put your money down and be prepared for the ride of your life. This game will bring millions of non gamers into our world.
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
