Superior in its visual design, but dull in other areas.
-immersive and detailed environment (e.g. graffiti and blood splattered walls, etc.)
-incredible visual design (e.g. textures, animations, physics, etc)
-great voice acting and facial animation
-engaging gameplay
-fun variety of new and old weapons (e.g. the new gravity gun, "bug bait", etc.)
-different environments
-some new features, such as being able to drive an air-boat and dune buggy
-amazing sound effects that truly add to the game's immersive atmosphere
-interesting characters that can be genuinely funny
-very lengthy campaign
Bad:
-disappointingly dull story
-your squad members feel the need to always be an inch behind you, which is frustrating when trying to explore
-less varied gameplay compared to its predecessor (more shooting, less puzzle solving)
Overall:
Half Life 2's overall visual design is simply amazing. For a game released in 2004, the textures, physics, and animations of the detailed characters and environments around you are simply stunning. These all work together to create an extremely immersive experience. Even the game's superior sound design plays an important role, as you hear the radio chatter from Combine soldiers turn to static after mowing them down. However, there are some problems as well. I was disappointed that Valve focused more on the "shooting" and less on the "puzzles". The original Half Life balanced these two very well, but I felt the easy puzzles in this game just didn't cut it. There were some new things introduced, such as operable vehicles, but I still wish they would have maintained more focus on the original Half Life's formula. Another major problem was the story. It just wasn't "there". It was dull, lackluster, and made the gameplay feel monotonous. Half way through the game, I kind of had to force myself to finish it, and when I got to the end, many of my questions were not even answered. It was still the same mysteriously intriguing story from the first Half Life, but the major lull throughout the plot left me wondering, "When will something cool happen?" This game just seemed to lose the suspense that its predecessor was able to maintain. Nonetheless, the gameplay was still fun. Overall, I think most will enjoy the engaging shooting gameplay, but hardcore Half Life fans may find themselves less-than-thrilled in the end.