I have just completed playing Half-Life, and the game left me with some mixed feelings about it. I initially chose to play Half-Life due to the fact that it's known as one of the best video games of all time, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Disappointingly, it didn't meet my expectations in many ways. Although the game has a lot going for it (such as its simplicity and smart level design), it also has many downsides that cancel out these positives and often ruin the experience.
The Good:
The first aspect of Half-Life that I noticed when I started playing is how simple and easy it is to learn the basic concepts. The tutorial was short (and disguised as part of the game), and told me everything I needed to know to dive right in. The HUD was also minimal but thorough, which, in my opinion, is how all HUDs should be. Overall, Half-Life is a good example of a game that's easy learn but hard to master, which is an important aspect for a game to have, and is something many modern games fail at.
Another positive that stood out to me while playing is the level design. Although levels weren't perfect (checkpoints were often really badly placed), they were usually really well done. Somehow, the levels gave me a sense that I had the freedom to go where I wanted, even though the game is linear. For the most part, this sense of freedom is nice, but it would sometimes get confusing and slightly frustrating in parts where I didn't know where to go. Also, there were occasionally some small and interesting puzzles scattered throughout the levels, which spiced things up a little. However, the puzzles weren't so excessive as to demotivate the ones who don't enjoy puzzles as much (like myself).
I also appreciated how the game slowly transitioned from the real to the supernatural realm. First by using supernatural mobs, then weapons, and finally transporting you to Zen. That way, when you finally get to Zen, it's not a complete change in your environment. The transition also confirms to the player that they are making progress in the game, but this sense of progress is sometimes a little too infrequent.
Finally, there is little to no hand holding throughout Half-Life. This can be interpreted as positive or negative, but personally, I think it's a good thing. The game forces you to think your way through levels instead of telling you what to do or giving you hints. Sometimes, this can get really frustrating when you're stuck on something and have no idea how to proceed, but when you finally figure it out, you feel much more rewarded. The final boss fight is a good example of this. The game gave no information on how to defeat it, but allowed you to figure it out for yourself through trial and error. Because of this, finally defeating the boss felt like an accomplishment. Moreover, you're often required to pay attention to conversations you have with NPCs in order to get an idea of what to do next. These conversations are your main source of information throughout the game. I liked this aspect because it closely resembles real life, and therefore I got more immersed in the game.
The Bad:
One of the biggest reasons my Half-Life experience was ruined is that there was an overwhelming amount of bugs. Countless times I would get stuck in place and had to kill myself in order to get free. Other times, I would randomly die even though there were no threats near me. Even in the tutorial, there was a point where I couldn't continue because a door wouldn't open, and I had to research the solution for this. Overall, the amount of bugs in this game really made it less pleasurable.
Throughout Half-Life, you get introduced to new weapons and enemies as you make progress. However, there was a long period around the middle of the game in which I felt like I wasn't advancing in the game at all. No new enemies or weapons were introduced, and it felt like I was playing different versions of the same level over and over again. This demotivated me from playing, and I had to force myself to get through this part.
Another negative aspect of this game that made me lose motivation is its difficulty. Not all difficulty is bad, but Half-Life was often difficult in unnecessary ways. For example, checkpoints were often pretty spread out, so I would frequently have to redo an entire section over and over again, only to die to something difficult at the very end. Moreover, I don't think the developers always considered how hard some parts of the game could be on limited health or ammo. I would often run into situations that were almost impossible to complete since I had low health or ammo, but would've been an acceptable difficulty otherwise. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, some of the respawn points were pretty badly placed. Often I would respawn only to die almost instantly, and the only way to counter it would be do react instantly when respawning. All these factors made Half-Life unnecessarily difficult, and overall a worse game.
As I mentioned earlier, Half-Life isn't the kind of game that holds your hand and tells you what you need to do. Players need to pay attention and think in order to get through it. Although I mostly consider this as a positive thing, it can get frustrating at times, and demotivate those who are less committed to playing. For example, during the boss fight at the end of the game, I stopped playing for a while because it took me a little while to figure out how to defeat it. I was demotivated and only regained interest when I finally figured it out.
Finally, the game could have had better mechanics. For example, sometimes the crossair would follow an enemy (not necessarily the one I wanted to shoot). I know this was implemented to make shooting easier, but often it was just disorienting and if anything made it more difficult. Also, I noticed that occasionally (but rarely) the bullets wouldn't even go where the crosshair was aimed, which added to the confusion. Other than shooting, I found the movement a little hard to get used to. It was tough to move my character small amounts (pressing on a button very briefly moved my character more than expected), which resulted in me falling to my death a few times. Operating the cart was also a bit unintuitive, since you could either move or operate the cart, but not both at once. These awkward mechanics weren't horrible, but definitely could've been smoother.
Overall, I think that Half-Life has many strong points, and I understand why it was such a successful game in 1998. However, its many weaknesses cancel and on occasion ruin these positive aspects. That's why I give this game a score of 5 (mediocre).