ic-games Review - Half-Life 2 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Half-Life 2

Information
Reviewer: Andrew St.Denis
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Vivendi Universal
Reviewed: PC
Genre: FPS/Vehicle
UK Release: 16th Nov 2004
Article Date: 19th Nov 2004
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £39.99
Price Comparison:
Half-Life 2

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 98%

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Pros

Stunning graphics

Convincing voice acting

Fast paced storyline

Cons

Loading times for slower sytems

Sticking around objects can be frustrating

Screenshots

19 of 50

The wait is over, at 12.01 PT on November the 16th the most eagerly anticipated sequel ever had finally made it to eager gamers everywhere via Steam. Half-Life 2 has certainly had its share of delays and setbacks but the game has arrived. Many saw the original Half-Life as the best First-Person Shooter out there and we are certainly in that category. The same could also be said for the ‘Counter-Strike’ multiplayer aspect, which is where I disagree with the masses, since that part of Half-Life is what put me off online FPS’ altogether! (You’re in the minority there - Ed). The question is, was HL2 worth the wait? Or is this the most over-hyped game ever to arrive on the PC, read on to discover the answer.

If first looks are important then you may be forgiven for thinking that HL2 won’t be that good, because the loading screen isn’t that impressive and the menu system is pretty much the same as in the previous Half-Life titles, but at least the animated background for the menus give a glimpse of the graphics capabilities that are to come later.

And those of you with older graphics cards aren’t going to get the full effect of the new graphics engine. The name of this engine is called ‘Source’ and has even been added to the original Half-Life game as well as the spin-off expansions. With rag doll physics and some of the scenery being destructible you do get closer to real life with this version. If there was ever a game that made upgrading your PC worthwhile though this is it, if you are in need of a better graphics card, now’s the time to be fumbling down the back of the settee looking for those lost coins.

The story-line for Half-Life 2 continues on from the original game and starts with you; Gordon Freeman, on a train heading into ‘City 17’ one of many areas that the remaining humans are being herded to, since the take over of the planet by the aliens. These aliens have set up a puppet government to control the rest of humanity, but there are opponents to the ‘Combine’ and you soon get sucked into your life as an anti-establishment commando. The enemy you will see everywhere, mainly in the shape black masked police units, but soon moving onto more dangerous foe, both human and alien. There are 14 chapters, each taking around 2 to 3 hours to complete, giving about 35 hours of gaming heaven

The storyline will perhaps be seen as a bit of a let down, but one thing that Valve does better then most is making the storyline move, usually with such speed and ferocity that you have little time to stop and admire the scenery. You have to admire it too, the graphics as you would expect from any up to date FPS are stunning, from the dark and morose City 17, looking more like a futuristic city-wide concentration camp to the wide open spaces of the country-side. The wide open spaces however aren’t all that open, the storyline doesn’t allow much in the way of deviation from it. But just like the original you are moving at such a pace and with the sound of various nasties breathing down your neck you barely notice that you are being corralled in a certain direction.

Weapons are almost what you had from the original Half-Life. Starting with the infamous crowbar moving onto the pistol and .357 revolver. The shotgun and sub-machine gun also make a return. There are new weapons though, starting with a new pulse rifle, this taking the assault rifle slot, you soon learn that for long rang fighting this works very well. There is also the gravity gun, now this doubles up as a weapon and a way to manipulate various objects around the Half-Life world. Picking up boxes and stacking them or just blasting a way through a door you will find this invaluable. Another addition is the ‘Pheropod’ aka Bugbait, this is used as a means of controlling one of the alien animals the ‘Ant lion’.

Another part of the gameplay that has made it over from Half-Life is the puzzle solving aspect. Most of these aren’t difficult, and rarely endanger you that much; they seem to be there merely to break up the combat or vehicle sections of the game. Vehicles are a semi new aspect, of course in the first Half-Life there was the tram section but this time there are two separate vehicles to use. First there is the Airboat and there is a speedy little buggy for the land section. Both are used fur the ‘long distance’ travel sections of the game. The down side of the Half-Life game was the highly annoying ‘jumping’ sections particularly in ‘Xen’, these have made an appearance in HL2 but, thankfully are spread out more and are in context here.

The one aspect of computer gaming that always seem to let the side down is that of voice acting, whether it’s the scripts or just plain wooden acting things just never seem right… Until now, Valve has brought in some top notch actors to lend their voices to the characters and the scripts these people are reading from are top notch. The likes of Robert Guillaume, Louis Gossett Jr. and Michelle Forbes, all actors with a long, long credit list in TV and movie roles. There are also returns for several people used in the original Half-Life, reprising the roles of Barney (the security guard) as well as Dr Eli Vance.

The graphics are what makes this title, no matter how good any other aspect of the game is. Once you get to a safe spot in the various areas you find yourself in, it’s time to marvel at the ‘Source’ graphics engine, along with the amazing voice acting the graphics used for the facial features is nothing short of stunning, emotions are visible and add yet another dimension to this already amazing game. Then there are the rest of the graphics, textures and effects will just leave you open mouthed, the effects for water are perhaps the best seen anywhere while the breaking glass in windows just can’t be seen better anywhere, getting closer to real life than has been seen previously. There really isn’t enough time to fully get across how spectacular Half-Life 2 looks.

Valve and Vivendi Universal have taken a rather different approach to the release of Half-Life 2, and it’s worth a paragraph to explain how this could perhaps become the standard for releases. The past few months have seen what Valve and their ‘Steam’ system have called the ‘pre-loading’ of HL2 onto many machines, all legal and above board, then it is just a matter of clicking buttons to unlock the game upon release. Even the shop-bought game requires logging onto ‘Steam’ in Valve’s attempt to thwart the pirates. Since there hasn’t been a pirated version available prior to release Vivendi and Valve will no doubt call this system a resounding success, although some people had problems on the day of release unlocking their copy of the game.

For the online fans out there, of which there are many, the online gaming side of Half-Life 2 sees the return of Counter-Strike. Instead of making the single player side of the game into a multiplayer game Valve have simply moved Counter-Strike on to the ‘Source’ engine. Even including the older maps in with the newer design, the CS game also includes the ‘newer’ maps that have been designed all with the updated graphics and physics seen in the new Half-Life 2. The disappointment here could be that Valve didn’t adapt some of the HL2 maps into Counter-Strike multiplayer missions, but undoubtedly the Counter-Strike fans with be more then happy with the old favourites and the new engine to play them on and of course there is that inevitable mod community beavering away all night to bring you new additions.

Now rather then letting you think that Half-Life 2 is all roses and doesn’t have any problems whatsoever, here’s the gripes section. Now there aren’t many problems with the game, and what there is aren’t exactly going to make you throw things around in fits of rage. The main problem is probably going to be more noticeable for people without high spec systems, loading times can be longer then you would expect. Another problem comes when you have company in the game; people following you can bump into you can push you about, a problem if you were hiding around a corner or behind an object. The final gripe comes with you interacting with some of the movable objects in the game, if you bump into some of these objects you can become stuck, nothing permanent, but nevertheless slightly annoying and possibly fatal for poor Gordon.

Half-Life took the FPS out of the barren alien worlds of the 90’s and brought it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Half-Life 2 has grabbed the whole shebang and propelled things even further; yes Doom 3 has its pluses and in some small ways is maybe as good as, if not better, in certain aspects but for the whole deal there just isn’t anything that can touch Half-Life 2. It’s the bees’ knees, the cats’ whiskers; hell it’s the dogs bo… lets just say it’s pretty damned good. If you like FPS’ and you haven’t already been and bought Half-Life 2, then why not? The whole debacle of last year may have put people off Half-Life 2, the waiting and multiple set backs marred what was definitely the most anticipated release seen in gaming history. But after you have spent just a short time immersed in this title I dare you to even think the time was wasted. Half-Life 2 has propelled Valve to the top of the FPS and the gaming league tables, not bad considering there are only 2 titles they’ve really released. But the biggest FPS in gaming history (Half-Life) and what is set to take its place (Half-Life 2) isn’t a bad contribution to the gaming world. Valve have not only pushed the envelope, they’ve signed, sealed and delivered it.

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