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Half Life 2 Review

Chris Leyton

23/11/2004

Six years... We would have waited a decade for the joy that is Half Life 2...

Having waited close to six years for a sequel to Valveâs platform defining Half Life, the agony associated with authorising and registering Half Life 2 via the online Steam network, is barely palatable; thankfully the wait on both counts has been well worth it, Half Life 2 is quite honestly the most refreshing title weâve played on the PC since Gordon Freeman first arrived back in 1998.

The unlikely hero who has built up a loyal fanbase akin to that of a certain plumber or a blue hedgehog returns, in a story that picks up some time after the âincidentâ at Black MESA. With Gordon working for the mysterious G-Man, the game is set in an Eastern European location named City 17, a city of utter despair where its distraught inhabitants are literally kept under lock-and-key. Revealing exact details of the storyline would be detrimental to the experience offered by Half Life 2, so weâll stick away from that â“ suffice to say, youâll find yourself up against the aliens from Xen and the City 17 military (otherwise known as the Combine) in a storyline that keeps you hooked with twists and surprises by the plenty, whilst HL fans will be pleased to note the return of numerous familiar faces to assist Gordon in his adventure.

The game begins with Gordon Freeman arriving in City 17 upon a train; since pioneering this âinteractive introductionâ sequence in Half Life, it has gone on to be used more times then we care to remember, including most recently Doom 3 and Halo 2. Itâs not a massive aspect to the game, however itâs this âflowingâ mentality that proceeds throughout the entire experience and ensures that Half Life 2 (much like its original) never breaks the game up into gameplay and then cinematics â“ itâs one cohesive experience from start to end. Such a level of thought and concentration has gone into Half Life 2 that you can easily see where the years have gone; when youâre conversing with characters they easily shift their stance to ensure theyâre looking in your direction, dialogue heavy scenes pan and manifest before your eyes on a level not before seen in videogames â“ it quite honestly doesnât feel like a videogame at times, itâs so fluid, so natural and oh so beautiful.

The beginning stages of the game set the tone perfectly, slowly filling the player in with details as to where he is, and how Gordon came to be where he is. The story is naturally based around a Sci-Fi setting that will have Half Life fans and conspiracy theorists alike drooling with every new twist, however itâs the healthy balance of humour and tension that ensures Half Life 2 again creates an enthralling experience that will have any gamer hooked â“ whether youâre a fan of the subject material or not.

Despite making the acquaintance with one or two familiar faces during these opening stages, the game takes on a very quick tempo as youâre chased from the inner areas of City 17 and have to make your escape by whatever means necessary. Weâre not spoiling any surprises by stating that you soon find yourself on a make-shift boat, having to make your escape whilst handling various gun-ships and APCs that thwart your progress. These scenes are particularly action-packed, with gun-ships dropping mines by the dozen and APCs spewing forth fire. It is however during this frenzied period that the use of physics and real-world logic becomes glaringly apparent.

A lot has already been made of the Source engine, and itâs fair to say that every bit of hype has been well worth it. Primarily itâs the integration of the Havok physics engine that will have players amused to begin with; physics within videogames is certainly beginning to take off, however Half Life 2 takes this to new dimensions by actually incorporating it within the game and making it crucial to succeed.

To begin with youâll have fun picking up virtually any object within the game world and watching how it behaves scarily authentically to the real-world; concrete blocks have a real sense of weight, whilst cardboard boxes fly in the air and become unpackaged accordingly under heavy fire. Itâs not long into the game however before you realise that this actually serves a purpose, and not merely an added layer of visual candy. To begin with itâs a case of weighing down one edge of a see-saw so you can access a higher ledge; however the use of objects within the game takes on even more devilish proportions as you progress throughout the game. During one particular stage of the boat-chase sequence, your progress is thwarted by what appears to be an insurmountable barrier; however take a minute to survey your surroundings and youâll notice blue plastic containers floating on the surface, simply take these underwater to act as buoyancy which in turn raises the barrier â“ simple... Itâs this level of applying real-world logic to the gameâs puzzles which truly creates the most exceptional feeling of satisfaction weâve had in a videogame; for too long weâve just had to make do with shooting anything that moves, Half Life 2 requires players to stop for a moment and think about things â“ such a refreshing change from what weâre used to, and hopefully this will act as a catalyst for others to follow.

Despite adding a new layer to the already impressive gameplay, the heavy use of physics within the game also makes everything just look so damn cool, not to mention increasing the level of authenticity; blowing up a bridge will see planks of wood splinter off into different directions and start a chain reaction with a truck dropping and providing you with supplies; the absolutely amazing explosive barrels can be used to dramatic effects, particularly when youâve got a couple stacked up; cables twist and bend accordingly whilst metal buckles under the natural forces such as gravity, friction and buoyancy â“ quite honestly weâve never seen a game-world that is so believable.

But perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of incorporating physics is the use of the Gravity Gun, which literally transforms pretty much any inanimate object into a deadly weapon. Wooden shards from a splintered box can be used as make-shift stakes; buzz-saws can chop a line of ensuing head-crab sucking zombies into half and itâs ideal for picking up handy objects that maybe a little too far away. The sheer amount of fun to be had from this âweaponâ is unmatchable, whilst it proves to be unbelievably useful particularly on the numerous occasions when youâve run out of ammo; literally this is the best weapon in a FPS since id introduced the BFG-9000 back in Doom. The rest of the weapons within Half Life 2 are far more traditional, however no less satisfying or effective, with the usual selection of shotguns, sub-machine guns, grenades and various other tools to kit yourself up with.

The dynamic of the game changes brilliantly as you progress through the game, whilst the slow drip-feed of information keeps you hooked. As weâve stated the first part of the game maintains a quick tempo as you attempt to escape from City 17, however the experience then changes drastically and builds a level of tension that will have you screaming at your monitor with every dark, twisting and foreboding alleyway that you stumble across. Each mission is packed full of puzzles and set-pieces to ensure that each and every moment of Half Life 2 will stick in your memory, whilst the sheer variety of tasks presented to the player along with the genius in Valveâs level designers, ensures that Half Life 2 can quite capably sit alongside its much revered predecessor.

As youâd expect the AI throughout Half Life 2 is of an exceptional standard and truly raises the bar for the genre. Not only can the enemies traverse the environment with ease to hunt you down, but also use various objects as cover and call in assistance from nearby colleagues; whilst the head-crab sucking zombies will use any object in their vicinity to chuck at you. It seems as though thereâs hardly a minute to catch your breath within Half Life 2, as even the most insignificant enemies will track you down with ease and ensure you never feel completely safe.

Visually the game is a master-piece; however we always knew that it was going to be something special. Just the sheer variety of astoundingly detailed textures on display, creates a realistic and varied look far removed from anything else weâve seen on the PC. It is however with the character models that the Source engine truly excels; looking closely upon a characterâs face during conversation youâll notice their facial muscles moving as they talk, whilst the attention to detail at such a small level such as eyeballs reflecting light, is truly astounding. Valve have done their best to ensure Half Life 2 will work on a wide range of specifications, however at the very least youâre going to need a DX 9.0 enabled graphics card to witness the true splendour of Half Life 2.

If this seems as though Half Life 2 is without fault, thatâs pretty much the truth; perhaps the only problem we have with the game, is the issue over loading in scenes. The game is staged in one massive coherent landscape, which naturally loads in sections whenever you cross certain boundaries; unfortunately the load sequence is often quite a significant time and breaks up the flow of the game. To make matters worse we found ourselves occasionally in positions whereby youâd need a run-up in one of the vehicles to cross a certain jump, wander back too far and youâll incur a load sequence, only to turn around and suffer yet another load sequence â“ two lengthy load sequences merely just to cross a jump.