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Revolutionary.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Yes, Doom was the beginning of the FPS genre as we know it. But Half-Life marked the beginning of an evolutionary leap for the genre. Quite simply put, Half-Life is, and will remain, one of the greatest games ever. I really can't put the gameplay experience into words, but I remember when I first played this game almost ten years ago, I was absolutely absorbed. Seriously. Absorbed. At the time, the mods were sharp, fun, and novel. Counter-strike. Firearms. Team Fortress Classic.

Man, those were fun days.

If you haven't played this game, you need to experience it and understand what it has done to the world of first-person shooters. The enemies. The weapons. The music. The levels. The creativity. It's a cinematic experience in itself, and you're the star.

Arguably the best FPS crawler ever

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My only experience with the game is the solo aspect. From a solo standpoint the game is probably the best shooter/crawler ever but to linear for me. I like a more open, sandbox type game. Half-Life took an already crounded genre, refined and did it better than anybody before or really since. Flawless game play, easy and intuitive controls and top notch story line. I think the story was the best part of the game. Despite my personal views this really is a must have for any pc gamer as it really is the top game in its field.

Saving the world...with a crowbar

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A must-kill for dedicated fans of single-player "first person shooter". HL takes an utterly unoriginal idea for either games or movies and crafts an utterly unstoppable gaming experience. You play Gordon Freeman, who works in the bowels of an ultra-secret, underground research facility called "The Black Mesa". (Having played the game yet I'm still not sure what's supposed to be going on in BM - it's The Aftermath that matters.) Oozing high-tech, the facility is host to the denizens of another dimension when you/Freeman accidentally...do something that tears a whole in the fabric of our own - allowing beings from that other world to enter ours.

Now, if you think that these otherworldly denizens are peaceful beings intent on fostering cross-dimensional love, or that your fellow human beings will enter the Black Mesa unarmed intent on warmly welcoming these beings to our world, or at least to rescue you - I'm afraid you've picked up the wrong game entirely. For in the bowels of "Black Mesa" you'll confront howling dog things, flying crabs, alien-zombified versions of your colleagues, gigantic aliens that breathe fire through their fists, aliens that hang from ceilings (and entrap their victims using these vine-looking things) and squads of human special forces troops intent on killing everything that moves - including you. If the above attracts you because you think it may be the setting that elevates the nobility of the human existence, I should warn you to look elsewhere - for in "Half Life", you'll find yourself acting indiscriminately with a 9mm automatic, a submachine gun, grenades and (most regrettably of all) a nasty crowbar; you'll make few friends and find yourself (for the most part) alone and (not infrequently) exiled to ventilation ducts (again with the ducts!!) to avoid getting shot at by humans, or burned, bitten, bolted or tongue-bathed by aliens.

Complex problem solving skills (as much as marksmanship or bullet-saving) are crucial in this game - in which your enemies have above-average levels of AI. There are unfortunately times when a level may be hung up by the failure to achieve some specific mission-goal, but this is on the whole a game in which the goals are sufficiently complex to make you feel cool for achieving them, yet not so complex as to be impossible to solve. The game's settings are fantastic - from the vast to claustrophobic. The game is long - uncommitted gamers may find it tedious - but the scope of design here rewards those who keep up with it.

I ran this game on an XP-equipped P4, with a 64MB AGP card, and had no problems (other than those involving the evil aliens and homicidal fellow humans). Graphics and sound were smooth, and I suffered no CTD's. As with all FPS games, The Rotten Review strenuously endorses the Nostromo Speedpad.

Long live the G man

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

-When the world comes to an end it won't be some steroid pumped Arnold
Schwarzenegger type that saves the world, it shall be a geeky scientist
called Gordon Freeman. He is having a rather peaceful and uneventful
day till some little aliens start ripping his co workers to pieces and
some sounds and explosions start going off. No one has no idea what is
really going on and apparently, there seems to be an intense amount of
radiation which makes it impossible for anyone to go outside and see
what's really going on. As luck would have it, Gordon has hazmat suit
that can shield him from the radiation and so he's sent out to find out
what is happening. As he goes out he finds the legendary crowbow which
becomes his first weapon and as he ventures out he runs into tiny
little aliens that jump of the ground and bite you hard, he runs into
big aliens with crab heads that are pretty easy to kill but the most
dangerous foes he faces is not the aliens but rather the human army
that thinks Gordon is an enemy and tries to kill him at every turn.
Still not knowing what's going Gordon must fight his way to the truth
and uncover what is happening at Black Mesa

-A lot of idiots pan PC games and I honestly don't know why. It has
better and more tighter controls than console games and in the case of
this game the graphics and story are much better. compared to the
graphics we have today they seem crude but remember they came out a
long time ago and back when it came out it was. The facial animation
was crap but I doubt anyone will be paying attention to the faces when
they are surrounded by tiny little aliens trying to bit their faces
off. I know it sounds cliché and tired to say that graphics doesn't
matter as long as the game is solid but in this case it's true, plus
back in 98 this was top notch graphics.

-I'd love more than anything to say that the score is amazing but I
can't since there's no music in the game, but that really works to the
advantage of the game since it gives it an uber realistic feel that
tends to make you forget that you're playing a game and makes you feel
like you're actually Gordon roaming around the dark corridors trying
not to get ambushed by aliens. since there's no score the sound carries
the whole game and my god is it amazing.

-A lot of scares rely on someone jumping from the shadows but this game
rather realizes on sound to that work for you. Unlike horror movies,
the sound isn't ridiculously loud but rather creepy as hell. You can
hear moans and snickering coming from the speakers when you're just
simply walking around. The creepy ambiance alone is reason for why
anyone should check out this game. If you have heart problems then it's
best you play the game with the sound turned down since it will scare
you badly. adding a sub to your PC is a must for this game since there
is an abundance of lows spread throughout the game

-Perhaps the aspect of "Half-Life" that made it so famous was not the
game itself but the fantastic online spin off "Counter-strike" which
was a mod created by two people. I can't remember their names but I do
know that their game stole 7 months of my life three years ago and
those were some great 7 months. Counter-Strike is a fairly simple game
where you play as either the terrorist or the anti terrorist. You roam
around and shoot your enemies till one of you wins. I know it sounds
simple but what makes it work is just how plain fun it is. If you've
just had a bad and is looking to release some aggression then play this
game and you'll feel the anger slip away.

-With "God of War" and "Halo" being made into movies it's safe to say
that the video game genre is desperately trying to get back into the
movie industry. Apart from "Silent Hill" and "Mortal Kombat" they've
all been pretty terrible so my anticipation for them is not that high.
I do have cross my fingers for "Splinter Cell" since Peter Berg is
directing it. I hope that this game gets a great movie treatment that
no only does justice to the stellar game but also pulls a "Batman
Begins" with the video game adaptation franchise

-If you're looking for an intense FPS experience that scares you
poopless one second and makes you say wow the next second then pick
this up. If you want a FPS with a great story and characters that you
grow to then also pick this up.

THE BEST GAME OF ALL TIME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

when i first got this game i thought it was going to be one of those stupid sci fi games.I WAS WRONG!it was the most fun in a game i had ever had.

The best first person shooter ever.. this game started it all!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Mention first person shootears and this is probably the first game that will come to your mind. its' tht damn good!

i first played this game in 2000.. asked my sister from american to get it for me. was so excited after playing uplink(the half life demo) that i just could'nt wait..and as soon as i installed it onto my computer.. i was hooked.. i had never seen anything like this.. i mean, duke nukem and doom 2 were appetisers compared to this baby!!

okay.. about the game :

WEAPONS : you start off with a crowbar and slowly move on to advanced guns like the machine gun,RPG,M-16(aaaaah)magnum,gauss,etc. But the RPG is my all time fav. Guiding missiles with ur mouse controls.. i mean.. how cool is that?
i used to mess around with the missiles half of the time.. just for fun:)
unlike doom or duke nukem. guns ARE'NT Just lying somewhere. You're supposed to collect most of them from the dead enemies, which makes it so real. i was surprised when i got the machine gun after killing one of the soldiers. i was expecting it to be lying somewhere, waiting for me to pick it up.. or a miracle! You might find it funny but these are just some of the minor details which earlier games did'nt have.. guess the guys at valve were taking this a little seriously,which is a good thing.

ENEMIES : the best AI ever. the soldiers, the crabheads, the 'oh so cool' apache helicopters, the huge monsters at the end of the game.. ooooh(drooling)..!!!
every enemy was detailed and hit back at you. they don't wait for you to make a move. If the see you coming, u better be prepared. a slight noise and they're gonna come back at you with everything they've got. they reload and use ammunition in the same way tht u do.

STORY : wow!! breathtaking.. this game is totally story driven. right from the beginning. You're probably thinking wht's so good about the story.. every game has a story,probably even better than this one. But i dont think any game out there allowed you to be a part of the story like this one did. it is so intense and it just sucks you in.
There is this one part of the story called APPREHENSION, where the kidnap gordon freeman. I've showed this scene to my friends over and over and over again. These 2 soldiers are carrying you and you have no guns with you nothing.. You just wait for their coneversation to get over. You have no idea what they are going to do to you, what's coming next.. It is one of the coolest scenes ever. And it's not CGI. It's actually the game. You're in it..
You actually would want to complete the game just to know what happens at the end. I knew that the moment i defeated the final monster, there was something bigger coming. And that is exactly what happened.. One of the BEST and the coolest ENDINGS for an FPS EVER!!!

To sum it up.. i would give this game 5 stars all the way for its cool factor and its originality. I have'nt played half life 2, quake 4,F.E.A.R. and doom 3 yet.. but my new PC is on the way..should have it in a week.. an athlon 3500, 1 GB ram and a 6600 nvidia geforce.. have already bought the games and cant wait to play half life 2.. it has been rated game of the year and i'm sure they already have a platinum edition out for it yet. They are just taking games to the next level!!
Thank you valve. We'll never forget this game.. It is a classic!!

The best shooting game of the nineties!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Awsome, the story behind half-life is very cool.

Yet another incredible game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was in about sixth grade when this came out, or at least when my dad bought it. I still love it, and it's very realistic, yet also fun to play as well! It's unbelievably fun. Games today focus too much on realistic graphics, rather than good story lines, or good gameplay. I hope to be a video game designer one day, and I wanna make games that are more like the older ones, such as this. Older video games give me a more comforting feeling than these games today that have stories that are more like real life than being fun. Half-Life (All three of them) will always be among my favorite video games ever, and even if you run out of ammo and have to start the whole game over again, so what?! It's worth it! It's worth every single penny!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Everyone knows that Half-Life is the best. I played it for the first time because before this title, I played Half-Life 2. When I completed the game on all level sets. I was left feeling a little left out on all the action the first Half-Life title had to offer. So I went hear and when I found what I was looking for, I didn't expect the greatest graphics or the greatest story line like the second addition. No I expected the rest of the story line...where it all began. Having said that, I noticed that the G-Man, really has nothing to offer than a JOB! A Job!! Anyway, I give it 5 stars anyhow because it truly is the best game that I have ever played for PC. Half-Life 1 and 2 RULES! Before you play Half-Life 2, at least play Half-Life one time over. A JOB!? Now I understand Half-Life 2 a little bit better. Im just waiting for Half-Life 3...

Sierra Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is really great. I own the following Sierra games:

Half-life (game of the year edition)
Blue Shift
Opposing Force
Half-life 2

All I can say is that in September of 2003, Half-life 2 was suppost to be released, but they delayed it many times. So finally it was released sometime around the middle-end of 2004, and in November 2004, I picked up the game. I wasn't too dissapointed, although it's not as hard/fun as the original Half-life game. I like Opposing Force and Blue Shift, except the only problem with Blue Shift is that it dissapointed me with it being way too short. There is not even a final monster like Opposing Force and Half-life. Still, Blue Shift is fun.

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