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Valve has Done it Again!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: February 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Within minutes of beginning Half-Life 2, it dawned upon me that much like its predecessor, "Half-Life," the game is truly revolutionary, not only for its astounding graphics engine but for its truly cinematic scope.

The plot is engaging and immensely beguiling. In Half-Life 1, the theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman, under the orders of his superiors, activated an interdimensional rift at the Black Mesa research facility situated in the desert. From the depths of the rift entered a race of aliens known as the Nihilant, which proceeded to lay waste to the facility and threaten humanity. Freeman entered through the rift and succeeded in destroying the homeworld from which the aliens originated. However, upon arrival at the Black Mesa Research Facility, the military engaged in a vicious cover-up involving the extermination of all survivors. In Half-Life 2, Gordon Freeman, having returned to Earth from the homeworld of the Nihilant, discovers City 17, an Orwellian nightmare in which the citizens have been completely subjugated by an authoritarian regime known as the Combine. Exacerbating the problem, the aliens released from Black Mesa now run amok in City 17. Fans of the original Half-Life will be pleased to learn that the characters Barry Calhoun and Dr Kleiner return from the original game and are leaders of a small band of resistance against the dictatorial regime.

Highly detailed and with the most impressive physics engine I have ever seen in a game, Valve has created an environment in which gravity plays a pivotal and incredibly important role. Examples of this include stacking boxes to climb over a fence or through a window or floating barrels to raise a platform. The vast cityscapes and highly detailed facial features of the main characters are of a level never seen before. Unlike any other game presently, the features of the characters are truly lifelike, with visible wrinkles, expressions and pores. Other than the mesmeric and plentiful eye candy, the captivating plot engages successfully with the gamer, and I found the experience exceedingly satisfying. The musical score is excellent and seamlessly changes from that befitting a brooding atmosphere to a sequence of first person shooter action. It augments the gameplay well, though there are times where the score could use more variation.

It is, however, in the area of gameplay that Half-Life 2 truly excels. While Gordon Freeman is never seen and never speaks, this hardly detracts from the experience. Effortlessly shifting from moments of intense suspense and tension to mind-blowing action, as a first person shooter, Half-Life 2 is excellent. Here I must return to the game's amazing (I'm running out of superlatives here) physics engine. Freeman can pick up objects and shift them around, but it is the gravity gun that makes this area of the game truly unique. Using the gravity gun (in the game this is also known as the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator), Gordon Freeman can pick up objects and, with a single click, send them flinging away. Apart from being a handy tool in solving the game's many gravity-based puzzles, the practice of hurling barrels at unsuspecting zombies is quite gratifying!

My only gripe with Half-Life 2 is the annoying system by which one must connect to the internet and "log in" with Steam for the game to run. Apart from being intensely frustrating when notified that the servers are too busy to run the game, such an unwieldy system really eliminates those without an internet connection, and taints what would otherwise be an unbelievable addition to the Half-Life series.

A worthy sequel.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Half Life is my favorite game of all-time. So when HL2 was coming out, my expectations were high.

Thankfully, this game lives up to the hype.

The graphics are very good. I have seen many reviews stating that the games graphics look dated. Hogwash I say. There are very few games that compare graphically.

The sound, the story, and the physics (though overused a little) are also very good. Plus the game has several hours of playing time for the SP. The only other SP FPS game that had this many hours was the original HL. And the fact that there are alot of friends, enemies, weapons, and completely different locations to visit makes the SP very interesting. And some of the things you have to battle makes this a challenging and fun game.

One of the other problems I heard about was Steam. Steam is Valve's program for all of the games. I personally have had very little trouble with it and I like it. No more searching the interent trying to find the new patch or maps for the games. Steam automatically updates all of this for you (except for maps made by other servers).

As for the MP, CS:S is fun and they keep giving new maps every couple of months. The only real problem is cheaters. The anti cheat that Valve was supposed to release has not happened yet. But when it does, accounts caught cheating could be banned which i believe is a good thing. There are plenty of maps and servers to play and with the addition of new maps, it stays fairly fresh.

HL2DM is ok. There are not as many servers and most of them are very laggy which is strange considering I get excellent latency on CSS. There are also a bunch of maps (including old ones from HL like Gasworks and Crossroads) to play. I enjoy it when the latency is good, but it is pretty tough to find a good server.

The fact that the SP is so long and you get 2 MP games here that that alone makes it worth it. PErsonally, I love the game and can't wait until Aftermath (this is supposed to be another Steam update. Is it free? Hope so) comes out. Some people still hold a grudge against Valve because it took so long. But almost every game today has delays. I am just happy it came out. If you liked HL, you will definitely enjoy this.

frustration!!!!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

IVE BEEN READING OTHER REVIEWS AND I FEEL THE SAME WAY I WAITED SO LONG FOR THE GAME SO FINNEALY IT COMES OUT AND I PAY THE 54 DOLLAR PRICE WICH IS A JOKE IN MY BOOK BUT ANYWAY I GET IT HOME AND THERES 5 DISCS UM I THOUGHT VALVE HAD HEARD ABOUT DVD TECHNOLOGY WELL I GUESS NOT NO MATTER AFTER INSTALLING THE BEAST I HAD BEEN SITTING THERE SO LONG A NEEDED A CIGG THEN I COME BACK HOPING ALL THIS WAS WORTH IT AS I CLICK THE ICON TO BEGGIN PLAYING IT THEN INFORMS ME I MUST HAVE A INTERNET CONNECTION WICH AT THIS TIME I DONT HAVE IM SURE AT THIS POINT YOU CAN IMAGIN MY FRUSTRATION I WAS SO MAD I WANTED TO TAKE THE GAME THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW ANYWAY DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS I DID IT MAY BE AN IMPRESSIVE GAME BUT EVEN AFTER BUYING IT I DONT KNO DO YOURSELF A FAVOR FIND A DIFFERENT GAME THERES PLENTY OUT THERE I RECCOMEND MOA PACIFIC

Soulless and anticlimatic

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 19
Date: April 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved Half-Life. Loved it. First FPS to incorporate an actual plot, which made you feel the character's jeopardy, and a sense of accomplishment when you finally succeeded.

When I heard this was coming out, and saw screen caps, I was blown away. When I saw a video of the physics, I was floored. I NEVER purchase games new, especially since they'll be cheap eventually, and I can be patient. But as soon as they announced a release date, I put my cash down for a reservation.

I picked it up the first day it came out, gigling to myself about how awesome this was going to be. I had actually built a brand new computer, solely so I could run this game (that's how excited I was). And I was one of the lucky ones that installed hassle free. No steam problems at all.

So the game starts and it looks great. The mood is perfect. Very Orwellian. You play for about half an hour, and all of a sudden, this flimsy excuse comes up and now you have to run around shooting stuff. After a while, you get to your destination. You get a little story, and then another flimsy excuse to have to around and shoot stuff. Repeat for 10 hours (at most), and then get an ending that essentially says:

"Well, thanks for buying a game we couldn't think of a plot for (but it looks great), and didn't have time to flesh out (but what awesome physics!!!), and now you'll have to pay us $20 an expansion pack just to find out what's going on (and there will be plenty). Trust us, we can go on forever ripping you off. And we don't care, because as long as it looks pretty and bodies fall limp instead of backwards, we know we can gouge you."

My only hope is that people wake up and realize that games are more than graphics, the same way that films are more than budget. If movie goers were the same as gamers, Waterworld would be the biggest grossing movie of all time.

As a sidenote, I believe anybody who pirates the next expansion pack will be completely justified, and I hope Valve feels it. Screw them and their disgust of people who like quality games.

Horrible installation

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: October 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I loved the first Half-Life, and this one looks pretty awesome, but unfortunately it is marred by what could possibly be one of the worst installation procedures ever devised. You need to register online for the single-player game! What a pain. If you buy this be prepared to spend hours installling it. Really, really lame.

Buy CD, must download and internet, Steam has me Steamed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: July 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It is ironic that a game of this theme makes you sign up on their internet site and download large amounts of files even if you buy the cd from the store. I refuse to participate in that. I made the mistake of going along with that in Half-Life 1, but not again in Half-Life 2.

This thing, this albatross to a potentially enjoyable experience is called Steam.

I hate this game.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: January 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have had a horrible experience with this game. I hate Valve now, and will not buy another game from this company. I have wasted a whole day trying to play this game. There are several problems. 1) Tremendous load time. It took nearly an hour to load (AFTER the installation process was over). 2) STEAM (may the company rot in hell) is required in order to play the game. You have to register with them before you can play HALF LIFE 2. By the way, they also took over my original HALF LIFE game. I can't play that one now either even though this morning before installing HL2 I had no problems. My system is a Pentium 4 1.6 Gigahertz system with 512 Megs of Ram and oodles of hard drive space. I have a killer All In Wonder video card. That's well within the minimum specs of this game, but the darn thing seems to choke on HL2. Please, save your money and time and get another game. I wish that I had.

Upate: 12-16-05: Everything I said above still stands. That's how much I dislike this game. Please, buy FEAR instead.

Best Game Ever....bar none

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: August 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Half-Life 2 has been out for nearly a year now. Having recently played though the game a third time at high difficulty, I decided write a review, despite the multitude of raves already on display here.

HL2 was released last November, and yet I can't think of a single game released since that's come close to this level of verisimilitude. This speaks volumes of the competancy and creativity that resides within the offices of Valve. HL2 has....nearly everything. A balanced weapons set. Amazing graphics. Excellent voice acting. An intriguing plotline. Some really over-the-top action sequences and surprises around almost every corner.

So what sets Half-Life 2 apart from the crowd? Being a First-Person-Shooter veteran going on a 12 years now, I've put way too much thought into this....

1) More than any other next-gen shooter on the market, Half-Life 2 is subtle. This is not to say that the action isn't intense (in some ways, almost "soil your pants" intense), but at least HL2 gives you room to breath. Fight your way past soldiers exhibiting some impressive AI, and then you've got some time to get your bearings. Enjoy the scenery. Play around with the environment.

2) Unlike games like Doom 3, HL2 does not lay on the scares too thick. My main issue with Doom 3 was the over-reliance upon shock-value to generate entertainment. After the 30th room wherein the lights suddenly went out and baddies teleported in from nowhere, I found myself getting numb to it. For the most part, HL2 doesn't rely upon this tactic. Yes, its often pretty freaky, but not mindnumbingly so.

3) HL2 has environmental interactivity in spades. The inclusion of the Gravity Gun adds so much fun to the game and allows a level of play creativity that just doesn't exist in other shooters. Yeah, the Doom 3 expansion pack included a similar weapon, but it felt like an after thought.

4) The Source Engine is a thing of beauty. In some ways, Doom 3 is a better looking game. Its use of light surpasses what the Source Engine is capable of. From what I understand, the Doom 3 Engine (D3E) is also capable of rendering some impressive outdoor scenes, but that's only "what's been said". And while ID claims D3E can handle it, Valve actually delivers the goods. Its not **quite** photorealistic, but its as close as anything on the market. Source's ability to scale itself down for compatibility with older graphics chipsets is a nice bonus, so provided you've got a 1.2ghz machine and a GeForce 3 card, you can still run HL2 at a playable framerate.

5) There's an old photography adage that says "as long as the eyes are in focus, a person will understand what he/she is looking at". And while it sounds lame, you'd have to see the game in action to understand. As far as character animation goes, the eyes are everything. They convey fear, bemusement, misunderstanding, desperation. Play though the level "Follow Freeman!" or "Anticitizen One", and you'll understand. Fighting the Combine in City 17 alongside the resistance, you can see the emotions of your followers. They're freaking out, they're uncertain and they just might die. Again, you can see those emotions in these characters. This adds so much verisimilitude, its astounding.

6) Half-Life 2 is a shooter. But in levels like "Route Kanal" and "Highway 17", its also an arcade racer. Then Valve throws down the gauntlet and turns HL2 into an insense survival-horror shooter in "We Don't Go To Ravenholm...." There's more variety here than this review can do justice to.

7) Memorable characters. Alyx, Eli Vance, Dr. Kleiner, Barney, Dr. Breen, Judith Mossman, the robotic Dog, the irrepresible Barney and the unearthly Man In The Suit. I don't typically think of much the characterization and plotting of most games, even RTSs with extended cut-scenes. Just given the fact that I CAN remember those character names is an impressive feat in and of itself. It means alot of care went into the creation of these characters.

8) "Strider!" Play it. You'll understand. While yer at it, watch out for falling smokestacks.

The list goes on and on. The jaw-dropping set-pieces. The boss battles that don't feel like the forced "boss-battles" of old. The organic use of light and the lived-in feel of the world that HL2 inhabits. It makes you want more.

Which brings me to my last point. Valve is close to releasing an additional (and free) level to Half-Life 2 called "The Lost Coast" (shoehorned between "Highway 17" and "Sandtraps"). Mostly, Valve intends "Lost Coast" to demonstrate some new rendering technology (HDR) which will more realistically depict the reflection of high-intensity light. Sounds kinda hokey, with the way I'm explaining it (I'm not a tech-head), but from the screenshots I've seen, HDR will drastically improve graphical realism. But you'll need some horsepower to play the game at full-detail with HDR enabled - either a Radeon x800 Pro or a GeForce 6800GT.

So thats all I had to say. If you've somehow neglected to save the world for a 2nd time as Gordon Freeman, the ubiquitous everyman PhD from MIT, you've done yourself a grand disservice. Rectify this oversight immediately. You'll be glad ya did.

VALVE=CROOKS

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: May 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Valve has the perfect con going. They charge you forty bucks to buy a game that you can't play UNLESS you use steam to verify that you actually bought it but since STEAM may make your computer crash or freeze your system so you can't actually play the game and since you opened the box you can't return it to the the store and get your money back. INTELLECTUAL COPYRIGHT FASCISM has led to this state of affairs where crooks like VALVE can sell you products that don't work and YOU don't have the right to get your money back. Boycott VALVE and don't ever download games (from any company) so that we don't get to a future where STEAM is the only way to play games at all. That is the future these INTELLECTUAL COPYRIGHT HOLDER FASCISTS are drooling over. Don't give it to them.

Ripped Off...Yet Again!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 15
Date: January 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I received a copy of Half Life 2 for Christmas. I have been waiting for this game to be released for two years. Yep, we have all been through the "our ideas were stolen...yada...yada...yada..." I was appalled to discover that in order to load the game, I had to sign up for an account on-line!!!! Sure, they "SAID" you could play the game off-line once you signed up BUT what kind of "stronged arm robbery" is this!?! You HAVE to sign up for their on-line crap that you DO NOT want OR need?!?! Valve AND Sierra should be hung and quartered for this blatant ripping off of the public. Now...IF you can swallow all that BS and decide to try the game for all its hipe, you will quickly discover that Sierra and Valve released the game on FIVE CD'S!!!! Who on God's green earth puts out a game as a multi-swap CD anymore?!?! One darn DVD would have handled the complete game. Okay, so you play the CD swap only to find out that their is a crucial file missing at the end of the 4th CD. Oh, did I mention the craptacular box AND no manual?!?!

I did not bother to return the game. I threw it in the trash where it, and all other games like it, belong. It is a shame that I never got to experience any of the game itself. Maybe the companies will release a non rip off version on DVD, that actually loads AND that has a hard copy of the manual!

You know, there was a time when Sierra games were to die for...KIng's Quest series...Phantasmagoria, etc...BUT no more :( [...]

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