Half-Life 2 is the sequel to one of the greatest shooters in the history of video games.
Gameplay: Half-Life 2 is your standard FPS fare with a few twists thrown in. There are many puzzles based off of a gun in your inventory called the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator, or "Gravity Gun",capable of picking up, and then projecting objects at high speeds regardless of weight. This opens up a wide array of possibilities for evading the squads of soldiers that will pursue you. Say you are in a firefight and all of a sudden ammunition runs low. You are huddled, inside a box car of a train when out of the corner of your eye you spy a fire extinguisher carelessly discarded. You switch to the gravity gun, pick it up, position yourself, and fire. The explosion caused is enough to knock your attackers off their feet, killing some, and allowing you to make your escape. Fun? You bet. Original? Oh HELL yes. The normal controls are nothing to sneeze at either. Everything feels fast and responsive. The difficulty can get excessive at times, but thankfully the game never becomes impossible, even at the higher levels. Learning the techniques to destroy each enemy is a rewarding experience, and almost necessary if you want to advance in the game. The game play of Half-Life 2 is second to none.
Graphics: Half-Life 2, like its predecessor, is a front runner in the graphics department. The Source engine is a masterpiece. Realistic shaders and pixels help to bring the environments to life in a way never before thought possible in video games. The physics are fantastic. Source is based off of an improved version of HAVOK physics, some of the most realistic of all time. The bolt crossbow is one of my favorite weapons for showing off the physics in this game. Hit an enemy just right and watch their body fly back and become pegged onto a wall, limbs flailing and firing with nerve synapses. It's stunning, and creepy at the same time. With water that looks so good you could drink it, and buildings so realistic they could be confused for photos. Half-Life 2's graphics are in a league of their own. For a true treat, download the "Lost Coast" expansion and go into the Chapel. Sit and just marvel at the sun coming in through the windows, and thank God for HDR technology.
Sound: Never skipping a beat, Valve creates a wondrous soundtrack for this game. The game gets very creepy at times due to the overall atmosphere, graphics alone cannot accomplish this level of fright from a game set in the daytime, you need convincing sound. The enemy soldiers sound fantastic, their voices all wonderfully bland and monotone. They really fit what one would think enemies like these would sound like. The coastal portions of the game treat you to rushing water and seagulls across all levels. All of the guns sound great. The sound in this game, while not as easily memorable as the rest, is yet another in the long list of high points.
Value: As the sequel to what is largely considered the greatest FPS ever made, Half-Life 2 is a remarkable achievement on its own. A story in an FPS is something that most dream of. The exploits of Gordon Freeman and his efforts to stop the Combine will leave you aching for more, yet strangely satisfied at the end after what is one of the greatest final levels in shooter history.
Tilt: I enjoyed this game, everything made sense to me. The characters were believable, the environments tortured and beautiful. Everything Valve has created is wonderful. The modding community is in full force for this game and it shows. Half-Life 2 has done to shooting what its sequel did so long ago. Revolutionizing a severely limited genre not once, but twice, puts Valve into the book as one of the greatest developers of all time.