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PRE-GAME

"It's time to wake up Gordon. Time to wake up and smell the ashes". Thus the war to save humanity from extinction begins. Gordon Freeman, the Black Mesa research scientist turned hero, awakens to a world ravaged by an unknown alien menace. Now under the employment of the mysterious G-Man, Gordon must work together with his allies to save the Earth, and all of mankind, from total annihilation.

EYE-SPY

THE HOOK: After countless setbacks, delays and unexpected occurrences, the sequel to the most acclaimed PC game ever is finally here and it would be safe to say that it has secured a permanent spot on my hard drive.

HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: Gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe Half-Life 2. Valve has really created a stunningly beautiful world to play in. Every single area feels unique, believable and ravaged by war. From the rubble strewn streets of City 17 to the spartan mechanical interior of the Citadel, an area that just feels foreign, everything is just amazing. Textures are sharp, varied and clean. Each level is populated with hundreds of objects just lying around, ready to be picked up with the gravity gun and hurled about.

So what does it take to run Half-Life 2? Well, Valve lists the minimum requirements as a 1.2 GHz processor, 256MB RAM and a DirectX 7 level graphics card. Though if you want to play with some of the effects turned up, I'd say you need at least a 2 GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and a DirectX 9 level graphics card. Don't fret too much though. As long as you have a system capable of playing games from the past few years, you should be all right. Half-Life 2 scales quite nicely across systems from the benchmarks I've seen.

Models and characters in general, need to be gushed about as well. It shouldn't surprise you that the actual models themselves look great. Enemies, NPC squad members and main story characters all look unique and memorable. It's the life that they express however which deserves the most attention. Valve has long touted its new facial animation system. Basically, it allows the character's lips and faces to perfectly synch up to what they are saying. It may seem minor until you experience it. These characters, and in particular Alyx Vance, display such depth in their faces that you almost mistake them for actual actors. You can see the worry or happiness on their faces. It's as simple as a raised eyebrow and as complex as the wrinkling of the skin on a person's forehead as they look on in disgust.

As for how the game feels, you couldn't ask for more. Responsive first person shooter controls that are fully customizable and extremely easy to learn. If you can handle any other first person shooter with a mouse and keyboard, then you're all set for Half-Life 2.

HOW IT SOUNDS: Top notch voice acting takes center stage here. While Gordon Freeman himself remains the mysterious mute we all know and love, every other character has been given the star treatment. They all breathe a little bit more life into an already living game world. I'm especially fond of the G-Man (played by Mike Shapiro). There is just something amazingly creepy about his voice.

Most of the sounds feel like fuller, richer versions of those found in the original game. You'll quickly learn to recognize the slow shuffling of a zombies feet to the high pitched whine of a manhack (pleasant name isn't it?). Each object in the game seems to have its own distinct sound. Smack a wooden board and you'll hear the splintering and cracking you'd expect. Metallic clanks and hollow thumps of every imaginable tone and shape resonate from hundreds of objects; most notably from the Combine force's structures and "creations." My personal favorite is the sound a Strider makes when it's destroyed. It is so alien and creepy, almost like something straight out of the War of the Worlds. The weapons themselves are all very well done. I could best describe them as meaty. There is a lot of bass, especially in the Combine Assault Rifle, that really just kicks deep given the right sound system.

As in the first game, music is largely absent through most of the game. It only really appears to either highlight an important scene transition or usher in a new mood (such as when you first enter Ravenholm). Music can also appear just before an intense firefight and this is when it really shines. The thumping (and I do mean bass rattling thumping) techno that pounds through really gets the adrenaline going. Add to that the sound of bullets whizzing past you, explosions going off and the constant radio chatter of Combine soldiers trying to flank you and you enter into a world of near-on Hollywood level action scenes.

EXTRAS: Well, this sort of depends on which version you buy. The standard retail edition comes with Half-Life 2 and CounterStrike: Source. Opt for the Collector's Edition and you'll receive extras such as a soundtrack, posters, a hat, strategy guide and more. Plus, you get Half-Life: Source, the original Half-Life game ported over to the new engine. It's a nice addition for those out there who may have missed out on the first Half-Life.

Those of course are just the retail options. You could also go with Steam; Valve's online game distribution client. Steam itself requires a bit of explanation as it's a fairly interesting way of acquiring games. Online distribution clients are not a new thing; however Valve has put a lot of effort and money into making Steam a reliable and effective means of delivering their product to the customers. Steam amounts to a small program that you download onto your computer and install just like any other program. You open up Steam, browse through Valve's catalog of games and when you find something you want to purchase (say the Silver Edition Half-Life 2) you simply enter your credit card information, pay for the game and begin downloading it onto your computer. When it's done, you just run it as if it were any other game. No CD's to swap during installation or CD Keys to remember.

I'm quite pleased with my Steam experience; however you should be warned that not all is well with the program. Many users have reported troubles with authentication, downloading games or other errors of the sort. If you don't have broadband or you just don't feel comfortable not owning a physical copy of your game (though you can easily backup all the game files with no hassle at all), then I'd stick with the Retail editions for now. If you want to give Steam a try though, I give it a pretty good recommendation.

CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE: There are no cinematics in this game. Like the original Half-Life, the story is told through cut scenes viewed from Gordon's point of view. It's a way of making you feel a little more involved in the story; as if you yourself are taking part in this war. It's works exceptionally well in Half-Life 2 thanks to the facial animation system I talked about before.

BEST PLAYER: Well considering you're stuck as Gordon, I'd say he is your best choice. Then again, what isn't there to like about Gordon Freeman? He's a Ph.D. touting research scientist (aka, a geek) who knows how to operate heavy weapons and save the world from total destruction! He's every couch potato/AV Club/computer programmer/game dorks dream come true. Plus he wears thick rimmed black glasses and sports a goatee. The man reeks style.

CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: Hit the ~ key to bring down the console (if it doesn't show up, you need to go into the advanced options and make sure the "Use ~ for console" item is checked). In the console, type "sv_cheats 1" without the quotations and then type in "god" for the ever lovely god mode. A nice addition is to type in "impulse 101" for all weapons. Have fun with that crossbow now.

CHEAT CODE YOU WANT: Giant Headcrabs. You don't really need to know why I want them in the game; you should just realize that they need to be there. Gigantic, city terrorizing, monstrous headcrabs. Oh the humanity of it all!

OH MAN! MOMENT: Being beaten in the face by a Combine soldier during the Nova Prospect level because the stupid turrets I set up are about as accurate as a drunk, blindfolded grandmother with an AK-47. Nova Prospect itself is frustrating and represents the only minor down point in an otherwise stunning game.

GLITCH ITCH: Physics in a game has its ups and its downs. On one hand, they are simply fun to play around with. On the other hand, they can....backfire at times. While as whole Half-Life 2 is an extremely stable and glitch free game, it can be fun at times to try and break the physics engine. Getting cinder blocks stuck in walls in actually pretty easy, and fun. Especially when they just randomly launch out and smack you in the face. God that never gets old....

FAN SERVICE: There are quite a few references back to the original Half-Life, from returning characters to off-hand jokes and references to the Black Mesa incident. While it's not necessary to have played the original Half-Life to understand the sequel, you'll definitely pick up on a few more inside references if you have. Plus, it's worth just looking around sometimes. Who knows what sort of secrets you might happen upon?

END GAME:

I'm just surprised how good a game this really is. I haven't had this much fun or put this much dedication into playing a game for a very long time. It simply screams to be installed and ogled at. Hell, I've got plans for a second go-through. There is just so much at work here that it's surprising it all meshed together into a cohesive project. The facial animation, the story telling, the graphics and the physics. It all fits and plays like a finely tuned machine.

Speaking of the story, if there is anything I'd be likely to criticize about Half-Life 2 it would be the actual story. (As a note, a few minor spoilers for the original Half-Life are coming up) Gordon was put into a sort of stasis at the end of the original Half-Life by the G-Man and awoken years(?) later to the world we see now. None of the other characters in Half-Life 2 seem to know this and they assume Gordon has been awake during the entire invasion of Earth. I see what Valve is getting at when they do this. They've always wanted you the player to feel like you are Gordon (thus the in-game first person cutscenes) and thus you really shouldn't know what is happening. You should be confused because Gordon Freeman is confused. He is a lost man just trying to figure out what's going on. I can't really criticize something that seems as planned as that. I would have liked just a bit more explanation here and there though; maybe an extra cutscene with Alyx or some of the old scientists from Black Mesa. All I can say is that you should definitely read the headlines on newspapers scattered around. You're going to have to gather your information as if you were Gordon Freeman.

See what I mean? How can you criticize innovation story telling like that?

It would be prudent to take a moment to discuss the physics in Half-Life 2. Now, physics aren't a new thing in games. They've become the latest staple of the industry really, and everyone has to have them anymore. However Half-Life 2 takes the pre-established concept of physics in a game and refines it down to a near science. You need to be aware of the physics because they are so integral to the game. The gravity gun allows you to pick up barrels, crates, cinder blocks...hell, almost anything, and then use it against your enemy. Running low on ammo? Pick up the saw blade and fire it towards a zombie. Watching brain dead headcrab zombies be sliced in half is loads of fun...unless their torso starts crawling after you.

In a PC first person shooter multiplayer is a must, and I was initially a bit concerned about the Half-Life 2 multiplayer. Upon release, CounterStrike: Source was the only multiplayer option available. Now while I've been known to indulge myself in a little CounterStrike action from time to time, I wouldn't say it's my favorite game in the world. There are times when you crave the madness, speed and overall nostalgia of good old fashioned free-for-all deathmatch. Half-Life 2, and I stress upon release, was sans any deathmatch whatsoever. However something happened around the first week of December. Valve, in what appeared to be a bit of an early Christmas present, went ahead and released free full-fledged Deathmatch over Steam for download. While the initial release only contained two maps, modmakers all around have already been porting over their own creations and the map count is growing steadily. I'd assume that Valve will eventually release more little goodies over Steam, just like they did with the Deathmatch.

How does it play you may ask? While there is still some much needed tweaking to be done (the Magnum seems overly powerful and some levels could use a reduction in throw able objects) it's a great first step towards some truly innovative deathmatch gaming. The physics are fully implemented in multiplayer games and everyone spawns with a gravity gun. What this means is that it's not uncommon to come running around a corner only to be smashed in the face with a toilet. If you're good enough, you may be able to catch the object thrown at you by another player and fling it right back at them. My favorite tactic though is to simply lurk around and wait until someone picks up an exploding barrel with their gravity gun. I can find no greater way to derive pleasure then by shooting the barrel with a well placed shotgun blast and watching it explode in their face.

Some of the larger games, those with more then 15~20 people playing, can get a bit too hectic at times. It's not very fun to be hit in the face with a dumpster within five seconds of respawing. Lag can be an issue too with large amounts of people as all the physics seem to take up a lot of bandwidth. I tend to prefer the smaller matches, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5~10 people at most. You get a more strategic, slow paced game. Setting traps for others, stalking them and my personal favorite; creating a little fort out of crates and constantly referring to it as your "Undefeatable Compound". Future updates and tweaks will no doubt smooth out the Deathmatch experience but it's still a little rough around the edges as of this writing.

The release of the Deathmatch component for Half-Life 2 brings up something that most people don't talk about with games; their future staying potential. User created modifications, or simply mods for those new to this sort of thing, are hot properties in the PC gaming scene. There is no better way to drum up excitement then by saying you'll be "supporting the mod making community" or by touting your product is "mod friendly". Most games exhibit some sense of mod functionality but the community isn't there to develop add-ons. Half-Life 2 however reeks of mod potential. The original Half-Life is still one of the most actively modded games amongst its community of players. The future looks bright as mod makers are already beginning work on total conversions, new modes, new levels and a myriad of other experiences for players to download. Valve is also well known for its support of the mod making community.

To say that the development of Half-Life 2 hit a few speed bumps along the road would be a vast understatement. Missed deadlines that were promised to fans, trouble with their publisher, a nimrod hacker (who has thankfully been arrested) who stole source code and released it on the net; the folks at Valve have seen it all. However, Half-Life 2 was released unscathed and just as groundbreaking and brilliant as my expectations hoped for. It has once again set the standard for all future first person shooters, console or PC.

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