by: Chris Vavra

October 18, 2007

Half-Life 2
Three years have elapsed since HL2, arguably the greatest FPS title ever released, and it is still all here. When it comes to mixing gameplay, game design, and story, HL2 stands above the rest. Bioshock came close, but HL2’s execution is far better in every way. Gordon Freeman, the silent, stoic protagonist from the original is back to try and save City 17 from destruction by the Combine, a military force from another dimension. After a twenty-minute prologue to get our characters together, Valve hits the gas and does not let up. I kept thinking of the movie Aliens playing this game again. The original Alien got the basics down and the sequel expanded on the ideas in almost every way. The story is expanded with more characters that are helping Gordon (most notably Alyx), who has become the Messiah in some circles. The story mixes flawlessly with the action, keeping the pace going while depositing essential bits of narrative along the way. One of the problems video games have struggled with over the years is writing convincing dialogue, something this game doesn’t have a problem with. Everything comes across without a hitch and the voice acting is surprisingly natural.

The gameplay is masterful and the design of the game is close to perfect as you traverse City 17, and the outskirts in a variety of vehicles and on foot. Most games would have made the driving portions nothing more than deadwood, but Valve goes out and makes them equally memorable. The steering can be a little problematic, but the vehicles are tough to drive in real life anyways. The gravity gun, one of the finest inventions for a video game in years, adds a whole new dimension to the action, allowing you to take on your opponents with something besides the crowbar when you’re running dry. Your allies are also very intelligent making them more than capable of putting up a fight against the Combine and any other enemy aliens you encounter. However, your allies can be a little difficult to deal with when trying to walk around or past them because their reaction times are a bit slow.

Half-Life 2 slowly crescendos from you starting with small-time brush fires against normal enemies, working your way up until you’re fighting giant monsters called Striders, that are clearly inspired by War of the Worlds. The puzzles and action is more challenging as you progress as well. By the midway point, you’ll be in the middle of a frenzied firefight, wondering how in the world you’re going to survive the next attack.

The main qualm with Half-Life 2 is the load times. There are breaks in the game where you will be forced to wait for five to ten seconds, and that is inexcusable. For a three-year old game, this shouldn’t even be an issue. That aside, this game alone makes it worth the purchase if you somehow missed out beforehand.

And we’ve just scratched the surface…
Score: 9.7

Half-Life: Episode One
Valve got the idea to release what would have been Half-Life 3 in three separate installments. The first of them, released last year, is about four to five hours long and picks up where HL2 left off. All hell has broken loose after the events that transpired and it is up to Gordon, once again, to save the day. Puzzles and story take a greater emphasis in this title. It will only take the average gamer about three hours to finish this short, stand-alone title. There are brief bursts of action to keep the gamer engaged, but they are few and far between, which will leave some feeling a little cheated. When it comes to developing the plot and the characters, the writers do a terrific job with the dialogue and the plot in general. There is a lot that has yet to be explained and the transition is a seamless one. The graphics get an update with stronger environments, and better overall character design. This is the obvious weak link in the chain, but it is still an above average title overall.
Score: 8.0