Return of the nerd. (Half-Life 2 (PC))

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Half-Life 2 (PC)
Date:	13/01/05 (190 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great graphics and sound, Some good set pieces

Disadvantages: No plot/storyline, Topo many unanswered questions, Feels like it's been bolted together from smaller set pieces

It seemed that 2004 was the year for the first of the big name first person shooter (FPS) sequels. Both Doom and Half-Life produced sequels that, in this writer's opinion, did not live up to either the hype or the legacy of the titles.

Half-Life 2's development was a long and troubled road. Originally meant for release during September 2003, security issues at the developer, Valve, meant that early code was released onto the internet and the release of the final version was postponed until such leaks could be eliminated and that Valve's new online delivery system, Steam, could be completed.

The key to any computer game is getting you interested enough in what is happening within the game to keep you playing. This is especially true in games such as role-playing games or FPSs where, without some sort of progressing storyline, games can quickly lose their attraction. This is Half-Life 2's (HL2) greatest failing.

At the end of Half-Life, the mysterious G Man gave you (as scientist Gordon Freeman) the option of joining him or, well, not (and facing the consequences). HL2 begins with the assumption that you chose the former and have been working with the G Man. Through his influence, you find yourself, unarmed, on a train that's arriving into the mysterious City 17. Immediately, you have questions that you may want answered: how long have you and the G Man been working together? What exactly have you done for him so far? What exactly does he want you to accomplish in City 17?

After disembarking from the train, you arrive in the Eastern European-looking City 17 and wander around "aimlessly" (this isn't a game that is free form, it is fairly linear) until you come across an old friend from Black Mesa, Barney the security guard. All of a sudden, you're told of an underground against the city's administrator and his troops and that some friends from your Black Mesa days are involved. Then you're whisked away on a journey to help this resistance movement.

That is pretty much the introduction to HL2, all 'playable' by you just like the lengthy, atmosphere-setting opening of the original. Somehow, though, it just doesn't have the same effect this time around. Perhaps, and this is something I will return to a lot when describing the game, it's the fact that many questions are posed and few answers are given.

Graphically, you're not going to have any complaints about the game at all. Valve has developed its own graphics engine for HL2 and it's excellent. Both indoor and outdoor levels are equally impressive and imaginatively designed. The included physics engine (now becoming more common in FPS games) is excellent, and this can be seen later in the game when all sorts of objects can go flying through the air. Perhaps the most outstanding part of the game engine has to do with the characters and how their faces are rendered. In HL2, the faces of the characters are more lifelike than any other game with characters now furrowing their eyebrows when something weird happens or smiling when they are pleased or amused. This doesn't influence the game as such in any way, but the scripted scenes (rather than the usual cut-scenes) involving the characters become more interesting to sit through just to see the faces.

As far as sound is concerned, Valve have done themselves justice. The voice acting for the characters is excellent as are the general, immediate sound effects (your weaponry etc.) but even more impressive are the ambient sounds of City 17 and its surrounding area. These add greatly to the atmosphere of the game.

Moving forward from the original, Hl2 now incorporates two improved features over the original. The first is the use of vehicles which are a lot more freeform than the old train system of the first game. They are easy to "drive" and fun to use and help add a bit of variation to the game (although I believe that there's just a touch too much driving all at one time and it should have been broken up more). The second is that you have a rudimentary control system over some people who will help you along the way. It is a minor step up from the 'use scientist' control of HL1, and is of some use, though the AI of these characters is sadly lacking, and more often than not, they end up as cannon fodder.

The most important aspects of a game of this genre, as I have mentioned above, are game play, storyline and atmosphere. The atmosphere is quite good, although nowhere near as effective as the original's. The use of graphics (e.g. the run down look of City 17 or, later in the game, Ravenholme) helps set up the feel of the game as far as the oppressive City 17 is concerned. This is supported by the use of sound (mentioned above). Where it all falls apart though, is the lack of a progressive storyline. As mentioned earlier, there are always far too many unanswered questions in the game and further you get into the game, more are asked. Very few, if any, however, are answered, and this would be my main source of frustration with the game itself. Upon completion of the game, none of my original questions were answered and I had added a lot more to the list. This left me feeling frustrated as I felt I had accomplished nothing within the game as well as the fact that the ending does indicate a Half-Life 3.

The game play is not bad though, with the varying levels of difficulty, you should have no trouble finding something that is pitched to your skill levels. There were some parts of the game that were almost too hard, but each of these was eventually overcome. The problem with HL2 is that, without the progressive storyline, it all feels like a bunch of set pieces thrown together for your enjoyment or even a technology demonstration so that Valve can show off their new Source game engine.

It's no surprise to find that you'll need a fairly new and powerful PC to show off HL2's features to their fullest, but Valve reckon that their system is fairly scaleable so that even those with mid-range PCs can still enjoy HL2. I had no problems running HL2 on my system (specifications listed below with Valve's recommendation), although it is advisable to have the most up-to-date drivers for your graphics and sound cards installed.

My PC specifications:
CPU: Athlon XP 2500
Graphics card: ATI Radeon 9600 (Direct X 9 compatible)
Memory: 512MB
Soundcard: Onboard (A8N7X motherboard) system.

Valve's minimum recommendations:
CPU: 1.2GHz CPU
Memory: 512MB
Disk space:
Direct X 7 compatible graphics card

Overall, HL2 is a technically superior, but atmospherically flawed game. The inclusion of a coherent story to answer most of the many questions raised during this game would propel it from being a three star game to a four or five star game (dependant on the story and the answers to the questions, of course). As it stands, I cannot really recommend it as a "must buy", and I barely got my moneys worth out of it at £26 from Amazon in November. Of course, if you're the sort of person who simply has to play the latest games along with the technical bells and whistles, and don't care about game play, then this is for you.

HL2 comes in three different formats: CD (five of these, I think), DVD (only one) and Steam, Valve's proprietary online delivery system that doubles as a registration system, too. While not exactly a part of the game, it is worth commenting on Steam.

Many people have had problems with Steam, but my installation and registration of HL2 took very little time – probably around half an hour or so if I recall correctly. That included not only installing the game from DVD, but also registering with Steam and downloading required files. I am on 512Kb broadband though, so I can imagine that this may differ for those on dial-up. Steam also acts as a content delivery system and it’s possible to buy and download other Valve products using this system. I'm guessing that further HL2 updates will be downloaded and installed automatically this way (Steam runs in the background as soon as your PC is booted up) and the free add-ons of Half-Life multiplayer deathmatch and Counterstrike: Source are available through Steam in this fashion as are extra maps for these games.

Whether this will influence me remains to be seen as I was never a fan of Counterstrike in its previous form and have never played the new Source version. The HL2 Deathmatch game had very few players during the time I played and running around large maps with only four or five players is a poor experience. As I have completed HL2, it is unlikely I will return to Steam unless they release a Source version of their free Team Fortress Classic add-on.

I've recommended this game purely because the online elements may make up for the disappointing single player experience.

Summary: