Half-Life 2 is the sequel to what many consider one of the best first person shooters of all time in Half Life. The original game really set the standard for story-telling in first person shooters, a feature that made people realise that they can embed themselves more into the game if there is an overarching story unfolding around you as you progress. Rather than using the now rather tired method of cut-scene after cut-scene, Half Life allowed the user what felt like a more seamless unfolding of the story as you are in the action.

As you would expect, Half Life 2 continues this trend by thrusting you right into the central story. There are a few moments where you will be standing around listening to conversations and watching people perform activities, but during these moments there are usually things you can run around and do whilst you listen to what is going on. There are some very entertaining characters that you meet along the way too, which breaks up the action nicely.

Half Life 2 also became one of the first first person shooters to heavily use physics. The Havok engine here is used to good effect for things like weight puzzles and to offer you an extra tool in an anti-gravity gun, which allows you to move suck in and fire out objects. This gives the game a lot of depth and for the most part is good fun.

There are also a few vehicle sections requiring you to hop in and out occasionally to explore houses or activate switches. This also gives more variety.

The shooting action is top class in this game and stands the test of time well. Overall I would recommend this to any gamer who has somehow missed out on this top product.