One of the greatest games of all time (Half Life (PC))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Half Life (PC)
Date:	03/09/09 (3 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb presentation, great plot, and gameplay

Disadvantages: None

Without a doubt, Half-Life is one of the greatest video games ever made, and a benchmark for PC games in particular - it redefined the first person shooter genre, with a focus on a cinematic aesthetic, uncomfortable atmosphere, scary monsters, and a plot ripped straight from the very best sci-fi fiction.

From the very opening moments of the game, this is an impressive visual experience, with an introductory scripted sequence aboard a train as you have nothing to do but simply observe the scenery. The game has numerous moments like this that appear seamless, but are in fact meticulously planned, and this type of film-like scripting has subsequently been implemented in virtually every FPS game since.

You play Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who works at the Black Mesa Research Facility, where an experiment is about to be tested, but unfortunately, it all goes wrong, and a portal to an alternative universe is opened, with a number of horrific mutants being brought over to our universe. Gordon, with his trusty crowbar, and any other weapons he can amass, must attempt to fend off the enemy horde, and escape the facility with his life. Things get more complicated as a containment squad are sent to kill anyone left in the facility to ensure that word does not get out about the cataclysm.

Although its graphics have dated in the decade since its release, it was at the time a visual hallmark, and nevertheless remains a benchmark of presentation, in terms of how to craft a game that looks and feels living and breathing, as though the player has just stepped into a sci-fi film. This, combined with some utterly repulsive villains, and superb set pieces throughout, makes it undeniably one of the greatest games ever made. A work of sheer, unbridled genius, and one that has set a high standard that has been matched (notably by its own amazing sequel), but never beaten.

Summary: One of the few perfect games