Hold on to your glasses! (Half Life (PC))

Member Name: Moominpapa

Product:	Half Life (PC)
Date:	11/01/01 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Adrenaline pumping, fast-paced gameplay

Disadvantages: For once i can truthfully say, absolutely bugger all

First-person shoot-em-ups started with a game called Wolfenstien 3D. Ring any bells? This was one of the very first 3D computer games, which could only use walls at a right-angle to each other and featured gory Nazi-blasting fun. Fans of Wolfenstien 3D will be pleased to hear that a brand new fully 3D hi-res sequel will be coming out sometime in 2001/2002. This was followed by the much more well-known game called Doom. Doom really got things going. Rise of The Triads came next and then, a bit later came Duke Nukem 3D. I am in fact only mentioning the games that were any good, because in the gap between Rise of The Triads and Duke 3D represents a period when the genre rolled all the down the hill. Most dreadful of all was a game called Operation Bodycount, but I won't go into that. Once Duke 3D and Quake (id software's (makers of Doom) new creation) had been released, unfortunately, an endless list of rushed and boring clones followed like flies to a turd. It wasn't until late 1998, that another decent first-person shoot-em-up was released and in fact there were two. The first was Goldeneye, the Nintendo 64's big Christmas game, which still remains one of the finest games ever made and the second was Half-Life, on the PC (I bet you're pleased I've finally got round to it).

What makes Half-Life different from any other first-person shoot-em-up?

Unlike most and in fact nearly all first-person shoot-em-ups on the PC, Half-Life was not just another boring Doom clone, although it does need to use some of id's technology for the obvious reasons. Until Half-Life all first-person shoot-em-ups had separate levels, they had virtually no story, and had no puzzles blended in with the action (and by puzzles I don't mean, 'find red key', 'open red door', 'Find blue key'..'). Half-Life is one huge (and O my God is it huge!) uninterrupted level, with the exception of the occasional loading sequence. The wh
ole game does in fact play like a film, with the credits rolling at the beginning of the game and a storyline which remains unbeaten by a computer game, and I will come to later. The introduction of some often challenging puzzles blends seamlessly with the faced-paced action and has since taken action games to a new level.

The story

The spectacled scientist Gordon Freeman is on his way to work at the Black Mesa research facility on a monorail, credits rolling as I mentioned and full control over Gordon to look around the various parts of the facility as they pass by. Nothing is out of the ordinary, no monsters to shoot, no red, blue and yellow keys! (both of these things very rare for the genre). Then Gordon is asked to conduct an experiment with a nuclear sample and all sh*t brakes loose. Suddenly the boring scientist is forced to grab the nearest metal object (a crowbar) and become the hero as he fights his way through his mutated friends, unseen alien horrors and hard-assed marines, who've been sent in to 'silence' everyone who has knowledge of the disaster, in an attempt to discover the dark secrets of what the hell has been happening at the Black Mesa research facility.

That all important gameplay

From the second you're dropped in the action, Half-Life becomes an adrenaline pumping monster of a game. Spanning through laboratories, sewers, air vents, cliff faces and alien spacecraft, Half-Life never lets you drop your guard and keeps you, finger on the trigger, ready to blow the next thing that comes round the corner in gory shreds. Not all of Half-Life is about slaughtering anything that twitches. You can interact with scientists, who will open doors for you, or give you small clues into the ongoing unravelling of what in the name of five gold rings is going on. To make the plot become more of a conspiracy, every so often you will come across a man in a suit, whom is always unreachable, but usually taunts you
through a sealed door by doing up his tie and slowly strolling.

As you meet the marines you can steal their supplies, which eventually provide you with a huge arsenal of weaponry. Pistols, Shotguns, Magnums, Machine-guns, Crossbows, Rocket Launchers, Grenades, Pipe bombs, Tripbombs, and all kinds of experimental technology, some alien, will become available to you using Half-Life's original 'menu' weapon selection system. Some enemies can be tough, especially the marines who work in teams and can operate gun turrets and tanks, and the occasional 'boss' enemy comes along who can usually never be killed simply with shooting. Scenarios can have you setting traps for these 'bosses' and luring them into them with the cunning use of a Gordon Freeman mobile kebab.

The puzzles are often Tomb Raider-esque, such as moving boxes to gain access to an area, but you'll find yourself climbing ladders, leaping from falling lifts or supplying power to machines which you'll need to use to advance through the game. Half-Life does offer possibly the best gameplay I've ever seen in a computer game before and it's so addictive, if you stop playing for a while you'll go Cold Turkey.

The Graphics

Half-Life is not only the most original first-person shooter, it's one of the best looking, along with Quake 3. The levels of detail can be boosted to the extreme and if you've got a 3D card the pin sharp scenery will leave you jaw-dropped. Even the reloading effects of the weapons look so real, you can't help but get to involved with the game emotionally, with the magnum and the shotgun being some of the most memorable. The most powerful weapons have been set so that they have long reload times which keeps the balance of firepower realistic, such as the painstaking process of slowly slotting a rocket into the rocket launcher or sliding cartridge after cartridge into the shotgun while you duck for co
ver. The interactive character's mouths also movies perfectly with the words something which had never been achieved before Half-Life.

Game of the Year Edition

If you don't have Half-Life yet, then I suggest you buy the Half-Life Generation pack, which includes the Game of the Year Edition of Half-Life, Half-Life: Opposing Force (read my opinion 'It's a bug hunt!' for information) and Team Fortress Classic. The Game of The Year Edition of Half-Life was released when Half-Life won the prestigious award and contains some extended content, as well a new multi-player maps, and skins. The best multiplayer mode for Half-Life has to be Team Fortress Classic, which you can read about in my opinion entitled 'A Class Act' rather than me repeating myself.

The Verdict

If you are a fan of the genre then this is an essential purchase. The game is huge, the multiplayer fantastic and the gameplay absolutely mind-blowing. Don't play for too long or you'll end up pressing your back up against the wall and peering round the corners of your house before you dare take another step. If you get too engulfed, I suggest keeping a crowbar under your bed. You know, just in case.

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