Half-Life is a first-person shooter that originally started life on the P.C long before appearing on the PS2 and which has established itself with something of a cult following over the years amongst hard-core gamer fans in much the same way that the more recent Halo series has done. With not just a sequel but also loads of mod packages available, created in some instances by fans, the series has grown and grown in stature and was one of the first modern interpretations of old-school shooters such as Duke Nukem or Doom which first firmly established the genre.

The basic concept is one used in hundreds of sci-fi stories and lots of other shoot-em-up games both before and since; as Dr.Gordon Freeman, you star as a lowly scientist caught up in the aftermath of an experiment gone wrong. In much the same way as in the Doom series, this experiment has opened a portal between worlds that has unleashed all manner of freakish and hostile alien life that only wants to destroy you. But H-L is different, because it is not just the alien monsters you have to contend with but also Special-Ops forces determined to wipe out any survivors or witnesses and thus cover up the whole incident!

For the most part, the action is set in a Military compound based on the likes of the fabled Area 51 and you are left to fight the alien hoardes on your own whilst solving puzzles that will grant you further access deeper into the Military base. But there are often moments when other survivors and also Security Guards also turn up to help lend a hand or provide some well-needed expertise. On later levels, you end up visiting the alien home-world on the other side and taking on those responsible for keeping the dimensional portal to our Earth open!

Your array of weaponry is quite impressive and ranges from the usual standard heavy-duty firepower to your basic trusty crow-bar. This latter may not sound much but it is a great melee weapon and is often essential for gettng you past otherwise impenetrable barriers.

I quite enjoyed this game though think it has aged slightly in intervening years. The graphics, at least on PS2, have not well stood the test of time as well they might and the whole plot for me is a little too reliant on other and better sci-fi shooters. Though I am no doubt in the minority, I still prefer old-school shoot-em-ups such as Doom over this and found it very over-rated when playing it!

It is a good game to play for nostalgia value but I just am a little unsure, as I was when I played one of the Halo games earlier this year, why this has attracted the huge fan-base it has! As a modern interpretation of games such as Doom and its sequels, I suppose it works well but I am not convinced by how good everyone else seems to think this is and wonder if they might be playing a different game!

Still, it takes all sorts and no doubt thre are those who think my obsession with the GTA series is likewise unfounded!