Watch out, watch out, there's a Freeman about. (Half-Life 2 (Xbox))

Member Name: hewhoisme

Product:	Half-Life 2 (Xbox)
Date:	08/06/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The gravity gun, Gordon Freeman, and the G-man...when he decides to turn up

Disadvantages: None

When I first got into the Half Life series, I did do it in a rather a bizarre order. You see I've never played Half Life, but the sequel generated so much hype I found myself inevitably drawn to it. Although this did put me in somewhat of an awkward position, as I had no idea what was going on, a quick bit of wikipedia research brought up me to speed and I was finally able to fully enjoy what is probably one of the greatest gaming achievements of the decade.

Half Life 2 begins several years after the events of the first game, with the mysterious G-man bringing Gordon Freeman out of stasis to wage a new crowbar-wielding war on alien terror, this time a race of trans-dimensional oppressors known as the Combine. With most of the planet uninhabitable thanks to Xen's hitchhiking wildlife the populated areas are now firmly within the Combine's totalitarian grip life is, to put it bluntly, pretty damn miserable. Until Gordon Freeman shows up that is. After being reunited with a few of his old colleagues, as well as his trusty crowbar, the indomitable Mr Freeman is back to his old tricks, blowing stuff up and generally making life for the Combine extremely difficult. Oh, and did I mention he has a cool suit?

Half Life 2 is far from your average shoot em' up. Although you have a wide range of weaponry, all packing enough power to make every FPS player's saliva glands go into overdrive, the cutting edge physics engine makes this a highly interactive experience. Often emptying your magazine just isn't enough and you're forced to struggle your way through a series of nifty little traps and puzzles before you can proceed, such as creating pivots, ladders, or even just chucking something and hoping it was in the right direction. Through the course of the game you will find yourself in a variety of different locations in different modes of transportations, ranging from a boat ride on the toxic canals to a high-octane buggy chase across the Antlion infested coast. And of course there's still Ravenholm. We don't like to talk about Ravenholm.

Although the game play is fairly linear the levels are incredibly expansive and beautifully designed, right up to the graffiti and Combine propaganda. To survive this game you need more than just a quick trigger finger, but also a quick mind, since nothing in Half Life is ever as easy as it seems. I've spent hours stuck at the same place, determined not to resort to the walkthrough, scratching my head until I've finally found the solution, usually by dumb luck. Of course, it isn't all puzzles and riddles. There's a limitless shooting gallery of bad guys to take pot shots at, such as the Combine foot soldiers and rabid Headcrabs, which look all the world like the a Christmas turkey, and their hideous offspring: the Half Life zombies. A word of warning, unlike most video game zombies these ones are actually disturbing. And I don't mean 'weird clown' levels of disturbing, but masonry defecating levels of disturbing.

Half Life 2 is one of the few games that I think every gamer should own, because it is completely unsurpassable. And now with Half Life 2 episode 1 and 2 released, with the promise of a third, the series is just getting better and better. Plus if you don't get it, you'll miss out on the gravity gun. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on the Gravity gun.

Summary: FPS doesn't come much better than this. In fact, it doesn't.