Half-Life 2

Minimum Req.: P4 1.2 GHz, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 comp video card, 4.5 GB hd space, internet connection
Reviewed On: AMD Athlon 2500+, 2x512 DDR RAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB

The general design of the game suggests a greater level of thought than one would normally expect from a shooter. Take for example the way that Valve builds up some of the encounters. Earlier on, I entered into an intense shootout with the Combine - Gordon Freeman's mysterious adversaries. All the while, a helicopter hovered over me, bobbing back and forth, circling around, and firing down at me. There was no way to destroy it, so I just had to run. The invincible, reoccurring threat propelled me forward and forced me to move quickly against the Combine. I had to adjust my strategy against the foot soldiers, normally pushovers, because their imposing air support was cutting down on my options. Eventually, I mowed my way through enough Combine to find a stationary machine gun powerful enough to force the copter to flee. Later on, when I was finally ready for it, the copter returned and presented itself very much like a mid-boss in an old-school console game. With its pride a bit hurt by my machine gun antics, it descended out of the skies and led me to a closed-off, arena like
environment and, with increased attack power, commenced spazzing out gun fire and raining mines down on me. When I finally took it down, I felt pretty good about it. Not because the encounter is particularly challenging-not on medium, anyway-but just because the fight has been properly built up throughout the entire level.

The levels themselves have an essentially linear structure. Players move through fourteen chapters, each of which usually has its own theme, mixture of different gameplay elements and/or special gimmick. Within each specific section of each chapter, there's always a point A and a point B, but most levels are designed well enough so that players never really feel restricted. I felt that I was being guided down the correct path, but it was often a subtle nudging in the right direction, rather than a giant red arrow or some domineering, unappreciative non-player character screaming orders at me (though a bit of that comes later). Within that basic linear structure, there are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, but exploration in the traditional sense is optional. I found myself compelled to explore whenever possible, if only to find spare Combine to kill. The most remarkable thing about the level design though, especially in the middle chapters, is how well different elements-combat, puzzle solving and platforming-meld together to form a cohesive whole.

There's also a very respectable thematic variety in the levels: there are a couple of protracted vehicle segments; an eerie, zombie-infested ghost town; the grandiose Citadel; a few rounds of bombed-out urban warfare; a Normandy-style assault on a beach and an invasion of an old prison facility with ferocious, flesh-ripping bug-like aliens as commandable back-up. Each individual segment is well done, and there's often a great deal of variety within each chapter. The situation I described earlier-fighting that gunship underneath the bridge-is actually from the game's driving level. While gallivanting around in the ramshackle but well-armed dune buggy is a blast, the on-foot segments dispersed throughout the chapter are even better: while driving, players occasionally come to something in the road, be it debris or a force field, that forces them to step out of the car and puzzle their way through to removing the obstruction (this usually involves engaging in a firefight, jumping from place to place and moving stuff around with Gordon's gravity gun), after which it's time for more reckless driving and vehicular homicide. Even the helicopter scenario I described above is part of a vehicle segment, with the coupe de grace being delivered from a boat, rather than a bazooka.

The progression of the game's distinct gameplay elements, like the puzzles for example, all feel very natural. At one point I came upon a wire attached to a giant plug stuck in an outlet on the other side of an impenetrable force field. Through either experience or trial and error, I realized that while I couldn't walk through the field, my weapons could penetrate it. So I whipped out my trusty gravity gun and ripped the plug right out of the switch, successfully deactivating the field. Later in the game, I came upon a similar situation. Following the wire this time led to the same sort of field, only now there existed a physical barrier between me and the outlet, rendering my gravity gun useless as a direct solution. There were some objects lying about, however, and with the gravity gun in-hand the solution presented itself as soon as I was able to put two and two together.

The game takes great pains to make sure it teaches players in the most organic fashion possible. There are occasional "tutorial" sections, but even these are cleverly executed: to get new players accustomed to the "use" key before the fighting breaks out, a cocky Combine guard will knock a can of soda off of a trash receptacle and demand that Gordon pick it up and replace it (I personally chucked it at his head, incurring his wrath); and to learn how to utilize the gravity gun, players get to engage in a game of catch with a monstrous but friendly robot named Dog. Only during unique events or under specific conditions, like when Gordon first pilots the buggy or operates a crane, will the game simply flash the situational controls on the bottom right of the screen. The controls, by the way, are solid throughout the game. The only complaint I have is Valve's decision to leave the flashlight on a meter, meaning I had to remember to toggle the flashlight on and off with the F key to avoid draining my suit of energy, a function that provided no grand atmospheric purpose or anything.

Solid control comes in handy when one has to deal with puzzle and platforming elements in the first-person viewpoint. Though I normally find it a bit disorienting to do anything but kill things in that perspective, I did take pleasure in solving this particular game's various puzzles and making my way across its treacherous jumping segments. Most of the basic puzzles are based around the laws of physics-stack boxes to reach higher levels, pile heavy thing onto the opposite sides of see-saw-like wooden planks and use buoyant objects to affect partially submerged rampways and that sort of thing. That theme is carried over to the later puzzles, only then players are dealing with the gravity gun instead, which is an extraordinary addition. One could call it a gimmick, but it's an extremely successful gimmick. There's so much that can be done with it, it's like the Swiss army knife… of guns. When I wasn't using it to stack things or move obstructions, I was using it to create havoc by launching furniture at zombies, holding sheet metal in front of my head to deflect bullets and gravity-punting floating droids into the ocean. Really, there's nothing that gadget can't do. Combined with heavily advertised "realistic physics!" it makes quite the imaginative and functional killing device.

The much-touted physics engine didn't always feel perfect to me, though. Moving about in vehicles can occasionally feel floaty and certain elements of the game are notably exempt from physics' laws. Some friendly allies, for example, wouldn't react in the slightest when I chucked explosive fuel drums at their heads. And some objects-certain pieces of wood, for example-that look as though they could be moved or broken through cannot actually be affected because they serve too important a purpose in the game as platforms or barriers. Same goes for the occasional glass window that reacts to bullets like wood rather than, well, glass. But criticizing the physics in the game feels like criticizing the logic in a Super Mario game - it just misses the point. The physics engine is in place not only because it's just cool, but also because it creates a familiar sense of logic to work with, and to that end it's successful: puzzles can be decently complicated without necessitating overblown explanations.

Of course, puzzles aren't the only aspects to benefit from the new physics engine. Opportunities for creative ultraviolence abound as Combine forces and zombies line up like lambs to the slaughter. The gravity gun is fun, of course, but as far as killing is concerned, there are also pistols, automatics, explosives, a shotgun, a rocket launcher and a futuristic cross bow that fires some sort of glowing metal bolt. By conforming to the laws of physics, the Combine guards in particular make excellent rag dolls, always willing to be blown up, shot through the head or attached to the wall by one of those glowing bolts while the game's various flavors of alien zombies seem to relish being chopped in half by gravity gun-launched saw blades or crushed by refrigerators or cars. There is also a great deal of imaginative environmental violence on rare opportunities, as players are again allowed to operate cranes, vehicles, turrets and that sort of thing with malicious glee. And of course there's an abundance of flammable drums around and whether one simply ignites them with machine gun fire or launches them via gravity gun, they're a blast to use.

Now, it seems to me when it came to world logic and that sort of thing, Valve had to make a conscious decision between making a solid videogame and opting for a more cinematic experience. They went with the former and I appreciate it. Basically, the game's story and world logic usually conform to its mechanics, rather than the other way around. Hence the abundance of flammable barrels whenever things need blowing up and why there are plenty of saw blades lying around when it comes time to battle zombies with the gravity gun. Similarly, the Combine forces are nice enough to set up their outposts and barricades to perfectly suit Gordon's abilities, whatever they may be at the time. Because the design is so polished and refined, though, the result is an overall feeling closer to a classic, focused console game than a cinematic pretender, which has become standard of the genre.

That isn't to say the game isn't aesthetically pleasing, mind. The sound design is spectacular. Whether it be the satisfying crunch of a crowbar meeting a crate or a fast-moving alien zombie demon creature ascending a drain pipe with a signature clank-clank-clank, the sounds are all very natural and immersive. I do question some of the choices though: take the first wave of space Nazis, the basic Combine guards. They'll chatter away on their communicators throughout a firefight and, after a bullet is deposited in one of their skulls, the deceased's communicator will emit a loud, high pitched wail. It's a damn fine indicator that the job's been done, but it's a little rough on the ears, especially when baddies are being eliminated in droves. There's also a bit of repetition in the sounds: every face-sucking zombie corpse set ablaze with a well-shot C02 canister will let out the same exact terrified death cry. The low buzz sound that's used to signify players are attempting an invalid action, like flipping a switch that needs no further flipping, is similarly overused. I'm also not a fan of the music, which I turned way down at the first sign of techno influence. Still, beyond a few gripes, the sound is brilliant.

The game also looks good, at least as far as I can tell. I played on medium settings through most of the game but had to knock those down to low near the end to avoid choppiness. Textures are dark and gritty for the most part, maybe even a little grainy. It's hard for me to evaluate overall graphical quality given the circumstances, actually, but I can weigh in on the design. Though a lot of the aspects of the game are fairly standard-from the bombed-out urban settings to the glowy-eyed fascists-some of the designs are pretty inspired. I particularly liked the design of a few of the enemy vehicles, which look organic and animal-like. The gunship I mentioned earlier resembles something like a neon blue crawdad when viewed from the correct angle. A lot of the weapon designs are clever as well-the Combine send these little attack droids for instance, called manhacks, that are basically little, black, floating spheres with a single glowing eye and saw blades protruding outwards. Clever stuff. I've never been a huge fan of the aliens from the first Half-Life, like the headcrabs and barnacles, but killing them certainly has its own charm.

Also very commendable is the manner in which Valve integrated the story. There are no cut scenes or anything of that nature-after the game's introduction, absolutely everything is in real-time and from Gordon's perspective. To deliver the story, then, Valve employed an interesting device: the game's antagonist, Breen, broadcasts messages throughout City 17 via the various mediums in his control, which is just about everything. In the beginning of the story, Breen transmits his propaganda to the general populace. As the game progresses, he'll start addressing his forces and chastising them for their inability to apprehend Freeman. Eventually, he'll talk directly to Gordon, taunting and mocking him as he draws closer and closer to the final confrontation. At best, I could only piece together a part of the story based on conjecture and what little I heard throughout the journey. I liked being in the dark though; it's a unique departure from games that feel the need to tell players absolutely everything. Moreover, the game is so well-made that I found myself pausing in front of a monitor or TV set just to hear Breen ramble on about "humanity's potential."

However, while I liked the storytelling, I never found the game to be particular immersive, and I had a few problems with the plot itself. The former issue stems, in part, from the disparity between Gordon's sensibilities and the player's. That is to say, most characters seem to expect that Gordon knows exactly what's going on at any given moment, while the player is often left generally confused by lot of the proceedings. The result is that I never felt like I was really him, I was just watching things from his eyes and, for the time being, controlling his actions. The only time the game ever suggested that Gordon may be just as bewildered as I was came during the rather bizarre and arguably anticlimactic ending, which is preceded by an exhausting combat sequence, a bloodless platforming chapter and then the addition of a gimmicky but empowering superweapon. While I feel the standard "free man against the machine" aspect of the story is told really well, the ending (which refers back to the confusing, head-trip introduction) offers something of reality-bending twist that harkens back to the first Half-Life that may have left me a bit unsatisfied if I weren't more interested in the game than the plot.

Overall: 9/10
Minor gripes and technical issues aside, Half-Life 2 is easily the best game of its kind I've ever played. Solid throughout and spectacular at times, it demonstrates the potential of the genre and it offers the kind of direction its contemporaries should be striving toward.