Conclusion
So, do we have the masterpiece that everyone else is crowing about? Is this a great leap forward from the first instalment? Is it better than Doom 3 or Far Cry? Is this the best FPS ever? Some seriously large questions there and ones which will be argued over for a while yet, so I’ll try and answer them as best I can.
First off, yes, Half Life 2 is a masterpiece. For once we’re seeing a decent application of real world physics modelling being applied to a game as an intrinsic part of the gameplay. In other games, the physics played an occasional and momentary part in allowing you to roll burning barrels down a hill or knock a support out to access a ledge. HL2 does that too, but adds in much more to boot. One time, a falling piece of grille just happened to land on an enemy, killing him ad pinning is body underwater. This wasn’t a scripted sequence, this was just the physics engine playing fair and affecting everything in the game world. The physics affect the game all the time and things behave how you’d expect them to which gives a far more immersive playing experience.
Just as Half Life was THE defining FPS of it’s time, Half Life 2 has done the same for the current crop of FPS games. Ideas that first reared their heads in HL have been honed to a point so sharp that you could shave with it. The AI still has issues but they’re overshadowed by everything else that is better. Likewise for the graphics, the angular surfaces are a blemish on an otherwise beautiful looking game which uses light, shadows and misting to excellent effect to give a realistic environment. And when things kick off, there’s no shortage of lovely graphical trickery to make your eyeballs obese with all the candy they’ll get.
So now we’ve got three big title FPS’s to choose from, with each offering something slightly different. Doom 3 is very linear but looks great. Far Cry has bigger, smoother outdoor areas and more open style game play. Half Life 2 does both indoor and outdoor areas competently, looks good in general, if a little blocky and though it’s a linear game, its more open than Doom 3. Where HL2 does thoroughly trounce the others is in the story telling, which is brilliantly done. It’s hard to describe, but the story has been fitted to the game meaning everything you do is for a clear purpose and progresses the story with each step. You’re given the minimum amount of information you need and are left to find the odd clue here and there as you play, allowing you to figure out what is going on as you go along. You end up playing more not just because the game plays so well, but because you want to find out what happens next. The beauty of HL2 is that it has taken its own original story and extrapolated it into the future to give us the game we have now which adds a depth of plot not seen since HL.
So, is Half Life 2 the best FPS ever? Hmm, a very tough one to call. But I’m going to have to say no, it isn’t. There are few niggling things that stop me from awarding that accolade, which is a hollow one anyway as something better WILL come along one day. Some of the levels are overlong and can become repetitive, with other parts fiendishly hard compared with the rest of the level. Though large levels are fun to explore, some time can be spent without seeing an enemy to shoot and all the while expecting something to happen. This can be a let down when nothing happens and you do wonder just why an area was there if it was supposed to be devoid of anything other than scenery. Some may find that the load times are a bit lengthy too. I’ve waited up to 30 seconds at some points as those large maps load. This can be annoying if you’ve left something just over the invisible ‘load line’ as to collect that bit of kit means up to a minute of doing nothing as the level re-loads. That said, these aren’t major problems, but they are less noticeable in other games and as such, they’re less disruptive to the flow of the game.
Perhaps a better question would be “Is Half Life 2 the best FPS out there now?”. That one gets a resounding YES. Though there are some areas where HL2 could do better, overall I don’t think you’ll find a more immersive or addictive gaming experience around. Far Cry has a lot more blasting, certainly, and Doom 3 does a prettier world over all, but HL2 brings them al together in one package that grips you and drags you in. This is a sign of a good game in my book. The pacing is a tad slow in places, but overall, the positives far outweigh the (small) negatives and this is one game well worth scraping together the cash for.
So as I said at the start. Buy this game. Now.
Pros
Superb storytelling
Excellent characters
Large open levels
Excellent effects
Plenty of ‘make you jump’ moments
Intense firefights
Best AI yet
Cons
Terrain too angular and blocky in places
Squad AI can be a hindrance
Pacing off in places
Some levels become repetitive near their end
Overall: The best FPS on the market and deserving of your cash.
