Best First-Person Shooter (Half Life 2 for the PC) |
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 Few games approached the all-consuming adventure offered by the original Half-Life - until the release of Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 for the PC elevated the first-person shooter to a new level of interactivity with intricate physics, expressive characters and a driven storyline that make it an unparalleled experience.
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The original Half-Life transformed the way gamers thought about first-person shooters (FPSs). An FPS is any game in which you explore the 3D gameworld as though through a video camera (hence first-person) and blast just about everything you encounter (shooter!) with weapons that bob at the bottom of the screen. Early FPS games (like Doom) were little more than an exercise in destruction that had players slaughtering hordes of nasty beasties with an assortment of overpowered armaments.
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 Plenty of subsequent games added more interactivity and story elements, but it was Gordon Freeman and his crowbar that gave PC gamers a glimpse of the future of computer gaming.
Half-Life brought home to the masses that an FPS could be more than shooting and jumping puzzles punctuated by Sidekick Q Exposition. It was the tale of a physicist named Gordon stuck in the midst of an otherworldly invasion brought about by government conspiracies and wayward high-energy experimentation.
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A Monument to Gaming |
Until Half-Life 2’s 2004 release, gamers craved more –more of the first game’s storytelling, better graphics and more of the shooting satisfaction that gives the genre its name. But as general rule, sequels are disappointing. Game sequels often just tack more content onto old, outdated game engines. Could Half Life break the all-too-common sequel curse? It did. In fact, it blasted the curse away, FPS-style. Half-Life 2 boasts impressive visuals (that now run well on most current computers) mixed with detailed physics and an intriguing storyline that keeps you playing through the mind-bendingly sinister ending. (All right, it’s not really an ending per se, as episodic content continues to be released, but it’s the ending of the first major instalment.)
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The characters, be they members of the human resistance, the endearing (and robotic) dog, or the anonymous and inhuman troopers that hinder your daring escapes, are highly detailed and lend a sense of urgency to every action. Many games turn the player into a saviour of sorts, but Half-Life 2 actually makes you feel the part (as an unwilling physicist in the wrong place at the wrong time). People look to you, Gordon Freeman, to save them from the horrific place the world has become. And you get to do so – with a little intelligence and a lot of devastating weaponry.
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This Physics Doesn’t Need a PhD |
When released, the world of Half-Life 2 was far more interactive than games before it. Much of the world could be shifted around, from cinder blocks to aggressive alien insects. Things too large for an ordinary man to lift could be manipulated with the Gravity Gun. It sounds silly, but the Gravity Gun’s ability to levitate, manipulate and hurl nearly any object was the key to plenty of puzzles and a lot of fun for simple experimentation. Want to shoot a foe with a machine gun? Fine. Want to bludgeon him to death by hurling crates or even a toilet? You can do that, too.
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There are many flavours of FPS, and some focus on multiplayer mayhem, while others emphasise tactics, or require inhuman reflexes. But if you are looking for the one FPS with an engrossing, story-driven campaign in which to lose yourself, or for the game to recommend to a friend who’s never tried an FPS, this is the most satisfying single-player experience currently on the market. It’s even worth putting up with Valve’s digital distribution service, Steam, to get your hands on it.
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To buy this product try one of the following retailers. They are competitively priced and reliable:
Amazon.co.uk - UK arm of the world’s largest film store
Amazon.com - US arm of the world’s largest film store
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