Half-Life 2 (2004)

STORY-DRIVEN FPS - Gordon Freeman is brought out from stasis and wakes up in dystopian City 17, where the oppressive Combine rules. It's up to Freeman to once again liberate humanity from alien oppression.

PROS:

++ Improved gameplay. Overall gameplay felt much smoother and more satisfying than HL 1. For example, platforming, gunplay, and even weapon management.

++ Lore. The world they've built is incredibly interesting.

++ Great atmosphere. Amazing atmosphere throughout the game, especially in Ravenholm.

++ Level diversity. Gameplay was thrilling since the game kept throwing new things into the mix, and I feel that the entire adventure was well-paced.

++ Physics. New physics system is fun to play with, especially when the Gravity Gun is acquired.

++ Aged well. Graphics aged like fine wine.

CONS:

-- Wonky AI. Friendly AI often still got in the way, blocking doors and pathways.

-- Weak characters. The world may be interesting, but I'm not incredibly attached to any of the characters. I'm not the biggest fan of silent protagonists.

-- Drawn-out vehicle sections. Both vehicle sections felt a little drawn out, specifically the driving section.

Started this up. It's....uhh....probably a "you had to be there" sort of game? The beginning was so cool and I'm all ready for a solid narrative shooter. But there has been zero story, there's only one type of enemy and the settings range from "dark sewer" to "lit sewer." Seriously, when do you get out of the sewers???

I know HL2 means a lot to a lot of people, and I'm trying to not be dismissive of it. But I'm just not seeing what everyone else is. I just got on some motorboat thing and I saved and quit. I can just already tell this segment is going to be a slog (vehicle levels usually are, imo).

I bought the orange box and 1st beat this game on Hard way back in 2008 or 9. Now I have played through on Hard for a 2nd time and even got steam cards and achievements that were not available back in the day. Not that I care about either but I made less than $1 replaying an old game. I can say that the most memorable part of the game is Ravenholm and shooting saw blades.

I played the game more like a survival horror, trying to use up my ammo so that I can make efficient use of what loot was around rather than just shooting willy nilly. Lots of backtracking and carrying ammo boxes or health packs for later use. Not that I really needed it since there was more than enough supplies. I used the gravity gun as much as I could, even using gas cans and explosive barrels against soldiers. Even killed a queen any lion just by throwing junk at it. I saved crossbow bolts for extreme range and often used the pulse rifle, magnum and pistol to snipe at long range. Shotgun was my go to for close quarters assault. The SMG sucks and really feels too weak and inaccurate. Other than the grenade launcher on the SMG and rifle, I did not realize other weapons also had alternate fire until near the end of the game. That shotgun double blast is awesome.

There were a few difficultly spikes and annoying bits but overall an excellent masterpiece furthering the genre and up there with the best (namely Doom and Duke Nukem 3D). I barely scraped by the end when you have to shoot energy balls at the strider and gunships. In fact I did not much care for fighting vehicles while on foot. The only part that really got on my nerves were the npc followers of the late game. They get in the way constantly and are just annoying. I like my one man army to be the only one fighting.

I have never played any mods or player made maps. I am sure there are countless hours of entertainment left for this game.

Finally played this, tho there are still some things that don't sit right with me about this entry, so I might have to replay this one eventually. Like for example:

• the sections of the game where you need to stop on your tracks to see how cool the "new" physics engine is. I can't decide if this parts are unnecessary or charming.
• the squad system was poorly implemented in Opposing Force, and it's still annoying here.
• chracters maybe a bit too happy and confident for the situation at hand?

Surprisingly, I did like the ending, a lot. One of the advantages of playing this in the future, since you already know that this series is probably never going to be completed

So a lot of hype was of course built upon this game before I finally actually gave it a go. And coming out of it I can say that it definitely deserves praise, especially for the time it was released. The gameplay is very enjoyable and makes combat a blast to get through. When I found myself using the larger, more powerful weapons it felt very empowering. And the episode with the antlions, and controlling them, was very enjoyable, and the amount of combat possibilities stops it from becoming stale. The physics, as praised amongst Half Life 2's best features, is very responsive, and gives the game a rather unique feel in certain aspects, compared to other games of the time and of now. The last two episodes were when gameplay and story came together in a brilliant way, making for a greatly engaging and empowering finale. Lastly, the atmosphere design for the different episodes was a highlight, even if sometimes the combat overshadowed this (i.e. in Ravenholm).

Overall it was a great experience which felt unique in its way enough to stand out as a highlight amongst many others.

Completed on PC. Played on easy difficulty.

A sequel that feels massive when compared to HF1. Everything is just better! The game is so much deeper, filled with lore and things to discover. New mechanics all over the place, excellent use of audio, expressive characters and a rich environment.

The only low point of HF2 to me is that the vehicle sections are a bit too big, I mean, how much empty water or sewers do I have to navigate to get to the next part of the game? I also don't like when the main character is mute, but that is not really important if the supporting cast is good, which is certainly the case with HF2.

Definitely a must-play. Can't wait to play HF2: episodes 1 & 2.