Half-Life (1998)

The first Half-Life title is a groundbreaking first-person shooter that redefined the genre. Developed by Valve, it blends intense action with immersive storytelling, placing you in the shoes of the legendary Gordon Freeman as a science experiment at the Black Mesa facility goes horribly wrong. This title is still praised up to this day, creating a whole sub-genre behind it, called "Half-Likes", which just means single-player, story-focused, FPS, and highly immersive story-telling, focusing on the player's POVs to tell it's tale.

What sets Half-Life apart is its seamless narrative, no cutscenes, just pure in-game storytelling, and smart enemy AI (for the time) that keeps combat dynamic. Its atmospheric level design, eerie soundscape, and blend of sci-fi horror created a sense of tension rarely seen in games at the time, it even introduced some light horror elements, which were improved in the subsequent entries. This videogame was a landmark FPS that still holds up for its innovation and pacing, a must-play for fans of the genre.

Its level progression is another major strength, constantly introducing new mechanics, weapons, and enemy types without ever overwhelming you. From navigating hazardous environments and solving physics-based puzzles to engaging in carefully paced firefights, the game maintains a strong sense of forward momentum. The absence of a traditional HUD-heavy design and constant interruptions helps you to stay immersed, making each section feel like a natural continuation of the unfolding disaster rather than a sequence of disconnected levels.

Beyond its own campaign, this title's legacy is amplified by its massive modding scene, which gave rise to iconic experiences such as Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, and Team Fortress Classic. This community-driven longevity cemented Valve’s reputation and reshaped PC gaming culture as a whole. Even decades later, the very first Half-Life entry remains a foundational experience, not just for what it is, but for what it inspired, standing as one of the most influential games ever made.

I beat this game not too long after it originally came out in the late 90s, and revisited it again recently for the 25th anniversary.

I'm glad they added gamepad controls which make playing the game on a steam deck or TV much easier. I replayed the game on hard difficulty. There were a few tough sections, but nothing a little quick-save abuse couldn't handle.

I really hated the tram ride opening when I first played the game, it was too slow for my younger self who was used to playing Doom and Quake up to that point. The platforming gameplay gets a lot of hate, but personally I love it. The opening section of Xen is heaven to me. I'm also one of those weird people that love surfing in counter-strike though. The soldier AI is great and I love their liberal use of grenades. So many memorable set pieces like the tentacle creature in 'Blast Pit', getting knocked out after the battle with the assassin characters, and getting to the surface for the first time. So many things aged well in this game, like not having levels and all cutscenes in game. Progressing through the alien factory on Xen was still annoying though. 'On the rail' wasn't as bad as I remember. I'll never get tired of hearing the ammo pickup, shotgun reload, hazard suit, health charger, and hazard suit charger sound effects.

It doesn't happen often, but one thing that has definitely not aged well is unfair enemy spawns. Every now and then the game will spawn an enemy directly behind you giving it a free shot.

The game is still amazing after all these years.

I remember the first time I ever heard of the Half-Life series. It was on this show called Game Sauce that we had on extended cable, and it was a segment about the then upcoming Half-Life 2. I didn't know anything about Half-Life, or why it was so hotly anticipated, and then when Half-Life 2 finally came out, it seemed like the world was set on fire, and I played it on our new PC we had gotten recently.

For whatever reason, I've never actually played the original Half-Life, though. And for some reason, I got a real hankering for it a few days ago, and that happened to coincide with the 25th anniversary, so it was free on Steam. So, it was meant to be.

I've been playing a lot of shooters lately. Specifically the "boomer shooters" that hearken back to the shooters of the 90s like Doom. I've found many of them quite frustrating, but Half-Life never irked me the same way. I think I kind of get the reason, too. Half-Life actually has level design. The amount of time I spent floundering in games like Boltgun or Amid Evil really harmed my enjoyment of them, but I was never unsure of where to go in Half-Life. The difficulty was another thing, entirely, though. The enemy soldiers are basically Terminators that detect me as soon as I'm within the same zip code and fire with unerring accuracy and can take way more bullets than I would assume from what their models look like.

So many times you'll walk around a corner and get blasted by a sniper you would never have noticed, or an attack helicopter that is zooming around above you to pick you off if the minefield isn't enough. It's frustrating, but also kind of funny. I think it doesn't bug me too much because all of the different encounters are very different, with different goals. It's not just the amount of enemies that you're fighting, it's their placement, and some other kind of environmental hazards.

The difficulty also sort of helps characterize the main character. It's interesting how the game doesn't necessarily make Gordon Freeman feel like an unstoppable badass super soldier like the Master Chief, but rather some guy who happened to get lucky with his high tech suit of armor, and the ability to time travel via quick save and quick load. It makes me feel like I could make it through these events. Why? Cuz Gordon did.

I remember hearing about how not great the final section of the game is, and it's not untrue. Xen is interesting. It's so kind of drab compared to Black Mesa, and some of the encounters there are straight up baffling. The fight with the giant testicle headcrab took me quite a while to grasp. Then the battle with the Nihilanth. It's not exactly the most exciting final battle in a shooter I've seen. And I'm not sure if any of the other Half-Life games had real boss fights.

I've now beaten every Half-Life game apart from the expansion for HL1 and Half-Life: Alyx, but I'm not gonna get a VR headset any time soon.

It's nice to visit a part of gaming history that I've never been to, and have it make sense why people remember it so fondly. Now if only I could get shooter devs to take inspiration from this...

STARTED: 3/19/23

FINISHED: 10/5/23

TIME: 27.6 HOURS

genuinely one of the best games ever and the best fps game ever. its such an immersive and groundbreaking game, like, holy shit! i know everyone says that but honestly they're justified; playing half life for the very first time is a once in a lifetime experience.

the graphics are so good, even for their time, the music goes crazy, and god everything about this game is so good. sound design, combat, etc... i really liked how smoothly and quickly you, the player, ran. very satisfying :o)

admittedly the final levels are frustrating to hell and back and ill never understand why the player wasnt given supplies before the final boss, but even then the rest of the game is a masterpiece. genuinely so good. please play it you wont regret it

Steam sale came around, so I picked up this game for less than $1. Been wanting to play it, but know that older games can feel like a chore sometimes (looking at you, Hale CE Library). To my complete surprise, this game has ended up being one of my favorite games of all time. It has it all- platforming, puzzles, weapon choices, fun bosses. But the best part is the freedom. Yes, there are things the game wants you to accomplish, but it doesn't bore you with useless pop-up tutorials and hold you by the hand. It throws you into situations and makes you rethink how you will enter every proceeding room, sort of in a "Hotline Miami" way. I also loved the art and sounds, which hold up incredibly well. Some things, like moving boxes or simple jumps, show their age. However, from radio-crunched troops to hellish landscapes, this game proves itself to be timeless. It's sinister, yet cozy.

So glad I played this, and I would say it's a must play for everybody. It's $1, cmon!

"Gordon Freeman in the flesh". If u never heard or played Half-Life series u can't call yourself an OG. This game was so revolutionary for fps games and it inspired almost every fps game back in a old days. Of course, DOOM was more important and Half-Life was made on modified quake engine, but Half-Life opened a whole new level in first person shooter's. if a game like this had never come out, today's games wouldn't look like they do today.

One of my first games i ever played as a kid, beat it one million times and never bored me. Always a masterpiece and one of the top games in my heart.

You play as a silent libertarian theoretical physicist on his first day on a new job. Things quickly unravel as an experiment goes wrong and opens up a portal to another dimension. You unleash an alien horde on Earth and you have one goal... escape alive. Everything about this premise is the kind of B movie I would love, especially if it was directed by either Fulci or Bava. While it makes no sense why Gordan Freeman is able to sprint without tiring while carrying 14 different weapons and fire them all with expertise (even alien weapons he has never seen before) it doesn't matter. This game is a fucking blast!

The level design is superb with perfect pacing for 3/4s of the experience. You are constantly moving forward, puzzle solving, platforming and blasting your way out of Black Mesa. It's impressive how this game tricks you into forgetting just how linear it is. Another cool detail/decision is how they handle guns, ammo, health and armor. The placement of these objects always make sense from a realist standpoint. You either get ammo directly from the enemies you killed, by smashing supply crates or by entering an armory room. It's a nice detail to have in a game.

As you progress and unlock more weapons, the levels open up and become veritable sandboxes for you to tackle an obstacle anyway you want. A great example is at the trenches. There are catwalks across the trenches littered with enemies. You can choose to go guns blazing, or you can maneuver through the trenches and pick the enemies off with cover. There's nothing deep or profound here, but you didn't see options like this in early shooters often.

Movement is quick and responsive. The shooting leaves more to be desired, but the shooting genre was still having some growing pains in this era. There's auto-aim (I believe you can disable it), and while the alien enemies are satisfying to fight, the human enemies are kind of meh. This is due largely to their hit scan and near perfect aiming. The aliens have projectiles and melee attacks that can be avoided through movement and cover. For humans, you just got to blast them fast to mitigate the damage they dish. Still, the guns feel great and this minor annoyance didn't ruin the experience for me.

What prevents me from rating this game higher is the last 1/4 of the game that feels unpolished and perhaps unfinished. I won't ruin it (though you likely already know what I am talking about). It's a shame, because everything leading up to it was brilliant, genre defining shit. Also there are a few cases of shitty environmental based damage. The worst example was in a level where you are crawling through a vent and it collapses. You take uncontrollable fall damage. My health and quick save were such that I could not progress. It was impossible to survive the drop... what made it more aggravating was there are 2 first aid kits where you land on the floor. Talk about salt in the wound.

Still, a classic for a reason and if you haven't checked it out just stop. Go play. This is one of the few games where I couldn't stop until I beat it. It's rare for a game to grip me like that.

I'm not gonna talk about how Great, well made, Perfectly designed, Ahead of it's time game it is.

I'm just going say that This game planted the seed for what the Gaming industry as a whole would become.

• this game single handedly changed the way a storyline is told through Video Games
• made shooter games their own different thing not just a (Quake clone)
• Introduced the WASD key movement
• The AI this game has, is something to admire that it set the bar way higher for feature games to follow

this game may have Aged a bit but it still holds up way better than A Lot of other Shooter games from the time.

There's some very impressive moments on this like being on an industrial railroad or launching a rocket, but in general it feels like this one benefits from some innovations that merely have historical value and do not feel as amazing now as they must have had back in the day. The gameplay is smooth but the hitboxes of enemies are somewhat imprecise, aiming well is not rewarded as much as in HL 2. The riddles in the rooms are often not declared as such and don't require you to think but just to find a certain spot. This kind of gameplay feels a little outdated.

Half Life 2 is definitely a must-play, but Half-Life 1 is not a must-play imo. At least not in 2020.

What's left to say that hasn't already been said about this game? A true classic in every meaning of the word. The game that put Valve on the map and a cornerstone of FPS games.

It might not look that flash anymore and the first-person platforming might seem a bit dated. But the world-building, level-design and atmosphere more than make up for it.

If you haven't played it you're missing out.

NOTE: Try and play the original version not the Source version. It might have better textures but it hasn't been updated in ages so it's riddled with bugs and glitches.