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Author Bio: Ayden Rogers is a professional essay company blog writer who writes articles on educational topics and video game reviews.
Describing games on the level of Half-Life 2 is a thankless task. First, all the available information has already been discussed in detail in in-game publications and fans on the forums. Secondly, any of your opinions and arguments will tear commenting seagulls, confidently versed in everything better than the sinful author. So I note at once all that is written below in particular, and the rubric as a whole is not a complete review but rather a subjective impression of favorite games of childhood. Assessment is placed solely based on the interest of the project at this point, as it was perceived before you can safely look at the review aggregators. And in the meantime, we return to the great Half-Life 2. By the way, in conclusion, I offer my version of the permanent postponement of the third part release.
A bit of the series
The story of Valve began back in 1996, when the young employees of Microsoft Gabe Newell (yes, that's our bankrupt) and Mike Harrington, after a brief disagreement with the bosses, decided to establish their firm. They immediately set out to create an innovative shooter, Quiver on the Quake engine. But soon, the concept didn't suit the future stars of game mode, and after numerous reworkings and modifications, the game finally hit the shelves, but with a different name - Half-Life. The valve was surprised by its diligence during the period because the game was ready in 1997, but Gabe's team almost a year it ground. As time revealed, they did everything right - HL was named game of the year by around 50 editions, and four times it topped the list of the best games of all time.
Indeed, such success could not do without a sequel. The more so, the potential of the original game was so huge that even the sequels from other studios were sold like hotcakes. The developers began to create Half-Life 2 almost immediately. Still, game mode was in rapid progress at that time, new promising technologies appeared every day, and Gabe wanted to see them all in his creation. Such perfectionism seemed to play a cruel joke with Valve, they again had a working build a year before release, but a studio rat leaked it to the public. The risks were enormous, the budget of the second Halfa was estimated at 40 million greenbacks, but to the team's credit, Gabe and his staff didn't get too excited. Throwing out some of the content, they added new elements, slightly changed the ending, and in November 2004, hit the shelves. Next, an unknown extravaganza, 45 Game of the Year wins, and Game of the Decade title. A little later, the episodic additions to Half-Life 2 were released, and an equally exciting epic began with Half-Life 3 and Half-Life: Episode Three.
The gameplay part
What impresses me the most about the Half-Life story is its hidden nature. The player is not forced to read dozens of diaries. Who knows how they survived in the apocalyptic world. His pitch is brilliant. Something is told by friends, somewhere overheard on the working radio. Something propaganda ran his mouth. And if you want to understand all the twists and turns, there are forums, comic books, amateur movies, machinima, etc. We will focus exclusively on the most important events. Everyone's favorite, Gordon Freeman, wakes up after the stasis that G-man put him in at the end of the first part. By the way, he also acted as an alarm clock and even advised going to the City-17. The fact is that the victory over Nikhilant had essentially given humanity nothing. The portals that opened all over the Earth attracted the attention of the Alliance, and their armed forces took over the planet entirely during the Seven Hour War. Black Mesa's ruler, Wallace Breen, persuaded the remaining humans to lay down their weapons, and as a result, he was appointed ruler of all territory under his control. But what Breen didn't mention was that in exchange for their lives, the survivors would be given an absolute dictatorship, the most valuable resources would be siphoned off from the planet, and a particular suppressive breeding field would control the people.
And so, in all this mess, again will have to deal with a talented nuclear physicist. Fortunately, his good old friends Barney, Isaac Kleiner, and Eli Vance remain assistants. And how the latter's daughter grew up, Alex, you can't take your eyes off. Thus Gordon joins the Resistance, after which the road to the capital full of dangers, heroic battles, and selfless deeds awaits him. Freeman meets his old aliens from Zen again, significantly downsizes the armed forces of the Combine, scales the radioactive canals on a Jet Ski, rides the buggy with the wind, leads an army of ant lions, and organizes a full-fledged rebellion, having sent Bryn directly to his employer. And all this string of events flies by in 12 hours, criminally short hours.
One of the most extraordinary things about Half-Life 2 is the incredible game design. It's a contrived roller coaster of a game where the director has his hand on your pulse. And believe me, it's not you that plays HL2, but it is with you. The developers have created a fantastic illusion of freedom of choice and an open world, but in fact, you are moving exclusively along the rails of the story. The talent of the developers shows itself in the exciting idea - genre mimicry. Half-Life 2 as if it teases us periodically, turning into a race, a tactical shooter, or, for example, a full-fledged horror in Riverdale.
Moreover, despite all the awesomeness of Freeman, he is not perceived as a lone wolf in the world of Half-Life. He is just a symbol that shows people that they are capable of self-sacrifice. And all these decorations are only necessary for gaining faith because the people themselves start the storming of the Citadel without Alix and Gordon. The firefights demonstrate all the patheticness of such a situation with the Alliance; they are challenging not only because of the opponent's cleverness but also because of the character's mortality, which periodically happens by the way.
The second most successful trick is the gravity gun. Who could have imagined that the game's physics would turn out so advanced? And the funny thing about this whole situation, the newfangled gadget spawned an incredibly successful series of logic games. At the same time, in Half-Life 2 itself, the cannon manages to create dozens of extraordinary moments after getting it somehow immediately lost interest in the rest of the weapons (although all the guns are well designed from appearance to ballistics), and great that the final boss destroys her.
Half-Life 2 is still great to play; the right rhythm helps this, the hurricane stages are diluted with relaxing transitions. The game is great for exploring with many secrets and easy puzzles. At the same time, shooting fans will find a lot of virtual shooting galleries and organized opponents. Half-Life 2 is almost without reservations, devoid of weaknesses. The only complaint sounds about the last level and the boss. It is too monotonous a process to turn out, and the fight could come out brighter. But taking into account the overall narrative and leakage of the game code right before release, I think it's quite a forgivable mistake. The DLC story will probably be a separate post, as these are not just any additions but quite full-fledged projects.
For the multiplayer, the responsibility was given to Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. But everyone knew that it was impossible to reach the level of popularity of Kontra. That's why the main available modes, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, already smelled like mothballs. But the third mode, Puzzle, was much more interesting because my favorite gravogun had to solve problems in the group. But unfortunately, the whole process quickly descended into an eternal bridge design, and the partners have recruited individuals with destructive tendencies, which ruined a good idea.
Technical part
The visuals at the time of release seemed perfect. Source produced excellent views, and the facial animation was revolutionary. The faces contained 40, so to speak, muscles that allowed them to express emotion. But most of all, I was struck by the local architecture - years later, I learned that the prototype of City 17 was Eastern European cities, but at the time of the first game, I had the impression that you were running around on your collective farm.
The soundtrack to the second Halfa consisted of 43 songs, with some of them sounding in the original. It is difficult to call it legendary, the fact that the composer was an employee of Valve Kelly Bailey, and his music seems to me personally monotonous. However, he can create iconic samples - the same headcrab's jumps, his death, or barnacle's gurgling.
Conclusion
Now let's talk about why we won't see the third part anytime soon. The fact is that this series for Gabe is the native and favorite child. Exit, each piece, occurred during the periods of technological breakthrough and game at the time of arriving on the shelves, though not the first, but as successful as possible to implement a revolutionary idea. Fun in the series should be cutting-edge and top-notch. A similar approach worked perfectly before Half-Life 2: Episode One, where the HDR and new lighting systems and AI were tested. But in Half-Life 2: Episode Two, there was nothing revolutionary (except for new enemies). The game became the shooter of the year, but more likely due to inertia. And Bioshock, Halo 3, Cod: Modern Warfare were around. That's why Gabe stopped taking the risk of canceling the third episode. Most likely, Half-Life 3 should have been released last year if virtual reality helmets had become ubiquitous. Valve had long been intrigued with a new installment of the series, but the VR people weren't too keen, so they had to drastically change their minds and create an Alyx offshoot. So now we won't see Half-Life 3 for a long time, until the next technological revolution.
And one last thing. If you want to skip Half-Life 2 game, it's an actual crime, so be law-abiding. Well, those who have not played for a long time update your receptors with a quality product. 9.5. Fantastic!
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