Toggled
Review
Half
Life 2 Review
By
Eric Allen (Co-creator in Spoof)
Alright, ladies and germs, it’s the moment you've all been waiting
for: the Eric Allen Exclusive Half Life 2 Review! That's right; I've
completed the game and am now ready to pass my judgment. I'll break
this into two parts: spoiler-free and spoiler friendly.
*warning: long*
NON-SPOILER SECTION:
First off, Valve is taking no chances with this game. They know it’s
a big thing, and they really want to maintain their intellectual property.
They also seem to want to screw over Vivendi as much as they can.
The game is available from two sources: you can go down to your local
EB, Circuit City, or what not and buy a hardcopy, or you can download
it from Valve's STEAM client. If you buy it from the store, you can
either purchase it in its basic form (Half Life 2 and Counter-Strike:
Source which ships on 5 CD's for around $50) or the Collector's Edition
(which includes the same plus Half Life: Source and Day of Defeat:
Source as well as some other goodies like the strategy guide. I believe
this one ships on DVD for about $90). The STEAM downloads come in
three flavors: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Bronze is equal to the basic
retail box, the gold is (I think) equal to the Collector's Edition,
and Silver is the software without the paper goodies. I purchased
the standard retail box from my local CompUSA.
Installation is surprisingly quick for a game of its size. Following
installation, though, things get tricky. As part of their anti-piracy
measures, Valve requires you to register your product before you can
play the game. This requires setting up a (free) STEAM account. The
STEAM client runs in your system try. You must set up your account
and register your product in order for the game files to be unpacked
and made playable. This can really be a hassle, especially if you
plan on having the game on a computer that is not hooked up to the
internet.
The game itself is simply awesome. Indoor environments are quite
detailed and even the tile on the walls looks believable. Outdoor
environments aren't as detailed, but certainly do not disappoint.
The water in this game is some of the best, most realistic I've ever
seen in a game. That said, they still haven't gotten splashes and
water movement due to characters moving about in it right. Character
models look and move very nicely. The human characters, though proportioned
realistically, still look like CGI characters, especially up close.
However, the more detailed characters, like Dr. Vance and Alyx are
capable of expressing some emotion.
Character models are quite nice. The headcrabs now look a bit beefier
and fleshier. They even have a cup-shaped orifice on their underside
just the diameter of a human head. The barnacles are given a radical
facelift, and now include a set of inner jaws.
The physics engine is everywhere and used by the game often. People
have a tendency to rag doll a bit much (especially when dangling from
a barnacle). The promise was for there to be lots of puzzles utilizing
the physics engine. Unfortunately, this really isn't that true. There
are some clever ones, true, but not as many as their could have been.
There are a lot of puzzles that require extensive use of the gravity
gun.
Game play is very much the same as in the original Half Life, and
event the weapons are very much the same. Combat is fast and furious.
The AI is improved over the original. Enemies will take cover, use
cover fire and flanking maneuvers (though often the maps don't allow
for much in the way of flanking), and will use stuff at hand to take
you out, such as kicking a barrel of flammable materials down the
stairs at you.
The storyline is engaging, and you often want to continue, just to
see what happens next and what's around the next corner. The game
is very linear, but like in the original Half Life, there are often
parts where you aren't sure if you’re going the right way until
you see the "loading" sign. On that note, the load time
between sections can seem a bit long, but that's the price we pay
for such high-end graphics. This is also the only point where my computer
showed any difficulties. After loading a section, it would normally
jump a tad about a second or two later, but after that was smooth.
SPOILER SECTION:
WARNING : POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!
I'm putting the disclaimer here because I really can't describe much
more of the game without risking spoilers, so let's continue, shall
we?
There are some elements that the designers should be commended for.
Dr. Kleiner has a pet headcrab named Lamaar, who is the most animated,
engaging headcrab in the entire game. Unlike the other headcrabs,
she actually looks around her. Dog is another high point. With a personality
somewhere between a dog and a gorilla, Alyx's "pet" robot
is one helluva fighter. You really only get to see him in combat once,
and that's probably a good thing, because otherwise the part of the
game with him would be too easy. The level where you drive a buggy
down the shoreline was really fun, especially at the points where
you had to stop and get out clearing the way. On the other hand, the
level where you drive the airboat around was just tediously long,
reminiscent of Half Life's "On a Rail" level.
I am disappointed with a few things:
Enemies: You basically have 9 enemies in this game: 3 types of headcrab
(basic, speedy, and venomous), 3 types of zombie (basic, speedy, and
venomous), manhacks(annoying flying buzzsaws), striders(the coolest
though you only get to fight them at the end), and grunts (true, there
are 3 basic types of grunts of increasing power, but they're all still
grunts and they all fight like grunts, except the elite white guys
shoot those vaporizing grenades at you). There's also the Combine
Gunship and Attack Helicopter, though these only appear infrequently
and play minor roles, the Combine armored car which you really never
have to fight except a couple times on the airboat, and Ant Lions,
which play a minor role in the middle of the game.
There are no Bullsquid (which I was looking forward to seeing), no
Houndeyes, no Alien soldiers, no Icthysaurs (except on brief glimpse
in a cut scene), no other Xen critters besides the headcrabs, barnacles,
and alien slaves (Vortigaunts, which are now able to talk and are
your friends).
My biggest gripe has got to be the climax. The best and most challenging
part of the game is not the end. After fighting your way to the citadel,
you get inside only to have your weapons confiscated, except for your
gravity gun, which the confiscation process has zapped and overcharged
into the super 1-shot-half-a-dozen-kills-unlimited-ammo-uber-weapon-of-doom.
Unfortunately, for the last stretch of the game, this is your only
weapon. This end-run is quite disappointing. After a lengthy tram-ride
sequence, in which you see some new critters (spindle-legged alien
laborers and some sort of squat tank-like thing) the only baddies
you face are grunts and one strider. Furthermore, the ONLY weapon
you have is the super-grav-gun. Sure, it theoretically makes it more
of a challenge, but it’s actually a bit annoying. The ending
itself is quite anti-climatic. I was all set to jump into the portal
to the alien dimension and fight some new alien scum ala Xen, but
nope--you just blow it up and the G-man plucks you up and puts you
back in cold-storage. I wanted the game to be longer! I wanted to
kick some ass and chew bubblegum in the alien dimension. I wanted
to fight in the Combine's living room and smash their coffee table
with my crowbar. I wanted to raid their fridge and stick plastic forks
in their lawn. But nope, the ending came all too soon.
Maybe in Half Life 3?
Very good game? Definitely.
Worth the $50? Sure thing.
Fun to play? You betchya.
Greatest game of all time? Probably not.
Reviewer’s machine: P4 3.2ht, 1 GB pc3200 RAM, ATI Raedon 9600XT,
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS, Logitec 5.1 THX surround speakers. |