I had fallen way behind in computer gaming, so recently I built a new computer with good components. The first game I decided to buy was Half-Life 2, and I have to say that it more than lives up to the hype. I finally understand what everyone is talking about when they talk about great first-person shooter games.
Pros:
Fantastic graphics: very pretty backgrounds. I have absolutely no problems whatsoever. No jaggies or ghosting. I have all graphic settings on high. My graphics card is the EVGA geForce 6800GS and the processor is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+.
Good physics: Objects move and behave as they really would. Tires roll, metal screeches, glass shatters, etc.
Great story line: I like the way it keeps the plot moving along.
Great audio: I constantly feel like I'm being chased because you can hear the helicopters in the background.
Good AI: The AI opponents use realistic tactics to trap you and avoid your fire. The friendly NPCs behave realistically. Their dialouge is influenced by your behavior! And their eyes follow you around the room!
Immersive atmosphere: In the beginning sequences, I really felt like I was being chased. I was playing in the dark, and as I jumped off fire escapes and busted down doors and ran around buildings, my heart was racing. At first I was like, why the heck is my hearbeat so high, and then I realized it was because the game was so dang realistic! Awesome.
Cons:
I think the puzzles are good, not too difficult to solve and you get a sense of accomplishment, but if you don't like puzzles, I can see how you might think it's a little tedious. How many times do you want to move boxes so you can reach a window or uncover a hole in the floor?
That's about it.
Other: It only took me about 20 minutes to install all 5 discs and another 20 minutes or so to download Steam. If you're using dial-up and an older computer, this time may take longer. Also, you do NOT need to connect to the Internet every time you play Half-Life 2. There is an offline mode. Just follow the instructions included on the quick reference card in the package.
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Honest Review
I'm very glad that I waited until I purcharsed a top of the line computer to play this game. The visual quality of the environments is marvelous and the game play is very fluid. I have a P4 3.2 Gig, 1 Gig of RAM, X1800 XL graphics card, and a high end monitor w/ a DVI connection. Even with the high end graphics card (w/ all settings on maximum, visual and audio) I still get a few spots in the game where it will lag for a second. However, these spots are few and far between. Also, it only lags when something incredibly amazing happens on the screen and I don't mind if it happens to freeze for a second b/c it's something that's spectacular to look at.I played this game over a span of 5 nights for about 6 hours per night. I did this on the medium setting so it took about 30 hours of game play to finish the game. Granted, it would have taken a couple less hours if I wasn't admiring all the the graphically brilliant environments. Oh, and I highly recommend you play this game at night w/ all of the lights off. If you have a high end PC and monitor, it's pure gaming enjoyment. I did play HL2-Lost Coast on the Hard setting and that was much more challenging. The enemy can kill you much more quickly and you need to do a good bit more damage to them to get the kill. I plan to play HL2 on the dificult setting sometime next week. Let's see how far I can get w/out dying. ;)I don't see why everyone is complaining about how the game is "on rails" or that there are a few puzzles to solve in the game. First of all, HL1 was the same way and nobody complained about it then. If you haven't played the game, so what if there's only one way. Just find it and finish the level. As for the puzzles, they don't take much time to solve and don't detract from the game at all. Just think 3 dimensionally on some of them and you'll figure it all out w/ no problem.So many people have been complaining about STEAM. Get a grip people!!! If you have a DSL connection the "updates" to HL2, Counter-Strike Source, and Lost Coast only take about 30 minutes to download. These updates are there to fix problems in the game so that you have a better gaming experience in the first place. So stop complaining about STEAM and start thanking the fact that it exists. Otherwise, you'd be complaining about all the bugs in the game and wanting patches to fix them. W/ STEAM, all of the patches download automatically. Additionaly, you can even turn off some of the updates if you aren't interested in playing those games. That way, HL2 will update even faster. Ultimately, if you have waited over a year to play this game anyway...another 30 minutes isn't going to kill you. Just deal w/ it.In conclusion, if you have a great computer system I highly recommend purchasing this game. It's an awesome gaming experience. The Half-Life saga is the greatest thing in PC gaming history. Also, I hear that even on slower systems the grame runs perfectly well if you turn the graphic settings down. Actually, the game will recommend which settings for you to operate w/ based on your system.BTW, I've played CS Source and it's definitely not like Condition Zero. I much prefer CZ as it has the older CS feel but has much better graphics. Source is just too odd, it's harder to track your fire and all the people run like hunchbacks. LOL, you'll see if/when you play CS Source.
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