Half-Life 2 Review
By Madison Parks
Intro:
In 1998, Valve released "Half-Life." Now, 7 years later, they have released the Sequel to this "Game of the Year" winner. You Play the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who unleased an army of aliens and is presumed dead. You now face a new foe, the government of City 17, one of the last safe places in the area.
Graphics:
Graphics for this game are amazing. The weapons shine under the lights, the landscape looks almost real, and the models are amazing. The speech of characters is almost perfectly synced with the in-game audio. Water reflects its suroundings and dynamics lights fill the maps.
Gameplay:
Singleplayer:
The Gameplay is superb. The story, one with no obvious holes, but a few questions, is balanced well. The game does not rely on the plot to keep you there, but at the same time, the story plays an important role and, to a certain extent, keeps you playing. Because of the Havok engine, the models move somewhat freely in the map. Although the game does not grasp the technology of the engine as well as Max Payne 2 did, it uses it successfully. The replay value is high, which is good, since the game can be a little short to experienced gamers. There is a wide range of weapons to choose from, including 2 pistols, a shotgun, 2 automatic rifles, and the Gravity Gun. The Gravity Gun uses the Havok engine and can pick up objects, launch them, or push them. It adds a new level of gameplay. When You run out of ammo, you no longer need to run from enemies, hoping you don't die, searching for ammo.
Multiplayer:
The Game comes bundled with the Counterstrike Source, the newest version of the extremely successful series. Recently released was Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. This program is free for download once you have installed and verified the game. This contains:
-Deathmatch, an every-man-for-himself free-for-all. The person with the most points at the end of the match wins
-Team Deathmatch, assigning a team to each player. The team with the most points at the end of the match wins.
Final Thoughts:
This is quite possibly the greatest game to be released in a while. It has the looks of Doom 3, but a better story and more incentive to keep playing. However, it does require a somewhat powerful PC to play, and must be validated by the Steam Servers. This validation may take up to an hour on a 56k modem, but is well-worth the wait. The replay value is high, and once you finish the game, you can select any chapter to start from.
I would recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a serious but fun first person shooter
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
700 MHz CPU
128 MB RAM
DX6 compatible video card
3 GB free HD space
Recommended System Requirements:
Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
2 GHz CPU
256 MB RAM
DX9 compatible video card
4 GB free HD space