On Nov. 16, 2004, Valve Software released Half-Life 2, the long-awaited sequel to their debut video game Half-Life. Filled with charismatic characters and pulse-pounding sci-fi action, the Half-Life games have sold over 18 million copies worldwide. How does this classic series hold up twenty years later?
Storytelling
The games star Dr. Gordon Freeman: a crowbar-wielding theoretical physicist who finds himself humanity’s final hope against an interdimensional alien empire. Although it does a strong job of building an intriguing sci-fi world, the story by itself is nothing too remarkable.
Half-Life (1998) released during a time when it was standard for FPS games such as Doom or Quake to drop players immediately into action with no sense of plot or story. However, Half-Life broke the mold by giving players more time to absorb dialogue and atmosphere, giving it much more room to tell a compelling story.
Half-Life 2 kicks this up a notch, with supporting characters such as Alyx Vance having much more active roles in story and gameplay. Without Half-Life, the layered and emotional storytelling and worldbuilding common in modern games may never have come about.
Gameplay
Although Half-Life’s storytelling is revolutionary for its time, its gameplay can be varied.
Half-Life (1998) took an innovative approach to combat, giving the player a multitide of options to plan out and strategize for every encounter.
The final chapters suffered from this especially, with a triumphant journey through an alien world being reduced to a tedious slog. Fortunately, there are exploits that can allow the player to skip or speed through these slower segments.
Half-Life 2, on the other hand, has much more variation when it comes to action sequences. In addition, a unique tool called the Gravity Gun allows the player to use Half-Life 2’s realistic physics to defeat enemies and solve puzzles.
However, the sequel still has its fair share of issues. Half-Life 2 has multiple levels where the player is forced to control a vehicle, and the controls can often be unresponsive and frustrating to handle. Additionally, the realistic physics engine sometimes bugs out and sends objects flying, but this is fairly rare.
Final Verdict
Overall, the Half-Life series offers a fun and action-packed sci-fi adventure, even if some elements of the games have not aged well.
