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Half-life 2

Jan. 17, 2005

Among the Christmas presents I received this year was a new video game, Half-life 2. The first Half-life is one of the most influential games ever, not for itself, but rather for the incredibly customizability of the game. This led to Counter-Strike, which is probably the most popular LAN party game ever.



At first, I was extremely irritated with HL2. The game took an hour and a half to install, including a 30 minute "decrypting" session after I connected to steam. "I have to go through this so that Valve can have the opportunity to market more products to me?" I asked. It isn't worth it.



The game, however, is absolutely magnificent. It is hard to describe what makes it so good. It is still just a first-person shooter. You do all the usual FPS things. Run around, get weapons, shoot foes. The graphics are better, of course. The physics engine adds a lot. There are puzzles based on levers, buoyancy, pulleys and electricity. All of that adds to the fun, but in itself doesn't make a good game.



What makes this one special is the incredible attention to detail. The level design is meticulous. Every object is placed as if some real person had left it there. Every scene tells a story about the world. In some ways it reminds me of the classic film making of Orson Welles. Under Welles' direction, every shot tells you everything you need to know about the scene before the dialog even begins. The pictures tell the story, the action just helps. In some way, Half-life 2 does this. Good job, Valve.