Half-Life

Reviewed by Mike Suskie (June 01, 2008)

There’s a surprise around every corner, be it a new enemy, a new platforming challenge, or some new method of simply scaring the piss out of you, like watching a scientist get sucked into a hole in the wall, only to see him re-emerge in pieces a moment later. Take out any five-minute segment of Half-Life and it probably wouldn’t seem like anything particularly special – you have to play it all at once to fully understand just how well each piece compliments the next, how it all adds up to one nearly seamless FPS experience with rarely a single dull moment, or even one that feels like what you’ve already been through. It is truly greater than the sum of its parts.

Reviewed by autorock (August 27, 2006)

The intro sequence is the part that endures, obviously; the commute into the creaking heart of the Black Mesa Research Facility will never quite lose its majesty. Once the soundscape oozes in and your eyes open, your tramcar winds its way down through the massive complex, sweeping you through a foreseeable world in which technology is definitely awe-inspiring, but far from reliable and farther from invasive. Incredible multi-articulated robots repair busted-up chemical vats. Steel airlocks and e...

Reviewed by dagoss (December 25, 2008)

The RPG genre has generally been understood to be exclusive to games that are, in some form, driven up front by visible statistics. If there is a screen that displays HP, STR, MAG, or any other common abbreviations, the game in question is likely an RPG in the sense in which the term is most commonly applied. Half-life is obviously not an RPG in the numerical sense. It is instead, a great example (perhaps the best example) of the original sense of an RPG, a game in which narrative is v...

Reviewed by masterzero99 (February 07, 2006)

When Valve had first released Half Life, the FPS genre was dominated by games such as Quake II and Unreal. Soon thereafter, Half Life rose to stardom, leaving its rivals in the dust, and becoming one of the most effective shooters ever released. But what separated Half Life from the rest of the pack during that era in which the FPS genre was still slowly growing in popularity? Sure, they all incorporated ugly aliens, gargantuan monsters, powerful firearms, and LOTS of gibs into an action-packed ...

Reviewed by tigmal (Date unavailable)

Four years after its release date and despite its aging graphics, the game is still relevant today and still far better than many of its more recent counterparts.

Reviewed by wolfqueen001 (November 04, 2007)

“….Medic!” screams the marine as I plow lead into his back. He retreats around the corner, probably hoping to enlist the help of his comrades. I do not follow; following could be suicide.