Half-Life 2 (PC) review "Narratively rich brain-teasing shooter"

It was Portal that had me asking, what is Black Mesa? Eventually, I had enough and bit the proverbial bullet. Being in gaming circles, I had heard plenty about the legendary man with a degree, crowbar and the monsters he fights. Even now, Half-Life 2 is an affordable introduction to the fascinating environment and world of Black Mesa and its surrounding apocalypse city landscape. Naturally, I did not know I was jumping neck deep into a world that had enough world-building references to engender more questions and lead me deeper into Gordon Freeman’s other adventures.

Thankfully, Half-Life 2 does plenty to keep you embroiled in its execution of action, sequel, and puzzle gameplay that keeps your interest high. Valve reinforces the notion that every protagonist’s journey with supportive and likeable, even lovable, characters who provide enough narrative meat to carry on. By the way, you’ve been away and the kids have wrecked the place and been brought back from another dimension to…do something about it all.

You’re not about to save the world, even by the end. The apocalyptic state of the world is yours to grapple with. You’re handed, of all things, a crowbar. It is the most basic tool in any kit, provided by a friendly fellow for your liberty and that of humanity. When you’re out of ammo, you’re not out of crowbar. Not that you’re likely going to run out of ammo.

When I first stepped into Half-Life 2’s first-person gameplay, my skills were not up to par, but that puzzle element contributes to your survival if you focus on environmental cues. It won’t be easy, of course. Save points are anywhere and anytime, so progress loss isn’t a factor in your growth curve. Those with advanced skills will see that the first type of thug you run into is only a threat to an unarmed foe. If you are keen on gunplay tactics, you’ll notice that there are no duck-and-cover mechanics. This is stand-and-shoot in a one-on-one standoff-style combat.

Many reasons exist for their tactlessness, but you’ll be preoccupied with surviving to analyze those motives. It isn’t important to the story, anyway. Not yet. The story fails to generate interest in the human allies of the aliens, which could be a missed opportunity. You are the hero, destined to win, and you’ll have to accept that the developers give you twice, sometimes three times, as many resources as needed.

Systematic exploration of the environment, its story cues, and mechanics hints leads to success. These hints are available to the discerning eye. Surprises, when they happen, don’t cut you down in a single stroke, usually. Even when they do, you’ve learned more about how to react. This infinite respawn ability with new knowledge makes you an unstoppable force, and everyone you meet hangs their hope on you.

It’s an empowering experience, even when some environmental puzzles run long and a touch frustrating. You might find the crab-headed baddies trying to drag you into the toxic muck more than annoying. You might also find some elements of navigation by foot and vehicle—boy, does Valve love its vehicles—annoying, as well. Variety, however, is the saving grace of your long trek to haven.

Retrospect, and perhaps spoilers, might dampen the experience for some players. At my first play-through, however, I hadn’t learned about different versions of vehicles that were a response to player and tester feedback in the subsequent Episodes that follow. I was engaged in my very survival and the hopes that were pinned on Half-Life 2’s strong suit. It’s enough. Boy, howdy, it is enough.

Which, now that we’re about it, is most certainly its world-building. Just the right amount to keep you intrigued, without ruining the suspense. At first, I scanned shadows and hunted for clues about interactions. Once I grew in confidence, the game would throw new challenges at me to keep me guessing.

I mean, wasn’t it about the same time we got to walk around during chats between NPCs in Chrono Trigger we could here, too? On that note, branching paths aren’t a thing; you’re on a straight shot to this story’s end. I wanted to move things forward. The world grants just enough freedom to give the impression it was your idea, too.

Cat and mouse scenarios play up the tension as well and pay off in spades when you play on equal terms with the cat in a moment of vengeance. Half-Life 2 revels in its extended periods of subdued action wherein you creep about, evading detection or not, and wading hips deep into well-armed foes. Some sections let you experiment with gunplay, whereas others require thoughtful consideration of a puzzle-like environment for progress.

Being terrorized by insurmountable foes can go on for long stretches, too, but not so long that you’ll get worn out. Pacing in this game emphasizes the mindfulness of your options. Of course, you’ll get caught by the unexpected, but only by the kind that you can recover from after reloading a save slot. Quicksave is going to be your best friend.

Conversely, one joy of combat is the unexpected—the stuff they didn’t plan for. Valve play tested so thoroughly that they integrated those elements into the final game. Which is to say they included them out. So the entire game can feel like reading over a dull script during replays. There’s no honest-to-goodness room for variation. Each enemy has an optimal attack vector; each map can be cleared in a few pre-determined steps. Speedruns are possible because everything is so well stitched together. If you like unstructured, chaotic gameplay, get into Team Fortress or Garry’s Mod.

Half-Life 2 remains one of the most compelling story-driven shooters and a classic. Valve makes a point of maintaining it to run on modern systems, which should tell you how steeped this game is the depth of gamer culture. The fact of its narrative sheer cliff drop off is a reality of well-told fiction. Being the rebel is a tale as old as time, and this is one of the finer executions of that story in gaming history. Not to be missed.

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Community review by hastypixels (October 17, 2016) Wisdom comes from effort and mistakes.