Half-Life 2 Review

I was tempted to review Half-Life 2 with both episodes at the same time since the mechanics are fundamentally the same, but as I worked my through Episode 1 I found more and more I wanted to talk about in terms of just that segment. Therefore, here is my review of Half-Life 2, from The Orange Box, on it’s own.

The audio of the game is solid, as are the graphics. Some of the textures in the environments seem a little flat, but the modeling of the NPC’s is top notch. The environments are convincing in their design, but they tend to be fairly similar throughout. It’s worth noting that HL2 had been out for a while on the PC before coming to the 360, so while it might not look as good as games like Halo 3, it still holds it’s own.

Half-Life 2 bears all the telltale signs of a Valve game, right down to the perfectly tuned levels. You see, in HL2 you never feel like you’re unsure where to go. If you are, then you’re just not taking in the environment. There’s always something that will point you in the right direction. This kind of commitment to level design would seem like a no-brainer for any game, but it’s amazing how many times I get stuck somewhere just because the level wasn’t perfectly tuned.

In addition to basic pathfinding, Valve is really one of the best developers for making puzzles work in an FPS context. While there are the occasional push-button-to-open-gate puzzles, most would require a bit more thought. It’s not uncommon to have to think how the virtual environment can interact to provide you a way out, such as using a magnetic crane to move storage crates. These puzzles are also seldom re-hashed, so it feels fresh each time you come across a new challenge.

The NPC’s are better-than-average as well. Your interactions with NPC’s have always been key to the player experience in the Half-Life series, despite the fact that you don’t ever actually speak. At various points throughout the game you encounter seemingly random people who walk about and talk to one another as you would expect them to. These touches add to the overall environment and story.

The story is good, but unfortunately Valve sticks a little too much to the you-get-what-Freeman-sees mechanic in this department. I could tell there was rich story in behind the civil war that was going on, but I didn’t really get all the details. Instead you’re forced to move through the story with the most basic of details (these are the good guys, these are the bad). I still found it satisfying to progress through the game, but I think that a little more could have been done to flesh things out. Also, if you aren’t familiar with the story from the first Half-Life, don’t expect to be brought up to speed.

The overall pacing of the game is excellent as well. You’ll travel to new environments almost seamlessly, creating a natural progression to the game as a whole. Though you will have some puzzles that require you figure them out under the pressure of enemy swarms, usually you know when you have to solve a problem by the fact that you’re given the breathing room to sort it out.

With all this excellent construction, HL2 must be the best thing since sliced bread, no? Well, not quite. There were two points at which I really felt the game let me down. One was the lack of any sort of quest tracking. While the level design makes sure you don’t get lost, I did spend a lot of time moving forward without really knowing what it was I was looking for. I understand that it may seem immersive to leave you without a notepad to check, but just because Freeman is listening when others talk doesn’t mean that I caught the whole conversation, or that I understand how to translate those comments into “Go to x and do y“.

The other problem I have with HL2, which is a problem I had with the original Half-Life, is the platforming. I find it strange that many developers of the FPS genre feel the need to include platforming segments. I would often get frustrated when I didn’t quite know where my feet were or quite how far I could jump. When moving from one solid to another I could usually get the hang of things on my first or second try, but the multiple exercises which involved moving unstable parts of the environment around and then climbing/jumping off them really didn’t work well. It’s clear that Valve learned a lot between HL2 and Portal, since Portal works so damn well. I just wish that was patched in HL2 since it really detracted from my fun with the game.

This control problem also carried over to the vehicles. While I did like the use of the vehicular sequences, I found they controlled really loosely, making it hard to actually drive. Add in some wonky firing mechanics (aim the gun with one stick while you drive with another) and it just felt a little tossed in to an otherwise refined game.

Bottom Line:
Buy If: You want an FPS with a little less shooting and more thinking.
Rent If: You’re more into puzzling but willing to try some shooting too. A rent could give you the taste you need before buying or passing.
Pass If: If you think FPS means “twitch and shoot wave after wave of enemy”. This game has pacing, it’s not just a bloodbath.