Strengths:Closest thing ever to an interactive movie. Wide variety of gameplay. Best integration of Havok physics yet. Jaw dropping character models. Lush, beautiful graphics.
Weaknesses:Frequent and lengthy load times. Noticeable stuttering in places. Ridiculous ending.
Posted Jun 5, 2005 - This is one hell of a game. Delayed by over a year and hyped to a level right up there with Doom 3 (maybe higher), it is relieving to say that the final product meets about 90% of my expectations. Given the astronomical hype, that's pretty good.
Graphics: To answer the obvious question: no, Half Life 2 is not as technically advanced as Doom 3. However, that doesn't stop Half Life's Source engine from kicking Doom's butt with a richer world, larger variety of locations, and character models that rest one step away from George Lucas' CGI creatures. The people you meet in Half Life 2 are vivid, with incredible animation, realistic and razor sharp textures (many of which are dirty and haggard), and the best lip synching ever seen in any game. For the first time, I actually believed that these characters onscreen were talking. Matching up this achievement is an absolutely beautiful world that feels real enough to get lost in. The lighting effects are rather primitive compared to Far Cry or Doom 3, but the detail and atmosphere of what's onscreen cover this weakness pretty effectively.
Audio: Unremarkable aside from a few defining moments. Guns sound like guns (although the pistols sound a little to cute for their own good), and cars sound like cars. There are a few instances that stand out, though. Explosions in this game sound extremely realistic, with a sharp, percussive snap filling in for the usual rolling boom. The vocal effects of the combine soldiers are a little creepy, and the agonizing scream they belt out when they die is pretty unique. The most impressive sound has to be the ambiance surrounding the Combine citadel. It is spooky, weird, and punctuated by a frequent impact as massive pillars crash into the ground.
Gameplay: HL2 is a melting pot of gamestyles. In one moment you're doing the survival horror bit with aliens jumping out from the shadows. At other times, you're tooling across the beach in a dune buggy, or fighting a street war against massive, 50 foot tall daddy long legs. It's mostly a successful mesh, with only occasional stretches of boredom *usually the last half of the lengthy driving levels).
Story: I'm still out to lunch on this one. On the positive side, the story that is there is a basic rebellion dressed up with some interesting twists. On the down side, there is no big picture to anything that happens. Nothing is explained about the combine, or what has happened since the end of the first game. This leads to a sense of severe frustration, as you play the whole game expecting some kind of reveal, but never getting to it. On the positive side, there is a strong Orwellian vibe going through the game, and the ending, while not making a bit of sense, is nowhere near as infuriating as Halo 2.
Physics: This is where HL2 beats any game released to date. The physics integration in this game is simply phenomenal. There are the usual ragdoll deaths and bodies flopping over cliffs, but the game jumps ahead due to that same level of detail applied to virtually every object in the world. Once you get the game's infamous gravity gun, you can grab and fling almost anything, and it all reacts realistically. You can toss around mattresses, paint cans, explosive barrels, and eventually, even the bad guys (in the best level of the entire game)
Overall: HL2 is one of the best games in the last few years. It easily beats Doom 3 due to it's immersiveness and variety, and only looses a few points for its dense story.
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Rated 
Half-Life 2 is undoubedly one of the best games I ...
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