I played HL when it got out, same with HL2. I agree that the atmosphere is there, but it`s just not as strong as I like.
I recently read Raising The Bar and it said how they wanted to make HL2 a much darker game. That`s something I would have liked.
Same with the concept art and pre release...
HL could be so much more serious and grittier, but it`s not.
Now STALKER is what I call a gritty, atmospheric game where you can feel the sadness and death no matter where you go.
Same with Hitman Contracts. Not everyone liked the dark theme HC had, but the fact that it made some feel sad and...
If HL3 will ever come out, it should be more gritty and sad/atmospheric than the current 2 games. Atm, HL2 and HL1 are just too jolly and arcade for my taste.
As long as it will have ground-breaking graphics, physics, gameplay, etc, I don`t care what the story is.