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I was going to try and write a full review but realised that since it would probably end up being overwhelmingly negative. Instead I will list my thoughts on the game.
5 Years they have been working on this game, I'm sure most here know the story but for those that don't I will recap.
After the original half life in 1999 valve kept very quiet about a sequel. There was no hype, no unguided anticipation that usually comes from the studios who say "It will be done when its done". Until 4 years later, summer 2003, it seemed so sudden at the time, a sequel to one of the most influential fps games ever and best of all it would be out in just 3 months time. September 2003 valve promised, seemingly very sure of themselves (so sure they made a deal to provide the game with ATI video cards, cards which are today two generations old). It could have been so different to the way that the vast majority of games are annouced and then ritually delayed.
Needless to say that this did not come to pass. The actual reason for the year and a bit delay are still clouded in mystery, some light has been shed but it still doesn't all quite make sense. If the game was nearly finshed in summer 2003 then what have valve been doing with themselves for the past year ?, if it wasn't nearly finished then why did some people at valve think it was ?. Where eaxctly does the Source (no pun intended) leak fit in to all this ?. Enquiring minds want to know.
I mention all this beacuse incredibly after 5 years of development, Half Life 2 seems rushed. It kind of reminds me of a english indie band called "The Stone Roses", after their seminal first album they took five years to produce their second one, it wasn't very good and when asked what they had been doing for five years the roses replied that they had spent most of their time "flying kites".
I think valve might have been doing some kite flying recently, based on playing Half Life 2. The biggest problem for me is the story, it is never really explained to any satisfactory conclusion. I like the idea of a mysterious g-man, who can come and give gordon a mission anytime he likes. It makes good sense for valve as well, they can basically create a whole number of adventures based around this concept, very clever. But the actual mission in Half Life 2 makes no sense...
what exactly happened after black mesa ?
why do the combine want rule earth ?
why are the vortigons working the rebels ?
what does breen or the combine have to gain from creating an 1984 type world ?
why are the combine kind of harvesting people ?
etc.
One obvious answer would be that valve are waiting to reveal all these things in HL3 or an expansion pack, and this might well be true. But Half Life 2 is frustrating because it doesn't reveal anything. Its such an unsatisfying experience beacause at the end you have spent 10 - 15 hours thinking that you are going somewhere and you don't really get anything for it.
The actual gameplay is quite good and HL2 is an enjoyable game. In my opinion it is far and away a better game than Doom 3 which became repetitive far too quickly. But I can't help thinking that valve missed a trick here, like doom 3 this game shys away from non linearity and sandbox gameplay and for the most part is just a pure fps. As good as it is I think far cry beats in this regard (even though HL2 has better weapons).
My favourite FPS is Deus Ex which is still the best example of a non linear story driven game (even its sequel seemed more linear its predecessor). Imagine a story of Deus Ex's calibre mixed with enviroments as open as far cry's and HL2's gameplay.
There are other things about HL2 which bothered me, on the back of the box it says "Advanced AI", I actually didn't pay much attention to the AI until the first squad section when my AI teammates could not stop getting in my way. Once I actually started to think about the AI though I realised that the enemies are really very clever either, it's a shame because HL1 had such great AI.
I am sure many fanboys will reply in the same way they did when I wrote a negative review of Doom 3, telling me that I expect too much and should just enjoy what is there. Its just so disheartening to see a game like HL2 which has come so close to offering a truly inspiring and innovative story but seems to have fallen short without a very good reason. Both Half Life 2 and Doom 3 are good games but I feel that games in general have so much more potential.
5 Years they have been working on this game, I'm sure most here know the story but for those that don't I will recap.
After the original half life in 1999 valve kept very quiet about a sequel. There was no hype, no unguided anticipation that usually comes from the studios who say "It will be done when its done". Until 4 years later, summer 2003, it seemed so sudden at the time, a sequel to one of the most influential fps games ever and best of all it would be out in just 3 months time. September 2003 valve promised, seemingly very sure of themselves (so sure they made a deal to provide the game with ATI video cards, cards which are today two generations old). It could have been so different to the way that the vast majority of games are annouced and then ritually delayed.
Needless to say that this did not come to pass. The actual reason for the year and a bit delay are still clouded in mystery, some light has been shed but it still doesn't all quite make sense. If the game was nearly finshed in summer 2003 then what have valve been doing with themselves for the past year ?, if it wasn't nearly finished then why did some people at valve think it was ?. Where eaxctly does the Source (no pun intended) leak fit in to all this ?. Enquiring minds want to know.
I mention all this beacuse incredibly after 5 years of development, Half Life 2 seems rushed. It kind of reminds me of a english indie band called "The Stone Roses", after their seminal first album they took five years to produce their second one, it wasn't very good and when asked what they had been doing for five years the roses replied that they had spent most of their time "flying kites".
I think valve might have been doing some kite flying recently, based on playing Half Life 2. The biggest problem for me is the story, it is never really explained to any satisfactory conclusion. I like the idea of a mysterious g-man, who can come and give gordon a mission anytime he likes. It makes good sense for valve as well, they can basically create a whole number of adventures based around this concept, very clever. But the actual mission in Half Life 2 makes no sense...
what exactly happened after black mesa ?
why do the combine want rule earth ?
why are the vortigons working the rebels ?
what does breen or the combine have to gain from creating an 1984 type world ?
why are the combine kind of harvesting people ?
etc.
One obvious answer would be that valve are waiting to reveal all these things in HL3 or an expansion pack, and this might well be true. But Half Life 2 is frustrating because it doesn't reveal anything. Its such an unsatisfying experience beacause at the end you have spent 10 - 15 hours thinking that you are going somewhere and you don't really get anything for it.
The actual gameplay is quite good and HL2 is an enjoyable game. In my opinion it is far and away a better game than Doom 3 which became repetitive far too quickly. But I can't help thinking that valve missed a trick here, like doom 3 this game shys away from non linearity and sandbox gameplay and for the most part is just a pure fps. As good as it is I think far cry beats in this regard (even though HL2 has better weapons).
My favourite FPS is Deus Ex which is still the best example of a non linear story driven game (even its sequel seemed more linear its predecessor). Imagine a story of Deus Ex's calibre mixed with enviroments as open as far cry's and HL2's gameplay.
There are other things about HL2 which bothered me, on the back of the box it says "Advanced AI", I actually didn't pay much attention to the AI until the first squad section when my AI teammates could not stop getting in my way. Once I actually started to think about the AI though I realised that the enemies are really very clever either, it's a shame because HL1 had such great AI.
I am sure many fanboys will reply in the same way they did when I wrote a negative review of Doom 3, telling me that I expect too much and should just enjoy what is there. Its just so disheartening to see a game like HL2 which has come so close to offering a truly inspiring and innovative story but seems to have fallen short without a very good reason. Both Half Life 2 and Doom 3 are good games but I feel that games in general have so much more potential.
