Half-Life 2

THE BAD:
Not much to say here, apart from the sometimes dodgy descisions made by other charactors, the only fault with their otherwie perfect AI. My advice is: (in "entanglement" and "follow freeman!") send your squad away before going in to get rid of turret guns! They'll all die otherwise!
Another bad thing is that you'll need a supercomputer with the very latest graphics card to run this game properly.

SUMMARY:
In Half life 2, you once again play as Gordon Freeman, one of the survivors from the Black Mesa incident in HL1. The game starts with a weird scene in which you find yourself in a Combine (the evil people who look like helghast from killzone) controlled city, where little humans like you struggle to survive, oppressed and tortured by the ever present gun/buzz baton weilding guards. Soon, you are reunited with charactors from the last game, are given your trusty crowbar again, and told to travel back to black mesa. You are helped along the way by members of the human resistance against the combine, and attacked by a variety of enemies.
Landscapes vary from beach sands complete with the constant threat of Antlions, Lakes and rivers of Acid complete with the constant threat of a Zombie popping up with no warning, desolated cities complete with warring resistance and Combine troops, and the dark allyways of an infested town, and in all of these locations, the graphics are kickass.
You can even drive a couple of vehicles, including a hovercraft (with a very large gun attached) and a buggy thingy (with a slightly smaller gun attached).
Overall this game is near perfect. But you'll need a supercomputer with the latest in graphics technology to run it.

THE BAD:
Some frustrating parts
Some glitches

SUMMARY:
Half Life 2 will probably make you say 'wow'. If you own a high spec PC and have money to spare missing out isn't really an option. If you do, you'll be missing out on one of PC gaming's defining moments. And one which shoulds how superior PC graphics can be to their cousins.

While we're on the subject of graphics. I'm pretty sure you've heard. Half Life 2 is the best looking game ever. No other game matches it's textures, draw distance, water, fire; the new source engine copes easily with these will also powering advanced AI, (especially on hard).

The sound is impressive aswell. With a techno sound-mix which really conveys the games atmosphere and mood.

The story is paced to perfection. Key events are spaced out and the game only has a beginning and end cutscene. A trend that Half Life 1 did and Deus Ex also took up. The effect is a defining experience where the player experiences everything first hand. The game is lengthy aswell, and challenging it some places, it is very difficult on hard. You feel a connection with the characters who convey emotion more than other characters in games.

Gameplay is also tuned really well. The game is absent of complex FPS features like leaning, and the ability to see your own feet. Gordon is a really just an orb which can shoot, jump and crouch. But the result is a simple but immensely fun experience. I never once noticed the absence of leaning until someone pointed it out to me. The puzzles are different from normal puzzles, the use the games physics, such as buoyancy and weight, a nice change from 'find the key'. Also the vehicle sections are really good, and give a good impression of covering distance.

However the game does have some bad patches. Some parts are frustrating and do not impress that much. And some stuttering prompted Valve to release a patch over Steam.

Half Life 2's cousin Counter Strike Source is an amazing online squad game which is really worth checking out if you have broadband. Not to mention the countless mods that are undoubtedly coming.

All in all, Half Life 2 is probably the greatest First Person Shooter ever, if not the best game. It is damn near flawless, and no game pulls you into it's world like HL2 does.

You need to own this game.

THE BAD:
-I would have like to fly something and driven more vehicles with more than one person on it.
-I also didn't like how the sentury guns fell down do easily, like when you tap it, it gets hard to pick up sometimes and you have to do it quickly.
other than thoses thats about it and its not alot

SUMMARY:
I like the whole story and how it all fits together until the ending which kept me in suspense of "whats going to happen next?" There were a lot of places to go to with numerous things to do and enemies to kill. There are only two vehicles you could drive, the car and the boat, those were good but it was too bad you couldn't fly something you had to shoot out of the sky. I thin it would be just a little better with more vehicle. But still I will give Half-Life 2 a five out of five.

THE BAD:
psh what bad... the AI could use a slight touch up. and steam, I HATE STEAM, but thats just cuz im on dial up, besides, thats not part of the game

SUMMARY:
Like i said, this is the best game ever made lol. i can't get enough of it. The graphics are mind blowing and the physics.. oh the physics, it is amazing how life like they are. a tip of advice, play this game with a sub and surround sound or your not gunna get the full amazing experience. This game is relatively easy to learn but almost impossible to master. played on hard, or the very popular substance mod, you need some skills lol. This game is long for a fps but it never gets boring, the AI deaths are so cool, and its just so much fun to play around with the physics. However, if your hard core, you can go for the world record, some guy beat this game in a little over 2 hours.. lol, it took me around 15-20 but i could easily have admired the physics and graphics for another 25 lol. its awsome, i recommend this to everyone!

THE BAD:
-Monster Variety

SUMMARY:
First off let's get the bad out of the way. The games only real lacking quality is that it has plenty of monsters to fight against you just fight against the same ones too often. Without giving away too many spoilers the very fast zombies of Ravenholm are rarely used and are truly a fright to fight against. If they were used more often the game could have been much more tense. You fight against too many Combine soldiers. Simply, you do fight against many different kinds of enemies just not very often. Only till closer to the end do you really start fighting against mixed groups of combine soldiers and huge lumbering striders all while holding off the dropships hovering overhead.

Which brings me to the good, the combat is really intense in this game. Especially in the later chapters, things really become intense when there is so much going on on-screen and you're fighting alongside other humans against enemies of all sizes. It really has an epic feel.

The story is excellent, as you come to expect from the Half-Life series. The characters really help flesh out the story because they first of all look so real and second of all portray such a realistic array of emotions. It's quite amazing to watch how realistically the citizens of City-17 go about their daily lives.

There's tons of replay value in the way of mods that have yet to be released but if Half-Life 1 was any indication expect some amazing mods to be released in the coming years.

The Multiplayer is extremely fun, or has the potential to be fun. Half-Life 2 Deathmatch isn't liked by most but I personally feel it's because of the lack of maps. In the future Valve will be releasing more maps for HL2DM and the fun gameplay is definitely there to be had there's just not enough variety CURRENTLY.

Coutner-Strike Source is an amazing multiplayer addition. It's so much fun and has a much more chaotic feel than CS 1.6 or any other version before this. It simply looks amazing as well. The majority of the time people don't like CS is because they're not good at it, and that's understandable because CS can be a very difficult game to be good at, especially when playing against more seasoned CS players.

In the end, Half-Life 2 is an epic game that will go down in history just like the original. No ones going to forget this gem anytime soon.

THE BAD:
NOTHING

SUMMARY:
This is the only game I have played for the PC and liked. This game is a legend. It has super graphics and is long so it doesnt end quickly. You also fight enemies using awesome weapons such as the Crossbow and Gravity Gun. This is the best 3D shooting game in my opinion. You can also play easy, normal or hard mode which makes it even better. This is a must get game so I suggest you get it, you wont be dissapointed.

By the way its really fun to use cheats in the game too. At the beggining you can use cheats to get guns so you can shoot those Rebels which beat you up.

cyaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

THE BAD:
Some complain about glitches, I never encountered them myself though.

SUMMARY:
The long awaited sequel to Half-Life, the game that revolutionized the FPS-genre, has fially been released.
We've waited years for this game... but is it worth it?

YES IT IS!
But lets start out with the story:
You're Gordon Freeman, a scientist who survived the Black-Mesa incident (HL1). Now you're back to rescue City17 from the grip of the combines, half-alien half human creatures.
While doing so, you'll encounter 10 foot 3 legged spiderlike robots with a plasmagun, you'll race across a beach full of nasty antlions. You'll get stuck in a city filled with zombies and even chop 'em in half using the gravgun. This game has it all.
The graphics are amazing, the best I've seen so far (even better than DoomIII's). So is the sound. The puzzles aren't to complex but offer a nice variety to the gameplay.

The game comes with CounterStrike Source and Half-Life² Deathmatch. Counterstrike source is an updated version of the old CS but with better graphics and bots . HL²eathmatch (there's also a TDM mode) is just your plain ol' (T)DM but with the HL² engine. I'm not a big fan of it myself though, CSS rules!
The system requirements are amazingly low too:
Minimum System Configuration
1.2 GHz Processor
256MB RAM
DirectX 7 capable graphics card (64 MB or higher)
Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
Mouse
Keyboard
Internet Connection
CD or DVD rom drive

Preferred System Configuration
2.4 GHz Processor
512MB RAM
DirectX 9 capable graphics card
Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
Mouse
Keyboard
Internet Connection
CD or DVD rom drive (retail version only)

This game won't disapoint any FPSfan and is a nice way to start your FPS-addiction.

It's a must buy, a pure classic, and that's all there is to say about it!

THE BAD:
Story gave more questions than answers, Multiplayer isn't any better then the existing counter strike version also poor launch for steam and background music is either in or out besides this it is the game of the year for sure.

SUMMARY:
This is a must buy game I recommend it to you. If you have Half Life 1 you won't know the full story until you get half life 2. Also the gravity gun on this game is deffinityly worth it at the start it might seem like a novelty but as the game goes on you will appreciate it alot more. The worst thing about this game is that it hasn't got a good multiplayer beyond the existing Counter Strike: Source and the background music is a little disappointing sometimes you either realise it's there or you don't either way none of these should effect your choice on the game I am telling you now that you will ove this game so get off your seat and get out there and buy it!

THE BAD:
-numerous load times
-clunky drving mechanics
-random death glitch
-checkpoints can be a bit awkward sometimes

SUMMARY:
Half Life 2 is a downright amazing game. it blows virtually everything else in the genre away. i've yet to see a more refined FPS on any console. awesome sound and graphics.

the physics are the games main highlight, however. the Source engine perfectly mimics real physics, and can be very convincing at times. bouyancy, weight, momentum, even gravity are all nicely done and polished.

the greatest game to date is not without flaws however. the game is hampered by numerous load times that can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 mintues. it really slows down the gameplay. there is also and annoying glitch where you can sometimes be killed by random objects just by hitting them with a crowbar.