Ugh.
Let me get this out of the way first. Steam sucks. Yes, I
know that message boards are full of vitriol for Valve's
content-delivery network. Yes, I know that contradicting
the masses is a sure-fire way to seem intelligent. I want
to be a contrarian and condemn the critics as senseless whiners,
but the truth is -- Steam sucks.
Not that I'm opposed to
Steam in concept. Standing in line to buy a game while
the mall rats scurry about is not a favorite gaming pastime
of mine. Although I do like to display game boxes,
and find online shopping to be most convenient, there's
nothing like downloading your purchase to quench the
need for instant gratification. To see how it's done
well, look no further than EVE
Online.
The problem is with implementation.
Installation, key activation and patching took me well
over an hour.
Every
time
I want to
play I have
to check for updates. Even if there are no updates
this check takes an annoyingly long time. I can
get into City of Heroes faster than I can get into Half
Life
2,
and
that's
an online
game. It's just unforgivable. You lose a star,
Half Life 2.
To continue the kvetching,
zones are way too small, and loading times are way
too long.
If you're going to make the zones this small, at least
pack them with content so I'll be spending some time
in them. As it is, Half Life 2 has you race through
a zone just to load the next. It's important to note
this problem as it's cropping up more and more of late.
There's a significant challenge to game developers
as computational
power
increases yet hard drive speeds
remain relatively unchanged. It's turned Everquest
2 into Everzone 2 and breaks the otherwise excellent
immersion in Half Life 2. To see how zoning is
done
well, look
no
further
than World
of Warcraft. Can you tell I've been in an MMORPG
phase?
The opening sequence
is a huge letdown. The original Half
Life's opening tram sequence was like nothing
seen before, and Valve had an opportunity
to top themselves here and they fumbled badly.
While a pair of somewhat similar offerings appear
in a late level, there is no wonderment-moment opening
the
game
like in the original. There's also no
tutorial - another missed opportunity to awe the
gamer.
On
the much-heavier plus side, the graphics are almost
photorealistic. While the style unfortunately follows
the Soviet-era
look of industrial rot we've
seen so much of lately, rather than the glinty-white
future-of-old
I came
to expect growing up on movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey,
what we do see here is technically impressive. Even
something as mundane as power lines swaying in the
breeze make me pause and take note. Frame rates are
shockingly good considering the high visual
quality. Half Life 2 really shines in this regard.
The birds are so believable you'll be tempted to stop
and see what they'll do next. A quibble I
have is that the
setting
is
so
inviting
for
exploration
that I'd love to take some time and casually enjoy
the environment, yet there's rarely time to explore
without being bothered
by enemies or hampered by barriers. I would like to
spend some time just being in
the place, skipping stones on the water or climbing
to the highest point if only just to catch a breathtaking
view.
The game's voice acting
is another standout. Lou Gosset Jr., Michelle Forbes,
Robert Guillaume and Robert Culp headline the stellar
cast. Mr. Culp's performance as the coolly intellectual
Dr. Breen is particularly noteworthy. The audio
is clear and sounds are powerful in 5.1 audio, but
music is practically nonexistent. There was a fair
amount of stutter on my system, but only when I was
snapping one of my many screenshots or initiating a
quicksave.
Now to the gameplay.
I have to start with the revolutionary gravity gun.
This is
an original
concept and Valve has designed some great levels
around
this
environmentally-dependent
weapon. The gun packs massive amounts of fun at times,
especially in the later levels where it can be
used to take
hold
of enemies, then toss them to a rapid demise. In the
early levels, however, there are too many areas without
something for
the
gun
to hold
onto,
and
the
inability to rapid fire is a serious drawback
to the fun factor. The trick is to throw an object
in such a way as to make it easily retrievable for
a subsequent attack. When the timing and placement
work just right the action is spectacular, and the
more standard weapons, especially the .357, are quite
satisfying.
Where the original Half
Life really shined, Half Life 2 shines as well, and
for me that means lots of entertaining scripted sequences.
Both the dark-ride variety that occur during
firefights and the NPC interactions that advance the
story in between engagements are a thrill to watch
and are what set the Half Life experience apart from
the rest. While the shooting action can be repetitive
at times, there's always a final reward in the
form of some enjoyable NPC dialogue or humorous interaction.
What I would have liked
was more in the way of story context. Even after finishing
the game, I'm still not quite sure what is going on.
Is G-Man a bad guy or not? And why are the Vortigaunts
fighting by my side? The story itself feels quite a
bit like act two of a three-act
play, but that's not terribly bad provided we don't
have to wait quite so long for act three. -
Last Update 3/05/08
