Date: Sunday, 21-March-2010, 9:27 AM | Message # 1
--warrior--
Group: untoten legion
Messages: 100
Status: Offline
Half Life II
In Half-Life 2, you once again assume the role of Gordon Freeman, the theoretical physicist and dimension-hopping commando who saved the world from an alien invasion at the end of Half-Life. Or did he? Half-Life 2 starts you off facing the infamous G-Man, the mysterious blue-suited character from the first game. At the end of Half-Life, the G-Man offered you a choice: work for him or die. Since there would be no sequel if you chose the latter, Half-Life 2 assumes you chose the former, and you start the game in a train entering City 17 for your introduction into this new world.
As soon as the shooting begins you'll join an essentially nonstop battle that will last the remainder of the game. Like the original Half-Life, Half-Life 2 is presented as a nearly seamless experience--you play entirely from Gordon Freeman's perspective, there are no cutscenes or perspective changes to take you out of the moment, and are there no narrative jumps that skip ahead in time.
After you reach safety, Half-Life 2 settles into a more conventional and familiar style of play. Aside from a detour through a deserted town full of all sorts of booby traps, there are a lot of echoes of the original Half-Life in Half-Life 2--so many, in fact, that there's a strong sense of déjà vu at times. Still, it's hard to knock Valve for not wanting to tinker too much with a proven formula, and Half-Life 2 is as fast-paced and enjoyable as its predecessor.
Half-Life 2 is a very impressive and engaging shooter, and a faithful follow-up to one of the greatest PC games of all time.