When The Orange Box was released, much of the buzz was over how pleasantly surprising Portal turned out, and for good reason…it was (and is) a textbook example of a short, but sweet experience that nearly every gamer should try. Yet in hindsight, of all the offerings The Orange Box serves up, it’s the original Half-Life 2 that sticks with me, even if it was a three-year-old game by the time it got ported to the 360.
Sure it’s a solid “thinking man’s” shooter with a great physics engine, varied environments, a friggin’ gravity gun, and enough epic moments for at least three lesser games, but what I enjoyed the most was its compelling narrative and detailed, dystopian world. If you are unfamiliar, humanity is living in a police state, having been enslaved by an alien force. While futuristic, there is a decayed normalcy to the environments. I’ve seen it compared to the film Children of Men, and while the movie is the better of the two, it’s still a complement to the game.
Half-Life 2 sets up some compelling sci-fi concepts and larger plot points, and wisely lets the user fill in or wonder about the details. What are the Combine up to and what are their plans for humanity? I mean, if you think about it, “alien invasion” has been a genre trope since Sputnik, yet this game feels like a fresh take, or at least one worthy of a hard sci-fi novel.
The game also breaks from the one man army convention of most shooters with its “man on the run” theme. Once the game gets going, you are quickly thrown into a run for your life situation and it will be awhile before you can stand your ground. The enemies have teeth in this game, and even when you acquire heavy weaponry and assume your destined leader of men status, the “big bads” will quickly cut you down to size and victories will be satisfying and well earned.
I’ve seen some complaints about the game being too long, but Half-Life 2 rarely, if never, repeats itself. Some claim the episodic semi-sequels (Episodes One and Two) have tighter gameplay, and I’d probably agree, but it’s at the expense of the story, during which I became aware that I was playing a game. It’s my favorite FPS to date, and I highly, highly recommend experiencing it for yourself. Half-Life 2 is one of the rare big budget games to have a compelling story that can compete with other media.
2011 ben langberg, all rights reserved.