Notes

TLDR: Amazing game, story is one of the best of all time, a more or less satisfying ending, an amazing plot twist, graphics hold up to today's standards and it's a classic that needs playing.

Now, my full review.

I played this game in 2012. Off of a CD. On my grandpa's old gaming pc. Yes, I know it sounds like a lie, but it isn't. I played through the first 3 chapters, on the edge of seat half the time, due to it being so intense and I enjoyed the hell outta them. I then left the game, and returned to console gaming until now... I bought this game in July, finished it a coupla days ago. And when I tell you I had fun, I REALLY DID. Using the Gravity Gun but if you really want to, you can call it the zero point energy manipulator if you really want to. Aha! See what I did there? Anyways, using the Gravity Gun again was amazing, killing the combine with toilets, headcrabs with my trusty crowbar and ships with my rocket launcher. The solo parts of the game are as fun as the grouped parts, as they're very detailed, fun and showcase the amazing enviroments. An example is during Water Hazard you take an attack chopper down, but not straight away! Some players thought this chapter dragged on but I didn't! First, you get the boat, you avoid the chopper's fire, stop at combine checkpoints, kill some combine, figure out how to get over something, get a turret for your boat, take the chopper down and eventually arrive at Black Mesa East. Another example is Highway 17! An outstanding level in my opinion. The journey you go on is amazing, you have to clear out combine, help some resistance take a few ships down and kill the combine, get a BUGGY with a TURRET (A reccuring theme I like), use a crane to get it onto higher ground, jump over a gate, parkour your way through the collapsing underpass of a bridge and kill some antlions. I'll stop talking about that for now, and move onto the story. The story. It's a masterpiece really. You play as Doctor Gordon Freeman, a scientist from Black Mesa, a research facility that opened a portal to another dimension. That portal being open, allows aliens to enter Earth. And this. Ends practically all of civilisation. This will be known as the 11 Hour War. You arrive at City 17, the last known city of civilisation, which is also built around the Citadel, the ironically named fort/headquarters. Your old administrator from Black Mesa, Doctor Breen, now is in charge of civilisation. The man who made peace with the 'benefactors' as Doctor Breen himself calls them. You're on your way to somewhere, it isn't explicitly told where you're going but you're headed for Nova Prospekt, somewhere you'll eventually go to in the later parts of HL2. You're about to board the train for Nova Prospekt, until a combine solider pulls you to one side and reveals he's your friend from Black Mesa, Barney Calhoun. You then speak with Doctor Kleiner, a fellow scientist from Black Mesa and then head on your way to Doctor Kleiner's Lab but get in a pursuit with the combine soldiers and are caught in the housing blocks. But! A woman named Alyx Vance comes to your assistance and takes the combine out. You're rescued by her and you both travel to Kleiner's Lab. You arrive there and meet up with Barney, and you and Alyx teleport to Eli Vance's Lab, another fellow colleague from Black Mesa but the teleporter malfunctions due to Doctor Kleiner's pet headcrab Lamarr (Yes, that is the correct spelling of it's name), jumping into the teleporter, taking you to many weird places, such as Doctor Breen's office! But you ultimately arrive back in City 17, outside of Doctor Kleiner's Lab. Oh crap! I went on for so long! Anyways, you get the plot/point. It's story is amazing though. Thrilling, gripping and intriguing all at the same time. Half-Life 2 also has a great modding community, with many mods being released all the time!

I hope you play this masterpiece! And ignore my hours, I haven't played that many, but I do know stuff and enjoyed the game! Enjoy, fellow crowbar wielders.