Half-Life was a pretty unique game, no doubt about that. It was a FPS that actually made you think as well as blow the heads off various baddies. So when you think about a sequel to a game which mainly consists of running down steel corridors, and fighting aliens with a crowbar, do you think "Dystopiaian post-apocalyptic world where the oceans are being drained, aliens have conquered earth, and what is left of humanity being in jeopardy"? Well, if you do, step on down because you've won today's round of "Do You Think Like Gabe Newell?"!

Graphics: 8/10

This game's graphics are amazing at times, even to this day! But at other times it can be obvious that this game is pretty old. It still looks decent, even by today's standards! But certain areas, and a few enemies make you remember that this was made long ago. The people, and environments especially look great. But then there are things like the headcrabs, zombies, and Vortigaunts stand out like a sore thumb in terms of graphics. It feels like those cheesy CGI special effects you'd see in a older movie. There is a good amount of detail put into every aspect of the game's levels and characters when it comes to graphics. It's pleasantly surprising really.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is almost perfect...Almost. The voice acting if great, and they really fir their respective characters as well. The only real complaint I have voice-wise is the Combine Overwatch. Because, even with captions turned on, it rarely shows what its saying. But when it actually does the dialogue stays on the screen for a good two seconds. In general, it's really hard to process the blaring voice you hear through about half the game. It was something that really bugged me more than it should.
There isn't really any music in the game. But like it's predecessor it has a handful of times where music DOES come on. When the music decides to show up it's awesome! Although it's like...probably four times in the entire game. The sound effects and voices however, save this department from a bad rating though.

Addictiveness: 4/10

This game is the least addicting of the series. There were periods where I straight up lost interest in playing and left for other games. It's not that it's bad, it's really more that it got bland after awhile. It got fun, then incredibly really boring, then fun again. You finish the game with little incentive to play it again really. I replayed Episodes 1 and 2, along with the original more than I did this game. I ocasionally replayed this for the sake of achievements. But that accounted for going through the game one and a half times.

Story: 7/10

Continuing after the very end of Half-Life. G-man has put you in stasis right? Well, he appears at the very beginning, telling you to "Rise and shine", and that his services are required once again. And then you're placed inside a train heading to City 17, home of "Humanity's Representative" Dr. Wallace Breen. Now what that really means is he's the dictator of humanity, and answers to The Combine. An empire of aliens who used the events of Half-Life as a window to invade earth also. They overthrew all of the armies in the world, and started draining the ocean. But Breen convinced them to make him the leader of humanity. Oh yeah, he was also your boss at Black Mesa, which you learn was twenty years ago. Barney, a former security guard at Black Mesa, now is an undercover member of a resistance fighting the Combine. He tells you where their hideout is. Alyx Vance, the daughter of one of the original Black Mesa scientists. Eventually you make it to the hideout in City 17. There, you meet some former Black Mesa scientists, and...Vortigaunts? Hey, those guys look vaguely familiar!
A cool story with quite a few...awfully convenient meetings. It's definitely one of the better FPS stories. But...I wouldn't say the best.

Difficulty: 6/10

The game is fun, and interesting. But...The gameplay gets really repetitive. Mainly the vehicle chapters. They take up a good third of the game. And, well, it's only fun in reasonable doses. The gameplay got stale pretty fast in my opinion.
The controls are very basic. Same old WASD to move, E to interact with things, or pick things up. Left click to fire, right click for the secondary function of some of the weapons Picking things up with the Gravity Gun, zooming in with the crossbow, launching a grenade from the sub-machine gun, or the energy pellet from the Pulse Rifle. It's your standard FPS controls. And if you've played TF2 or Gmod they have the same setup. Simple to learn, nothing to master, but you'll need luck on your side if you're not careful!

Depth: 2/10

This game isn't deep. At all. There are a few hidden rooms with weapons, batteries, and health. But in a game with lots of tight corridors, and a pretty clear path on where to go, I don't know how secret the areas actually are. It's more "slightly out of the way" rather than secret. While it fits one of the overarching themes of Half-Life, it is still a bit disappointing that there's nothing actually hidden.
The game lasts a decent amount of time at least. It's about as long as the original Half-Life. So if we're going by modern game standards, it's pretty short. If we're going by 90's or Early PC gaming standards it's about right though.

Overall: 7.5/10
This game is pretty fun. It's definitely best if you played the first though. Just to understand most of the story. It's interesting, and fun. Although it gets kind of repetitive. The game gets fun at times, and slow at other times. And as awesome as the vehicle segments are, after you get off of the rides you'll never see them again. (Unless you happen to have Garry's Mod as well.) Overall, it's a good game...But you'd be happier with it if you bought it during a sale.

Nice job on this review man. You addea plenty of detail and you did a good job explaining you gave each category the score you gave them. After reading the depth and addictiveness portions of your review, I decided I won't buy the game. Anyways good job with the review man.

Good review! I never played the Half Life series. I was semi interested in playing it just because of the unrealistic hype for Half Life 3, but yeah. I really enjoy games with a ton of depth, it's usually what sells games to me. So, when you say the game isn't deep, it's just a huge turn off. You did well at explaining a lot of stuff too, well done!

Skilledtree :
gamerforlifeforever2 :

This game isn't really bad at all. It's just really linear. Although that's just a half-life thing. It's worth getting if someone's willing to trade it, or you get it off a sale. It's alright, just not the best.

A user of this :

Yeah, I mean if it's ever on a super sale for steam, maybe I'll pick it up just to say I actually played it. The curiosity part of me wants to know what all the fuss is about.

Nice review, this provides plenty of details for someone like me who hasn't played a Half Life game before. From what you explained this seems like a game that I would just watch a friend of mine play. I enjoy a game with depth and this game doesn't deliver that so I wouldn't buy this.

The plot resembles that of a recent sci-fi movie with Tom Cruise...

Anyway that was a swell review my friend. You structured it well, it is good to read (watch out for obvious mistakes and typos the integrated corrector could pick up) and you give it good details. However you could have used more. Why is the game not as addictive as past games? What makes the zombies "look their age"?

Good review! I enjoyed reading it!

As far as the Half Life series is concerned, they are great games. They have aged better than a lot of First Person games from it's time, but in some ways still show their age, which kinda hinders it's rating a little bit at this point.

In my opinion games like this in the early days of 3D FPS' haven't aged as well as the older sprite based games. Still though, they are a fun experience that I recommend to most people to try out. Especially if you can find the Half Life Pack on sale on Steam (Which is often)