Half-Life 2 is one of the the most iconic games of all time and there’s very little to say what hasn’t been said before. I started replaying it inspired by Helmet Gaming Challenge’s 22nd criteria: “A game you would absolutely not want to live in”. A lot of games fit into this category but Half-Life 2’s City 17 is one of the places I’d be happy to skip in real life.
In the video game realm, I’m always happy to return there as Half-Life 2 is such a good game and even though it’s been over 20 years since we first set our feet in there, the game doesn’t feel old or outdated. It’s still a game that feels smooth to play and the graphics have aged surprisingly well. At least I think this version from Steam is the original graphics. They do look very early 2000s when you look at them but I can also be mistaken here.
The gravity gun is a fun addition and similar in iconic design as Valve’s portal gun from Portal games. Few times I completely forgot that it’s also used in the tiny bits of environmental “puzzles” this game has and was blocked for quite a while until I remembered the gravity altering capabilities.
It was an interesting experience to replay through it again. It’s probably been like 15 years since I’ve played it and I was surprised to notice how much I remembered – and which bits I absolutely did not. One thing I did not remember is how many of those “waves” type encounters there are where you need to hold your ground while you wait for something to happen. I don’t think they are particularly enjoyable in any game which is why I was baffled by how many this one had.
One cool thing is how the game circulated the idea of companions or allies: from antlions to the rebel soldiers and Alyx here and there. They basically are the same thing in different skin but they didn’t feel like just copied gameplay to me.
The main critique I have for the game is its audio design or more specifically its audio levels. The dialogue is super quiet compared to all the shooting and explosions so I had to be constantly tweaking it up and down to avoid annoying my neighbours. I don’t really have any gripes with the gameplay which is a lot to say for a game this old. It feels amazing to play still and the story is captivating as heck.