The polish and the stratospheric height of the production values mean that Half-Life 2 is a magnificent, dramatic experience that has few peers. Half-Life 2 is a linear shooter with most of the refinements one would expect from years of work, but it is also a game of a higher order of magnitude than any of the previous pretenders to the throne. But that simple summation undersells how the Valve team have approached this task. It takes almost everything that worked from Half-Life and either improves on it, or keeps it much the same. It is the definitive statement of the last five years of first-person shooters. Half-Life 2 is an astounding accomplishment. It was then that I knew for certain: Valve had surpassed not only themselves, but everyone else too. My nervous fingers reloaded the level, knowing that I had to see that breathtaking sequence one more time. I chuckled in muddled disbelief, expectations utterly defied. I couldn t believe it was quite this good. It was all in that moment when I just sat back and laughed. So there it is, one of the greatest PC games in history. It's still being used today albeit in a heavily modified form in Respawn's multiplayer shooter, Titanfall. Underneath it all, the Source engine gave modders and developers a good platform on which to base their game. The game left an indelible mark on its landscape, and not only in terms of those iconic moments. Ravenholm, to which we definitely do not go. Just shy of a decade on, memories linger in the collective conscious. Could this be the official birth of Valve time?Īnd Half-Life 2 still matters. After FBI involvement and a concerted effort from Valve's community, the stolen Half-Life 2 code was returned several anxious months later, but not after a making dear old Gabe sweat through a heavily delayed development schedule. Not only did it kick off Valve's (eventually) world-conquering Steam service, but it courted criminals too. November 2004 was a standout month for PC gaming, and indeed PC Gamer: a 96% for Valve's opus, 95% for Rome: Total War to a 95%, an 89% FIFA 2005, and Shade: Wrath of Angels with a, er, 59%.īut the game we called 'messianic' was all that mattered that month, and indeed, that year. What more can be said about Half-Life 2? Jim Rossignol's words below still do a fine job of summing up just why the world got worked up over a singleplayer shooter. ![]() ![]() This week, Ben Griffin provides context and commentary followed by the full, original text of our Half-Life 2 review, published in the November 2004 issue of PC Gamer UK. Every week, we publish a classic PC Gamer review from the '90s or early 2000s.
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