Great gameplay, fantastic level design, and enemies worth killing are still not enough to overcome the story issues.
A Review by Chris Camz of UnfashionablyLateReviews.Blogspot.com
Half Life is one of the most overhyped series that I have ever encountered, standing proudly beside the likes of Star Wars and Christopher Nolan's Batman. That may be why I am extra critical of these series in particular, giving them very little margin for error, and assigning scores that rarely agree with those assigned by other critics. It was with this weight upon the head of Half Life 2 that I continued my adventure with Gordon Freeman and now, after playing Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, and Half Life 2: Episode 2, that I am left with more questions than answers; What the flying hell just happened!? Gordon was just hired by Mr. Suitcase, so why is he fighting Xen again? Nihilanth is dead, right? What are the Vortigaunts? Are they my friends? Am I supposed to know who Eli Vance is? What is City 17? Why is any of this happening?
Half Life 2 continues the story of Half Life the same way a victim with head trauma testifies in court, meaning not well. It seems I missed a crucial piece of story when I began playing Half Life 2, because I don't recognize anything that's going on, yet everyone else seems to know all about me. From what I can gather Black Mesa, which was once a Research facility, is now a resistance movement. Resisting what you ask? Why the Combine, of course. But who are the Combine? No clue. They have alien technology, but the soldiers seem to be human. They have hunters and Striders, which fight without needing human influence, but they don't seem to be either biotic or organic, more of a hybrid being, like something out of Michael Chrichton's "Prey". They are led by a man, no wait, they are led by the Adviser, which look like robot platypus with chameleon tongues and a palate for human brainstems. But, hold on, there is more than one Adviser. Also, what exactly do they advise? They don't even seem to have voices at all. And why the Hell is it so important to close the portal in the citadel? Where does the portal even lead!? Why do I feel I should have read all the supplementary material to even have the slightest grasp of the story?
Moving on in the review, the gameplay is fantastic, blending combat with puzzle and doing it all in interesting environments. The difficulty hits a very fine line that provides challenge without making me want to punch walls or quit the game which is a hard enough task as it is. There are a host of new weapons added to the series in HL2, but they also remove a number from the original, so I guess it's a fair tradeoff, and the game sticks to the same tried-and-true formula of the first. The gameplay is a solid mix of vehicle, puzzle, combat, and story. I suppose the AI is an issue in Half Life 2 but that problem is fixed in Episodes 1 & 2, so my only real problem is the story. So on that note, I return to my previous issue: What the Hell is happening??!!
Seriously, why is this storyline more impenetrable than Helm's Deep? I understand that I'm harping here, but really. What exactly happened after I defeated Nihilanth? I guess I was kidnapped the suitcase guy, who still has no backstory whatsoever. Is he God? Who exactly does he work for? How does he have superpowers? Is he the villain? Why do the Vortigaunds protect me from him when I apparently work for him? What happened to Shepherd and Calhoun? Is Xen overrunning the world? Nothing makes sense in the game. The more questions I answer, the more questions spring up. This is not something that I should be dealing with after playing through all of the previous games in the series. For someone who generally prefers story to action, particularly the elements of character development (of which Gordon has none,) this is a major issue. Yes, the gameplay is great. I love the environments, the things I shoot generally die, the enemies are interesting enough to hold my attention, and are used sparingly. There are even a number a number of scares peppered in for good measure, but the plot holes that arise from my misunderstanding overshadow everything like a skyscraper in suburbia, ruining the afternoons of sunbathers everywhere. I just can't enjoy the levels when there are so many nagging questions. The saddest part of this whole business is that I am going to have the same issues when Episode 3 comes out. I will eventually look up the wiki for Half Life to try to understand exactly what happened between the games to get this issue from a contained threat in the desert to inter-dimensional Armageddon, but that shouldn't be my responsibility. After playing the game, I should understand the story, and more importantly, I should at least know whether it's good or not.
Gameplay… 9
Excellent, there was never a dull moment.
Sound…7
Guns sound a bit weak and often lack that extra punch
Visual… 8
Good Enemy design, not incredibly distinct, however.
Replayability…6
Not much here for a second trip except achievements.
Story…6
Good….maybe? I guess. Who knows?
Average…7.2
Still worth at least one playthrough, but not the Child of Prophecy I was promised