Fourteen years later, Half-Life still impress with its superior quality, being a must play to any FPS player.
And talking about Doom and Quake, no other game was this revolutionary like Half-Life, looking to all its aspects, like history, graphics, animation, sounds, voices, gameplay and controls. In all those elements, this game just overcome, even in the present days, most of the others FPS games in the market, not by its "modernity" – like most of players tend to judge now days, but for its superior quality and also being responsible for being owner of the engine who created one of, if not the most, played game mod in the world, Counter-Strike.
Gordon Freeman isn't a man of words, but a man of actions. His acts will change the world's course, in the worst way you can imagine. And Half-Life already start to shine in the beginning, with the introduction, where Freeman stand in a tram that will pass through many areas of Black Mesa, a huge secret base located in some place of the United States, until reach his destination, the place where a important test will be run and he must be there.
As we follow "inside" Freeman through the introduction of the Black Mesa, we already got a feeling that is of vital importance for the immersion in the game. Everything seems huge and alive, connected; everything seems to have a reason to be there and to work, with many people working and living there.
Not only that, but we feel connected with Freeman. Watching all that, we know what he is feeling because we can feel it too, and this is another detail that will make all the difference.
So, after reach the test lab, here is another detail that, again, will make all the differences and, believe me, this will influence all sort of future games in the genre. Mark IV is Freeman's armor suit for dangerous environments and is used in the complex for scientists that will be exposed to hazardous environments, being his life saver in many situations. After dress it, we run into the test chamber and… ok, I don't like to spoil but let just say that the experiment goes really wrong and a lot of destruction and chaos will spread through Black Mesa. After here, the action really begins, and the game get's real.
Mark IV not only will help Freeman to stay alive, with voice warnings and defense, but will do the ammo and health administration, giving to us all the information without mess the HUD. Sometimes it works like a partner. Mainly for the fact that we'll be alone most of times and, even using other scientists for unlock doors or using guards for cover and help, those will be few moments, even being important moments, but we're alone.
And here is another feeling hard to describe or to get in a game. Loneliness can be hard, but here it can reach a high level. We have the science team, which cannot help us to fight, only unlock some doors or to give us important information or keep us updated of what is happening in the lab, but the worst is that many of them are already dead or dying. Then, have the guards, with terrible AI when in combat and, again, most are dead. When finally the army arrive, they do not arrive with help, but with a cleanse mission. Aliens and destruction everywhere. If you do not feel lonely, you're an ice heart player.
Fighting for survive, the few help Freeman get, he'll struggles for that and, because of some bad choices that came from the little help, our end is to fix what he have done. For that, Half-Life arsenal doesn't disappoint. Divided in five categories, we have from pistols to a machine gun to grenades to bomb sensors and experimental weapons to some alien things, most with secondary attack and I love when a game uses weapons with many options to use them.
Better than great weapons is a good way to use them. Why get nice weapons if there isn't any fun to use it? But here isn't the case. Not a little. Every weapon is good to use and each have better uses than others, depending of the situation and the enemies we're facing. And use the right weapon for the moment is the right thing to do if you don't want Freeman in the grave. All because of the use of one AI never seen in any game, like breaking limits back there, where enemies cover each other and try to bust you out from cover. There will be moments where the army and the aliens will be fighting each other and we can just pass without be really noticed, instead of all enemies start to engage Freeman.
Other great point for Half-Life is that the action never gets boring or repetitive. They always gave us different moments and places to experience and be, traveling through many places of Black Mesa. The developers had a lot of audacity to try and experiment all sort of things here and, I believe that the lack of fear to make it true was the difference between an unforgettable experiences to a petty one.
But all could had being overshadowed if wasn't for the amazing engine used by Valve. Presenting outstanding graphics, detailed textures, greater lighting effects and superior performance, it was an "eye candy" game back in 1998. Nice animations, great characters full of details, weapon design, environments, with each area of Black Mesa with its own characteristics and details, are just some elements that compose this masterpiece.
Also, is through that engine, that Valve could use a superb touch in the level progression. There's no level system, and the transition between moments are more like chapters of the game. Like pass through a simple door or take an elevator and, after a fast loading, the screen will show the name of the chapter, like "We got hostiles" or "Forget about Freeman", but that don't mean that we could not go back to check that room or the ventilation shaft that we miss back there – with some exceptions of course. Actually, there's no stop in the progression, looking more like a huge level that can take many hours to finish.
Even the history doesn't being all that great, is not the plot what make it strong, but the way that Half-Life makes the storytelling. A great introduction, voices instead of texts and a flawless use of script, used also to show elements from the history and that was really impressive.
Ok, I was wrong. Know what could overshadow any game, don't matter if is the most beautiful game from all times? A bad sound design. And even here Half-Life made it perfect, using everything possible to raise the immersion and the sensation of the ambient and all the environments that Freeman must past. All the weapons sound great and powerful, great voice acting – even with few voices, and footsteps, doors, trams, elevators, water, explosions, aliens and even when we pick ammunition, health and energy packs.
So, I think that I covered most of the aspects from this amazing game. A must play for any first person shooter fan, it can yet impress with its superior quality, even when compared with newer games. If you're new in the genre and want to know how many other modern FPS games were influenced, then, here is your game and then, you'll experience a true FPS.
I'll not give it a "10" score because even masterpiece games have its flaws. Even with great multiplayer mode, the appearance of the mod Counter-Strike will just make Half-Life multiplayer being completely forgotten. I also was with a great doubt about the word to describe this game. Masterpiece? Revolutionary? Instant Classic? So, I choose for its main aspect: Masterpiece. But if I could choose more than one, then Half-Life would be a revolutionary instant classic masterpiece.