Valve's debut title remains the best in what is (and will continue to be) the best First Person Shooter series. Read on!
Half-Life is old. Yes. But that didn't stop me from being amazed by it. I understand that there are many other factors that must be taken into consideration when writing a review: graphics at time of release, average critic score and how it influenced its genre. At the time, Half-Life scored big in all three of those factors, particularly it's influence on the FPS genre. It literally defined the genre, revolutionized it from being an aimless gore fest with a scrappy story, little to no voice acting and stupid objectives.
From the very first act, I was amazed by how the story was set up, how characters expressed themselves etc. Your basically a very well trained scientist who survives a chaotic alien invasion through some sort of cataclysmic explosion resulting from a failed generator. From there on, Half-Life is an amazing experience that keeps you addicted and immersed the whole way through it. It seriously is amazing.
Boss fights, objectives, characters, voice-acting, story and graphics at time of release are all nearly perfectly executed. Apart from some slightly repetitive and bad voice acting for some characters, and a disappointing final boss fight, everything remains quite perfect.
A.I. of the US armies that are sent into Black Mesa to "clean up the mess" (meaning kill everyone) is quite good, and even beats some of today's scrappy FPS games. The enemies (aliens) are creative and have a lasting appeal that is found in the games sequel.
Gameplay: 9/10 - all the levels are superb. Although the occasional boring objective, annoying enemy or seriously repetitive level (tram ride...) will disappoint you, the game is an amazing experience. Basically some levels will be more enjoyable and memorable than others. Some things I could nip-pick about eg. Climbing ladders can be troublesome.
Graphics: 8.5/10 - for the time, very good. No massive leap forward.
Story: 9/10 - A great and original plot filled with good characters that unfortunately have no background. Even your own character never speaks or reveals any information about his past. The mysterious G-Man adds interest to the game, and the structure of the story is top notch.
Sound: 9.5/10 - Voice acting across the board is quite good. Weapons and explosions are also just as good. Some aliens may not sound perfectly good, and sounds such as doors opening are repetitive and lack oomph. Music is commendable, and although there is no main theme, most of the tracks are SUPERB. However they don't play frequently enough and some may argue that they techno-life themes don't suit the game. However I was impressed.
Multiplayer: 6.5/10 - Only one game mode. Free 4 all. Round around picking up shotguns, rocket launchers etc and killing everyone. Good map variety, but pretty slack, especially when compared to Quake games or Unreal Tournament. However if its your thing, go for it. Besides, this game is about the single player mode, that's the focus. Th only reason I didn't fail the multiplayer was due to the map variety and the fact that this game's focus is not on multiplayer.
Game Engine: 10/10 - Founder of Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and many more. The predecessor of Source engine. C'mon, this is THE engine.
Value: 9/10 - The story and lengthy Single player make it worthy of purchase. Multiplayer has no value. However the engine is the biggest selling point, as I said, CS used this engine. Replay value, however is fair: (6/10).
Overall: 9.3/10 (rounded up to 9.5 due to gamespot's score settings).