9. Half-Life 2 (2004) – PC
There is very little I can say about this game that hasn’t been said before. It is every bit the groundbreaking, innovative masterpiece that it is recognized as. It is a smart first-person shooter, incorporating hair-tugging puzzles that utilize the game’s rich physics engine. And then there is the gravity gun: the classic device that can pull any number of light- to medium-weight inorganic objects toward the user, and then blast them in a targeted direction with damaging speed.
The journey through Half-Life 2’s world is meticulous and diverse. You will trek the fictional dystopia, City 17, with all its nods to George Orwell and Big Brother. The best chapter in the game follows your acquisition of a boat, which you use to travel canals leading to a rebel hideout. The sequence lasts for hours and involves many high-speed chases, ramped jumps, and getaways, and it also has some more somber, exploratory sections which require you to leave the vehicle briefly to remove an obstruction or open a gate. It is during this chapter that I encountered the first physics puzzle to ever make my jaw drop. You, and your boat, arrive at a floating platform that spans a waterway and dead-end wall. It took me awhile to figure it out, but there are hollow barrels in the area that float and exhibit realistic buoyancy. These must be taken underwater and manipulated under the platform to raise it as a ramp. The brilliance of this, and the game’s later puzzles, is that the physics technology has now advanced to the point that in-game puzzles don’t feel contrived or observable; instead you are forced to utilize elements in the natural environment in natural ways. Other Half-Life 2 location highlights include the terrifying Ravenholm (a sequence that is preceded by the ominous horror-movie warning: “We don’t go to Ravenholm anymore.”), and an Antlion-infested beach.
I should also mention that Half-Life 2 has been proceeded by two excellent episodes, which continue the story of Gordon Freeman’s rebellion against the Combine and alien forces. Many more mysteries await us in the forthcoming third and concluding episode. The best add-on to the game, however, is the first-person puzzler, Portal. It is insanely fun and very challenging. You use a portal gun to traverse your way through traps and cryptic environments, and the puzzles require prospective three-dimensional planning and physical logic. Just when you think you’re done, there’s a surprise. Enjoy your cake. Also, although Portal may seem entirely unrelated to the main Half-Life 2 storyline, look for a mysterious cameo at the end of Episode 2.
The game took 5 years to develop, at a cost of $40 million. In the 21st century, games are costing as much, and are more profitable than, movies. It is nice to see care and intelligence go into a project that could just as easily been produced as a cash-cow, along the same lines as the Saw movies that are rushed out every year by Halloween. Half-Life 2 is a Dark Knight among Wolverines.
There is very little I can say about this game that hasn’t been said before. It is every bit the groundbreaking, innovative masterpiece that it is recognized as. It is a smart first-person shooter, incorporating hair-tugging puzzles that utilize the game’s rich physics engine. And then there is the gravity gun: the classic device that can pull any number of light- to medium-weight inorganic objects toward the user, and then blast them in a targeted direction with damaging speed.
The journey through Half-Life 2’s world is meticulous and diverse. You will trek the fictional dystopia, City 17, with all its nods to George Orwell and Big Brother. The best chapter in the game follows your acquisition of a boat, which you use to travel canals leading to a rebel hideout. The sequence lasts for hours and involves many high-speed chases, ramped jumps, and getaways, and it also has some more somber, exploratory sections which require you to leave the vehicle briefly to remove an obstruction or open a gate. It is during this chapter that I encountered the first physics puzzle to ever make my jaw drop. You, and your boat, arrive at a floating platform that spans a waterway and dead-end wall. It took me awhile to figure it out, but there are hollow barrels in the area that float and exhibit realistic buoyancy. These must be taken underwater and manipulated under the platform to raise it as a ramp. The brilliance of this, and the game’s later puzzles, is that the physics technology has now advanced to the point that in-game puzzles don’t feel contrived or observable; instead you are forced to utilize elements in the natural environment in natural ways. Other Half-Life 2 location highlights include the terrifying Ravenholm (a sequence that is preceded by the ominous horror-movie warning: “We don’t go to Ravenholm anymore.”), and an Antlion-infested beach.
I should also mention that Half-Life 2 has been proceeded by two excellent episodes, which continue the story of Gordon Freeman’s rebellion against the Combine and alien forces. Many more mysteries await us in the forthcoming third and concluding episode. The best add-on to the game, however, is the first-person puzzler, Portal. It is insanely fun and very challenging. You use a portal gun to traverse your way through traps and cryptic environments, and the puzzles require prospective three-dimensional planning and physical logic. Just when you think you’re done, there’s a surprise. Enjoy your cake. Also, although Portal may seem entirely unrelated to the main Half-Life 2 storyline, look for a mysterious cameo at the end of Episode 2.
The game took 5 years to develop, at a cost of $40 million. In the 21st century, games are costing as much, and are more profitable than, movies. It is nice to see care and intelligence go into a project that could just as easily been produced as a cash-cow, along the same lines as the Saw movies that are rushed out every year by Halloween. Half-Life 2 is a Dark Knight among Wolverines.
No comments:
Post a Comment