Reviews for Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Awesome Graphics, intense and fun Gameplay

Weakness: Long load times

Half-Life 2 is undoubedly one of the best games I have ever played. The graphics are amazing, the scenery is beautiful, and the gameplay is absolutely fantastic. The game is frighteningly intense, and one level in particular- Ravenholm- scared my pants off! I don't understand what the people who gave this game low reviews are thinking- perhaps they have the wrong game. Half-Life 2 is a must have game for anyone who is a fan of FPS games.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: * Revolutionary graphics & sounds. * Realism is off the charts. * One step away from VR!

Weakness: * Takes quite a while to get setup. * It is more addictive than the original Half-Life * Now charging for additional games; whereas, the original Half-life provided Team Fortress, etc for free.

My experience with this game reminds me of how amazed I was when Unreal first came out.

The fact that everything in the environment is "moveable" is totally awesome. The only games that come close to matching this one are Battlefield Vietmam and Doom3.

Counterstrike is included with the standard Half-Life 2 game, and the graphics have been enhanced quite a bit. HL2 doesn't have a multi-player mode; rather, Counterstrike is provided for online gaming. The most lame thing about Counterstrike is that you get one life and then you have to wait for a new game. I prefer an instantaneous respawn as in Battlefield Vietnam.

I have been playing FPS games since they were invented, and I can honestly say that this is the best FPS game of all time.

Don't even begin to hesitate at buying this one. It is a no-brainer.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: -Highly realistic graphics -extreme physical game play -High quality sound effects -High quality skin/spirit/hud effect -Sub title provided for people's speech

Weakness: -Takes some time to load -The packaging is poor -Requires steam -can only be use in one com, even though it's a single player game -Once you start playing, it's hard to stop

Well, this game is what we all had been waiting for. After months of testing, it had finially been released. But, maybe my expectation is too high, I did got a few suprises after i bought the game. I had expected a normal plastic casing, but instead, it comes in paper cd-cover, those used by hardware installation disc. And the instruction menu, they are just two slips of paper. Oh well, all I wanted was the game, not it's packaging. So i went home and start to install the game. Took quite some time as there are 5 CD. And when i finially finish the installing, typing in the CD-key, logging into steam, my computer screen tells me that i cannot play the game yet. I'll have to wait for it to validate. I waited for it to validate and went to sleep. I got up early the next day, hands itchy to try on the game. The game did load, but nothing came out after the box saying "preparing hl2". I ask my friends for help and they say that happened to them. I turned to the steam fourm for help. It's down. I waited for it to be fixed. The following day, i tried again and, thank god, it works. I started the game. The graphic is really nice, which really make me forget about all the waitings. Yea, I agree that it takes some time to load, but when it finish loading, it runs smoothly, just like HL1. Also, I think its very considerate of the game producers to put in subtitles, as some of the characters' speech is really blurr. Also, this game really is based on the law of gravity. I can still remenber one stage where you throw bricks on to a seasaw like thing and make it balance, so u can walk across. However, this game, even though its a single player game, can only be played by one person at a time, as it requires you to log on to steam and it also requires the first disc. Oh well, it's game play is the best and nothing can really change it, but just that the loading and it's packaging is depleasing.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Graphics. Realistic physics.

Weakness: Setup time. Loadtime between modules.

This is the best of the best when it comes to graphics and realistic physics. It's a great combination of FPS and problem solving. This is truely the next generation of game playing! Can't wait to see what's next. Maybe we will be wearing virtual reality suits connected to USB :-)

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Oneof the best games ever made

Strengths: Almost everything

Weakness: Loading sequences and two other problems my computer has, so no use mentioning

I have recently bought this game and chose it over Episode 1 inspite of it being the newer version because I wanted to start of with a longer game and follow the sequence in order (although I have completed only 1/4 of Half-Life 1). When I first bought this game, I had no problem installing it as I already had a Steam account. When I started playing it, I realised that the game is easier to figure out than the original game. The only problems I have is that my flashlight doesn't work on a lot of areas, which causes a lot of problems in dark areas (thanfully few compared to the original), and I can't hear people talking on computers, so I have to figure out what they said through the person standing next to me. The graphics are the best I have seen the gameplay and it's amazing with good continuity and hardly any cut scenes. The loading sequences take a while, which does tend to spoil the mood of the game a bit, and the game is a bit boring at the start after you receive your Hazard Suit. It gets more and more interesting as the game moves on. I am yet to reach the interesting parts of the game (which is the majority) where there is more interaction with other characters such as Dog, Dr. Eli Vance, and Alyx. The enemies increase as the game progresses and it gets much tougher too. Driving the vehicles were real fun and give us a realistic feeling. Overall a very realistic game that is a must buy and is brighter (you don't have to keep your flashlight turned on for almost the whole game) and more fun to play than the original because of more graphics, realistic gameplay, interaction, but doesn't tend to have more excitment although you would reather play this at times more than the first version (I can't say that yet becuase I have just reached the forth chapter and don't play for a long time often, which I must stop doing as playing for 15 minutes is not useful). I recommend everyone who loves FPS games to buy this one and enjoy the series as it opens up to various plot changes and better gameplay.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Closest thing ever to an interactive movie. Wide variety of gameplay. Best integration of Havok physics yet. Jaw dropping character models. Lush, beautiful graphics.

Weakness: Frequent and lengthy load times. Noticeable stuttering in places. Ridiculous ending.

This is one hell of a game. Delayed by over a year and hyped to a level right up there with Doom 3 (maybe higher), it is relieving to say that the final product meets about 90% of my expectations. Given the astronomical hype, that's pretty good.

Graphics: To answer the obvious question: no, Half Life 2 is not as technically advanced as Doom 3. However, that doesn't stop Half Life's Source engine from kicking Doom's butt with a richer world, larger variety of locations, and character models that rest one step away from George Lucas' CGI creatures. The people you meet in Half Life 2 are vivid, with incredible animation, realistic and razor sharp textures (many of which are dirty and haggard), and the best lip synching ever seen in any game. For the first time, I actually believed that these characters onscreen were talking. Matching up this achievement is an absolutely beautiful world that feels real enough to get lost in. The lighting effects are rather primitive compared to Far Cry or Doom 3, but the detail and atmosphere of what's onscreen cover this weakness pretty effectively.

Audio: Unremarkable aside from a few defining moments. Guns sound like guns (although the pistols sound a little to cute for their own good), and cars sound like cars. There are a few instances that stand out, though. Explosions in this game sound extremely realistic, with a sharp, percussive snap filling in for the usual rolling boom. The vocal effects of the combine soldiers are a little creepy, and the agonizing scream they belt out when they die is pretty unique. The most impressive sound has to be the ambiance surrounding the Combine citadel. It is spooky, weird, and punctuated by a frequent impact as massive pillars crash into the ground.

Gameplay: HL2 is a melting pot of gamestyles. In one moment you're doing the survival horror bit with aliens jumping out from the shadows. At other times, you're tooling across the beach in a dune buggy, or fighting a street war against massive, 50 foot tall daddy long legs. It's mostly a successful mesh, with only occasional stretches of boredom *usually the last half of the lengthy driving levels).

Story: I'm still out to lunch on this one. On the positive side, the story that is there is a basic rebellion dressed up with some interesting twists. On the down side, there is no big picture to anything that happens. Nothing is explained about the combine, or what has happened since the end of the first game. This leads to a sense of severe frustration, as you play the whole game expecting some kind of reveal, but never getting to it. On the positive side, there is a strong Orwellian vibe going through the game, and the ending, while not making a bit of sense, is nowhere near as infuriating as Halo 2.

Physics: This is where HL2 beats any game released to date. The physics integration in this game is simply phenomenal. There are the usual ragdoll deaths and bodies flopping over cliffs, but the game jumps ahead due to that same level of detail applied to virtually every object in the world. Once you get the game's infamous gravity gun, you can grab and fling almost anything, and it all reacts realistically. You can toss around mattresses, paint cans, explosive barrels, and eventually, even the bad guys (in the best level of the entire game)

Overall: HL2 is one of the best games in the last few years. It easily beats Doom 3 due to it's immersiveness and variety, and only looses a few points for its dense story.

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Greatest Game Ever Made

Strengths: Graphics, AI, Phisics

Weakness: Steam takes a bit to update sometimes

Half Life 2 is probably the greatest game I've ever played. First of all, the graphics are AMAZING. No two characters move the same way, physical features are amazing. Second, the AI is awesome. Third, The phisics involved are truly amazing. As soon as I played the game for the first time, I bumped into a luggage cart, ans suitcases fell off it. I made pop come out of a soda machine. AMAZING! You could throw stuff at the cops, and they would chase you down. In the end, being able to pick up people with the gravity gun; being able to knock them down like bowling pins. It is an amazing game.

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By member: zoglog - Dec 13, 2004

Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Good overall graphics engine, good facial models, Overall improved gameplay engine since Halflife 1, Vehicles provide an amount of diversity, Physics engine is impressive on many occasions.

Weakness: Body models are still weak compared to Doom III, Super Long Loading times and pretty frequent, Steam, Co-op mode would be nice, Horrific Cheap Packaging.

Well before let me state that I never really liked halflife 1 past it's extent towards adding a certain cinematic value to single player first person shooters. I found it's use in multiplayer engines to be subpar compared to quake. The gamplay engine seemed slow and sluggish to me (especially counterstrike). So likewise my interest in Halflife 2 did'nt exist till I decided to check out the demo show at E3 2003. After the demo I was quite impressed with the physics engine and other various graphical improvements. All these things remained true in the final release of the game and prove to be quite interesting. However during this presentation, the speaker (Gabe I think) said that events would not be scripted and showed some soldiers busting through a door. As revealed in the beta leak and Also in the final game there are plenty of scripted events. You really don't see much intelligent AI ineraction go on, not even on the terms of Halo or Halo 2. Therefore the singleplayer experience was mostly a straightforward shoot em up with some very interesting scripted sequences at times. Given I will say the singleplayer experience overall was better than doom III but I still find the Doom III engine more appealing overall. Another missing feature in just about all FPS games on PC is a coop mode through LAN or internet. Halo really showed me how much fun Coop could be with a roomate or a buddy. And with vehicles it could have been even more fun in halflife 2. This is one of the most overlooked features in PC games that i've seen to this date. I didnt get the game on release day but I heard that many people had problems installing the game due to problems with Steam, installation for me however took a long time to decrypt the files but went rather smoothly overall. I would have prefered they released a DVD version as well because i'm pretty sure anyone with a decent enough PC to run Halflife 2 will have a DVD-rom which costs about 20 dollars at most(cheaper than the game). Now the game retails at 55 dollars and when you receive it you end up with the cheapest packaging i've seen in a long time. It's basically the box with OEM paper sleeves with the reg code stickered on one of the paper sleeves and a 2 page installation instruction sheet and some rebate forms. Now if I were to shell out 55 dollars I'd expect some better packaging than that, pretty distasteful I think. And as for the new counterstrike, they have sped up the engine somewhat since the pitiful halflife 1 release but I still prefer Reaction quake 3 in terms of gameplay. However I find the counterstrike in Halflife 2 to be somewhat tolerable. Overall this game is worth buying for it's own merits, especially if you're one of those counterstrike junkies. For everyone else who wants to play the singleplayer experience, It's probably worth waiting till it's 39 dollars which shouldn't take too long.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Excellent graphics, Intelligent A.I., Living Environment, Overall an excellent game

Weakness: Load times are lengthy, Steam (Worked fine for me however), Requires a monster PC to run at max settings

Half Life 2 is an excellent continuation to the first one, which was an astounding game. I enjoyed the high resolution graphics, from the rippling waters, to the explosive barrels and the saw blades cutting through the zombies. The A.I. reacted differently to each environment, and attacked and defended differently as well. The environment had the feeling that it was alive, since you saw normal people walking around the city, being harassed by guards and such. The only problem is the load times are lengthy, unless you have an optimal hard drive, Steam can occasionally not work right, and if you are trying to run this on anything less than a 2 GHz, it's a hopeless cause. Overall, this game is the best First Person Shooter I've played since the first Half Life (Yes better than Halo 2)

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Does it all

Weakness: Long time to load

I'm still amazed how good this game is. After all the hype and waiting, it's better than I expected. The graphics are unbelievable the gameplay is right on and what's most important........it's fun to play. I can't put it down.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: ~Highly advanced Source Engine adds new realism ~Compelling story line with new characters and weapons ~System requirements made to fit almost every computer, not just hi-tech game computers

Weakness: ~None

This game will re-revolutionize the first-person shooter. Even if you didn't play the first Half-Life, this will be a must own. The new Source engine adds new realism to games. The ragdoll physics have been improved so now aliens and humans show weight and proper limb movement. A careful mix of high-octane shooting and skillful puzzles make this game a must own.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: The Source engine is absolutely Spectacular!

Weakness: Game has bugs!

There is only one reason to buy Half-Life 2...Counter Strike: Source. Awesomely, addictive game! The single player is fun, but multiplayer is where its at. Unfortunately, HL2 Deathmatch is screwed up right now. Valve pays more attention to CSS, so Deathmatch is buggy as hell. For such a tremendously popular game, you would think they would pay attention to all aspects of the game.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Best graphics and effects yet. Gripping story. Realistic sound. Overall best game ever...

Weakness: Not many

This is the best game ever made. It is as simple as that. Now let me tell you why:

The main reason is the environment that has been created. Graphically, this is as good as its ever been. In fact, to a degree, there isn't a PC out there that can run half life 2 to its full capacity. The world is so close to realism that I often found myself thinking that I was actually Gordon Freeman. Everything moves, interacts, reacts just as it would in the real world. And thats just the structure of it. The actual graphics are gorgeous! One part of the game which really made me go wow was when I was under water and I looked up and everything was distorted so realistically by the water that it seemed completely real.

Enough about the graphics. The story some might criticize, but thinking enough about it, the story complemented the game in general beautifully. I was completely obsessed with it and I didn't want to stop playing. I just wanted to see more and more. To me, that is proof enough of a great plot.

A few negatives now. Unfortunately, many people have complained about prerequisite of Steam as an "unlocking mechanism". To be honest it is only an annoyance to those who want to pirate the game. It doesn't take that long to set it all up and even if it did, it was more than worth it. So please stop complaining.

The only other down point I've got is that the game is not long enough. All in all, if you're a good first person shooter player then you'll have it finished in about 20 hours. It took 6 years for the game to be completed and it is of such a high quality that it would be wonderful if we could get some more out of it but I suppose quality is better than quantity.

A few of my favorite parts: Well, the weapons are great. They are more realistic in the sense that you carry a suitable amount of ammo. For instance, one of the weapons only holds to backup clips. To me, that makes it more challenging and a lot more fun because you literally have to scavenge for more ammo. The gravity gun is legendary!!!! It is the most fun I've ever had with a gun in any game! And thats no exaggeration.

Overall, This game thoroughly deserves its title as the best game ever made.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Almost Everything

Weakness: FPS Problem should be fixed within days

This game surpassed my expectations and I recommend it to everyone. I'm alittle disappointed it didn't include multiplayer in the HL2 environment, and CS:S doesn't really satisfy me, but what more can you ask for. This game is huge and the single player is one experience that shouldn't be missed. This is one of those games that was worth the wait.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Good graphics for top systems(9800 for about 65? fps ) Good story line that makes sense Plenty of action and diversity to keep you coming back Variety of weapons, mostly futuristic Counter-Strike:Source included which doubles as its own game

Weakness: There are plenty of load points, almost every 15 min. Takes a huge video card to run playably Nothing else, really

The game includes 4(I think) discs to load, none of which are needed in the drive to play the game.
Takes about 4.5 Gigs of Hard drive space.
Ultimately satisfying.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: The shooting, you can shoot anything. I want to kill, kill, kill. Ok this makes me sound like some maniac. I'm not I'm actually pretty new to gaming and this game is the bomb.

Weakness: I have a decent pretty up to date system. But I do have an older video card that is getting the tar beat out of it. I have beyond exceeded its limits. But it plays and its still fun.

I have FarCry, Unreal Gold, Unreal Tournament 2004, Half Life 2 and a bunch of other games, but I don't even touch the other games. I did buy Doom 3 and sold it. FarCry seems to have a much nicer atmosphere and the A-I is much higher on FarCry. But Half Life 2 to me is much funner. I'm new to gaming so I get killed all the time.

My little nVidia FX 5700 Ultra card is really getting beat. Though I have to say I have been able to play all the latest games, with lowering the settings of course. So now I guess I'll have to buy a 6 series card to really be able to see things I might be missing.

Half Life 2 is one of the best games I have played. FarCry comes in second. Doom 3 was just too dark for me. Not a bad game but too dark. I get tired of fighting in the dark. Which is one of the good things about HL 2 it is really balanced. Some dark and some light. FarCry can be just down right pretty at times. The sound effects are really cool too. I didn't expect HL 2 to be scary, but there were some parts that did actually get me moving.

My "BUDGET" Gamer

AMD Athlon 64 3000
Gigabyte K8NS PRO mobo
1 gig of Cheapo PC3200
Seagate SATA 80gig HDD
PNY FX 5700 Ultra Video Card (Soon to be put to rest)
SoundBlaster Audigy sound card
And all the other gadgets to make this thing play games.

Now quit reading this and go out buy this game and start playing.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: God-like Graphics and physics, superb gameplay and high difficulty. Great replay value.

Weakness: God-like graphics need a similarly god-like PC to run properly.

About a week before HL2 came out I finished overclocking my brand new PC (Athlon 3500+, Radeon X800Pro, 2 Gigs Corsair PC400, 72G 15,000RPM HD, Aquarius III Liquid Cooling...)

Needless to say the Graphics "R0x0red my B0x0rez", but you need at least a $1500 comp. to run at max settings. I'm more than willing to bet that you reviewers whining about the graphics did not get to see the way the the grav gun's orange light sent shadows flickering off the walls. Nor did you see how the trees, sky, birds, and zombies were perfectly reflected by the shimmering waves.

Game designers have FINALLY been able to do what the console artists never could. They have designed sofware that is too advanced for most of todays computers.

Granted the game is PLAYABLE at lower settings, but on a proper comp it will absolutely BLOW YOUR MIND!

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Great Graphics, Outstanding gameplay. Great AI. Excellent shooting game.

Weakness: Steam, At times long load times. A bit short? :)

I find it funny, that someone with a low computer comes and rates a game, gives it 0 stars because he's Pi**d off and needs to get his anger out. When you rate a game, you rate it on its qualities not on how crappy your computer is and you can't get it set up.
That being said, I will start my review.
Before you buy this game, you should read the min. sys req. and at least try to get 2x as good comp. specs.
This game totally amazed me when it came out. I got it from steam ($50) and started playing right on the release.
The AI is awesome and everything reacts as you want it to. At one part, I was playing around with the gravity gun for a good 15 minutes because it was so much fun.
This game has the best graphics at the moment, and yes even better than doom's. Doom has extremely repetitive levels where you kill the same monster in the same room. That is different in half life. Every level is unique.
If you bought the game, and you think it has crappy graphics then it's your computer. So go get a new one. So shut up about the negative reviews because you can't afford a new comp or because you're pissed off.

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This game along with CS SOURCE AND DOD Rock!

Strengths: The graphics are phonaminal! Game play make you use your head and is not just kill every one. Suspencefull to the max!

Weakness: Loading is long but what can u expect u got to load a lot of goodness.

the best game i have ever palyed. beats wowc bf2 aa fc all of them it takes the gold.period. i would but it again and recomend it to all gamers any were. i wasnt into games that much until i play this game and the 1st one. if u want game get this now!!

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AWSOME! BEST GAME EVER MADE!

Strengths: this game is so great! i always play it and ive finished the game about 5 times!

Weakness: steam can be a bit annoying but it is only used to protect.

Half-Life 2 is so fun and replay able! awsome graphics, PERFECT PHYSICS ENGINE! fun and cool story line. this game is the GOD! lol... but seriously it is awsome and anyone who doesn't like it is really LAME!

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A must buy

Strengths: Unbelievable physics implementation,good graphics, stupidly realistic character models, immersive storyline, an endless amount of mods in years to come, runs well on just about anything.

Weakness: terribly long and numerous loading times (worth the wait though), ending is a little off-putting, vehicle sections get a little boring and repetitive

Overall it was worth the $50 i paid for it, even though i could've waited afew months for the price to get lower. It comes with Counter-Strike: Source for multiplayer, which is not just a makeover of the original--gameplay is very different and has had me busy for almost a year now even though i rarely do well at it. Currently there aren't any particularly noteworthy mods out yet, but considering Half-life 1's history there will be. If you have dsl or cable i would reccomend buying the product over steam for 2 reasons: 1) you can never lose the game, 2) for just $10 more you can purchase HL2 along with every other product valve has ever released, which opens up the doors to literally hundreds of mods. I wouldn't call HL2 the best game i have ever played, but then again, i cant decide on that anyway. It's definitely in my top10, and i am an avid gamer. I really don't want to give anything away because its best for you to experience it yourself, and thats wat it is--an experience, not a game. Reccomended to any FPS player.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: The ability to manipulate various objects in the environment such as barrels, boxes, cranes, etc.

Half-Life 2 is an amazing advance in first person shooter games. The level of detail in the maps is unsurpassed and the ability to interact with objects in the environment is superb, providing more options for problem solving.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Graphics, Storyline, Game Play, Game Physics, Interactivity with Objects.

Weakness: None

Simply the best FPS out now. Everything about it is superior to Doom3, Unreal Tournament. I have enjoyed every minute of gameplay, and highly recommend it to Half Life fans everywhere. In fact, all FPS fans will find this game the best of genre'.

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Half Life 2

Strengths: The graphics are comparable to Doom 3, the story is compelling, and the puzzles and challenges are exciting.

Weakness: STEAM - OMG this is BS and it's annoying; not to mention a great way to let everyone on the internet take a look in your computer. -Extremely cheap packaging. What a disappointment.

For me ya the game was pretty good but that STEAM crap totally ruined it for me. As a fairly advanced computer user I take great caution on what goes in and out of my system. The developers saw fit not only for you to take almost 3 hours at best to load this game but they make it necessary for you to connect to the internet and go through validating hoops every time you want to play. And how can you really be sure that steam isn't gonna distribute (or lose) your info all over the net?

For those of you who don't know what Steam is let me give you the basics. Every time you launch Half-Life 2, even just to play single player, the game will launch the Steam service, check your internet connection, verify your copy, and even download updates, all without asking for your okay. I just shelled out 60 bucks for this game and they're penalizing me just for initializing the game. Well I for one am NOT OK with STEAM. What will happen if every developer picks up on this crap?

Ugh! after all that I'm even too disappointed to comment on that garbage packaging they throw the game in. For shame; what a game this could have been.

BOYCOTT STEAM BEFORE EVERYONE DOES THE SAME

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Every aspect..AI in particular

Weakness: Steam...maybe from my viewpoint..but again it is a thing to enhance security..so ok

Simply THE BEST...No Match until now...Really Great plot..Great Graphics..Superb AI..well looking forward for HL3...
Guys this is the Best Game..i really appriciate the programmers behind it...carry on the good work

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Great graphics

Weakness: Steam is terrible always loading stuff, takes forever. Extremely linear plot. No replay value.

STEAM has a terrible system. It takes forever to get the game loaded up and running. Game always wants to connect to internet and download unknown stuff for long periods of time (hours on dial-up). Very frustrating. Game pauses to load each different level - long pauses even with a high-end system(P-4, 3.6mhz, 1GB RAM, 256MB graphics card, etc). Wasteful of player's time, long enough pauses to get up, but since action will start immediately upon loading you can't walk away and let it load. On older system the loading times are a few minutes, and some come with only a few minutes of gameplay between them.
Plot is extremely linear, can only do almost everything important in only one manner. Once you have won the game once you can win on hardest setting easily. No replay value. Virtually nothing new to find, just the few guns, not even that much selection there. "Gravity gun" is the best tool in the game for versitility, but that is one good thing for 10 boring.
Very good graphics and fight scenes, wonderful attention to details like gravity and weapons effects, but not worth the frustration of getting the game up and running, not worth the total lack of replayability.
Never ever buy anything with the completely unnecessary, useless, and time consuming STEAM system.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Physics are awesome. Everything works as if it was real life.

Weakness: Just minor things like things out of place like as if ther would be a dumpster on a roof!

This game looks like a lot of fun! the graphics rock kindof. but that doesnt matter I wish you would see more of like giant groups of foes coming at you instead of maybe 4 or 5 at a time more like 30 or 35 at a time just make it more realistic. of course i dont know for sure on these things im just a veiwer right know. Its has the best Physics Engine ive ever seen so far things behave the way the should considering there weight and mass.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: Not Much. Some of the textures are very detailed, but over-all, the graphics are OK.

Weakness: Almost every aspect of the game. Read Below.

I'm not sure where all these 5 star reviews came from, but Half-Life 2 is absolutely THE WORST first person action shooter in a LONG LONG time. Awful physics engine, inept enemy A.I., shoddy level design, poor vehicle design....simply put, there really isn't much about this game that's worth the $55.00 I spent, let alone, finding it for $9.99 in some bargin bin. And the installation, Steam, and load times are ridiculous. Compared to Far Cry, which is absolutely astounding, Half-Life 2 is a joke. Far Cry's graphics, physics engine, enemies, weapons, levels, and over-all FUN FACTOR completely shame Half-Life 2. I had an absolute blast with Far Cry, and I can't even find ONE THING about Half-Life 2 that I even found remotely fun or even passable as fun. This game has ruined the Half-Life legacy that the original game was so well known for.

The games ability to tear out all the greatness of the original was seen at the very beginning, and I suffered through the rest of this piece of trash, HOPING it would get better, but it actually got worse. It has a cheap, console, arcadish feel, where enemies plop down after being shot once, no one attacks you, or even reacts when you shoot someone near them, triggered events seemed rushed and out of place, and on and on....this review could go on for many more pages of just how bad this "game" reeked. If you ask me, get Far Cry. It's FAR superior to Half-Life 2 in EVERY aspect, and was VERY fullfilling when I completed it the first time. With Far Cry's multiple routes to finish the game, I've now played through it twice, and can't WAIT to go at it again. As for Half-Life 2, I wouldn't degrade my beverages of choice to even use it as a coaster. I gave it ONE star, simply because ZERO stars wasn't an option. One Star is too many for this absolute dog poop of a "game". Don't bother!

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Reply by member: zoglog
Apr 24, 2007

MasterShooter that's some awfully flawed and bigoted Logic you got going there. The very nature of reviews are for people to express thier opinions on a product. They aren't there for you to have a mindless mass of sheep and fanboys agree with your opinion. With the same logic maybe all the positive reviews should keep it to themselves and we'll just only have horrible reviews on everything? Just because people disagree with you does not make their opinion less important than yours. You sure are full of yourself.

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Vivendi Universal Half-Life 2

Strengths: none

Weakness: Incredibly difficult to get this game loaded into the computer and ever more difficult to get the game to run.

I have never had this much difficulty with any program before. If your computer is not set up perfectly, the game will not run. Just having the minimum or recommended system means nothing. You will have to have the set of drivers and video card that will work with this game. So if you don't have exactly what works, you can expect to spend at least $100 and 5 to 20 hours just to get to play.

23% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Reply by member: zoglog
Jan 28, 2005

Maybe you're using the minimum specs for halflife 1 ;)

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Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.93 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #3 game of all time, #1 game of 2004 for the PC and #1 PC game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 132 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games ranked, click on the link below.

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