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Conclusion
In the end, was Half-life 2 worth the wait? Yes! Valve's idea of preloading HL2 onto everyone's
computer in encrypted form was pure genius. I didn't have to go through the hassle of
installing the game from five CD's. Unfortunately, my installation of HL2 wasn't very
fun due to the protection on all boxed versions. I'm forced to insert my CD into my CD-Rom
drive every time I want to play HL2 or CSS. I see this as a huge minus, but I understand
their reasons. I hope in time, they'll remove the CD requirement like UT2004 did.
The single player in Half-life 2 was just as good, if not better than Half-life's original single player was. I admit, the beginning is slow, but that's usually the case with most games. Once the action started, I couldn't stop playing the game. It took me roughly three days of normal play to finish single player and I was rushing through the game. I think I can finish the game in one day if I really wanted to be hardcore. Besides that, the game was immensely fun to play and the graphics were simply amazing. I can't say anything about the sound because I don't have the equipment to take advantage of it, but for those of you enjoying HL2 in surround, I feel envious! If you haven't already bought HL2, you don't know what you're missing out on. The only complaint I have about HL2 is that infamous stuttering problem, especially when it's run at high resolutions with maxed out options. Besides that, I can't wait to play the game again on the hardest setting; and this time, I won't be rushing.
Initially, all Half-life 2 came with was Counter-Strike: Source, which is a graphically updated version the original. I don't have any complaints about CSS. I mean, I start it up and it runs fine. If you're a fan of CS, then CSS would be the next step. HL2DM came out two weeks after HL2 was released. Again, it's a graphically updated version of the original HLDM. I'm not a big fan of death match in general, but if you are, go for it. There's an abundance of mods being developed for HL2 right and by this time next year, a lot of them will be available to play. This will dramatically increase HL2’s replay value before something else takes its place. Finally, our thanks go to out to Vivendi Universal Games for providing us with a copy to review! Oh, and Buy HL2… now…
The single player in Half-life 2 was just as good, if not better than Half-life's original single player was. I admit, the beginning is slow, but that's usually the case with most games. Once the action started, I couldn't stop playing the game. It took me roughly three days of normal play to finish single player and I was rushing through the game. I think I can finish the game in one day if I really wanted to be hardcore. Besides that, the game was immensely fun to play and the graphics were simply amazing. I can't say anything about the sound because I don't have the equipment to take advantage of it, but for those of you enjoying HL2 in surround, I feel envious! If you haven't already bought HL2, you don't know what you're missing out on. The only complaint I have about HL2 is that infamous stuttering problem, especially when it's run at high resolutions with maxed out options. Besides that, I can't wait to play the game again on the hardest setting; and this time, I won't be rushing.
Initially, all Half-life 2 came with was Counter-Strike: Source, which is a graphically updated version the original. I don't have any complaints about CSS. I mean, I start it up and it runs fine. If you're a fan of CS, then CSS would be the next step. HL2DM came out two weeks after HL2 was released. Again, it's a graphically updated version of the original HLDM. I'm not a big fan of death match in general, but if you are, go for it. There's an abundance of mods being developed for HL2 right and by this time next year, a lot of them will be available to play. This will dramatically increase HL2’s replay value before something else takes its place. Finally, our thanks go to out to Vivendi Universal Games for providing us with a copy to review! Oh, and Buy HL2… now…
Pros & Cons
Pro's
Excellent Single Player
Amazing graphics and sounds
Extremely fun to play
Smart AI
Extensive mod development
Enormous replay value
Con's
Boxed version a pain to install
Stuttering problem
Excellent Single Player
Amazing graphics and sounds
Extremely fun to play
Smart AI
Extensive mod development
Enormous replay value
Con's
Boxed version a pain to install
Stuttering problem
