Half-Life

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Information
Developer: Valve Software (Windows), Gearbox Software (PS2)
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Distributor: Sierra Entertainment (retail), Steam (online)
Writer: Marc Laidlaw
Series: Half-Life
Engine: GoldSrc
Platform: Windows, PlayStation 2, OS X, Linux
Release date: November 19, 1998
Genre: First-person shooter

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Synopsis
Half-Life is a science fiction video game developed by Valve Corporation, the company's debut product and the first in the Half-Life series. First released in 1998 by Sierra Studios for Windows PCs, the game was also released for the PlayStation 2; Mac OS X and Linux ports became available in January 2013. In Half-Life, players assume the role of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must fight his way out of a secret underground research facility whose research and experiments into teleportation technology have gone disastrously wrong.
On its release, the game received universal acclaim, with critics praising the seamlessly flowing narrative, presentation and realistic gameplay, and it won over fifty PC Game of the Year awards.Its gameplay influenced the design of first-person shooters for years after its release, and it is widely considered to be one of the greatest computer games of all time. IGN ranked Half-Life as the number one greatest first-person shooter of all time, stating that "When you look at the history of first-person shooters, it all breaks down pretty cleanly into pre-Half-Life and post-Half-Life eras."Half-Life had sold eight million copies by 16 November 2004, and 9.3 million copies by December 2008. By 14 July 2007, the Half-Life franchise as a whole had sold over 20 million units. Half-Life was followed by the 2004 sequel Half-Life 2, which also received universal critical acclaim. Half-Life has had a notable cultural effect with its community mods and sequels spawning a large fanbase and cult following.

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Gameplay
The gameplay to this is game summed up in a single word; incredible. The player is kept in the first person view at all times and never loses control of Gordan Freeman the main character. What sets this game apart from other games is the flow, there is no missions per se but the game is instead divided into different segments that appear on screen as you pass them. This means that you rarely take a break (just for loading) and so you can become fully immersed in the gameplay. There are a number of good weapons to use from different types of firearms all the way to the iconic crowbar which has become so much a part of the series (and as it turns out is super fun to use on the enemy). The fighting and combat is very good but what is also excellent id the use of puzzles in the game for example using jumping games and navigating a maze of rotating belts to get to your objective. These puzzles add another level to the gameplay and is a nice refresher from the action and fast paced gameplay which is present. Rest assured if you are a fan of any FPS you will love the gameplay on offer here.

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Story
You are Gordan Freeman, a theoretical physicist who works at a secret government facility. You become trapped inside the facility when an experiment goes wrong and you are left to try to escape from aliens that have entered from another dimension, whilst also trying not to get killed by a special branch of the military trying to cover up the accident. Without giving away too many spoilers as you will really need to play this game for yourself if you haven't already, this story is incredible, you find yourself becoming attached to the main character and empathizing with his situation. The continuous flow to this game I have already mentioned serves as a way to get you involved deeper into the story, at parts you actually forget that you are playing a game! It's simply incredible.

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Graphics
The graphics on this game are really dated but you have to consider when it was made before making any judgements on them. If you take all things into account it actually looks okay. The colour scheme is really nice and work well together the bright reds and oranges are particularly nice, the facial detail is very good considering when it was produced. The settings are very good and feel nice to play in. The textures are good as well all though the rendering at distance is sometimes not up to scratch but its only very minor. I will chuck a few screenshots below so you can see for yourself and get a feel of what they are like. Either way this game is not really about the graphics so if you can look past that you will see that this game is brilliant.

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CONTROLS
The controls feel really nice and responsive, there is little to no clunk and you can manoeuvre your character as you see fit with ease. No problems here the controls are still very good despite its age. You can alter the button layout to whatever you want to really suit your needs so if you like it a particular way then you can have it like that. Overall they are really good and you will find them great to use.

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System Requirements
Minimum
Pentium 133 MHz
24 MB RAM
Windows 95/98/NT4
SVGA video card
Windows-compatible sound card
2x CD-ROM drive
400 MB hard-disk space.

Recommended
Pentium 166 MHz
32 MB RAM
OpenGL- or DirectX-compatible 3D accelerator.
(No computer should have difficulty running this now!)

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Ratings
Gameplay - 10/10
Story- 10/10
Graphics - 7/10
Controls - 10/10
Overall - 10/10