Half-Life is an older game. But it's held up somewhat well to this day. It's the tale of an alien invasion, a military regime, and a scientist trying to escape from a laboratory that seems to be designed so that nobody can survive in even the smallest emergency. But what do I think of it? Let's find out shall we
Graphics: 60
Well, the graphics aren't all that great. And it's remake on the Source Engine wasn't all that different. But it's easily forgivable since this game was released in the 90's. It might have been cutting edge at one point. But by today's standards, it's just alright.
Music: 70 There isn't many times where there is music playing, but during the very few times it does come on, you feel awesome! The music ranges from dramatic, rock style music, to sneaking music.
Gameplay: 85
This is a unique First Person Shooter game. It totally immerses you in the story. Your character never talks, and you're in control of yourself at all times. Which makes the game a bit more interesting.
And the controls are pretty smooth. It, like lots of Steam games, control with WASD, space bar to jump, and left click to fire. The right click isn't really used, except for a few weapons (Firing the shotgun's nonexistent second barrel, zooming in on the crossbow, and charging up the radiation blaster).
There wasn't much depth to this game. Aside from the occasional hidden room with extra health, batteries, and ammo.
The difficulty slowly progresses throughout the game. It starts fairly easy, and slowly becomes more difficult. As more aliens enter our world, and the military gets more and more supplies.
Now for the story. The story, without really spoiling anything is...Gordan Freeman is a scientist at Black Mesa Research Facility. He's late for work today. So he quickly dons his H.E.V Suit (Hazardous Environment Suit) and goes to the lab where he's needed. They're experimenting with portals, and crystals supposedly from another dimension. But everything goes wrong very quickly, and aliens start popping through the portal. And they're not the friendly kind. And soon the military comes in to fight the aliens, and silence the members of the science team with equal vigor. Leaving Gordon fighting for his life as he tries to escape, and also, finds a way to stop the invaders before they cause more damage. ...But what's with the man in the briefcase who seems to be following Gordon around? That you'd need to find out yourself.
Spoiler:
Even with the 4 games out, we're still not entirely sure tbh...
The enemies are actually pretty smart. They work in teams, take cover, and sometimes retreat. It doesn't sound like much, but in most games the enemies are basically goomba's with weapons, so it's a weird experience.
Pros and Cons: 60/40
Well, I'm not a fan of blood and gore, which kept me from giving it a 50/50 rating. But the game overall seems a bit amoral. Well, certainly more here than the other instalments. You can very easily accidentally kill the scientists, and other helpers. And lots of them die without any way for you to save them..But in the end you free the Vortigaunt race, so it almost balances it out...Almost. But it's just me, and wanting to help as many as possible.
Overall: 75/100 The game is still fun, nonetheless. It's the first in a series that has a pretty interesting story to it. And, it spawned the Portal series. So, get it if you're into alien blasting action with a bit of thought put into it also.
And so you know what Black Mesa is, so Portal becomes slightly funnier. It also started Valve as a successful game company, and without them, Steam, and this forum wouldn't exist. In perspective, it's almost like Super Mario Brothers for Nintendo. Only on a smaller scale.