Advantages: It's amazing Disadvantages: It has to end at some point
Half life is what one might call a major breakthrough. It was, and still is, one of the best first person shooters ever made. The story, although not overly original, is interesting. The real winner here is the game play but more about that later. This game was released by valve that lets face it, at the time, were nothing. This game not only brought the attention to valve but completely revamped the whole 1st person shooter genre. The very original ... ...Let's thank our lucky stars for that or we may not have what we have today. But anyway, let's get started.
I'll start at, well, the start. Your name, Gordon Freeman. You've got some good science grades behind you and you're looking for somewhere to go. Luckily you come across the Black Mesa research facility that's been set up in an abandoned air base. You're going about your usual business, you take the transport system to work, you don your biohazard ...
jimothyjim00 11.04.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Counterstrike is WAY fun! Disadvantages: Half-Life is way average.
...Year? No. So why was Half-Life given 40 "Game of the Year" awards? Hype. Half-Life isn't even my favorite First Person Shooter of that year. That distinction goes to Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. In our LAN get-togethers, we tried to run Half-Life once, on a whim, and for the next 3 months it was Shogo and Warcraft for us. On top of that, my pick of Game of the Year was Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, a game which was a truly immersive experience in ... ...FPS I've ever played, from Half-Life to Unreal to Deus Ex, I've been killed an inordinate amount of times by my evil nemesis...the ladder. What's up with that? You've got a few interesting weapons, and a lot of ho-hum weapons. Multiplayer was pretty disastrous until you get to the Mods. Counterstrike is incredibly fun, but that's of no credit to the original game designers, because they didn't do any of that. The fact that an entertaining game can ...
alkaiser 03.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Everything about it, gripping story, great action, very immersive Disadvantages: slightly outdated these days (was released in November 19, 1998) but you wont care :)
My Personal Thoughts
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Half Life is a truely exceptional piece of gaming. I first played Half Life when it was released on ps2 as i never had a PC at that time. However when i did get a PC Half Life was straight into my collection. I thought he game was fantastic and unlike anything i had previously played. It had a gripping story that was very realisitc as you were at the hands of it all. In fact it was this game that got me into ... ...to all the factors contained within this masterpiece of a game.
Intro
~~~
Half Life is the story of Gordon Freemans work at the Black Mesa Research Lab. It starts off as a normal day, u come into work on the onboard train system (this is a great start to the game as you can see all around you and the goings on at Black Mesa) you come into work and talk to a few of your work mates. After exploring and getting use to the controls and just messing ...
Geddes-i 20.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: The evolution of the genre Disadvantages: Too short
...and the blockbuster success of Half-Life is the testament to the rare amalgamation of unique gameplay design, technology, atmosphere, and theme. It proved a long time before a game surpassed the accomplishments that Half-Life unleashed upon on the PC gaming industry.
The story is pretty intense your immediately put in the place of Gordon Freeman who is a scientist in the Black Mesa Complex where an experiment goes horribly wrong and ends up being ... ...oddly theres no music in Half-life throughout the whole game but to be fair this isn’t a problem simply because it seems to make the game much more atmospheric without music. In Half Life the Sound effects are the focus point of play, if all were not silent while creeping around trough Black Mesa, you would find that it would kill the atmosphere the developers worked so hard to make. To Half Life’s credit the AI of the computer characters ...
vectrex001 31.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Amazing graphics, with amazing game play to follow Disadvantages: none, very good game
In the basic sense, Half-Life IS just another first person shooter. You play the role of Gordon Freeman, a research associate in a top-secret research facility. The difference in the game is apparent at the outset, as you start at the beginning of a normal day of work, rather than fighting aliens. You play through a reasonably short storyline as you report to the office (late, of course), and you are ushered directly to the materials testing lab. ... ...some equipment problems are cropping up. Thing go downhill from there.
Once the experiment goes awry, you find yourself facing the unknown. Apparently, some type of creatures have taken over the facility. You are deep below the surface, without weapons, facing certain death. And if the creatures don't get you, the soldiers sent to rescue you just might.
The graphics are extraordinary, especially with a 3D card. The types of enemies are varied, ...
JamieMckeen 08.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: A good puzzler Disadvantages: Too simple
Half life is a game that I borrowed from a friend at work.
He is also a member here so I challenge him to a writing competition about this game. Come on Arthur, you know you can do better....
Anyway, Half life has been a very enjoyable, if obvious puzzle/action game in the same genre as Doom/Quake. A "behind the eyballs" type game where you command the character as he/she interacts with his/her environment.
Setting the scene.
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... ...owned by Black Mesa. After watching the introductory sequence and disembarking from a transport shuttle, you begin the game.
You are a scientist working on samples deep inside this research facility out in the desert/mountains somewhere.
Something has gone wrong though and its your job to get out alive.
Loading Graphics.
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Very nice. Very little of the game is revealed as you start the game. It requires a blast on the tutorial ...
andycharger 21.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Loads of fun killing stuff Disadvantages: How can killing stuff be a disadvantage ?
...This one, another for Half-Life Opposing Force and yet another for Half-Life Blue Shift covering the original game and the two add-ons that came after. So ( takes in a deep breath ) here we go.
The game itself was released onto the market way back in November 1998, which in PC Game terms is just this side of the Iron Age. Even though Half-Life wasn’t the first ever FPS ( First Person Shooter ) available, in a mere matter of weeks it smashed through ... ...pants computer as that was, Half-Life would still run on my system.
Admittedly I had to lower the resolution a lot and reduce the screen size as well as turn off all the snazzy effects. But even so I still managed to play. I was kind of determined back then and seeing as I had forked out somewhere along the lines of £40 for the pleasure ( now you could buy the game brand new with extras for about £10 ), come hell or high water ( which, living in ...
gabrielangeles 30.11.2002 (01.12.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Great plot, intense action, great atmosphere Disadvantages: Not just a shooter
...colleague andycharger to beat his Half-Life review, honour and reputation are both at stake, so settle down for the review of the year.
I’ve actually been meaning to write a Half-Life review for sometime now; in fact I’ve been talking it up in the office for a while now and have got a few of the lads playing it in addition to andycharger. I’d like to say upfront that I’m not a massive games player – I tend to latch ... ...instead. For those with patience, Half-Life offers some of the most rewarding gun-battles ever burned onto a CD. But you’ve got to earn it. Got a bit off the track there, but you don’t work with these people. You know who you are, Nick.
Right, once Gordon eventually reaches his station (having travelled through some beautifully designed locations, including an underground missile complex complete with robot power-lifters and toxic waste ...
Andrew19111 22.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
...those reading who haven't played Half-Life you have missed out on the most rewarding, exciting, experience to be had in front of a monitor.
You play the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist at the Black Mesa Research Facility. You start off doing your job, when all of a sudden things go wrong... and the game starts for proper.
Things are viewed in the first person, whereby, you can see what you're holding in you hand, weapon for example, and also ... ...yourself.
The controls are simple, standard first-person mouse and keys configuration, which can be changed depending on your preference.
There is a training section to help you get to grips with the controls, before you set off on the game itself, which is very helpful to newcomers of the genre and also a good way for experienced gamers to refresh their skills.
What makes this game stand out so much from all other first-person games is the atmosphere ...
mookielidl 10.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: An excellent game with unlimited playability and support on-line Disadvantages: A minor flaw in AI, but that's it
Half-life is one of the greatest first-person action shooters of all time, beaten only by recent titles like Deus Ex, but not completely out of the running. The appeal of Half-Life has become a global phenomenon, considering the game came out nearly two years ago.
The game sets as the character Gordon Freeman, a scientist who works at the Anomalous Materials section of the Black Mesa compound, a US government black project, investigating portals ... ...and they make you think. Half-Life is not a mindless shooter like Soldier of Fortune, but rather a strategic game, not quite up to the ultra-stealthy necessity of Thief and Deus Ex, but to get to a certain area, you don’t find a key and use that, like Doom and Duke Nuk’em, but you must use the environment to open doors, or reach a certain ledge. The environment, especially in the alien world of Zen, interacts with you, alien plants either hide or ...
j2b 15.11.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Good graphics and storyline Disadvantages: None
...the most original things about Half-Life is the way the story is progressed. You never leave the persona of Freeman, and everything is viewed through his eyes. There's never a cut scene, and you never see what's going on unless you are there. The beginning sequence of the game is one of the most innovative. There's no combat, and you are simply a man on his way to work. Of course, work in an underground lab is not typical, but the first half-hour ... ...in the game. Half-Life is, without a doubt, the most incredible game of its type available today. The environment is amazing, the AI is ruthless, and the story keeps you wanting to know what will happen next. I never thought I'd give five stars to a 3D action game without an automap, but everything about Half-Life is so well done that I just can't resist. ...
Kinny 25.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: read the op Disadvantages: it had to end
Half-Life is one of, if not the best game I have ever played and believe me I have played a lot of games. I was given this game off a friend after I had seen it at his house quite a long time back and strange how this might seem I had never heard of it… oh how that was soon to change.
I loaded this game and within minutes of playing it I was hooked, I couldn’t turn the thing off. I’ve got to hand it to those people at Valve…. ... ...i've enjoyed absolutely every second of it…. And that’s a lot of seconds.
Since then I have seen this game in many magazines scoring very highly, and rightly so. For those who are looking for a game for your PC that will really keep you occupied and haven’t got this game…. Get it! . Believe me it’s worth every penny and because it’s been out now for some time you shouldn’t have to pay too much.
For those ...
stes.da.man 19.07.2001 (15.08.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: ITs more half-life!! new definiton models improve the graphics Disadvantages: Its all to similar to opposing force and half-life
...a good idea because the half-life graphics engine is starting to show its age. Over all the graphics engine is very good but I found some problems. I have a matrox G400 SH (see my review) and I found that when in the game and exiting to the menu e.g. to save the game the game becomes unstable. This problem was addressed in the read me but the latest matrox drivers doesn’t change this. Also my friend found the same results on his 3D blaster ... ...were similar to the other half-life ones and this made things seem very familiar. The weapons, characters and bad guys are virtually the same. In comparison to opposing force this game is very short with no new features. The good points are that you get to see the situation from another angle and you have different objectives too Gordon Freeman and to Shepard and that you get to see different parts of xen the alien world and Black mesa research facility.
...
sir_flash 11.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Involving plot, great gameplay Disadvantages: Graphics are showing their age
...about PC games, that is. Half-Life was released by publishers Sierra in 1999 to critical acclaim, and won over 50 gaming awards that year, including the coveted Best PC Game Ever award. But is it as great as its plaudits suggest?
The story behind Half-Life could so easily have belonged to so many other games. Gordon Freeman is a scientist employed by the cavernous Black Mesa Research Facility to conduct research into the properties of unknown materials. ... ...you’re through the opening sequence, Half-Life is quite easy to pick up and play. Although I found the original controls a bit irritating and fiddly to use, the menu system makes it easy to reset the controls to something which suits you more.
At the start of the game, you are offered three difficulty levels, Easy, Medium and Hard. The only difference I’ve seen between the levels is that the enemies seem to react faster, shooting more accurately ...
mattwood 16.07.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)
Advantages: Will help get more kills Disadvantages: Takes practice
Counter Strike is one of the hardest multiplayer games to get the hang of that I've ever played. It took me a week before I got the hang of the weapons for each side, and learned not to rush in guns blazing all the time.
Learning the maps can only come from experience really, but make full use of the free-look mode whenever you get killed to look for hiding places, vents, sniping points etc.
When you start off on a map, you pretty much have to ... ...HE grenade, but in general save your money.
I'd advise doing the same in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, and keeping back so you can run in and pick up the weapon from a downed enemy/teammate.
That way when you want to get a kickass weapon, you can afford it.
Pistols are rarely useful for buying unless you're short on cash - for the terrorists the only viable option is the Dual pistols, and for Counter Terrorist you should really just not bother.
Sub ...
kenigma 22.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Half-Life (PC)