Don't get me wrong, it's a good review! So well done on that basis, my previous post was not meant to be a critisism merely a difference of opinion.
My point is that whether you go and experience Half-Life now.. or not it won't make a difference, what i'm trying to get at is the fact that Half-Life was and unfortunately is to only be experienced properly at the time of it's release, ie in comparison to all the other games that were being released at the same time as Half-Life, no games for several years after its release came even close to gaining such respect and playability.. merely because the game was and is so fantastic..
Yes games come out with amazing graphical effects and physics - just like Half-Life 2, however does that make it a better game? Not really.. it may make it more fun, and prettier to the eye, and yes its "part" of the game, but in its essence if you want to compare or review Half-Life and Half-Life 2 together you have to put them on equal grounds, ie: because of the difference in technology that at the time of release between the two you would have to put aside the eye candy, and ask yourself is it a better game?
Half-Life was brilliant, and Half-Life 2 is brilliant to, but Half-Life WAS better, merely because it was an original and when it was released compared to other games that were launched around the same time in "competition", didn't even come close..
And perhaps Half-Life 2 is the same.. but Half-Life 2 is a sequel, it is brilliant, it is a great game, and JUST like Half-Life i can guarantee gamers will be playing this game in their thousands up until Half-Life 3 is released.. merely because of the modification implements that are available.. you can turn half-life and make a modification that looks like a completely different game - multiplayer and singleplayer.
None the less, i enjoy playing Half-Life 2, although i havn't found it anywhere near as fun as i found the original, perhaps thats due to the fact that when i play Half-Life i was 13 (almost 14), and i'm now 19, pushing 20 in the summer.
Half-Life 2 will set the standard as per Half-Life did as to what game companies "standardise" their game designs/plans around..
Half-Life 2 isn't a different game, it's not meant to be a different game.. and it's not.. it's merely the long awaited "second movie" to the cliff hanger they left you at in the first.. (to tell the rest of the story you were so cruelly left to ponder about over the last few years..)
*I suppose a rant about all the reviews written by people who have never played HL.
