Half-Life 2

Personally, I never saw what was so great about the first Half-Life. To me it was just another FPS. I didn't have a computer to play it when it came out, so maybe I missed out on the initial craze. The furthest I ever got in the game was being transported to the alien dimension. By then I had no life and was getting attacked by electricity mofos left, right, and centre. I also constantly felt that I had no idea what was going on in the game. Someone would say where to go but I would forget after 10 minutes of intense combat with either aliens, zombies, or marines.Still, it was a good game.

HL2 was pure fun though. I still had the whole "what am I supposed to be doing again?" feeling once in a while, but storyline stuff aside, the game is just pure fun. The game took the idea of "immersiveness" to a whole new level with the physics engine they used. I remember being in the city knowing that I was going to be attacked around this corner by some combine troops. I looked around and saw an explosive barrel next to the stairs I had to go down. I decided to push the barrel down the stairs and shoot it as it hit to kill whatever was hiding on me.

There was no one there, but the fact that I could do that if I wanted is a big step in video game history. I look forward to the endless possibilities that games like this will present to us gamers as time and technology improve.

HL2 has taken the idea of the fps and added a tactical/strategic element (in terms of environment) that the genre desperately needs to help redefine itself.

/my 13 cents

PS. THE GAME IS SOOOOO PRETTY!