Half-Life: Ten years later, it’s still revolutionary.

I never had a computer capable of running Half-Life back in the day, so of course it was one of the first games I intended to play when I built my new gaming rig.  Played it I did; for a solid week it was my world.  No other game existed save for this one.  Having finished it, and having taken the time to let the experience truly sink in, I can say without a doubt that this is truly one of the greatest video games ever made and even (one could say especially) at a decade old it’s fertile ground for those looking for innovative game design.

Of course, the game has its problem.  If you ever use the phrase “On Rails” around me, I will no doubt clinch my fists and narrow my eyes in anger.  That level is the most horrendously off-balanced stretch of game play I have ever experienced.  Chock full of artificial difficulty, this level is one that I can imagine many gamers just gave up on and walked away from; I was close to doing so myself.

I didn’t however, and I found many moments of sheer joy–punctuated by the same absurd difficulty at the most inopportune times–and genuine excitement that I had not felt since (and for those who played the game upon release, would not feel until) the original God of War.

Half-Life plays like an action movie.  The narrative starts out with a ho-hum commute to work for Gordon Freeman, everybody’s favorite ass-kicking theoretical physicist (more on the plausibility of “ass-kicking” being an appropriate description for a theoretical physicist later).  There is a sense of dread in it all, and sure enough it’s not long before something goes horribly, terribly wrong.

What follows later is hours upon hours of highly tactical gun fights, feats of incredible agility and athleticism, nerve-grating moments of suspense, and the giddiness that comes with picking up weapons of mass destruction.  It’s every Jerry Bruckheimer production you’ve ever seen condensed into a video game; a video game with seamless flow (no true cut scenes here) and logical level design.

Unfortunately, the cinematic design also results in some very cheap shots on the gamer.  More often than not, you’ll find yourself falling out of a ventilation shaft or on the wrong end of an explosion that you had no choice but to endure.  Challenging combat and tests-of-reflex are one thing; robbing me of 30 health points just because it looked cool is another.  Theformer gives depth and complexity to a game and the latter creates needless challenge.

While generally well-paced, Half-Life does seem to drag in a few areas.  While never quite as needlessly extended as say, Halo, it does prolong the satisfaction of a win when it seems as if the gamer has already earned the right to claim victory.  The first half of the last four stages really could have been cut.

All in all, however, my faults with the game play is a result of my preferences, not any glaring flaws.  Be it 2009 or 1998, Half-Life is a work of genius.  Portal remains Valve’s true masterpiece, but Half-Life is certainly something of which they should always be proud.

Except for the narrative elements of it.

Seriously, a theoretical physicist with no established military training is able to carry an entire arsenal on his back and can lay waste to entire squadrons of US Marines?  I know that if you go looking for realism in video games you’re setting yourself up for disappointment, but could we at least establish that maybe Gordon Freeman has a military background?  I’m sure we could, but we know next to nothing of Freeman.  He never speaks, never shows his face in-game, and all we know about him is his age and alma mater.  Every other character is equally thin (full disclosure: I have started playing Half-Life 2 and so far, it has a much deeper narrative and more fleshed-out characters) and the story is standard survival-film fare.  It’s only at the very end that things get interesting (and I do mean the very end).

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that games should be games first and narrative devices second, and Half-Life is a nearly flawless game.  I was just expecting more narrative from a game heralded for its story.  As it is, the story of Half-Life is more interesting for its possibility, for the things that aren’t discussed but you can see working behind the scenes,  than for its actual execution.

Make no mistake though: I hold Half-Life as a classic and I highly recommend that anybody who has never played it download it from Steam right now.  While sometimes more of a test of patience and perseverance than actual skill, it is a lesson in level and puzzle design while still offering up combat that rivals that found in any recent shooter.  You’ll have a good time, when all is said and done, and you won’t look like a fool anymore at video game conventions.