7 Days, 7 Games: Number Two

Half-Life / Half-Life 2

I was not a huge PC gamer prior to Half-Life. My Nintendo 64 made up the bulk of my gaming in 1998, but my introduction to Half-Life changed that. While I was comfortable playing Quake II and Battlezone '97 on the PC, it was my purchase of Half-Life that really glued me to the family computer. My reasons for loving Half-Life are basically the same as they are for everyone else: the story-driven gameplay and great pacing blends well with the run-and-gun intelligent battles. I was quite stunned when I first heard an enemy marine yell "Shit, grenade" before running to avoid the blast. Since Quake II and Doom (my only first-person experiences up to that point) were a bit more mindless, this kind of enemy intelligence was fascinating to me.

More than the technology of Half-Life was the setting. The Black Mesa Research Facility was a fantastic place for a geek like me to fall in love with. Lots of high-technology mixed with military facades on multiple occasions during the adventure, and the fantastic even blended as well: experimental technology and alien locales kept Black Mesa interesting at every turn.

I cheated my way through my earlier games, especially the final third of Quake II. Half-Life was a game so awesome that I demanded myself to play through it honestly and completely, and after four months with the game, I finally did. I also spent countless hours, weeks, and months playing with the world editor that was available from Valve. I sculpted my dream levels and different playgrounds in my own original worlds - my imagination had not been so active since I was introduced to Mario Paint in 1993.

The wait for Half-Life 2 was an excruciating one. While the original Half-Life left a larger impression on me, I cannot discount that since 2004 I have revisited the Half-Life 2 universe at least once a year. With the same kind of story-action blend present in Half-Life 2, I really consider both games one and the same, but chose to detail my time with the original game. This is an awesome franchise.

Next Up, Number One: The princess and the world need saving yet again, but it has never been this awesome before.

B3 out.