Half-Life is a game I have always loved, so writing this review was a challenge as I had to set aside my nostalgia and focus on what makes Half-Life great, but I will do my best.
Half-Life appears to be a traditional FPS, but upon release, it was actually groundbreaking, challenging FPS norms while also maintaining the essence of fun and quality in the genre. Half-Life is enjoyable, featuring a variety of weapons and enemies (including cool bosses) along with impressive AI that continues to impress me.
However, the standout feature of Half-Life is what sets it apart from other games. Valve chose a unique storytelling approach by avoiding cut-scenes and focusing on game-play, making it different from a traditional Metal Gear Solid game. The strategy of "less is more" is effective. Rather than lengthy, poorly written dialogue, the game allows you to witness firsthand the chaos and destruction following the Black Mesa Incident. The functioning of the game creates a post-apocalyptic atmosphere akin to the aftermath of a catastrophic event, such as a hurricane or a nuclear blast, where survival is the ultimate goal.
Instead of providing thorough explanations, Half-Life will demonstrate numerous concepts and occasionally make statements that could be perplexing. Because you are a single individual, it is impossible for you to fully understand the larger context. Despite receiving subtle clues throughout the game, you remain unaware of the big picture, creating a sense of ominous and mysterious uncertainty.
The focus of this game is its atmosphere, and even though the graphics are outdated, it remains an awe-inspiring experience to see the tragedy and devastation of Black Mesa. The sounds and music are excellent and definitely help with this.
If you haven't played Half-Life yet, I highly recommend giving it a try. Not only will you enjoy it, but it may also change your perspective on how video game narratives and ambience should be integrated with game-play.

I had this game sitting in my library for almost an year since it was given away for free by Valve on Half-Life's 25th Anniversary.[www.half-life.com] Assuming the game to be dated in terms of gameplay didn't help it either. Fast-forward 11 months to October 2024, I download it on my system thinking "This game is ancient, it must be short, easy and unsophisticated compared to what games are today; I can play it once a while when I'm bored and need a device for a mindless time-pass"...and man, I couldn't have been any more wrong than that!

I played this game on the hardest difficulty, due to my assumptions as stated. While the story is relatively simpler, the enemies are extremely smart, be it the aliens or the human enemy (especially the human enemies!). With multiple varieties of weapons, and a fair variety of adversaries, the game did manage to engage me throughout the play-through (barring a few chapters towards the end). The sound design is decent enough to be serviceable even today and the music, though few and far between the chapters, is good. The chapters themselves have enough variety to avoid repetitiveness. The game also employs clever use of simple physics, which for the time it was developed in, made this game first-of-its-kind and more sophisticated.

This is not just another 'Run-and-Gun' game from that era, but actually a 'Run-Think-Shoot-Live' one, living up to its tagline. Really looking forward to playing HL 2, which again, was given away for free by Lord GabeN, on Half-Life 2's 20th Anniversary![www.half-life.com]

EINFACH FPS SEIN VATER 💎