Half-Life 2 PC Game Review

[@madseason5614]

The canal segment was a "wow" graphics moment at the time I think.

[@khaledtaha2571]

+MadSeason yes indeed it was to showcase the HDR capabilities of the Source engine.... I remember being mindblown when first seeing it. Still holds up pretty well =P

[@Ypulse]

+Khaled ye that scene was showcasing graphics, however HL 2 dont had hdr on release, it was patched in next year only. HL 2 had lot of scenes showcasing the source engine,thats why i dont like it,but back then it was amazing to see new things

[@pnastysavage5510]

MadSeason it was amazing even on the original xbox 1 a credit to the source engine.

[@sl9sl9]

Yeah HL2 did not have HDR on release, instead they released a tech demo called ''Half-Life 2: Lost Coast'' to show off HDR. And it looked very nice indeed at the time! It was only patched into the main game later on.

[@chrkrngl]

+Khaled If you liked the HDR in some of the levels of vanilla HL2 definitely go check out "Half-Life 2: Update" a free mod on Steam. Slightly enhancing the graphics. Like HDR for all maps/levels in the game. PS: Water Hazard is one of my favorite chapters. I have most nostalgia for it because I sucked at playing HL2 and it took me quite a while to get through Water Hazard. The water still looks gorgeous, the slowly changing 3d skybox, the sunset in the last map, and the general atmosphere to the landscapes and the chirping of crickets in background ambient noises.

[@QuietTomato]

yep 2004 is a great year for VGs because of Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Halo 2, GTA San Andreas, World of Warcraft, Jak 3 and MGS3.

[@andrehernandez9857]

Mr. Doggy Meaty Don't forget Metroid Prime 2.

[@MBBGun14]

and UT2004

[@themaniacboy]

Mr. Doggy Meaty Riddick

[@jtenorj]

Far Cry 1 and Painkiller, Battlefield Vietnam,

[@helpihavenoskin8939]

2004 the gaming industry was firing on all cylinders, 3 strong consoles were churning out hit after hit month after month and the PC was getting blockbuster after blockbuster .... Incredible year and there hasn't been one like it ever since

[@adiveler]

*Sigh* Reinstall

[@h4724-q6j]

Why would you uninstall Half-Life 2?

[@markosofranic3905]

@@h4724-q6j Good question XD.

[@veteran_dino]

@@markosofranic3905 he needed space for fortnite

[@iamarabicandiloveamericanp7137]

@@veteran_dino lol

[@Hawk-kc3fe]

@@veteran_dino This was made in 2015...

[@lukevankleef4245]

Your Antlion soldiers in Nova Prospekt are smarter than the resistance members you're forced to deal with during the City 17 battle.

[@OfficialValvePortal3]

Well unlike the resistance soldiers, the ant lions could be told what to do.

[@013wolfwarrior]

Billiam Billy-Bobble Bumblebee Billy-Bean-Blueberry Actually you can tell resistance members to go there or there, its just that they'll come back to you after 2 seconds.

[@OfficialValvePortal3]

Bálint Fábri That doesn't count

[@mathesonwarshawski380]

+Billiam Billy-Bobble Bumblebee Billy-Bean-Blueberry Yes it does.

[@feco91]

No wonder they're smarter. They have hive mind. :)

[@x123rey]

It looks good in 2016 despite his age

[@holy0damn]

it has a natural looking art style, doom 3 or far cry 1 looks kinda "plastic" although i remember most of reviewers were more impressed of doom or far cry at that time.

[@anotherwiseunpleasantperso2147]

valve even updated the visuals in 2015, it looks better than it already did.

[@frankyhorn2475]

2019, half life 2 still looks good.

[@chrisplissken4626]

And in 2019 still holding up

[@j19aiden91]

Yep. Still looks good and plays good

[@deathofasalestactic]

i'm glad that you're not afraid to criticize hl2

[@sydneycbr6466]

TwilightVomit True and I definitely agree about some of the points but I don't recall the human team-mates getting in the way at all, usually they just died and I was on my own :/

[@martindoyle1575]

i am not afraid

[@Web720]

gggmanlives is a pretty cool guy. Eh reviews fps games and doesnt afraid of anything.

[@anotherwiseunpleasantperso2147]

nice meme

[@peterjoyfilms]

SydneyCBR6 Eh I love the game but the team mates were bloody annoying

[@SARRIMAVEA]

90% of modern shooters feel like crap when compared to HL2

[@anotherwiseunpleasantperso2147]

its true

[@dc7981]

Emman SM The shooting in hl2 is garbage fanboy

[@dc7981]

Rob Yagenmyer I love how anyone who calls out this frankly overrated but still fine game is assumed to be a cod kid. Its a really great argument....nah I'm just not a HL fanboy

[@dc7981]

Rob Yagenmyer The Actual action shooting parts in this fps game are mediocre, like ffs your basically just fighting hitscan enemies the majority of the game

[@Frying1Pans]

Titanfall 2 is pretty good actually, and it's on the Source engine. The Portal 2 branch to be more specific.

[@zorkan111]

Two things that made Half Life 2 great - *pacing* and *level design*. They did it better than any other game I've played. Action, exposition and puzzle solving are perfectly paced. I never felt fatigued by too much combat, bored by too much talking or frustrated by too much puzzle solving. They all perfectly timed in relation to each other. Also, level design. As the video said, you start off with fairly classic FPS experience, then some vehicle fun, then some horror-ish setting where you can play with your newly acquired toy and have fun with the great physics engine, then you command antlions, then you command soldiers through urban environment. They mixed it up perfectly, always changing the setting and playstyle before the monotony managed to set in. That's something almost all games fail at. Even some of the greatest games of all time, such as Deus Ex, Morrowind, Fallout 1/2, Baldurs Gate, there are always some moments where the game feels a little monotonous or a bit tedious. Not in Half Life 2, though. It might not have been a genre defining title, but it certainly is a masterfully designed game and a very fun experience.

[@half-lifescientist1991]

zorkan111 I smell nostalgia goggles

[@simonium8123]

Half-Life Scientist so apparently liking an older game means you are blinded by nostalgia Nice to know the gaming community is a fun place

[@element1111]

How is that nostalgia? People played hundreds of games in 2004, and Half Life 2 was acknowledged as being on top of the pile that year. It has a cult following 15 years after release and there are still people who are making maps and machinima and what not in the source engine. Thinking Chaser was hot shit in 2004 would be nostalgia lol

[@raph2k01]

It was genre-defining though. It literally created the physics engine, which few games since then have even come close to getting right. The only other FPS game I can think of off the top of my head is Fear and Crysis. This combined with the pacing, level design, and detailed beautiful environments make this probably the greatest FPS of all time. Of course, it is subjective but half-life is the action-adventure game I always dreamed of, and it somehow manages to encapsulate it perfectly making it personally my favorite FPS game of all time.

[@codycigar6542]

Ravenholm and Water Hazard are poorly paced levels so I disagree. They just go on and on and on and it stops being fun after 15 minutes. There is literally nothing fun about Water Hazard, to me it is a lazy level. Just a boring airboat Sunday drive.

[@aSmallGreenDot]

"involving a small microwave casserole. I REMEMBER WHEN I DID THAT! Seriously, who DIDN'T blow up the microwave?

[@gamerpedia1535]

I didn't lol

[@rotzloffel]

Oh yeah, on my first playthrough

[@connorgolsong290]

Black Mesa actually rewards you for doing so with some dialogue and jokes. That's how big of an impact that Casserole made on the fanbase

[@spiderjerusalem100]

One of the best games of all time and it's still a blast to play through.Strange thing is i don't really like the Ravenholm level all that much, i prefer the highway section and the street battles.

[@mihkelnoot8465]

Serpico's Beard Yessir. Still holds up very well! Pretty much perfect in all ways.

[@gilgamesh310]

Ravenholm suffers a bit from being too easy, but I still enjoyed it a lot. My favourite level is the assault on nova prospect with the ant lions.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

Same!

[@ReSliSt]

+Serpico's Beard Those poison headcrabs gave me the shock of my life back then, when you enter the this one room in Raven where two of them sit right under the table (the first ones in the game) and jump straight in your face, still feel uneasy in any game that includes spider like things or in general things that jump right in my face.

[@lulubeloo]

+RhoadsAlive damn, i did not expect to see big hairy headcrabs. First encounter was a real shock.

[@ANCUTTER]

I enjoyed the increased difficulty. It pissed me off at times, but by the end of area I was extremely satisfied.

[@coltforceplayz5285]

Remember the Strider fight in Follow Freeman

[@Himerosteam]

Half Life 2 is set in an eastern european country while Half Life 1 is set in New Mexico desert, USA.

[@element1111]

It was strange, because on the coast I think the fuel tanks had Norwegian on them.

[@pornhubhatesme]

@@element1111 you can notice subtle hints of the settings. Most labels for example can be seen using accylic supporting the implication of an eastern european nation. My best guess is somewhere on the coast of the black sea or maybe the area around st petersburg. Norweigan ships would be found importing materials into docks in both of those places.

[@kieranhyde8195]

@@pornhubhatesme it's deliberately left vague, but it's inspired by Sofia in Bulgaria.

[@Web720]

Yet everyone speaks perfectly good english for some reason.

[@Mementomori292]

@@Web720 hl2 is based on Bulgaria, and by that I mean that the art director of Valve, Viktor Antonov(bulgarian) creates the city in hl2 based on our capital Sofia,Bulgaria. He also created the map of Dishonored. The overall tone of both games is amazing, believable and mostly based on real locations and architectures.

[@McMathwin]

I was just a kid when this game game first came out, I remember my dad buying a crash hot new pc just so he could play this game. I would sit behind him for hours at a time, completing mesmerized by what I was seeing. Gman used to creep me out, and Ravenholm was almost unbearable. Just started another playhrough myself and Gman is still unsettling.

[@haisaid]

Haha Daniel those are some great memories! Thanks for sharing!

[@thebassin1308]

My dad played it too! On the orange box tho!

[@bogmanhimself4656]

the poison headcrabs in ravenholm were the first things from a video game that ever made me scream out loud

[@fgameshunter1782]

@@bogmanhimself4656 do you think that the blackhead crabs are more annoying as thay take half of your in one minute lol

[@merces47letifer4]

It's impossible to describe the fever pitch hype this game had if you weren't around for it. You just can't imagine.

[@user-ct8my8rv9c]

Yup, it was something else..

[@SageofSorrow]

Speaking of the squad AI: "if this was any other game it would have been torn to shreds, but because it's half-life 2 people tend to overlook it"......maybe that's because compared to the FUCKTON of shit Half-Life 2 did right....it's too small an annoyance to fixate on.

[@Gggmanlives]

+SageofSorrow Okay.

[@TheGoreforce]

+SageofSorrow I was venturing to say that it's the first with this type of squad work. It's the earliest in my mind. So there was nothing to compare it to...

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

+SageofSorrow Butthurt HL2 fanboy is butthurt.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

+TheGoreforce The Half-Life expansion Opposing Force had squads and that was in 1999.

[@rezaka116]

+SageofSorrow Same with deus ex

[@suryakumars]

Big disagreement with the ending of episode 2. I found it to be brilliant. One of the best in fps games ever.

[@jadayaindigo7696]

3:55 Ah yes... i remember fighting side by side with my Headcrab and Vortigaugnt allies

[@rvh1999]

Headcrab allies??

[@wta1518]

@@rvh1999 It's a joke mate.

[@rvh1999]

@@wta1518 Nah he just misspoke himself. Not that I mind to be honest

[@wta1518]

@@rvh1999 Yes, it was a joke about how he misspoke. It seemed like you were confused as to why he was saying that.

[@dankstertv9307]

i still stand by my claim that Half-Life 2 looks, feels, and plays like nothing else. That still holds true to this day.

[@CMONCMON007]

Yeah Im playing it right now...last time i played HL 2 was a little over 10 years ago. And I still cant believe this game is 16 years old..its mind blowing how good it still feels. A timeless masterpiece even after another 10 years

[@CptCaretaker]

Oh Half-Life 3..... when will you ever be released....

[@martijn260894]

CptCaretaker It won't live up to expectations, so I hope it won't release at all.

[@CptCaretaker]

Martijn k

[@Mushroommate7]

CptCaretaker It won't be released because gabe is too busy swimming in money and charging for mods

[@TheKevlar4]

therainbowpigs Hello /r/gaming

[@FleshEatingMouseBottles]

Martijn Confirmed in 2007.

[@CharcharoExplorer]

I actually loved the damned ending of HL2 EP2 :D

[@jtenorj]

Preface:I know I am replying to a comment that is 3 years old already. I also enjoyed the last bit with the striders and hunters, as well as the attack on the human base/missle silo by transhuman combine forces and hunters immediately prior. What I'm not too jazzed about is the cliffhanger ending and the fact that more than ten years have passed since then with little to no evidence of a proper resolution to the story by Valve. Maybe once the Crowbar Collective(folks behind HL1 remake Black Mesa) finish and release the Zen chapters of their game, they will take it on themselves to finish up where Valve has left us hanging for so long.

[@selfhoodrenaissance9630]

Will Valve ever break the 3rd release wall in their games? Will we ever know...

[@carloRX78K2]

I know its a 3 year old comment but.....as much as you love the ending of hl2 ep2....I NEVER really cared for eli vance it would be better if alyx the one gor REALLY got killed.

[@CharcharoExplorer]

@Pedro Vinícius Yup, he indeed is :) !

[@chrisplissken4626]

Its still crazy that a game from 2004 still looks like something that belong in 2019 it hasn't age as bad as most other games of that era ..is obviously not a masterpiece but is amazing what this guys did for this game and I tip my hat to them

[@IV-A]

You should review Riddick Escape From Butcher bay. Another 2004 masterpiece. Really supriced me how good it was.

[@merces47letifer4]

It's the best forgotten game ever. It was so amazing, but so few of us sing its praises these days. What a year 2004 was.

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

IV A - I always wanted to play that game but I forget about it until I read a comment like you'rs.

[@McGeezle]

@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 you'rs

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

@@McGeezle - I always make that mistake.

[@mojorizen7]

The game was difficult. Very hard at times...using that as a criticism in a review is weak. Same with complaining about the open road stuff going on too long. This game is purposely claustrophobic and suffocating at times...so giving it a healthy dose of open ended sequences was excellent game design. I enjoyed your video but a little too much whining and nitpicking about difficulty. (most)Games today are deliberately easy unless you jack up the difficulty. HL & HL2 are great examples of old school gaming that don't make shit easy to fly through in a quick pass. Your point about the squad members was right on point though. Frustrating.

[@Gggmanlives]

+G Pleasants If you listen to what I said I mention the sudden spike in difficulty NOT the difficulty itself. Selective hearing is weak.

[@V-95K]

Still half life 2 teammates are much better than ones in Bf4 and CoDs MWs Blops and more

[@mojorizen7]

Gggmanlives What's the difference? Games are supposed to have tougher sequences. It's what makes it unpredictable when you're cruising through and have to take a step back when things get rough all of a sudden.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

+G Pleasants I kinda feel like you're making excuses in HL2's defense. It's not a perfect game...

[@Brownaut1993]

+G Pleasants Half Life 2 was not a finely balanced game. It is true that the difficulty spikes felt unwarranted. I didn't die much or anything, but I did find myself a bit frustrated in sequences that shouldn't have been as difficult.

[@samvimes9510]

Best thing to do in Ravenholm: throw buckets of paint at zombies.

[@totalrandomtechnolog]

Ah, how i remember wanting a ATI 9800XT at the time to play this game!

[@chillhour6155]

totalrandomtechnolog that's how I got my copy, unfortunatly I wasn't ready for Steam at the time

[@DawidFreeman]

For me HL2 is 10/10 VALVE WE NEED HALF_LIFE 3 !!!!!!!

[@Angsc09]

Dawid Freeman Their own rule: Valve can't count to Three.

[@felpivoter9552]

***** Actually, while Gaben Newell (Creator of Valve) worked in Microsoft, he helped make 3 versions of Windows.Windows 1, Windows 2... AND Windows 2.5....

[@Angsc09]

FelPivoter However, that doesn't mean that Half-Life 2 Episode Three is being made. It will never ever happened well even more than any of the infamous vaporware.

[@felpivoter9552]

Maybe Half_Life 2 Episode 2.5!

[@DawidFreeman]

FelPivoter half life 2 ep 2 part 2

[@MrOldMiguel]

The finale of Episode 2 was the best thing about the series, especially on hard difficulty. Felt like a real accomplishment when I got the hang of it, it isn't cheap at all and you get to learn all your tactics against the striders while dying numerous times. This is the kind of difficulty I appreciate!

[@half-lifescientist1991]

Yeah, because dying over and over, having to redo something that takes 20 or so minutes to do so many times is just SO.... FUCKING... FUN....

[@009-u1h]

Literally get gud.

[@danielbradshaw2858]

It really is one of the best games ever made an absolute masterpiece

[@Pyke64]

Watching this reviews just shows to me how memorable the levels in HL2, episode 1 and episode 2 were. I don't know but lengthy singleplayer FPS like Half Life or Bioshock seem like a thing of the past this generation.

[@salokin3087]

FANTASTIC!! You did a great service to the series, makes me glad i found your videos and that your probably going to make a video if HL3 ever comes out... which it wont... I like HL2 but it really falls under the saying of "jack of all trades, master of none" It has driving... which isn't very good... Squad mechanics... which flat out don't work. A decent amount of combat... which pails to the creativity and variety of the first game. in the original you had about a dozen different enemies with their own tactics... in HL2 you have combine Ant lions and zombies. The Gravity Gun is fun and all... but the prior games had a wide a interesting selection of weapons from practical cannons to basic infantry weaponry to alien tech. i chose an interesting selection of firearms over one (Grav gun) that's only really useful for a couple of levels (in the main game) before becoming useless latter. i enjoy the game a fair bit... but calling it better than the concise brilliance of HL1 is a bit of an overstatement especially since the story will never get properly resolved in ANY meaningful way.

[@TheKevlar4]

Salokin Sekwah Ehh I recently tried playing HL 1 and it's pretty dated in my opinion. HL 2 is still very enjoyable for me.

[@halfhalo33]

TheKevlar4 I finished HL1 + expansions and found it very enjoyable. I'm not nostalgic, I first played HL1 in 2007, and have been off and on in the game until recently I finished them all, well at least on pc, Decay doesn't work w/o 2 people, on the hardest difficulty. The graphics sure do look dated, the game was still overall enjoyable. If you didn't liked HL1 and find it less enjoyable than HL2, then fire up Brutal Half-Life.

[@troyguenther7572]

Salokin Sekwah This game is better than HL1 completely. I don't know what you're smoking, but I'd rather play a great shooting game than a mediocre puzzle game any day of the week.

[@Gggmanlives]

Salokin Sekwah Have you done a review of HL2 yet?

[@salokin3087]

Gggmanlives Have been considering, maybe after looking at doom and quake, though i'll get bashed by half of steams user base for being so critical...

[@ZEPPELIN198]

15 years later, I still come back to this game and complete it once a year or so. It holds up so well

[@aGrafimir]

11:25 Alyx: "Zombine, get it?" Gordon: *"..."* I don't know who I should feel bad for. Alyx because Gordon doesn't laugh? Or Gordon because he can't laugh because of being a player character?

[@stereoflava2788]

The best Singleplayer FPS hands down.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

+Stereo Flava I personally think HL1 is much better is sadly overshadowed by HL2 and its remake Black Mesa.

[@furaihama6588]

Doom and wolfenstein is way better Half life is overated

[@Pyrashusband]

CINEMA PARTY isn't it the other way around?

[@h4724-q6j]

DOOM and Half-Life 1 are better IMO

[@saul-oq4ph]

Everyone calm down, Doom, Half-life, Wolfenstein, and Half-life 2 are all equally good.

[@Sizifus]

The wait is over. And it was worth it. Great review, gman. I may have a few nitpicks here and there, but overall, the criticisms are sound, and I'd agree, that Episode 2 gave me most enjoyment out of the bunch. Half-Life series is something I appreciate so much as a gamer - I do at least one of playthroughs per year. It's a shame, that VALVe are so eager to keep fans in the dark about the future of this iconic franchise.

[@Gophilio4567]

Professor Catus "It's a shame, that VALVe are so eager to keep fans in the dark about the future of this iconic franchise." I like secrets, so I don't think it's a shame :)

[@Sizifus]

Gordonkris Well, for me stuff like this has its limits. It's not fun anymore, now it's just outright cruel. I mean, I've been in the 7th grade when I finished Episode 2 and now I'm almost done with my Bachelors degree. And I was eager to see HL3 ever since. And Gabe is teasing us with "Yes, No, Maybe". This is has to be the longest cocktease ever in the video game industry. Toying with our expectations for almost a decade

[@h4724-q6j]

"The inevitable Half-Life 3" I wish.

[@MrPink-qf1xi]

Just played it again with MMod, thanks to you mate. It's my favorite game, I love it but Goddamn it, battle of City 17 is just hell, those rebels are such pain in ass.

[@j7ndominica051]

The recorded dialogue and scripted sequences were amazing. They added to immersion, could be paused and could be considerably longer then if rendered videos were used. I think the game delivers impressive detail relative to its size on disk and memory requirements. Most lighting is smooth, especially after the update which improved the flashlight, made it reflect on all surfaces and interpolated animations of fire. All of that can mostly be anti-aliased. Games on newer engines with defferred light either look like shit, or have hardware requirements in the stratosphere. I wouldn't say the player was "in control" over AI soldiers. Not at all. Barney ended up dying several times from turrets in the nexus building. I understand that his purpose was to push the player forward instead of fighting from a position of comfort, one by one, where realistically he would be overrun. Luckily in Episode One, Alyx could usually fight on her own, and involvement of citizens before the ending sequence was minimal. The player could for the most part take out enemies alone. I liked ep1 ending sequence, The water hazard level could be run through quickly once you know what to expect or just feel reckless. Ravenholm was more tedious, especially since some sections of it require Dog's rollermine, or are otherwise very hard, and the mine is hard to babysit. The recently added modern "achievements" work against realism and immersion, as they prety much require that Ravenholm and Sandtraps be done in a frustratingly tedious way. Combat in HL2 was much easier than in previous games. Opponents obviously have little health compared to the player's character, or even go down in one hit, such as from antlions, and the player receives a lot of aid in the form of health kits in unlikely places such as on dead bodies or in toxic trash, or automatically generated in boxes when the player needs them.

[@doorchive19]

I've always been a half life fan boy by the one thing I've never liked about the games is the freaking sights! They're there but you can't use them

[@half-lifescientist1991]

That's because the right mouse button/scroll wheel are reserved for other uses. Half-Life 1 and 2 were being developed at times in which sights were non-existent/brand new. It'd be weird to suddenly add the feature in the episodes. Maybe in Half-Life 3 that'll be a thing, but don't hold your breath.

[@IronSalamander8]

AI teammates are almost always bad, even here like you say. I love the game and teaming up with Alyx was fun. She just seemed like she had more work on her AI than the others which makes sense as she's a partner with great dialog moments, even with Gordon never speaking. Solid game overall.

[@Fools_Requiem]

The friendly AI complaint is exaggerated. Sure, they got in the way occasionally, but it was never frustrating because you were hardly stuck for long and it never hindered combat. Also, I felt that Route Canal and Route 17 were the standout levels and Ravenholm sucked. Ravenholm is a lot like that portion of Episode One after you escape the Citidel, dark rooms, limited ammo, an endless supply of enemies, and a constant sense of dread.

[@Reloaded2111]

Victim of Lag The squad wasn't much of a nuisance for me as it died off quickly enough.

[@dannylamb456]

+Victim of Lag I personally hate how the rebels are given infinite respawns despite the suppression field. "We can't breed anymore but we can throw the last of humanity into the void infinitely." Get a grip on the story, Valve. Which is it going to be?

[@dannylamb456]

hikeskool Not sarcasm. Infinite rebels *and* suppression field? Come on, Valve, pick one or the other. Hell, they could have gone with so much more but hey, it is the "perfect game" in the eyes of many anyways.

[@dannylamb456]

hikeskool Might as well have gone with limited rebels in the field. After all, tossing what's left of the limited human population into the metaphorical wind is pretty stupid for a rebellion run by Black Mesa scientists that were retconned in because reasons. I mean, it's a decent game but I'll never understand why it's revered other than the Source Engine being revolutionary at the time. (It is a souped up Quake engine, something that COD's been doing for years and gets shit for anyways)

[@dannylamb456]

hikeskool Fair point, though I don't see why people praise the ever loving balls out of HL2 despite some of the crap that it pulls. I mean, it's a good game, don't get me wrong here. I think it's good, but disappointing. What happened to Xen? What happened to "affecting NPCs"? What happened to "Affecting the world"? It could have done so much more but HL2's teeth were ripped out. Imagine this: What if you had the freedom of XCOM: UFO Defense's mission select with the gameplay of HL1? Start off the rebellion arc as being part of the rebellion, as their lead commander since everyone reveres Freeman. Why not have that? Have some effects on the people, the world. The back of the box did say that after all: "The player's presence affects everything around him." Maybe something like the air exchange program and how the Combine were sucking Earth dry and imprisoning rebels and aliens that didn't bow to them. The rebellion can free them or spend more time researching weapons for a bigger fight, a player choice that leads on through branching paths. SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MINDBLOWING! Even up to today, gameplay like that? Choices that make everything feel as if it was your doing? Hell, even having text prompts on screen for Freeman's speech if they were so desperate to have a mute killer as their hero. Hell, even play into the "Advanced AI". Have something like Gordon pulling up the repressed memories from his time at BM's Hazard Course to teach rookies how to "crouch jump" or take cover or SOMETHING that would lead to better AI or stuff. That would have been game of the decade and I would understand why. But what do we get? Something that barely touches the plot of HL1 and fumbles along with what's left.

[@Scurge237]

2004 was epic af when it comes to video games.

[@raspberryf.m.]

Leave a like for Lazlo, he had the finest mind of this generation

[@Xenoforge78]

The worst thing about this game is the horrible gunplay. The weapons have absolutely no weight to them compared to HL1.

[@mrcoolguy32]

Xenoforge78 yeah, I found the weapons too OP!

[@steven.2602]

i honestly liked the fact that the weapons killed faster. to me it felt weird in the first game that i'd unload 25-30 bullets with my AR into about 2 marines and literally one of them dies. i did enjoy the variety though, shame they removed them.

[@009-u1h]

Magnum, Gravity gun, Combine rifle, and the Shotgun have more weight than any gun in 1.

[@gub4941]

Berrona I agree, doesn’t change the fact that half life’s Arsenal is amazing compared to 2s

[@anasshahid224]

Half-Life 2 is one of my all time favorite games, Valve has truly made a a timeless classic, the story is so deep, even after all these years still new things to be found, hidden details that add to the lore, the world building is on another level, being immersed in the world, it truly feels like you are in it, The G-Man such a deep, mysterious character, we don’t know who how is, his motives, the fight against the Combine, the gameplay is top notch, the use of the Gravity Gun, environmental physics, just a masterpiece game, Valve are among the best developers in the industry, really hope they make a part 3 some day 👏👏👏

[@pippo17173]

Your the only person who doesn't ignore some flaws here. You sure are the man.

[@Iceferno]

After getting stuck and quitting the HL2 games over the years, I finally did a proper playthrough of all 3 (and even Lost Coast), and just finished Episode Two. I guess I can understand why Ep 2 is the popular favourite, but I found it very frustrating to play. Escaping the Antlion hive and battling the Striders at the end were the least enjoyable sections for me. The base game is probably my favourite of the three.

[@richardmiskolczi3057]

The part in Episode Two where I had to hold back the striders and hunters (the finale i guess) was to damn impressive to me. The game suddenly became open world (on a small scale, sure, but still) and stopped holding your hand for a second.

[@63Jax]

this is the best FPS ever made, finished 4 times, every time with the same enthusiasm .

[@63Jax]

TheJayson8899 i think is also a matter of tastes and opinion. Deus Ex is also great!

[@try2bcool245]

+63Jax IMO, Deus Ex AND System Shock 2 were complete shit. I hated both of them. IMO.

[@alsenar2]

Definitely not the best.

[@deadlyravefgc]

@@try2bcool245 you may not like them but they are objectively amazing

[@NMGardening]

I've never played the half life series and have had people even get mad at me for not having an interest in it. I have to say that this makes me wanna check it out. Your reviews are awesome man. In a world of smiling and giggling "angry" guys and British dudes overly obsessed with menu options more than actual gameplay... it's a real breath of fresh air to get honest unbiased content.

[@Gggmanlives]

Synister Shreds Thanks!

[@Dasqal]

DeathmetalIndian 1 less British dude obsessed with menu options.

[@BrotherNick1984]

It wasn't an industry defining FPS like the first was, when it came to FPS run and gun style. But, it did redefine how you interacted with the world. Objects weren't just set pieces, but actual elements to interact with. It had new innovative game play within the FPS genre. I think this innovation continued into the Portal games!

[@autozombie9069]

H-L 2 is my favorite game of all time, and I'll play it once a year... and yes, it's a masterpiece. As far as difficulty goes, I only found the very end of episode 2 to be difficult. Those damn Hunters are a pain in the ass as you're trying to bring down the marching Stryders. But I finally found that driving your car (Dodge Charger) straight into the Hunters eases the difficulty against the Stryders.

[@bamb0ostick]

I'll never forget how amazing the graphics looked when Valve showed it for the first time. The characters, the physics, the AI just blew my mind.

[@wildwest1832]

Its still quite good. Honestly, a lot of this stuff hasnt advanced that much compared to graphics. The AI in fear is as good as modern AI if not better.

[@robbiefazle7802]

One of my favorite FPS games of all time. Such a timeless masterpiece...

[@fruitylerlups530]

I actually love the fight against the striders and hunters, it felt frantic and strategic and made you feel like an absolute badass, swerving in and around the striders and smasing into the hunters and than handbraking around, quickly jumping out to shoot the device at them and blow it up, etc. It combines all of the key elements of the gameplay, driving, shooting, using the gravity gun, into a single section!

[@qt7718]

i swear the second turret segment at nova prospect was HARD

[@041mikey]

i found the trick was to put your turrets slightly off angled from walls and use your smg mainly as there is an infinate ammo crate for it nearby

[@RevolverRez]

I still replay this and the original (plus expansions) once a year, back to back. God I love this series, the games may have some slightly annoying flaws but they're still among my favourite games of all time. Someday I'll get a VR headset so I can play Alyx and add that to the yearly run, but until then I can't get enough of that journey from the tram into Black Mesa to that doomed helicopter hangar.

[@A_Dopamine_Molecule]

Your game reviews are some of the best I've seen here. Thanks for avoiding the whole sporadic ADD comedy schtick that a lot of game reviewers like to abuse. One thing you could have delved more into is the last 2 chapters of the original HL2 campaign. I think you kinda glossed over how amazingly fun it is to wipe out everything in your path with the mega gravity gun. To this day, I still like to play through those last chapters of HL2 whenever I need some quick (platonic) stress relief. Either way, keep up the good work.

[@imasiontist653]

What's the add comedy Schtick?

[@WadeSafechuckAndTheWNB]

I just played through hl2 after years of not touching it and still had a blast. I totally agree with you about the friendly AI in the later levels. The ant lions are good but the people are really bad. I don’t know if it’s the way you and I play, but when they weren’t obstructing me in tense moments they were being daft as hell. On another note, I really enjoy the canal level but feel the highway level is lacking in excitement. The best part of it is when you exit the car to fight across the bridge.

[@taytzh5228]

"And you will be back in your Hev suit faster than you can say Bullsquid" Ha yeah right. *Launches Half life 2* BULLSQ-... Well I'll be damned!

[@jaynukem1929]

Having 4 AI squadmates following you around in cramped building's was definitely a low point in the game for me.

[@TheCodedtestament]

An absolute masterpiece, everything about this game has been perfected in some way, the physics, the lighting, the story, the game-play and most of all the sheer amount of fun you get from this amazing experience.

[@DiggyDax92]

This will live on as one of the best FPS games in gaming history in my opinion. Will always be one of my favorites at leadt

[@mermaidman961]

The half life series never grabbed me. Maybe it's because I'm not too keen on first person shooters in general, but I didn't relate to any of the characters at all, in fact I didn't even really care about them. I was actually more intrigued by the gman and what was potentially going on behind the scenes, rather than what was actually happening in the game. But other than that, the more I played it, the more I wanted it to be over. I almost forced myself to finish the game just to see what the fuss was about, but I didn't really enjoy myself at all.

[@mad_scientist5597]

i feel like half life 2 was based around this idea of alien humanoids taking over as a form of streamlining and to not have it overly attached to the sequel. half life 1 didn't have much of a groundbreaking story but it was praised for it's narrative and tech advancement in some areas. i think the first game is one of these games that are best experienced for the first time without spoilers and that you should kinda roleplay and stuff to get immersed and then it becomes much better. on the surface it's a story about you saving the earth but if you get yourself immersed you'll change your mind, figure out you're just some poor noone scientist trying to get out of a doomed facility killing us marines on the way, makes you think wheter you are the good guy at all. the though of actually stopping the aliens isn't really the focus until the situation becomes critical and you are in a convenient place to volunteer to save the day. gman compliments this kinda immersion nicely i think. half life 2's story doesn't facilitate this as it holds your hand constantly via other characters. you might say this can be applied to other games too but i say this is (accidentally?) genius writing since i haven't been able to replicate in other games for same effect.

[@Superbad22]

Just played through hl2 and the two episode expansions again after not playing them for years. Such an amazing game best fps of all time, one of my favorite games of all time. Next up I want to play hl1 again but this time i want to give that fan made remake black mesa a go. Hope it’s good and does the original game justice

[@uzimyspecial]

I've always found the facial animations in this game to be fairly impressive considering how old the game is. It looks better than those of some games today (cough cough andromeda cough cough)

[@coltforceplayer]

Mass Effect Andromeda?

[@raptorprimal1077]

I like that this channel is very honest. It doesn't just regard a game amazing for nostalgia. It actually has thought and stuff behind it.

[@MisterNinten]

gggmanlives has does three reviews in the last week. gggmanlives's half-life 2 review contains three games in one. HALF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!

[@MisterNinten]

gggmanlives has 3 "g"s in his name. HALF-LIFE 3 FURTHER CONFIRMED

[@Nokturno]

***** the g stands for g-man EVEN MORE CONFIRMED

[@CookieSlaughter]

Nokturno Nope.

[@alewis514]

Your channel is really underrated in terms of subscribers and view count. Lots of good content there. I found so many games from my childhood there, brings back memories from late 90s and early 00s when i was a school kid with so much free time :)

[@MrGrimBG]

This game is a masterpiece - I just love it.

[@75353866]

Nostalgia is what makes people remember this game as a masterpiece. Played it up until you return to city 17 and just quit because it bored me to death.

[@johnd1916]

The game is boring because the combat sucks and the scenery is too repetitive, rather play HALO

[@SuperHns]

I tend to dis-agree with HL2 not being an revolution, the engine was very ahead of it's time. The physics are / were great even by today's standards!

[@johnd1916]

Theyre just basic newtonian physics, alot of games after 2002 have them

[@felisasininus1784]

Actually, I think the term "prequel" can only be used on a publication (book/film/game) that comes out after an "original" work. Like Ridley Scott's Prometheus(2012) is a (loose) prequel to his 1979 Alien, because it came out afterwards but filling in the story details before the events depicted in the original movie. The word you were looking for should be "predecessor", or simply "original" when you were referring to Half-life 1 in regard to its sequel. Also, terminologically, say if B is A's prequel, A must be B's predecessor. Because the former aspect is all about the actual content of a follow-up work, while the latter is all about publication timeline.

[@JohnDoe-dv3ci]

Amazing review as always! Keep up the good work.

[@imasiontist653]

Thank you for publishing this review with such haste after the release of the game!

[@Gggmanlives]

+Isaac Nearing Yes because you can't review games unless they've just come out.

[@imasiontist653]

Gggmanlives I wasn't trying to be mean, I didn't think people would take it that way, sorry.

[@enenes2899]

Can you plz do review for Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Butchers Bay?

[@CineRage]

HL2 is probably the only piece of media I can think of that effectively builds its world simply by throwing you into decrepit, abandoned environments. It's like the echoey isolation of each stage spoke for itself and fit into a bigger jigsaw puzzle that simply explained the nature of its world, with the unsolved mystery that kept the player going being just how it all fell apart.

[@soylentgreenb]

The AI of Half-life 2 was also surprisingly stupid; a surprise because Half-life 1 managed more intelligent seeming and cooperating squads of enemies than Half-life 2. Here's one of the more humerous flaws of the AI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2G6onSjqriLe7M

[@ahmadjabareen4730]

soylentgreenb HL2 ai is stupid? what type of mushroom are you eating?

[@pira707]

That's really not the ai's fault take a look at what year hl2 was released 2004.. And it still has better ai than most games today.

[@HerculeDevantrien]

While the AI in HL1 is impressive, most fights against soldiers feel pretty cheap nowadays. They almost always hit you, can throw grenades with ridiculous accuracy and can take point blank shotgun shots without any staggering animation. On the other hand, at some points they will just run past you to seek cover on the other side of the room without taking any shot at you...

[@bendavis9935]

I played through Half Life 2 for the first time recently, and it blew me away even in the year 2020 after playing games like Red Dead Redemption and the Witcher 3. The atmosphere, the feel, the involvement of the physics in the gameplay is unlike anything I’ve played before

[@shammy63]

@1:28 yes and no for HL2? how many cones have you smoked? not watched the video through but would love to see what you have to say about the negative points.

[@Gggmanlives]

+Shamz Abrams Maybe watch the video then before commenting...

[@shammy63]

+Gggmanlives watched a lot of your reviews before, you always wine about little niche things - mainly about the shooting mechanics and level designs. what do you expect?

[@Gggmanlives]

Shamz Abrams Wine? It's called a review. You generally list positive and negative points in a review. If you don't like that you may want to stop watching my videos.

[@shammy63]

Gggmanlives just reviewing your reviews, no need to get butthurt

[@Gggmanlives]

Shamz Abrams I'm not butthurt, but you seem to misunderstand what a review is.

[@SuperHoldenC]

Great time to be reviewing a Valve game, what with all the Valve love in the air right now

[@Roboterpunk]

I didn't really like HL2 because I felt I've seen everything before better in other games like NOLF or HL1. But I really enjoyed the episodes which is the reason I'm pissed we will never see a part three.

[@carloscastrejon1940]

what do you mean never?

[@Roboterpunk]

+carlos castrejon There will never be a Half Life 3 developed by Valve, the franchise is dead sadly

[@carloscastrejon1940]

ok

[@pira707]

We're *never* going to get a hl3. Maybe a game called hl3 but it wont take place after ep2 probably.

[@sothatsdevintart2562]

6:18 I love how you can hear a faint “bruh” noise in the background. Nice touch

[@collinlopez]

Honestly I prefer HL2 to HL1 by a longshot.

[@SpooferJahk]

Not related to the actual review but the video itself, but watching it in 60FPS actually created a pretty cool effect with the 30 FPS footage of the original game in contrast with the sequel. It's almost like watching a flashback leading into present time, kinda like it. Weird insomnia fueled tangent aside... great review again gggman, pretty much hit the nail on Half-Life 2, really nice to see it get a fair share of positive and negative points instead of perfect praise.

[@MrOldMiguel]

I like Half-Life 2 better than Half-Life 1. Half-Life 1 seems so barren in comparison, I like how they fleshed out the world in Half-Life 2. It's also far more diverse and doesn't have the uncomfortable first person platforming like the XEN levels and some stuff that comes before Xen. The ideal combination would be a Half-Life 2 with the flow of Half-Life 1. They both almost never take control away from the player, but Half-Life 2 has all those moments where the pace is slowed down for tutorials (gravity gun) and story telling. If those moments were better integrated and somewhat more optional, Half-Life 2 would much more clearly be the better game. "Forced storytelling" is the enemy of gameplay. I despise having control taken out of my hands to basically have a movie shoved down my throat. Don't get me wrong, Half-Life 2 integrates story and gameplay better and more suited to the medium than tons of other games, but it could have been even better. Seems like a show-off of technology (facial animation, physics) sometimes, which is something that never ages well. Both games share this wonderful sense of continuity though, which is the real half-life trademark. The worlds you're thrown into feel like actual worlds, because there's never a cutscene and there's never an unexplained transition in locale, you're always going ALL THE WAY with Gordon. Compare this to everyone's favourite bad example, Call of Duty, and you see what I mean. Every mission takes place on a different part of the world, you confusingly switch between faceless goons and worst of all people die in-story for shock effect and "gritty realism" (yeah right... like that's the main concern for COD). All this introduced by a world map zooming into the new location while some other goon blabbers pseudo tacticool random nonsense. How the hell is this supposed to be immersive again? Oh yeah right, impressive explosions. Anyway, getting of track here. Love Half Life 2.

[@subzerotheiceninga8254]

MrOldMiguel I prefer Half Life 2 because, and please don't stab me for this, I PLAYED HALF LIFE 2 FIRST.

[@mathesonwarshawski380]

+MrOldMiguel Half-Life 1 is more diverse in regards to enemies and weaponry. Half-Life 2 consisted of fighting combine soldiers 50% of the time and had about 2/3 the weapons HL1 had.

[@009-u1h]

And just one weapon in 2 was more fun than the entire weaponry of 1, being the gravity gun.

[@medicindisquise4271]

It worth noting that Valve wanted more characters in HL1; a traitorous female scientist (sound familiar?), an enemy security guard during the beginning. But they couldn't get it down due to the lack of tech. I believe that if HL1 came out today, it would definitely be a lot more like HL2 with more weapons.

[@SynthVoice]

Huh... I absolutely adored the level design, especially with them allowing the combine to usually get the drop on me. It never felt too easy and was never too hard either, as long as you knew what you were actually doing. And I didn't have any problems with the human ai, I'd say they were great go have around every time they were fighting alongside me.

[@ytanonymity3585]

Before Crysis, Half Life 2 is a most heaviest game to support in term of graphically at that time

[@randomguy6679]

Alright, so thats your version, leave him with his

[@clubdrunkify]

Love Half-Life 1, possibly the best FPS single player experience ever. But I could never get into HL2. I felt bored throughout it. Maybe it was the setting or the lack of enemy variety.

[@mutesenscans]

clubdrunkify don't understand how you can say Half Life 1 is the best FPS single player experience ever yet you find Half Life 2 boring

[@mrcoolguy32]

it's called "opinion"

[@Metalgearfox2000]

+EdEmKay maybe because hl2 weapons suck?

[@aristoxenedagonie9316]

« But I could never get into HL2. I felt bored throughout it » I feeling the same .

[@pavro_w0t719]

clubdrunkify I feel you man.

[@vladimirdan1959]

I love how the couple from the beginning with the wife crying on the couch and her husband comes back during the Resistance in the exact same place doing the exact same thing just with Resistance clothes on.

[@BaileyCallis]

The way characters talk to you without any reply just weirds me out, i hate it, i just cant suspend my disbelief, and cant help but view Gordan Freeman as a socially awkward mute

[@hotsexspy2267]

Bailey Marston That's how I feel about the Zelda series in general, Half-life less so.

[@BaileyCallis]

Hotsex spy Oh my god, Ocarina of time link is a bloody dork.

[@hotsexspy2267]

Bailey Marston More of a loony, the only Link I like is Wind Waker Link.

[@BaileyCallis]

Agreed

[@gilgamesh310]

Yeah, while I love the game, Gordon being mute sometimes hampered my immersion.

[@UncleTwoSix]

Good to know you think so highly of my life experiences

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

I couldn't disagree more about the chapters. I find nova prospekt annoying and tedious and canal to be amazing.

[@randomguy6679]

Your right, Canal is just boring and tedious.

[@FedorAntony]

This is by far the best game I've ever played. Finished it 7 times I think. Can't believe it came out in the same year as Halo 2, which now looks dated. I remember getting vertigo because the graphics were so realistic when HL2 first came out, haha.

[@CharlesVanNoland]

"Any other game would've gotten torn to shreds! But because this is HL2 people overlook it, which is horseshit!" Except there were no other games that had squads following you in a city combat scenario when HL2 came out. Of course a MODERN game would get torn to shreds for having HL2's squad AI, because it should have 20 years of FPS games to draw inspiration from. You might as well say that people overlooking the flatness of sidescrolling NES games is horseshit. Or the low resolution textures in Wolf3D is horseshit. People don't "overlook" the limitations of earlier games. They recognize games as the innovative classics that they are. Lastly, why is it the NPC's job to avoid you, and not you avoid them? I didn't have a problem with the squad AI because I knew they were following me everywhere - that's the point.

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

honestly I was fine with the resistance teammates too, although gman is not wrong in that they can block you and restrict your movement easily in some buildings

[@av3nger3]

Some of the nags in the video are also likely a result of HL2 being ported to so many different versions of the Source engine over the years.

[@randomguy6679]

Sure it is

[@MarkaNgamer]

Great and FINALLY objective HL2 review. Half-Life 2 is a great game for sure, but the best of all times - NO!

[@PineConeShamanGaming]

MarkaNLNL Could you name other single player fps games that are better than HL2?

[@MarkaNgamer]

PineConeShamanGaming Sure. Deus Ex 1, Half-Life 1, BioShock 1... and so on... HL2 is seriously overhyped and overrated, just like money-hungry corporates in Valve are too. I played it once and never got the wish to play it again. Hell, even Star Wars: Republic Commando has stuck much better in my memory than this game.

[@PineConeShamanGaming]

Everybody has different tastes, I played Bioshock 1 and Half-Life 1 and I still think that HL2 is slightly better than them, in any case their all memorable games, so while HL2 might not be the best game ever I think it's fair to say that it belongs to the hall of the all-time classics.

[@titsbitchmcgee7502]

PineConeShamanGaming Unreal Gold

[@PineConeShamanGaming]

These were good suggestions, I'll look into them.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

Hmm... I am absolutely terrified of heights and that bridge section is still by far my favourite part of the game. The extra fear works there because it's supposed to be scary. I never found the resistance members frustrating so much as actually pretty funny, but I know plenty of folks who did find that part annoying.

[@المنهجالسلفي-س4ث]

Half-Life 2 is very well done game

[@aaadj2744]

Before Crysis, Half Life 2 is the 6th gen game that melt the PC specs back in the day :-)

[@Keres1995]

Funny how I enjoyed the canal ride so much, the level everyone likes the least is one where I had a blast to play.

[@SeriousGamer753]

I hate people... I really do... You know why?! Because the games that are shit will be torn to shreds by the community, and of course you will find individuals that will say the game has good aspects... THEN when a game is really really good and becomes really famous, OF COURSE there will be individuals that say the game is shit... And that's *ALWAYS* the case. When something becomes famous a lot of people will start shitting on it... i just hate that...

[@cameroncunnings5498]

+SeriousGamer753 I think it's because people have a hive mind mentality. They see people loving a game (like Last of Us), they'll base their opinions of the game from everyone else's without forming their own opinion of it. If the game is "shit", people will jump on the bandwagon without considering the games positives.

[@SeriousGamer753]

Joshua Mitchell Exactly man!!!

[@cameroncunnings5498]

+SeriousGamer753 you know, I actually forgot I made this comment. But alas, I understand, man. For example, Final Fantasy 13. I love that game, and it has legitimate positives, yet most people give it shit. People love praising The Last of Us, calling PERFECT with no flaws, but the game DOES have flaws, and if I point out ONE flaw, the "fanboys" would tear me open. Its annoying.

[@SoIoCreep]

+SeriousGamer753 Ah yes, hipsters.. They hate mainstream or anything loved by the majority.

[@SeriousGamer753]

SoIoCreep Fucking exactly.... Sooo annoying

[@fossilfern]

Yeah 2004 was a great year, all the games you listed I played and loved. Also Metroid Prime 2 came out in 2004 :D