This review contains spoilers
two notes:
- not that into fpses to begin with (though i did quite like ultrakill)
- i somehow never played half life for real until now and only recently learned the specifics of the cultural and mechanical impact this had on video games
so from the perspective of someone who never played half-life, how does this game age?
there are certainly games that have aged worse than this. aspects of this game's design are relics, while others are clearly limitations of the time. these limitations can work in the game's favor and provide it some of its charm.
what pleasantly surprised me is how much of the game does age well. obviously not talking about the first person platforming sections, but the unbroken first person perspective and the intro to the game are incredible at setting a tone. the early hours of the game are genuinely unforgettable. i can imagine someone complaining about how long the intro is, but i'm here for it.
the way gordon evolves from "hapless dude with a crowbar trying to figure out what the fuck is going on" to "guy who can take on the government and alien conquerors" is surprisingly natural, and i love small details such as the hevc soldiers and even the aliens beginning to call you out by name after a certain point in the game. these elements are honestly timeless.
some aspects don't age as well. something about how fast your character moves makes playing the game disorienting for long periods. this might just be a "me problem," but it forced me to stop playing at certain points due to genuinely getting nauseous.
divorced from the topic of "does this age well" lies an aspect that most fans seem to agree wasn't good from the very start: xen.
xen and its four levels are incongruous with the rest of the game in a bad way. it suddenly grinds the tension to a halt and has you wandering aimlessly through an hour and a half of poorly designed alien worlds before finally going up against the nihilanth, which feels like the world's most annoying sleepwalk.
frankly, i wish the entirety of xen was just a climactic boss fight against the nihilanth (also i wish the nihilanth was better, thanks <3). there were only a handful of memorable setpieces on xen, and most of them for the wrong reasons.
but im complaining a bit. the game's actual ending leaves a strong impression, and the majority of the game is pretty good, even great. the problems drag it down for me, personally.
it's still a game that i respect for what it has done for the medium, but if i ever replay the game, i'll probably only play about two-thirds of it.
- not that into fpses to begin with (though i did quite like ultrakill)
- i somehow never played half life for real until now and only recently learned the specifics of the cultural and mechanical impact this had on video games
so from the perspective of someone who never played half-life, how does this game age?
there are certainly games that have aged worse than this. aspects of this game's design are relics, while others are clearly limitations of the time. these limitations can work in the game's favor and provide it some of its charm.
what pleasantly surprised me is how much of the game does age well. obviously not talking about the first person platforming sections, but the unbroken first person perspective and the intro to the game are incredible at setting a tone. the early hours of the game are genuinely unforgettable. i can imagine someone complaining about how long the intro is, but i'm here for it.
the way gordon evolves from "hapless dude with a crowbar trying to figure out what the fuck is going on" to "guy who can take on the government and alien conquerors" is surprisingly natural, and i love small details such as the hevc soldiers and even the aliens beginning to call you out by name after a certain point in the game. these elements are honestly timeless.
some aspects don't age as well. something about how fast your character moves makes playing the game disorienting for long periods. this might just be a "me problem," but it forced me to stop playing at certain points due to genuinely getting nauseous.
divorced from the topic of "does this age well" lies an aspect that most fans seem to agree wasn't good from the very start: xen.
xen and its four levels are incongruous with the rest of the game in a bad way. it suddenly grinds the tension to a halt and has you wandering aimlessly through an hour and a half of poorly designed alien worlds before finally going up against the nihilanth, which feels like the world's most annoying sleepwalk.
frankly, i wish the entirety of xen was just a climactic boss fight against the nihilanth (also i wish the nihilanth was better, thanks <3). there were only a handful of memorable setpieces on xen, and most of them for the wrong reasons.
but im complaining a bit. the game's actual ending leaves a strong impression, and the majority of the game is pretty good, even great. the problems drag it down for me, personally.
it's still a game that i respect for what it has done for the medium, but if i ever replay the game, i'll probably only play about two-thirds of it.