Starting up Half-Life, I wasn't sure going into it what the big hook would be. I'm aware of Half-Life 2's revolutionary physics engine, even encountering its impact myself as a young console gamer through the Xbox 360 versions of Portal and Portal 2. However, with PC gaming existing merely on my periphery until the last few years, the impact of the Half-Life series was something I knew to be significant, but didn't personally feel.
After about half an hour of play I saw what the big deal with the first Half-Life was. The set-pieces, the transitions between areas, the plot development, it's all happening in-gameplay. The player is aways in the moment, always IN the narrative. This approach is supported by environments that are suitably believable (at least relatively for the time) and thus the whole experience just feels so grounded. This focus on believable environments forced the designers to get creative with their level-design, and they certainly succeeded. There's just so much variety in the ways the player is made to navigate these environments, through vents, pipes, machinery etc. Shooters of Half-Life's time were quite abstract and game-ey, so when this came out I can only imagine how revolutionary it felt.
This all said, the shooting itself does not feel as exceptional as these other elements. Obviously the pace and superhuman jumping abilities of the id shooters wouldn't be a good fit for Half-Life but... idk, something's just a bit off here. Shooting lacks impact and feels a little unreliable. And don't get me started on the movement. Is every surface covered in oil or something? I've praised this game for offering ridiculously varied level-design that creatively incorporates the environment, but in truth there was a lot of quicksaving and quickloading involved in navigating these moments. I think nothing exemplifies Half-Life's strengths and weaknesses better than the moment I emerged out of a pipe to find myself overlooking vat of radioactive waste, only to then fling myself straight into it as I attempted to make a minor adjustment to my positioning.
Still, I see the big deal, and the strengths handily outweigh the weaknesses. But with frustrations piling on as the game proceeded, I couldn't quite bring myself to love Half-Life as much as I wanted to.
After about half an hour of play I saw what the big deal with the first Half-Life was. The set-pieces, the transitions between areas, the plot development, it's all happening in-gameplay. The player is aways in the moment, always IN the narrative. This approach is supported by environments that are suitably believable (at least relatively for the time) and thus the whole experience just feels so grounded. This focus on believable environments forced the designers to get creative with their level-design, and they certainly succeeded. There's just so much variety in the ways the player is made to navigate these environments, through vents, pipes, machinery etc. Shooters of Half-Life's time were quite abstract and game-ey, so when this came out I can only imagine how revolutionary it felt.
This all said, the shooting itself does not feel as exceptional as these other elements. Obviously the pace and superhuman jumping abilities of the id shooters wouldn't be a good fit for Half-Life but... idk, something's just a bit off here. Shooting lacks impact and feels a little unreliable. And don't get me started on the movement. Is every surface covered in oil or something? I've praised this game for offering ridiculously varied level-design that creatively incorporates the environment, but in truth there was a lot of quicksaving and quickloading involved in navigating these moments. I think nothing exemplifies Half-Life's strengths and weaknesses better than the moment I emerged out of a pipe to find myself overlooking vat of radioactive waste, only to then fling myself straight into it as I attempted to make a minor adjustment to my positioning.
Still, I see the big deal, and the strengths handily outweigh the weaknesses. But with frustrations piling on as the game proceeded, I couldn't quite bring myself to love Half-Life as much as I wanted to.