Half-Life

The Good
id Software rose to stardom in the Nineties when it released its highly successful Wolfenstein 3-D to the masses. If you see the id logo on the front cover, you know that you will be taking home with you an awesome first-person shooter. Hits such as Doom, Heretic, and Quake were being churned out every year. In 1998, Valve, a small company headed by a former Microsoft employee, released Half-Life, and in my opinion, it is a classic. A review I read in PC PowerPlay gave the game a whopping 98%. The only negative thing they said about this game was a connection between hunger and African children. It was Half-Life itself that revolutionized first-person shooters on the PC even further.

Right from the start of the game, I was surprised to find out that instead of a long cinematic showing Gordon Freeman traveling to the Sector C Test Labs on a train, you are free to move around the train yourself. You can even look out the windows to discover construction areas and security offices. Then, once you reach Sector C, you can either explore the area fully or go find your HEV suit. Freeman’s HEV suit is fantastic. Besides telling you how much health and ammo you have, it displays different warnings depending on the environment you are in. It even talks to you, too. With the suit in place, it’s time to enter the test chambers. There are no cinematics in the game; Valve wants you to be immersed in the game world as much as possible.

Eventually, there is a resonance cascade, which is caused when Freeman pushes a specimen in a scanning beam. A portal opens up between Earth and an alien world called Xen. As you progress through the game, you will hear aliens teleporting in your vicinity. The first of these are headcrabs, vortigaunts, and houndeyes. The player will encounter more aliens as they progress, and these can be dealt with using the variety of weapons on offer. They are divided into groups, with the basic ones such as the crowbar on the left, followed by military-grade weapons, then alien weapons and, finally, grenades and other explosives. Different weapons can be selected by using the mouse wheel or pressing one to five on the keyboard.

The security guards and scientists walking around at the start of the game are non-playable characters you have to deal with later. They can help you get into locked areas if you lure them to the door locks. What they won’t do is climb ladders, follow you through vents, or enter very dangerous areas. Both characters have little conversations with themselves if they get bored. You can call their services any time throughout the game, just not before you enter the test chamber. The earliest game I know that introduced the concept of NPCs was CyberMage: Darklight Awakening, but this was an overlooked game back in the day, and you can only talk to them, that’s all.

Another plus of Half-Life is the level design. There are many areas to explore, including offices, rail tunnels, control centers, outposts, and even Xen itself. They are interconnected with each other, and – unlike first-person shooters before it – they don’t require you to press a button to access them first. Some of the areas are littered with puzzles. My favorite is trying to launch an airstrike on the Gargantua. There are bosses you need to defeat from time to time, but it is not just a matter of “shoot to kill”.

In most chapters, the environments in which the player explores look amazing, especially the exterior in “Surface Tension”. For example, the player has to fight HECU soldiers along a cliff. The view of the New Mexico desert is breathtaking, with a little stream at the bottom and huge rocks surrounding it. “Xen” and “Interloper” are outside scenes, and the view looks really good. I enjoyed exploring the planet, shooting alien grunts in the process. In earlier chapters, offices and computer rooms can be entered while players are walking around Black Mesa. I was amazed at how much technology got crammed in the computer rooms, and how good it looks. Furthermore, the offices are clean and haven't got trash lying on the floor. They look better than my bedroom.

Like many games released on CD-ROM, the music is stored as audio tracks. The music in Half-Life is well composed, and what’s unique about each piece of music is that they don’t loop back to the beginning, and each piece only lasts for only two or three minutes. I like how some of them have that beat to them, such as the one played after you don your HEV suit. As for the sound effects, they are quite impressive. My favorite sounds come from the houndeye. When this cute creature sees you with its one huge eye, it sounds as if a door is opening. And as it emits shock waves you can almost hear Freeman screaming even though he is supposed to be silent.

If you’re new to first-person shooters, you want to compete on a hazard course before you start a new game. You will be assisted by a holographic image of a woman who teaches you how to run, jump, duck, shoot, perform long jumps, and climb ladders. It will take you about thirty minutes, given that you may fail at completing a task. You will also learn how to accomplish new tasks such as performing high jumps, using ladders, recharging your HEV suit and health at wall stations, and going around in the dark with a flashlight.

The Bad
I noticed a few bugs in the game, mainly concerning the non-player characters. In some situations, when they finish walking to wherever they want to go, they tend to do a little tap dance. I even remember, in the chapter “Office Complex”, one of the NPCs was walking around and died of a heart attack. Also, I remember in “Blast Pit”, when I opened a door, it seemed to drift out into space as long as it remained open.

The Bottom Line
Half-Life is a fantastic game. There is so much to do here - destroying aliens; restoring power to some areas; and interacting with both scientists and security guards, to make them get you access to locked areas. Most of the graphics are breathtaking, and an excellent soundtrack is heard while you play. There are certain aspects of the game that the player might enjoy doing.

Originally released for Windows in 1998, Half-Life also made its way onto Mac and Linux thanks to Valve themselves. This version - distributed on the Steam platform - is the same as the original retail version but without the flashy menu screens. There is also an updated Source port which I recommend you avoid; it contains too many bugs Valve couldn't be bothered fixing. If you love first-person shooters and you want to do something new, other than blast enemies all the time, give Half-Life a go.