Half-Life

The Good
Half-Life's main strength lies in its atmosphere and overall approach. The game is a highly immersive experience that combines a dark, gritty feel with intense yet realistic action. These aspects are also aided by the fragmentized, purposefully vague storytelling which adds a really strong element of mystery.

The level design is also good, with that classic Doom philosophy of non-linear maze-like maps adapted by Valve to realistic, functional locations.

The Bad
The only real problem with Half-Life's design is overreliance on platforming, which can be rather annoying.

Surprisingly, another weak point is the game's gunplay. It feels like, in its quest for realism, Half-Life lost the simple yet powerful joy of mowing down enemies with a clearly overpowered shotgun and experimenting with futuristic guns found in earlier sci-fi FPS games. But because the overall experience is so immersive and interesting, the unsatisfying combat is just a minor flaw.

The Bottom Line
While Half-Life's revolutionary significance might be overstated if you consider Quake II's objective-oriented mission structure and Unreal's detailed environmental storytelling (let alone System Shock which did it all several years earlier), it's still a really good game that provides a unique experience you won't forget. 7/10