Just finished Half-Life 2 and...

[SvennoJ]

DarkD said:

Basically think of it this way, HL2 at the time was a year late and still managed to hold its own graphically for almost a year after its release. HL2 was the first to incorporate physics of any kind up to that point. I don't even think doom 3 which came out a year later was up to par in that respect with HL2. Same with lip syncing and computer AI. It broke the record for pretty much every aspect of gaming at that point. Every graphically impressive thing reviewers take note of in todays gaming market was started by HL2 and HL1 as well.

Until HL2 I think the only thing I remember the AIs in games doing was follow and shoot with the occassional grenade thrown in. Physics was a completely new term which almost no one ever even heard of up until HL2.  Hell they didn't just add physics in, they threw in toys like the gravity gun to play with them.  Puzzle solving before HL2 was a series of button pushes and breaking walls that looked weak. 

I fully agree. And would also add the placement of sci-fi elements in a real world setting.
Pretty much everything has been copied from HL2, Resistance 3's campaign is basically a carbon copy of HL2's campaign. HL2 also had a big influence on one of my favorite movies of all time, Children of men.
I still think the atmosphere and seamless flow has not been matched in games today.