That lost me when I got warped to some other planet or something and I was on a platform that I couldn't find a way off. Lost interest at that point.

Orange Box as a package is simply stunning. I got it for £25 preowned, then got £13 back for it when I traded it back in. So all that goodness cost me £12. I don't expect anything else to come close this generation in terms of value for money.

I still hold the opening sequence of HL2 dear to my heart. The impression of an open world while cunningly guiding you down a single path was brilliant.

Roll on the next one.

That's the primary reason not to like Half-Life. Have to remember that, up to that point, most FPS shooters were some variety of Doom clone. Start level. Shoot everything that moves. Find switches and keys. Leave. Repeat.

Duke Nukem shook things up a bit with its themed levels and humor, but it was still mostly Doom with a face lift.

Goldeneye went another step by adding in stealth and mission goals, rather than simple key grabs.

But Half Life was the first FPS to really pay attention to telling a story, and doing so through total immersion. As such it does start off slowly (though I just love the whole "first day of work" opening), and like most narratives tries to find a rhythm by pacing and building the action. It isn't always successful - the train cart in HL1 and vehicle stages in HL2 can drag a bit, but when it succeeds (the missile silo, the helicopter showdown, the tripod invasion) it succeeds magnificently. Someone expecting a Doom-like twitcher are going to be disappointed.

That's the very last level of the game, and I think most would agree its the weakest point. But I don't know why you couldn't find your way off.

The fact everyone has a good weapon of some sorts is part of the fun. The person who has the better aim and dodge and ability to use them correctly ultimately wins, there's no fun in going toe to toe with someone when they have a better gun than you, it's better to just haul ass and leave it at that. And given the shield regen system that's all too easy in Halo. Basically jusr run around corners until you find a suitable weapon.

OT: The hover boats and the buggies are exactly the reason why HL2 is so amazing and the best FPS out there. The parts set the pacing absolutely perfectly so that when you do a major fight you feel good about it and not, "ph i just did this 2 minutes ago too." I loved Ravenholm, what's not to like in a zombie infested town where the only survivor is a priest with a gun? If I want to just go and shoot people non-stop I have UT2004, which is a far better shooter in terms of non-stop action than any other shooter out there by miles and miles and miles. For me UT2004/HL2 is a holy duo of sorts at the moment. What one lacks the other one has in aces.

I don't know why I admitted that. I ain't stoopid, honest.

If it makes you feel better I don't admitting that at first I completely forgot about using the jump module and was similarly stumped.  How the hell to I proceed? I kept thinking.  Then I vaguely remembered the lessons from the previous level, looked up how to do the jump in the controls section again and after a few false (i.e. fatal) starts I was off and running (or jumping rather).

Funnily enough once I got the hang of it I actually enjoyed the Xen section more than most seemed to (although the jumping elements did come as perhaps too much of a change from the previous gameplay).

Gotta agree on the UT2004/HL2 bit... together they still represent the pinacle of FPS online MP/shooting and FPS SP Campaigns IMHO.

Yep, me and my room mate in college got walkie talkies so we didn't have to yell across the house when we were playing UT2004. Cheap ones that were about 5 bucks each. We used them for that and City of Heroes. We would troll around the UT2004 servers for a while and then head to Halo 2(on Live, not the shitty pc port) to crunch some skulls online with some buds we would party up with. Fun times playing FPS games. I really could care less what platform they are on.

@disolitude
I think in UT it boils down to the mastery of one of the ten weapons.The guy with the rocket launcher wont always win one on one with a skilled dodger with the paltry bio-rifle. the sniper rifle guy might be fried by a skilled ASMD rifle player. UT forces you to develop a game style of your own.( of course i must exclude the redeemer ,which , in classic UT, owns all).

I guess it comes down to the style of game you like to play.

I love the weapon matchups of halo. It helps break the usual GO GO GO FIRE FIRE FIRE I hated in FPS multiplayer games before Halo. Like no one would be stupid enough to charge at you with a regular machine gun if you have shotgun. They will most likely walk backwards and fire at you... However if all of a sudden you switch to the needler which may be your second weapon...the other guy is pretty fucked...but he may still try to throw a sticky grenade and try to get the "death from the grave".

Usually all the good weapons need to be earned as they are stratigicly placed in areas equally accesable to both teams. And if you don't get the rocket launcher or a shotgun on some maps...this forces you to work as a team...or get raped.

Im surprised no one is talking about Return to castle Wolfenstien which I would take over UT series for multiplayer any day.