Your right I do have no business comparing the 2 becuase they aren't on the same level.  Gears is too primitive to compare fairly. 

You see people love to give these stereotypical shooters a break by putting the great shooters in another category.  It was done with Metroid Prime and Bioshock and now it's being don with Half Life 2.  Save your self some trouble when arguing that with me becaue I don't buy into the bullshit.  If you want to give those games lead way by putting it on a scale that is less intense as HL2 then that's fine but your only proving my point more.

I personally enjoyed bioshock more

Cool, you've found the HL2. I agree with your points.

Now Play "Portal" also by Valve the creators of HL2. It's not a shooter. It's pretty short. But it's one of the best GAMES ever created - Why are not more games like this one?

Valve is unique.

Zucas is correct. If you disagree, you clearly are not a hardcore gamer.

Yea it took me a long time considering I'm not much of a PC gamer but I knew there had to be more to shooters than just run and gun from level to level.  I mean I love those shooters jsut as much as the next guy but not really for single player and just online and I can only play so many of those at once... usually one or 2 haha.  So buying the Orange Box was a big move for me if I do say so myself because I'm finally able to experience one of those games that truly is Amazing.  I mean I don't throw out "legend of zelda of shooters" too many times haha.

Haha I wouldn't go that far.  A hardcore gamer, by my definition, is someone who plays video games a lot.  Really doesn't matter which game they play.

As I said this is purely opinion and the point of it was to give justice where it's due.  I mean HL2 has deserved it.  But I don't mind open discussion about my opinions or other's who may not agree.  If we aren't able to discuss it then what's the point of having an opinion.  Because then it just becomes an authority.

Zucas, all I can say is this: Half-Life 2 is the best shooter I have ever played.

It's all in the pacing. Lots of games either forget this or do not know how to do it. It's also a lot about the physics, it's the first game where you could truly interact with your enviroment, and it hasn't been trumphed in that department since. In my humble opinion.

Proving what point? Your definition of shooter is vague and seems to encompass anything with a first person perspective and guns, other than you throwing in Gears for good measure. What about Resident Evil 4? It's a pretty steriotypical shooter right? Dementium? Condemned? Grand Theft Auto?

I don't remember Metroid being called a shooter back when it was 2D. Metroidvania games from Konami all get labeled adventure. Now suddenly Metroid goes into first person and its genre switching? If Metroid Prime isn't an adventure game then describe to me what an adventure game would have to do in the first person perspective to still be considered an adventure? Not have guns?

They don't call Fallout 3 and Mass Effect shooters, and I'm pretty sure what you do most of the game is shooting.

Just because a game features guns does not make it a shooter. Compare games that are similiar. Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty, Resistance, etc. are not trying to be Half-Life 2. They are carving out their own space, but you would rather give the credit to a complete HL2 knockoff like Bioshock.

I actually think the original Half:Life and Half:Life Opposing Force are even better.

When Half:Life was released, it revolutionised the FPS genre. Half:Life 2 -while also a fantastic game- simply didn't hold the same 'wow' factor for me as the first did at launch.

I guess I was expecting Valve to somehow reach even greater heights with the sequel, and was ever so slightly let down when the second game didn't really manage to exceed the first, only match it, ergo reaching a standard that was already set, years past.

Although the gravity gun needs an honourable mention as being revolutionary. It's one of the greatest FPS weapons ever.

According to his avatar, Zucas should know what I mean when I say that Resident Evil 4 is Half Life 2's if the game was a third person shooter. The reason I say that is almost every fight in RE4 is different than the one before it. The game is great about keeping you on your toes, and Half Life 2 was the same way. These games sets the standard for keeping shooting games interesting.

BTW: In my opinion, Resident Evil 4 is more action/shooter than horror game. It just isn't as scary as the first 3 and zero. That is not a bad thing, however, as it excels at what it does. That is why I compare it too Half Life 2 (plus, HL2 had zombie like enemies also).