And yes I do have a bias towards a lot of FPS, but I think if anything Half Life 2 helps me confirm this haha.  I've played numerous FPS... hard not to nowadays.  And of course some shooters don't have a lot in common but that doesn't mean we should separate them in genres.  Too me that's like weeding out the weak and making it alright. 

You see you read this and you see this like an attack on the those shooters... it's not... it's a comparison of them to Half Life 2 to prove a point... that this is the better shooter which you agree with.  Those games are fun to play and are good in their own retrospect... but they aren't Half Life 2 which is the standard to beat.  I'm jsut reminding people of that.  It pained me a few days ago to have to read how Killzone 2 will be the shooter to beat.  I think you can see the righteousness in that.

hmm, I see that you haven't mentioned bioshock. Well there's your problem.

I'm not going to get into a huge Gears TPS is a gimmick thing, but just note, it's better that it's third person in my view. It would change the dynamics of how the game is played. I've done cover in games like Rainbow Six and Brothers in Arms and it's trash to say the least. You're a sitting duck waiting for someone to sneak up on you and pop you in the head. That may be someone elses' cup of tea, but I prefer the way Gears does it, which can only be done in third person.

Alright, so since i haven't finished HL2 yet, i'll just come out and ask what about it makes it stand out from other shooters that just shoot all day long but doesn't make it venture into another genre? I understand that many games took what HL2 did and employed those ideas, but what are they still not doing to match up? I'll recant the comment of it not being a shooter and we can directly compare. I just finished a Gears 2 campaign that was a lot more varied than the first game was, featuring mech areas, tank areas, rail shooter areas, crane operating, running for your life to find a way out of a poisonous cavern, bosses that took more dodging and cover skills than shooting, disabling security systems, package delivery, a quick romp through a burning building, amongst other things that made it not just about shooting.

I understand how important HL2 is. It's on a short list of games that are inherently important in the first peson shooter genre. It is definitely more important than the other games that have come out since then. My problem is, the title and context don't say important, they say best shooter, and that brings it up to scrutiny by people that have opinions other than HL2 being their favorite. A game coming after HL2 can be better just by building on the framework. Also I do think multiplayer, which is very important in many of the accused games, should not be thrown away as inconcsequential. Those are the main drawing points of many of these games, and HL2 has no MP to speak of. It's another thing that seperates how well we can cross judge them all.

I really, really love Half-Life 2. It could be the best shooter ever.

@Strategyking

Bioshock, imo, is a First Person Adventure, like Metroid Prime, and shouldn't be compared with shooters, from a gameplay standpoint.

Bioshock has a far deeper much more excellent narrative and an equal atmosphere to Half-Life 2, but you've got gameplay verses narrative, and that is like apples and oranges.

@Zucas, I agree with most of your writings...but have you actually played Gears 2 single player campaign?

If any game has ever came close to HL2 strictly concerning the campaign, that is it. I think you've either under-appreciated it, or have misjudged it by assumption.

Edit: Wait, I forgot Call of Duty 4. I think CoD4 is almost as good, or equal to HL2's campaign, when it comes to fun. It is also far more accessable.

One issue with HL2(it's not a perfect game, just a magnificant one) is that its story has a small scope. It takes place over only a couple of days of real time and isn't necessarily the sprawling campaign that you want it to be. Gears 2 has that issue, but CoD4 doesn't, for some reason, despite it being a much shorter game.

Finally, imo, Half-Life 2 episode 2 is better than the original Half-Life 2 for many reasons. The least of which is the flashlight battery.

Half-Life 2 I have replayed more times than I have showered.

I must play that game one of these days....

Im ashamed to admit that i never got the halflife series...and its appeal. Ive heard so many gamers drool over it yet I dont find the games that good at all. I think it has something to do with gunplay...not arcadey enough...hence not fun.

If Halflife and Duke nukem 3D were people...and both were drowning...Id save Duke first.

Duke Nukem Versus Gordan Freeman. Who would win in a swimming contest? Heh heh.

That depends. Does Duke have 100% in his underwater oxigen tank?