lol, never said it was perfect =) But for what it can do visually with minimal PC specs, I would say it is a damn good engine. I actually went back and played through HL2, Lost Coast, and Ep 1 when I got my 8800 and my "big ass monitor of doom". The games look fantastic even now and HL2 was released in 2004.

Honestly the graphics rival games that are coming out today, and while it may no longer be in the top 1%, but the fact that a 2004 game still looks so amazing says a lot about the engine, and it says a lot about the developers.

yeah I agree there. Half life 2 does look very nice and CS:Source runs perfectly with everything turned up on my relatively under-specced laptop and still looks great.

However, Half-Life 2 was an incredibly over-rated game in my opinion. In terms of the single player campaign, it does not even come close to the original. I barely had the fortitude to stick through the entire game, whereas I've lost count of the number of times I've completed the original (plus Op4 and Blue Shift)

 I think we have different tastes =P I liked both games but man I love HL2 single player, I have played through it dozens of times. Just goes to show you how very different people's tastes can be I guess.  I mean I still like HL, don't get me wrong, but I love HL2.

I already own HL2 but never got around to completing it, it would be nice to pick it back up though, portal also looks pretty interesting. I think I'm going to replace GTAIV with either this game or ES.

For anyone who has not played the games Orange Box is going to be a great deal...

Its 5 games in one package...5 very good games.

• Half-Life 2
• Half-Life 2: Episode 1
• Half-Life 2: Episode 2
• Team Fortress 2
• Portal

PC version: $49.99 USD/$59.99 CAD/£34.99GBP

PS3/360 Version: $59.99 USD/$69.99 CAD/£49.99GBP

Well worth the money just for Portal/Episode 2/Team Fortress

I'm sure the games will be amazing but the graphics are really looking dated now.

 Hm, that's interesting. I think TF2 is the best looking game I've ever seen. 

I was going by the HL2 Ep2 footage. I'll have to go take a look at TF2.

 It has a very unique, deliberately cartoonish style. The facial animations are amazing. Do you have steam?