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PS2 version is not worth it.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I realize I'm reviewing an old game here and I'm writing this review with 2008 standards. Please keep in mind I am only reviewing the PS2 version (not PC).

If you're one of those fans considering to track this old game (on PS2) and spend lots of money on it -- don't bother wasting it.

The PS2 version is just really frustrating. Some games still look good on the PS2 even to this day. However, this game just isn't worth tracking down and playing it again, on the PS2.

Like most games that are poorly ported onto console, this game is no exception. There are many slowdowns. That is my biggest complaint. It's not that the graphics are so demanding, but it just isn't optimized well.

This game is considered a classic and really took FPS to a whole new level when it came out. However, to fully appreciate that, even in today's standard, go with the PC. Instead of paying $20 or more for the PS2, just for the rare factor (unless you just want to put it on your shelf or something and collect dust), it's better to buy the Half-Life Anthology (where you get many expansions) for less than $10 now. You don't even need a fast computer and everything will be smooth. Plus, you'll get to use a keyboard and mouse -- the way it is meant to be played.

But for better graphics, I recommend getting the Orange Box, which has Half-Life 2 and even the original Half-Life with updated graphics.

So my 1-star rating is for the PS2 version.

Top 5 greatest games of all time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let me just say that after playing this game, you will never look at FPS games in the same way again. The PC version of this is better in every way, but that is to be expected no matter what the game is (usually this is true anyway).

From the moment you step off the underground tram, you are thrust into a world that is very dangerous, and very intriguing. This game, along with Deus Ex, has possibly the best storyline and gameplay of all time. You are in danger every second of this game, and you have to be smart about your actions. If you run blindly into an area, you will 99.9% likely be cannon fodder for whatever lies in wait for you. The government special forces, mutated monsters, and various environmental hazards are all that separate you from freedom...and/or instant death. Be careful how you run around this government facility or you will be reloading a saved game quite frequently.

Obviously, this game is dated now but it is still one of the best games ever created. The graphics, AI, and storyline are incredible. I absolutely recommend this game to anyone whom is interested in a realistic, gripping FPS game.

Overall = Excellent

Great Enemy Artifical Intelligence

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The story was good and flowed very nicely throughout the whole game, but the most suprisingly outstanding aspect of the game was the enemy AI. Not too many games out there that i've played have enemies that are smart enough to do a lot of stupid things that drove me nuts and challenge my skills, but this game did. Does anyone know any other game that have great challenging enemy AI that I can play? I'd greatly appreciate the information. And if you haven't tried the game yet, give it a try. It may be older than current games in some ways, but it still got it where it counts, which is in the game play. Thanks, and have fun.

Raising the CrowBar

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As most people have heard by now, Half-Life is one of those "God Like" games. I like to argue with a lot of claims like that because most are so far fetched and so far off base that it actually makes me crindge a little (*cough* Killzone being a "Halo Killer *cough*). That and all the flames that will come from it aside, lets get to the point. Half-Life not only lives up to it's hype, but it surpasses it. Especially since back in the day when the PC version first came out, there wasnt any hype for it! This game though is amazing, it's extremely entertaining and easily soaked up more of my childhood then sleeping did. This game actually fueled my love for the gaming industry and is what has me making videogames today.

This game has a great story. The only reason anyone would claim it's story is medicore is because they leave you hanging and refuse to easily explain the exsistance of Gman who is a mysterous character that shows up periodically throughout the game.

The graphics by today's standards are obviously poor. By the standards of 1998 they are fantastic. If you can sit down and play Final Fantasy on your DS, or on your GBA, or even on your playstation and tolerate it then you should be able to tolerate the graphics on this. I realize thats an odd comparison. One would ask "Why compare oldschool 2D sprites to oldschool 3D?" Well that's actually kind of simple. Each game represents the best they could possibly do with the technology given at the time. If you can sit down and play new releases of an old game or call yourself a fan of oldschool games then to you these graphics should be awesome. I appreciate older games, they remind me of how far we have come and a better time when games required more imagination then processor power.

This game is the package, the entire package. To pass up this game is to deny a turning point in gaming. If you already own this game, then purchase the second one. If you own that then you should be playing it instead of reading this.

A game worth buying!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best PS2 games ever made. I have beat both the computer version and PS2 version, so I can tell you there is only a very slight difference between the two. The graphics and game play are excellent. You also get a lot of game for your buck, it's one of the longer games out there. This game has been out for a while, but it is still one of the best there is. Diffenetly worth adding to your Ps2 collection!

mediocre

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 22
Date: August 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Please hear me out before you say I'm a strange guy for not liking Half-Life.

I never actually played the game- I watched my younger cousin play the game. Watching him play I got the feeling Half-Life is pretty much nothing but running around -VERY quickly- shooting things. I don't know if maybe my cousin was just really good at the game, or maybe the character is supposed to run around THAT quickly. Or maybe my cousin DID have it on hyper mode. Either way, it wasn't that fun to watch because you pretty much ZOOM through doors and hallways. Maybe it's more fun to PLAY, I don't know.

It appeared from watching him play that basically all you do is run around as quickly as you can shooting the small amount of enemies that happen to cross your path while exploring a big, clunky government facility. There's a bunch of games like that on the first Playstation, or rather, a bunch of games not much different. Half-Life also has puzzles, but they seemed rather simple to complete. It's possible the puzzles are more difficult to FIND than to complete seeing as how the game is so HUGE.

Watching my cousin dash through what seemed like a countless amount of hallways and doors, I got the impression the game wasn't very interesting. I'm a video game fan from the Playstation One days, and Half-Life just didn't do much in the way of separating itself from most Playstation games (besides having better graphics and MUCH bigger and longer areas to explore, of course).

Actually, I was expecting the graphics in Half-Life to look really good because the Playstation 2 is supposed to be a graphically appealing gem, but the graphics in Half-Life were actually not much of an improvement compared to many Playstation One graphics. I KNOW the Playstation 2 has better examples of wonderful graphics than in this game; I'm just saying they weren't that good.

I don't know. Don't hate me for not liking it. I'm sure it's actually a good game and that it's simply a matter of waiting until the day comes when I can appreciate the new style of video games. As long as storylines are dominating video games, however, it probably won't be anytime soon.

Great fun for a while, but gets old eventually.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Keep in mind I'm writing this review from the perspective of somebody that played the game in the last six months, and not when it first came out. Back then first person shooters (FPS) weren't all the deep in the story department and most of the time players just saw the "storyline" as something getting in the way of shooting anything that moves Half Life came onto the scene with radically new thinking on several fronts.

The biggest one was intelligent enemies. There was more artificial intelligence put into your opponents so as they didn't just run up to you and attack like the monsters from Doom and Quake. They took cover, laid suppressing fire, tried sneaking around you, and all other sorts of tactics. Back in 1998 you didn't much of that in a first person shooter.

The second innovation is more what the fanboys say about the game rather than the truth, and that's a storyline. Indeed Half Life had a plot that you followed throughout the game that made shooting the bad have a little more depth, however it wasn't all that. Games like the System Shock series and Thief already gave you superior FPS storylines. Half Life was just the popular one.

And that's where we come to how this game stacks in the new millenium. I played it on PC back in 1998 up to a point, but never finished. I ended up finishing the game with the PS2 version. That plotline only takes you so far as much of the action in middle gets extremely tedious. If you don't mind just shooting and solving jump puzzles without much story to inspire then I guess that's not big deal. However these days more engaging plots on FPS games is the norm.

Gameplay is pretty good for a console FPS. The target lock system helps make up for the lack of the keyboard/mouse configuration and the rest of the controls fit fine with the PS2 controller. The graphics are supposed to be enhanced, but I couldn't see all that much of a difference from the original Half Life game set to high resolution on the characters. I believe the bitmaps for the walls, skies and such is where the major graphic improvements were. Either way the graphics are indeed dated.

In the end Half Life was a good game to play for the most part. Only there were some very long stretches where I wished the game would just end already due to lack of any depth beyond getting past the level. The "wow" ending left me a bit underwhelmed after all those boring levels (again you're talking to someone who played it recently... I bet back in the day it was awesome).

What's the verdict? If you can find it cheap by all means get the game and experience the highs (and lows). I hear this game is being redone with the new HL2 engine, so at that point I would say it's up to you regarding a revisit when this happens? As for me I don't regret paying the $10 finding out what was good and bad about this game.

Most time i spent playing my PS2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: October 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

for u ps2 owners out there, you owe it to yourself to buy Half-Life at all costs! I garuntee u will spend 3 hours a day playing this game. The game is so damn good! The graphics are improved and look almost like half life 2. Plus it includes a co-op game called Half life:Decay. I havent played it yet, but i can safley say that anyone with a PS2 has got to buy this game or else you will miss the most exciting, fun, and entertaining game ever to be released on the Ps2!

Dont buy games with steam activation!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 45
Date: January 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The hype gets to everyone, then you just go with the status

quo and not dare post a realistic review so that your friends

or the herd of human sheep look at you like you are a moron.

The game is fun, I have to say. Some of the gameplay though at

times is repetitive, but most of it is innovative/entertaining.

The graphics are NOT the best. Painkiller and Doom 3

deserve that title.

The price is not too hefty for the collectors, you are getting

the old half life, half life 2 and counter strike as well as a

useless booklet and a lame tshirt which I threw away after

the steam activation nightmare.

Those are the good points.

Here are the bad:

The steam activation process is one of the most frustrating

experiences encountered in my life.

It makes microsoft and symantec product activation literally

walks on the beach with your woman compared to the

nightmare that the Steam process is.

You need to be online in order to activate and download

unknown files off their server in order to authenticate.

This can, if you are lucky be done in 30-60 minutes and up to

several hours or days depending on their server.

I can understand Valve's concern over illegal copying, and all

the crackers, hackers, and other useless swine are to blame

for our misery.

I do not copy games or any software

but still must pay for the crimes of others.

I want to put a game in my computer and play it not having to

go through a frustrating activation and endless

verification downloads that do not always work.

This is my first and last game with the steam activation that

I buy. I dont care how good of a game it is, it is not worth it

if you cant play it.

Excellent

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: August 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As stated before this game is dated by a few years and huge years in game development. I took that into consideration while thinking of how many stars this game should get. The graphics while not great (by todays standards) are really very good and the intensity factor is huge. The controls are very sensitive and if you loose your cool under pressure you may find yourself missing your target due to over or under aiming, but hey its better than sloppy inconsistent controls. All in all i would rate this game right up there with the much loved Halo. The graphics arnt as good but the story and gameplay is and as a sci-fi fan i find this game very hard to put down. Lots of mutants and monsters to kill and if your low on ammo you might even wack a guard and steal his.....just a thought. Enjoy.

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