So after the events in the first Half-Life, Gordon Freeman is woken up by the G-Man, whose intentions are still unknown. Our protagonist finds himself in a place called City 17 at a time where the human race seems to be in control of the alien race known as the Combine.
From the beginning, Half-Life 2 sets a dark setting, which is not only portrayed by the colonized city and the patrolling robot-guards, but is also perceived from the citizens who are subject to all of this darkness. Just like in the predecessor, we never abandon the view from Gordon's perspective and he does not mumble a word. Instead, other characters who have dialogues with one another advance the plot. A noticeable thing is that we can sense a difference in each character - different personalities as well as goals.
It was easy for me to fully delve into the story and the overall atmosphere. The dialogues, the guards chasing me, the soundtrack - it was hard not to fully pay attention to the game. For a game that came out in 2004, the graphics are astonishing and definitely set a higher standard for the FPS games to come. It's safe to say Half-Life 2 did a huge impact to the industry.
The variety of the gameplay was truly something to take example from. The diverse design of the game always puts you in different situations at different places, making it as little repetitive as possible. Honestly, I've played the game from start to beginning 4 to 5 times and it never got boring. Maybe it's because I loved the series from the first Half-Life, or the game is just that great.
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