Half-Life 2 (PC)

“Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman…”

Voting-wise, it was so far out in front, it wouldn’t be too hysterical to say it was in a different league. Never mind the leaks and delays and the Steam stupidity. Who among you can honestly say that Half-Life 2 didn’t make you feel like you were in possession of something very special indeed?

Our editor, Mr Sickboy – me, because I’m writing this – stayed up all night to finish it, sustaining himself on milky coffee and fruit, and muttering expletives and superlatives to his wired, wide-eyed self.

Yes, yes. On ‘Hard’.

Half-Life 2 made an irrelevance of all those cosy acronyms (FPS, RPG…) and tried to wriggle free of genre into an entirely new zone of immersive, interactive storytelling. Whether you think it succeeded or not, isn’t the point. It TRIED.

It’s the game we showed to our non-gaming friends who thought videogames were for smelly nerds and made them go: “Fuck me! Are you controlling… Is that a… Wow, look at the… How much did you say these PCs were, again?”.

The steely dystopia – both familiar and distant, with touches of Orwell, Philip K. Dick, and, err, The X-Files – made Halo 2 feel like playground cops and robbers. The nasty old Ravenholm section easily outran Doom 3 for sparse, stripped-down gore-shocks. Technically, too, it shat all over Doom 3 – being more low spec-friendly and accessible. And the way they made you wait for the Striders… And fuck, was the wait worth it…

It’s the game that’s leading the charge into the next-gen hike, offering a glimpse of what might be possible, challenging designers to aim higher. As we’ve been saying all year, despite the gaming industry’s immature and depressing trickle-up effect to mediocrity-friendly, everything-to-everyone super-producers; despite the closures and cancellations, videogaming in general is in fine health, and Half-Life 2 is the single thing we all agree on holding up as our 2004 beacon of aceness.

One more time: there’s never been a more exciting time to be a gamer.

Just you wait until next year. ;)

SICKBOY - December 2004

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Everquest 2, Wrath Unleashed, Full Spectrum Warrior, Deadeye, Fable, Harvest Moon, The Simpsons Hit & Run, Pac-Man Vs, Flat-Out, Viewtiful Joe (PS2), World Of Warcraft (PC), Mario Golf (Gamecube), Feel The Magic, DS, Border Down, The Sims 2, R-Type Final, Psyvariar 2, Red Dead Revolver, Dawn Of War, Zelda Four Swords, X-Plane (Mac), P.N.03, Metal Gear Solid 3, Star Wars games from that Bruno fella, Mario vs Donkey Kong, Prince Of Persia Gamecube.

Disagree with our selections? - Be wrong in the Forum!