18 years after the release of this game, I feel a sudden desire to review it, as if anyone doesn't know about its acclaim already.

The videogame that marked Valve's global debut, HALF-LIFE is an absolutely genre-defining release. Fresh for its time, unique, different, and still fun, it took the PC gaming world by storm in the late 90s, with its critical praise following it greatly into the turn of the century, with a large modding community and a great engine (GoldSrc) that carried a fulfilling lifespan until the release of its successor, the dominant Source Engine.

In HALF-LIFE, you are put into the shoes of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a 27 year-old theoretical physicist working for the mysterious BLACK MESA Research Facility located in New Mexico. After an experimental test goes wrong, Gordon is found fighting for his life, defending himself from hostile alien lifeforms crossing over to Earth from the borderworld, Xen, after the experiment creates a resonance cascade, opening an interdimensional portal between planets. Gordon meets many of his colleagues along the way, struggling for their own safety against the alien forces, and eventually, the massive military unit HECU, sent to wipe out anything related to the incident. Gordon travels through numerous complexes, canyons, and worlds in his quest for survival.

But that's the special thing about Half-Life: it never feels like you're just "playing as Gordon Freeman." It feels like every action is your own. Every step, jump, and gunshot is a power that YOU hold, not just something you're telling the protagonist to do. This is a goal that Valve had set out to achieve, a goal that was realized through the use of NO protagonist dialogue, an uncommon detail in FPS games at the time. This helped breathe life into the games motto: Run, Think, Shoot, Live.

The controls are great, with the same control scheme being subsequently used in most future Valve games. The gunplay is fun, with a fair amount of weaponry, both human and alien. The atmosphere is what I truly think makes the game. It brings such a feeling of desperation, dread, and isolation that I didn't quite get in the future titles. A true "you against the world" feeling, where every corner can pose a new threat. It's such an intense feeling of cold desolation, unforgiving and eerie as every footstep echoes throughout the metallic hallways that stretch deeper into treacherous facilities.

This is a game that greatly defined my vision of what games should be. It has so much heart put into it that it's mindblowing for a debut game. There's just so much life in Half-Life that I find myself replaying it every so often to this day. Despite its look, it never grows old. It may be difficult to get into if you haven't played before, but anyone who has played it could tell you it's worth the time.

There's not enough good things that I can say about Half-Life, but it's best if you experience it and decide for yourself. While not without its flaws, this is still about as close as I can get to considering a game perfection. Everybody should give this at least one playthrough in their lifetime.

18 years after the release of this game, I feel a sudden desire to review it, as if anyone doesn't know about its acclaim already. The videogame that marked Valve's global debut, [b]HALF-LIFE[/b] is an absolutely genre-defining release. Fresh for its time, unique, different, and still fun, it took the PC gaming world by storm in the late 90s, with its critical praise following it greatly into the turn of the century, with a large modding community and a great engine (GoldSrc) that carried a fulfilling lifespan until the release of its successor, the dominant Source Engine. In HALF-LIFE, you are put into the shoes of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a 27 year-old theoretical physicist working for the mysterious BLACK MESA Research Facility located in New Mexico. After an experimental test goes wrong, Gordon is found fighting for his life, defending himself from hostile alien lifeforms crossing over to Earth from the borderworld, Xen, after the experiment creates a resonance cascade, opening an interdimensional portal between planets. Gordon meets many of his colleagues along the way, struggling for their own safety against the alien forces, and eventually, the massive military unit HECU, sent to wipe out anything related to the incident. Gordon travels through numerous complexes, canyons, and worlds in his quest for survival. But that's the special thing about Half-Life: it never feels like you're just "playing as Gordon Freeman." It feels like every action is your own. Every step, jump, and gunshot is a power that YOU hold, not just something you're telling the protagonist to do. This is a goal that Valve had set out to achieve, a goal that was realized through the use of NO protagonist dialogue, an uncommon detail in FPS games at the time. This helped breathe life into the games motto: [i]Run, Think, Shoot, Live.[/i] The controls are great, with the same control scheme being subsequently used in most future Valve games. The gunplay is fun, with a fair amount of weaponry, both human and alien. The atmosphere is what I truly think makes the game. It brings such a feeling of desperation, dread, and isolation that I didn't quite get in the future titles. A true "you against the world" feeling, where every corner can pose a new threat. It's such an intense feeling of cold desolation, unforgiving and eerie as every footstep echoes throughout the metallic hallways that stretch deeper into treacherous facilities. This is a game that greatly defined my vision of what games should be. It has so much heart put into it that it's mindblowing for a debut game. There's just so much life in Half-Life that I find myself replaying it every so often to this day. Despite its look, it never grows old. It may be difficult to get into if you haven't played before, but anyone who has played it could tell you it's worth the time. There's not enough good things that I can say about Half-Life, but it's best if you experience it and decide for yourself. While not without its flaws, this is still about as close as I can get to considering a game perfection. Everybody should give this at least one playthrough in their lifetime.