Half-Life was a blockbuster on the PC way back in the day, if it weren't for that game we would not have had great FPS's like Counter Strike. Well in late 2004 they released a sequel that gave us gamers even more of what it was we wanted and that was just plain old more Half-Life and that was what they got, only they also got a new form of Counter Strike along with it. Now FPS fans Half-Life 2 has made its way over to the Xbox, or as some may call it the FPSbox, but without a multiplayer game and some severe load times that you thought were only possible on the PSP, joking.
So onto the review, Half-Life 2 is a great game. This might be the best looking game that I have yet to play on my Xbox. The character models are the best I have ever seen, and the city is so immersive that you feel like you could go around and do anything to anyone that you wanted to.
Well that is sadly not the case; because you see that with good graphics on a console, lading times that is almost non-existent on a PC version of a game really come into play in the console version. I mean it when I say that the load times come in at the worst time possible. You are getting into the story, and you are hackin' and slashin' through bad guys, and you are having one heck of a time, until a loading screen pops up, which ruins the entire experience of that level. Honestly, they should not have been so close to each other or they should have toned down the graphics, because honestly I would have not cared one little bit. Game Informers review said that the load times ruined the gameplay experience, I having not played the game yet said yea right, but they were true. Not to mention seeing as how I did not play the PC version I want this game to be as close to that as possible. So yes the load times suck!
Onto the controls. This game has some very solid control schemes up its sleeve. Well you may not be playing with a keyboard and mouse this game sure does feel the closest to it that you can get with two analog sticks and ten buttons. The thing about this game is that there are no actual cutscenes, you will be able to at least look around and see things in your area even if you are not able to actually walk around which sometimes you are. So the cutscenes are controllable and the over control feel is great, so I do not have any complaints about the controls.
Onto the sounds that this game has. This game has some great sounds, and the voices are topnotch. Everyone should be happy with the sound quality that this game has. The voices fit the characters well, but they still have that Half-Life feel to them. For example, I think that they guy who did the voices for the scientists back in the day is back and doing them again, only this time they sound crisper and cleaner.
So, if you like me did not have the money to upgrade your PC just for this game back when it came out you will want to pick this up, that is if you are willing to take one for the team. I know that load times sound like no big deal, well that is what I thought. It takes away some of the best elements of this game whether it be the graphics or a high-speed action movie chase and you have to wait for loading, it just doesn't make much sense to me. Well loading times aside this is a great game that suffers from one thing, which was what was mentioned above. I give Half-Life 2 for the Xbox a 9/10.
Pros
+ Great graphics
+ Voice-overs are great
+ Controls are fluid
+ Great action movie like scenes
+ Overall super solid story
Cons
- Load times
- Load times come in at the worse possible times
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