Version reviewed:

I'm a sinner, no doubt about it. Let me get it out in the open now.. Yeah, I am a jerk. Yeah, I stink at games. Yeah, I am clueless as to what I am talking about. Yeah, I have no taste. Yeah, I slept with a goat (but it was consensual). Go ahead and bash me all you fanatics, whatever you say is true, but I am going to go ahead and review Half-life The bottom line is that the game after all these years still sucks.

I played the original Half Life shortly after it came out. At the time the game was a religion. Some reason, many people thought that Half-life was the game that invented putting a story in first-person shooter games. Everyone thought that "Aliens have taken over a base and now you have to kill" them was a great work of fiction. Everyone praised that Half-life was the future of gaming. Luckily, games like Deus Ex and System Shock 2 came out and erased my Half-life misery, but the game is back.

What has changed for the PS2? Well, the game finally looks pretty. You can tell that a lot of work was put into the graphics and the models of the characters. Not only do they look a lot better, the game cruises on the Playstation 2. The sound is still as good as ever, and really adds to the atmosphere on the PS2.

I thought my biggest hang up would be the controller, but Gearbox nailed the controller perfectly. I did not miss the mouse and keyboard at all, and I was able to easily navigate all the halls of Half-life I actually found it easier to play than my PC. I now finally have hope that First Person Shooters can actually work on the Playstation 2.

My original beef with Half-life still remains intact through this version, the game is just juvenile. You are placed on a rail and there is one way from Point A to Point B. I never once got lost in the original, or had to think about the maps. I still don't in the PS2 version. This story about invasion and aliens is force-fed to you, and it isn't a complex or deep story. The game is designed as a single player experience, and if that is the case, I expect a much deeper plot.

The one thing that did interest me was the Multiplayer co-op game. Two players on a PS2 can play Half-life split screen through a series of ten missions which more or less parallel the single player storyline. It is a great idea, in concept. In implementation, it is a mixed bag. The problem is, there is not a lot of health around, and if one player bites the bullet, the game is over and you have to restart the level. The two-player mode is hard, and unless you are both experienced players, it is not overly enjoyable. The puzzles were nice, and it was interesting to see a different perspective on the story, but the difficulty made it a frustrating experience in the end (mainly because my friend Joe kept dying and making us restart).

Designed as a single player game, it is funny that the one saving grace I ever found in Half-life was Counterstrike. Well, deathmatch fans, do you like 1 on 1 battles? If you do, then they are here. With no LAN option or Net options, it is split screen mode. While it isn't actually that bad, there is nothing that will keep you coming back years from now like the PC version.

So, where does this leave Half-life on the PS2? Well, if you want a Co-Op puzzle solver, Project Eden is better. If you want a solo player game with a good story, Max Payne and Metal Gear Solid 2 are better. If you want a game that will dazzle you, Devil May Cry is still out there. Simply put, there is nothing that stands out on this title to recommend it over anything else, other than if you loved Half-life, this is by far the best version out there. If you hated it, this will remind you why.

OK, let me make this clear, because I know about the hate mail some of you are going to send. Half-life, even if it was ok 4 years ago (which in my opinion it wasn't) has not changed on the PS2 enough to warrant a purchase. Go ahead and tell me how great it's sales were, and I will gladly compare them to Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If you are going to bother to send me hate mail, please tell me what was original about the story and why the Playstation 2 version shows four years of evolution.

Final Grade: D+

Version reviewed:

System Requirements for PC version:

P133
24 MB RAM
DirectX compatible sound card
SVGA video card supporting 16-bit color
400 MB hard drive space
Mouse and keyboard

Recommended:
P200 or PII
32 MB RAM
3Dfx or Riva TNT graphics accelerator