Half-Life

Download Half-Life and experience the groundbreaking first-person shooter that redefined the genre! Play as scientist Gordon Freeman and fight your way through a world gone mad. Prepare for the ultimate test of survival – play now!
a game by Valve, and Sierra
Genre: Action
Platforms: Dreamcast, PC, Playstation 2
Editor Rating: 9.7/10, based on 7 reviews
User Rating: 8.3/10 - 30 votes
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See also: First Person Shooter Games, Retro Games, Half-Life Series, Games Like Quake, Games Like Bioshock Infinite

Half-Life is a sci-fi first person shooter released in 1998 on PC, and is often considered one of the most influential games of its time. Developed by Valve, the game made leaps and bounds in both storytelling and overall gameplay for the FPS genre. By offering more control to the player, Half-Life draws you in with its interesting and tense story, fantastic controls, and otherworldly enemies. Since its release, Half-Life has cemented itself as one of the greatest games of all time. From the narrative to the gameplay itself, Half-Life is an absolute masterpiece.

The story of Half-Life starts at the Black Mesa Research Facility in New Mexico, where highly classified scientific experiments take place. You assume the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who works at the aforementioned facility. When an experiment goes wrong, Freeman and his cohorts accidentally rip open a portal to another dimension. This sends everything into an expected chaos, and Freeman must escape the facility while fending off the horrors from the other dimension. As the story progresses, Freeman encounters various military groups and mysterious characters. There's a huge amount of atmosphere to the game, which reinforces the more mysterious aspects of the narrative.

Half-Life tells its story in an interesting way, and it helped push storytelling forward in video gaming. Instead of containing the story to cutscenes and text boxes like other games at the time, Half-Life almost always leaves control up to the player. Using scripted sequences, characters will talk to each other and events will happen, leaving the player in control to watch. This kind of organic storytelling made the game more immersive, making the player really feel like Gordon Freeman. The use of scripted sequences in storytelling would become more common in later years, and we have Half-Life to thank for starting the trend.

The gameplay in Half-Life also feels vastly far ahead of its time. Instead of offering various levels full of enemies, Half-Life feels like a continuous world. Players often have to solve environmental puzzles to progress further in the game, as well as navigate treacherous obstacles and hazards. There's also plenty of gunplay and enemies to shoot, and a fun arsenal of weapons to use. From the iconic crowbar to pistols and assault rifles, Half-Life has a great mixture of guns and weapons. The alien creatures from the other dimension are intimidating and smart, so you'll have to use your wits as well as your skill to defeat them. Crab creatures scurry fast on the ground, while long-tongued monsters hang from the ceilings waiting to trap you. There's always a feeling of tension and suspense while fighting, especially early on in the game.

Overall, Half-Life is a wonderfully crafted game that helped push video gaming into the new century. By using scripted sequences instead of cutscenes, Half-Life showed us just how cinematic games could be. In addition to the great storytelling, the game is tons of fun to play. The great variety of guns and enemy types keep things fresh, and exciting bosses and puzzles punctuate excellent level design. By modern standards, the graphics can feel a bit low quality, but that's the only complaint you'll find. Even to this day, Half-Life remains a stunningly enjoyable game.

Download Half-Life

Dreamcast

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Playstation 2

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

If you've played shooters over the Internet, you'll know what a total bitch your latency is. On a standard modem, you'll spend most of your time moonwalking around maps with a 300ms ping, and a whole third of a second delay between you pressing a key and the server receiving, processing and relaying the information. In simpler terms, it makes the game all swimmy and crap.

Team Fortress

Imagine the reaction of the online community when Valve Software announced it had completely rewritten its networking code, and had slotted it into Team Fortress Classic. Pings were set to tumble, said Valve, and players who had previously been suffocated by poor connections would be able to frag their way back to the top.

And you know what? It wasn't kidding. Dip into a game on the PC server and instantly you'll notice most pings are now bobbing around below 200. Those below 100-real Low Ping Bastard territory - are within the reach of cable modem and ISDN users. Plus there are no more players stalking around maps in slowmo, or dancing a jig in mid air.

Another improvement is smoother graphics. Now when you watch other players doing what they do, their movements are a whole lot more fluid and indeed seem to incorporate more frames of animation. Drop a backpack of ammo and even here you'll coo-coo at the way the bag arcs gracefully to your feet.

Additionally, there are a number of 'under the hood' tweaks that most people won't know about, including a staggering 97 new console commands, together with the removal of 129 old ones.

Unfortunately, that's where the good news stops. Other so-called 'enhancements' have split the TFC community in two - with the larger of the two camps defecting to rival titles such as Quake III Fortress and Unreal Tournament. Much of the problem has centred around the way Valve has fiddled with the core gameplay. It has added a raft of pointless new features, taken out key elements from the previous version, and slotted in a glossy new interface which is almost as distracting as having someone nail tacks into your head while you play. It was also full of bugs, and an additional update from Valve was released to stop players exploiting them.

Counter-Strike 6.6

In among a slew of new features (including the ghastly interface) are numerous bugs, including glitches that render some maps unplayable. For fin example, members of the opposing team often adopt your team's appearance, making it impossible to know who to shoot. It's also quite common to see people dashing around as bright orange Gordon characters from vanilla Half-Life. We've also experienced a problem where it was difficult to purchase new items, even though you were standing in the buy zone right at the start of the game.

The developers have also modified many of the more popular weapons, such as the Colt M4A1 Carbine, which no longer has a zoom, and the MP5 Navy, which now couldn't shoot holes in a box of Shreddies. Ah well.

Even though this late-summer release from Sierra Studios and Captivation Digital Laboratories is essentially a port of the amazing PC version, there are a number of DC-specific enhancements being made. Look for an all-new one-player mission created by Gearbox Software (the team behind the Opposing Force add-on for the PC), new visual effects and a higher polygon count. By the way, these are DC screens.

We had our first shot at an early version of Sierra's long-awaited first-person blaster Half-Life, and this clever game is on-target so far. The developer, Valve, has rewarded patient gamers with sharp environments, a good pace, and a well-thought-out design that'll suck you right in. It's one of the shrewdest mixes of action and brainwork that you'll find in a first-person shooter; as the complex story unfolds, you'll be involved in some heavy exploration and difficult puzzle-solving.

Mutation Nation

With a stunning interactive intro that has all the cinematic style of a cut scene, Half-Life sets the scene better than any shooter to date. You're a Ph.D. in the Black Mesa experimental materials facility in New Mexico, but after some serious trouble, your degree ain't worth the paper it's printed on. Moreover, you have to confront all sorts of mutated creatures that come fast and furious--yet, for all its smarts, Half-Life doesn't stint on action. The multiplayer options weren't implemented in our advance copy, but the early single-play missions are up to snuff and then some.

Get a Half-Life

Even incomplete, Half-Life's environments showed astonishing quality, and its killer sound is true 3D: Conversations and ambient noises rise and fade realistically as you move toward and past them. Half-Life also boasts an opponent A.I. that may rival anything you've ever played against, making Half-Life's action as fierce as its look is fine. Put this one on your must-have list for the holidays.

Half-Life has arrived and will hopefully mark the dawn of a new genre: the thinking-man's shooter. It's faster than Quake II, prettier than Unreal, and more satisfyingly logical than any other corridor-crawler on the market.

Blended by Science

Players are very firmly placed in the boots of 27-year-old Gordon Freeman, a scientist at the underground Black Mesa Research Facility. You're at ground zero when a mysterious interdimensional experiment goes awry, and after the project literally blows up in your face, you have to find a way to the surface, picking off otherworldly nasties along the way. But what will you find once you get there?

For once, you're not the only guy left in the world; there are other survivors of the accident, and you'll need their help to achieve your goals. Scientists will open doors and give you items, while security guards will help you splatter invaders across the wall. The presence of others makes things much more emotionally involving.

Content Winner

Half-Life's scientific world is one of the most logical ever created on a PC. Power-ups appear where you would expect-- ammo and guns lie next to soldiers' corpses, first-aid kits line the halls of the science labs, and so on. You won't find any floating shotguns in this realm. Furthermore, your actions and puzzle solutions are all dictated by your need to survive in such a situation--context is a surprisingly powerful thing.

Half-Life uses about 30 percent of Quake ll's engine--the developer, Valve, added its own enhancements for the rest--and it's quite an impressive overhaul with fast frame rates and excellent graphical detail throughout Unlike in other corridor-shooters, you won't find cookie-cutter stock effects here; the sounds are robust original, and often integral to your survival. A low-clutter weapons interface and superior A.I. complete Half-Life's impressive package.

A New Life Form

Quake II still wins the multiplayer war, but Half-Life's single-player adventure carries more weight than all the other thinly plotted shooters put together. With a perfect mix of brains and brawn, Half-Life stands as a breathtaking new achievement in gaming.

ProTips:

  • Always ask the security guards to watch your back; they're good shots, and you'll need all the help you can get.
  • Keep the scientists alive as long as possible-they'll gladly heal you for your trouble, and sometimes more than once.
  • When these ugly critters stop moving and start whining to charge their power burst, that's the best time to blast them.
  • These serpentine monsters can't see, but they'll attack anything they hear. Throw grenades to distract them and walk-don't run-past them.
  • Listen closely to the soldiers' walkie-talkie chatter: you'll know if you're undetected or if you're about to get rushed.
  • Don't kill this monster In the office complex until he's broken down the door for you. There's ammo for your pistol inside.

Graphics

All the details have been considered. Hires textures and smoothly animated models give the world palpable realism, while special effects like lightning will floor you.

Sound

The music's cool, but you'll want to turn it off to hear the sound effects--otherworldly shrieks, walkie-talkie chatter, and perfect gunfire: Reverb and spatial effects make the game intensely immersive.

Control

Any key can control any movement, plus Half-Life allows two configs to run simultaneously, enabling you to easily switch between the keyboard and the joystick.

Fun Factor

It might sound too good to be true, but its not--Half-Life truly sets a new standard for first-person gaming in terms of quality, immersion, and narrative. You should buy it immediately.

Overview

A top-secret experiment gone wrong floods your hidden lab with extra-dimensional monsters. Your friends and co-workers lie dying on the ground. Only the Hazardous Environment Suit you were wearing has kept you alive thus far. Military troops have entered the base, intent on exterminating any evidence of their black activities, including you and your colleagues. Alarms are sounding, slimy monsters are drooling, blue-collar security guards are fighting to protect the scientists, and army goons are mowing down anything that moves. What we need is a hero, someone to sort out this three-way slug-fest with extra helpings of pump-action justice.

Unfortunately, it's going to have to be someone else because you just ran out of ammo and bent your crowbar on some toothy monster's skull. You’ll be lucky to get out of this alive.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

In case you haven’t yet heard, Half-Life is probably the best game of the year. It is, without a doubt, the best single-player first-person shooter ever. Period. It is so good for so many reasons. But most importantly, it is fun. I mean really fun. Realistic environments, challenging AI (but not overly so), stirring soundtrack, and a beautiful rendition of the Quake engine are only the frosting on the cake.

I don’t want to say too much, so I will only describe one feature that I love immensely: scripted events. In a game like Quake II, monsters behave according to their AI, and the environment behaves just as it is laid out. Monsters in Quake II do cool things like duck and run, but they never really do anything to surprise you. But in Half-Life, you may be crawling down a pipe only to have a commando roll back a grate, pitch in a remote DET pack, and close the hatch. Not only is it time to run, but you are genuinely surprised.

There are lots of scripted events in Half-Life; some advance the story, others are just cool. But Valve, the game developer, did an excellent job of only using each event once, thus keeping you on the edge of your seat and genuinely surprised throughout the game.

I really debated about going on and on here about what gameplay is like, but I found I was giving away too much of what makes the game fun. So I’ll leave that aside and move on.

Graphics

I can’t believe this was built on the original Quake engine. For one thing, it's bright and colorful; for another, the lighting is great. The models look a little blocky, but still very professional. The skins on the models help round them out, but the low polygon count allows for lots of baddies to be on the screen at once. The textures in the game immerse you in whatever environment you are in. Special effects like lightning and smoke trails will make you call out, "Wow! Cool!"

The graphics are very intense in Half-Life. I highly recommend playing with 3dFX’s OpenGL mini-driver or in true OpenGL mode. Even with a good graphics card, the game can get choppy from time to time.

Audio

First of all, let me mention the outstanding music track on the Half-Life CD. The music comes on at just the right time and gets your juices flowing. However, I kind of wish there was more of it, but maybe if there were more, I’d be complaining about that. I’m not sure, but the music is cool; the ambient music is just perfect.

Perhaps more than anything, I appreciate the sounds in Half-Life. The monsters gurgle, bark, click and roar. Enemy commandos chatter on the radio, shout taunts and cry out in urgency when grenades are lobbed their way. Your HEV suit (armor) talks to you, giving you vital information about your condition. Perhaps best of all, Half-Life delivers the first truly satisfying weapon sounds since Doom. BOOM!

System Requirements

Windows 95/98 or NT, Pentium 133, 24 MB RAM, 2X CD-ROM drive, mouse and keyboard, 640x480 SVGA high color (16-bit) display, Windows-compatible sound device, 400 MB free hard disk space

Recommended: Pentium 166+ (this really is probably closer to the minimum), 32 MB RAM, 3D accelerator card (OpenGL or Direct 3D)

Documentation

The documentation is a little sparse but adequate. Each command is documented and some background is given about your character. The game features a training course, which I strongly recommend taking even if you are familiar with first-person-shooters. There are a couple of unique moves you’re going to want to know.

Bottom Line

If you don’t have this game already, run, don’t walk to the store to get it. You will not regret it.

Let's face it, crappy ports of PC games are just about the last thing any console gamer wants to see. Yeah, sure, it can be nice to check out PC titles you might've missed out on before, but if the port isn't good, most of the time it's not even worth bothering. The folks at Sierra know this and are taking the necessary steps to ensure that the PS2 version of Half-Life will be every bit engrossing as the PC original. They've given the project a healthy development cycle (over a year) and placed it in the hands of a talented crew (Gearbox Studios, made up by members who have previously worked on such titles as Duke Nukem 3D and Quake). What's more, the company is allowing Gearbox to develop a new multiplayer game that will take place within the Half-Life universe.

"Since it's being designed with the PS2 in mind, the new content and gameplay is focused on the experience people will have on the console," says Randy Pitchford, Gearbox co-owner. "The game design encourages people to get together in the living room and really enjoy the Half-Life type of quality experience as a team." Huge first-person shooter fans, Gearbox team members intend to deliver a split-screen multiplayer experience that rivals stuff we've seen from outfits like Rare.

As for how Half-Life translates onto a console, Pitchford is very optimistic, especially in the area of control. "I like the PS2 controller a lot. It's a nice combination of comfort and utility. My fingers always seem to be able to find the keys I want and none of the buttons and sticks feel cramped or out of the way." He proves this with an example: "Long before we even started real work on the project, one of our designers rigged a couple of Dual Shock controllers to work on the PC and used it to play against the rest of us in multiplayer games. The surprising thing was that right away, it was fun."

Rated with topnotch scores by possibly every PC game publication on the planet, Pitchford knows that he's sitting on a potential PS2 hit. "Nothing I could say could promote the Half-Life experience as well as what's been said by the people who have gone through it." He couldn't be more right.

Snapshots and Media

Dreamcast Screenshots

Playstation 2 Screenshots

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