Half-Life

Half-Life, the science fiction first person shooter game, was developed by Valve of Sierra Studios, and was released in 1998. As Valve’s first product, Half-Life performed exceedingly well, and while released toward the end of the 1990’s, it is still considered one of the best games of the Pre-2000s. Half-life differentiated itself from other games by the inclusion of all cutscenes, which gave players complete control of the main character, Dr. Gordon Freeman, for the entirety of the game.

Half-Life was incredibly well received by gamers and critics alike. The game received over 50 game of the year awards from various groups, and received a score of 96 out of 100 by respected reviewer Metacritic, one of the highest scores of all time. Half-Life sold almost $10 million dollars worth of games in its first year, and remained in the the charts for the next five years. In May 2007, GameSpot inducted Half-Life into their greatest old PC games of all-time list, and in 2004, GameSpy held a survey in which readers voted on what they thought was the greatest game of all time and Half-Life was the overall winner.

The Gameplay Experience

Gamers play as Dr. Gordon Freeman, a scientist who opens a portal to an alternate dimension after an experiment goes wrong. The lab is destroyed, and after talking to the survivors, the player learns that communications with the outside world have been cut, and that they must try getting to the surface and out of the lab. Players must then fight their way through the research facility, facing monsters from the opened portal, called the Xen, as well as marines which are sent to cover up the event.

Dr. Gordon learns that another science facility has a way of closing the portal, so the player must make their way through monster and marine infested areas until they reach the facility. On the way, Gordon faces great challenges, and the game truly tests the player. Eventually, the player makes their way into the Xen, and must battle multiple boss-type enemies in the quest to eventually close the portal.

Mods and Expansions

One of the reasons Half-Life became so popular was the ability for third party developers to expand the gameplay through independent modifications. Half-Life’s developers included level design tools in the old PC games software, and they also released a software development kit with the game. This gave way to almost endless possibilities for the game, and allowed Half-Life fans to create the game they wanted in addition to the already successful storyline.

In addition to modifications, Half-Life has served as the cornerstone for many different expansions. Half-Life expansions were not released by the original developer but rather by independent developers who were inspired by the game. These expansions have all shared success with Half-Life, and have received critical acclaim as well. Many modern developers credit Half-Life as being the inspiration for their own creations, the most popular among these being the Counter-Strike franchise.

Half-Life is not only one of the best PC games of the 1990s, but it is one of the best games of all time. It is the inspiration for many different modern games, and led to a very successful franchise. Players still enjoy Half-Life, and there could be more to come from the franchise in the future.