The original Half Life revolutionized games, first person shooters in particular. This next HL is shaping up to be just as revolutionary. Improved hardware as well as Valve's newest game engine are allowing unpresidented realism. Game characters aren't static expressions on wireframes anymore. With HL2 they will expressive, emotional, and even follow your movements with their heads and eyes.
The game environment received a revamp as well. Instead of having maybe three types of boxes to break with your crowbar everything, and they mean everything, in the game can be moved, broken, smashed, blown up, shot, or basically destroyed. Buildings can be broken, doors smashed, and windows shot out. Watching your back becomes a whole lot harder when enemies can find alternate ways of getting to you. And they will...
The AI is very impressive. In the demo movie I watched, Gordon blocked the door with a table. Upon pushing on the door and finding it jammed the AI went to the window and rained bullets in at Gordon. Gordon ran up a set of stairs just as the AI kicks in the door and table. A strider, 4 story tall walker, steps around the corner of a building and blasts apart an overhead walkway. The walkway doesn't completely blow away so the strider crouches down and crawls under it. None of this was scripted. No longer will AI just sit and wait at designated spots. As one game creator put it "they'll look for cool things to do"
Since the environment is nearly 100% interactive you'll find interesting 'traps' set up to help you survive. A fellow fighter as set up various things along your path. Beams can be shot down, fans can be turned on, and things can be blown up. Enemies will catch fire but be careful, so will you. In addition the characters are using a new physics engine nicknamed "ragdoll physics". This engine provides the very fluid and lifelike reactions to bullet impacts, explosions, or the various radiator you care to throw at them with the telekinetic gun.
Is it still considered a first person shooter when you get behind the wheel? Even Gordon can't walk everywhere. You'll find vehicles throughout the various stages to use. The one in the demo was a dune buggy with a machine gun attached. Very useful for outrunning the enemy flying ship trying to annilate Gordon.
I'm very excited about this new Half Life. I personally loved the original
and all it's spin offs. I do hope that there will be a few spin offs to this
version as well. It looks very promising and is a huge leap in the design of
video games. Valve is once again pushing and breaking the limits of video gaming.
Large Demo from FilePlanet 25 Minutes nearly 600mb