Introduction:
Half-Life is a game that needs no introduction. It revolutionized the FPS genre, won over 50 GOTY awards and has retrospectively been viewed as one of the greatest video games of all time. Everyone in the gaming community already knows just how influential Half-Life was and still is, but I wanted to explain why via this review (and of course to gush about one of my favorite games ever made).

Review:
As I said before, Half-Life is revolutionary because of how different it was from other FPS games. While games like Doom and Quake were pure shooters, Half-Life's gameplay is more varied. Half-Life integrates combat and puzzles into a unified package, both of which are well-designed. There is also a huge variety of weapons and enemies that make each encounter feel distinct from the other. Each encounter requires you to think about how to defeat enemies, adding an extra layer of inginuity to an action-packed experience.

Not only is the gameplay amazing, but so is the overall presentation. Upon release, Half-Life's visuals were considered impressive for its detailed character animations and immersive environments. Even though Half-Life's visuals have certainly aged by modern standards, I still think they are impressive and carry a unique charm. The character designs, particularly the Xen creatures, are creative and the environments have so much attention to detail, already adding to Half-Life's immersive atmosphere.

Half-Life's narrative broke grounds for how games tell stories. Half-Life's plot is simple. A resonance cascade occurs, destroying the Black Mesa research facility, killing its scientists and it's up to Gordon Freeman to stop it. Pretty generic plot, isn't it? However, the way Half-Life told said story is incredible. For the entire game, the player's view never leaves Freeman's eyes and plot details are told through scripted events instead of cutscenes. I love this approach to narrative as I truly feel immersed into the game's world.

However, despite all of Half-Life's achievements, it's not without its flaws. There is one aspect of Half-Life that's bad, Xen. Half-Life's final few chapters take place in the alien borderworld of Xen. Xen's level design ranges from okay to awful. The seemless blend of combat and puzzles in the previous chapters is replaced by repetitive platforming. The enemy placement is cheap and the final boss is very easy once you know how to beat it. I dislike Xen; not only does it leave an amazing game on a sour note, but also wastes so much potential.

Final Verdict:
Despite a disappointing final act, Half-Life is amazing and also one of my favorite games of all time. The gameplay is unique, the visuals are charming and the way it tells its story is downright incredible. Half-Life is a masterpiece and one of the best titles in the FPS genre I've ever played, ever. I would recommend everyone who calls themselves a gamer to play Half-Life at least once.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Visuals: 9/10
Story: 10/10
Overall: 10/10