i think it will get good scores, look at splinter cell and the sequal or GTA 3/Vice City. i tend to agree with the review sites, IGN usually rates how i would, unless i really like the style or theme of the game. for FPS's they seem to rate heavily on feel, so if that good in HL2 which it is, it...
id have to say the first hallway scene, i really liked the style and i LOVED the way the combine were entering that room (very Fifth Element like). it had that matrix 1 feel to it, which wasnt present in the other films. AI on the buggy bit was good as well, they have great reactions and movements.
i totally agree, day/month/year is logical, month/day/year isnt. but the americans like to be different, hence mom, and a peculiar way of saying aluminium. :P
it better be opt in. i hate all this data mining crap there is everywhere. u cant goto the supermarket anymore without having to fill out a form to become a member.
lag is only an issue on online games.
the voices are good, but in some areas i think they are a bit weak when coupled with the acting. its like a b-grade grade movie. but most is very good.
it would be good to have a expansion that is based on HL2, but follows another character thru. maybe u could have to games meet up in areas, then branch of again.
HDR sure is on, its pretty evident in some areas, but not over the top.
High Dynamic Range just means that the engine can render values out of the normal 32bit color range. u cant represent them on a monitor 'properly' so it just becomes a large white area.