It's true, HL1 wouldn't have been as good with an NPC always there, but then HL1 and HL2 are different games. It's right that the tone should shift somewhat for the sequel, otherwise you run the risk of merely pumping out the same thing, game after game.
HL2 had a different tone to HL1...
Far Cry 2 looks like it'll be swell, it really does, but weapons degradation systems can piss right off. It's a stupid idea because, whilst it SHOULD encourage you to try all the weapons, it essentially discourages you from using your favourite weapons thus steering you towards becoming a...
This game going gold will cause some kind of sub-atomic ripple effect which will in turn knock the experiments at the LHC ever so slightly out of joint but just enough so that we all get sucked into a microbe lack hole and God turns into a particle.
*Raises hand* Sorry, how can Solaris break race hate laws (and he just has) and not be banned from this forum?
Solaris, if you don't see the vicious irony in your post then you're even more ridiculous than I thought.
Also, TF2 was (and it's arguable that it's not so much anymore but personally I'd say it's not too bad) extremely well-balanced. Giving achievement weapons without any downsides would take this finely-tuned balance, rape it with barbed wire and throw it off a ship.