Eurogamer awards HL2 Game of the Year

[Varsity]

Another to the pile.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=57489

Kieron: As clever, articulate and well made as a linear FPS has ever been. Still has the odd pacing problems of Half-life - that is, getting stuck in a puzzle breaks the illusion of the game completely - but when it's flying, there's not an action game in existence that can match it. Yet again, it's a case of how the story is told rather than what the story is. If there's been a moment of naturalistic story-telling as perfect Alyx's kiss of her father's cheek in 2004, I haven't seen it.

Also: Antlions are a my besterest friends in the WHOLE WORLD.

Kristan: Thank gawd we can stop talking about what Half Life 2 might be like and actually reflect that it was a 'bit good' after all. I gave it a ten, which is as rare as a quiet day in Central London, if only for the fact that even the bits that had me stuck had me furiously trying again, desperate to get to the next section and to see what else Valve had up its sleeve. After 24 hours of HL2 in the space of 36 hours, you could say I was a bit drained by the end of it, but it's was worth the extraordinary lengths. Now all we want is a few expansion packs and their work is done.

Ronan: [Looks at crappy laptop] *weeps* ... [Looks at Metroid Prime: Echoes] *giggles*

Tom: Reviewing games professionally means that we get to play more or less all of them, whereas the average person only gets to pick and choose. That's not a boast, even if it sounds like one - in fact, in some cases it's a double-edged sword. It means that while some people can enjoy a particular genre for a whole lifetime of gaming, we sometimes grow tired of it before we've even hit gaming puberty. The FPS genre is a perfect example. The fact that Half-Life 2 and Riddick are at the top of our list of 2004's games of the year is symbolic not only of the fact they're better than anything else in the genre at the moment, but that they managed to continually surprise and enthral us in new ways, and deserve recognition as far more than mere novelties. Throwing sinks around and using physics to solve puzzles may have been the hook that latched our tired fingers to the keyboard in Half-Life 2's case, but what kept them there was a consistent high quality in terms of storytelling, spectacular set-pieces and sense of involvement that few other games in the FPS genre have matched. Everything fits, everything's in its right place, and it goes the distance.

Rob: Normally, once the afterglow has passed - as you're sitting back smoking a metaphorical cigarette, so to speak - the flaws in a truly great game start to bubble to the surface of your mind. I'm now even more convinced of the magnificence of Half-Life 2, however, than I was when I awarded it 10/10 in a stream of barely comprehensible superlatives and ill-conceived crispy duck metaphors earlier this year. It's not flaws which have come to mind in the intervening weeks and months, but new accomplishments - perhaps too subtle to have drawn my attention on a first run through, but still a vital part of the incredible experience that Valve hath wrought. The understated, pitch-perfect storytelling, the ghostly atmosphere of a hopeless world and the most genuinely human characters yet seen in a videogame might not have been what grabbed my attention first - focused, as I was, on the gleeful task of battering foes into submission with toilet cisterns - but they're what makes this into unquestionably the game of the year.

 

[Harryz]

Damn right.

 

[Sid Burn]

Well, I thought Halo 2 was going to beat HL2... both are the most well known games of this time.

 

[Iconoclast]

I really wish people would stop praising "totally human and believable characters, omg!".

It was a good, sometimes great game, but the characterisation really wasn't that good, and I still think most of the game plot and character wise was a prime example of wasted potential.

Still.

 

[subtlesnake]

Well, everything is relative. I don't know another FPS that so realistically captures the nuances of human interaction. Ok, maybe some of the dialogue was a little clichéd, maybe some of the characters were overacted (Alyx especially) but at least we have acting.

 

[Maxi]

Damn, that pile is getting pretty big already

Eurogamer's a good site too.

 

[Pulse]

Well deserved as always.

 

[MadGuy]

Well, everything is relative. I don't know another FPS that so realistically captures the nuances of human interaction. Ok, maybe some of the dialogue was a little clichéd, maybe some of the characters were overacted (Alyx especially) but at least we have acting.

Exactly, other games are even crappier ! So HL2 deserves it..

 

[Harryz]

I really wish people would stop praising "totally human and believable characters, omg!".

It was a good, sometimes great game, but the characterisation really wasn't that good, and I still think most of the game plot and character wise was a prime example of wasted potential.

Still.

Name me one game that made you feel immersed with the characters as Half-Life 2 did.