Half-Life 2

 PC
User Score
9.2

Universal acclaim- based on 12734 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11,541 out of 12734
  2. Mixed: 635 out of 12734
  3. Negative: 558 out of 12734
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  1. cercisyusuf
    Sep 8, 2023
    1
    everyone like this becease of populer cultur but i play the game and that was boring mostly people like bc this is childhood game i guess
  2. TruthSeaker
    Aug 15, 2023
    0
    Fanboys of this game rating every other as zero.
    Well - you get what you asked for.
  3. IniciusV
    Feb 4, 2023
    0
    FPS É UMA MERDA, SHOOTER É UMA MERDA, PRIMEIRA PESSOA É UMA MERDA, SÓ TEM FPS/SHOOTER/PRIMEIRA PESSOA NESSA MERDA
  4. ILIKETHEGAME
    Jan 18, 2023
    4
    the game may be revolutionary, but that doesn't mean the game is good idk why but, this game is boring i just walk and shoot all the time
    like, this game isnt funny dont have humor etc...
    u just walk and shoot al the time, is basically a cod with a diferent gameplay and old
    but, i could be wrong, maybe i played too little of the game, tell me if it starts to get good towards the end
  5. Black_S
    Jan 12, 2023
    0
    Most overrated game of all time. Same way people overrate nonsensical art, they overrate this "game" only to show their own superiority and ego. No surprise. The Bussiness of valve stands on those people.

    - boring story - go to one location, do something, go to another location, do another thing in boring way - shalow enemies, dead in one hit - shalow ways of killing enemies - easy    Most overrated game of all time. Same way people overrate nonsensical art, they overrate this "game" only to show their own superiority and ego. No surprise. The Bussiness of valve stands on those people.

    - boring story
    - go to one location, do something, go to another location, do another thing in boring way
    - shalow enemies, dead in one hit
    - shalow ways of killing enemies
    - easy to play/win gameplay
    - "Gabe" man as image of what gabe tumor newell wanna be, but never be.
    Especially: "rather than offer you the illusion of free choice, i will take the liberty choosing for you" is an exact tear of his thinking with steam and his parasitic business.

    No reason to play this, what keeps it alive is nostalgia.    … Expand
  6. Eniskirazuglum
    Nov 14, 2021
    1
    Çöp?! oynamaya değmez vakit kaybı . Sizlere tavsiyem diğer oyunlara göz atın.
  7. ThePimpIsHere
    Nov 12, 2021
    0
    Best. Source Game. Ever. Very rich and enjoyable story and likeable characters, easy to learn mechanics and cool level designs so this gets a 10/10!
  8. saeedgamer16
    Oct 26, 2021
    0
    The game is my best game forever.its graphic,gameplay,story and also its level design are in the highest level.Also its length its good and doesn't make the game boring.
    I will wait for half life 3.
    Thanks for your great game!
  9. EsteticBomzh
    Jun 23, 2020
    4
    Неплохая графика и отличная физика не спасли игру от того, что она невыносимо скучная. Тебя заставляют постоянно ползать по каким-то вонючим канализациям. Я понимаю что кому-то это может нравится, но игра реально скучна.Неплохая графика и отличная физика не спасли игру от того, что она невыносимо скучная. Тебя заставляют постоянно ползать по каким-то вонючим канализациям. Я понимаю что кому-то это может нравится, но игра реально скучна.
  10. Garybaldo
    Jun 2, 2020
    4
    Look, I get that the main thing with this game is its story, but how can you make an fps game in which shooting the guns sounds, looks like (animation-wise), and overall feels like **** I really wanted to like this game but I can't get through how awful it feels to shoot in this game.
  11. DuckTearPopper
    Feb 15, 2020
    0
    Very boring game. Too much exposition and sitting around waiting for scripts to trigger. Also, no friendly fire like in the first game.
  12. Padre-Sirius
    Apr 10, 2019
    3
    Advantages:
    1) Pretty nice graphics. Unfortunately, from 2019 it is difficult to evaluate the 2004 schedule, but it seemed decent to me and without soap.
    2) Simple control. No need to think for hours on what button to put this or that action. 3) If that the author and managed to convey, so is the atmosphere of the game. The gray world in which pressure is literally felt. Although I    Advantages:
    1) Pretty nice graphics. Unfortunately, from 2019 it is difficult to evaluate the 2004 schedule, but it seemed decent to me and without soap.
    2) Simple control. No need to think for hours on what button to put this or that action.
    3) If that the author and managed to convey, so is the atmosphere of the game. The gray world in which pressure is literally felt. Although I personally did not have enough contrast. Any scene where all the protagonist and his friends get together and just chat or something.
    4) Good Russian localization. Professional voice without stupid mistakes.
    Disadvantages:
    1) Unfortunately, I did not play the first Half-Life and therefore I cannot soberly and correctly evaluate the plot of this game. I didn’t play because I didn’t want it, but because of the devilish attitude of Valve to my fan base. Nevertheless, he seemed to me very bland and boring. A bad uncle installs totalitarianism in the city and another good uncle decided to stop him. Straight plot for the new film "The Expendables."
    2) Characters. They are all very cliché. Faddish professor, brave, fighting girlfriend, cowardly traitor and faithful, but an old "soldier." Where is originality, where are great ideas?
    3) The physics of shooting seemed to me unconvincing. I understand that the authors wanted to depict the future and the corresponding weapons, but the practice of shooting from the “stick” I went through in Call of Duty.
    4) AI, in my opinion, is also a sore subject for this game. They do not try to bypass you, but simply go right through, taking quantity, not quality.
    5) The gameplay is monotonous and boring. The authors tried to diversify it with various puzzles, but I think it did not help.
    6) For me personally, the variety of weapons seemed very small. I understand that this is not Battlefield, but nevertheless, this is a shooter, whose main goal is shooting. Therefore, I would like the assortment of tools for this purpose to be larger.
    7) It is a pity that the game is completely absent variability passing. Perhaps this is a niggle, since the game is quite old, but I would like to be able to go through missions in different ways, and not just running and going through.    … Expand
  13. MillersWeeb
    Nov 17, 2018
    0
    Zero. This game is too overrated, stubpid 1984 parody with blend characters and retarded gameplay.
  14. karelpica99
    Dec 21, 2017
    0
    Bad graphics, bad story line, not even close to realistic, just plain sucked.
  15. User3
    Aug 8, 2017
    0
    A poor follow-up to the original. By today's standards it's very dated with bad graphics and ancient gameplay. Has been surpassed many times by more modern titles.
  16. Preidon
    Oct 26, 2015
    0
    Guys just admit it,this game is overrated,It has a boring story,characters look awful,little enemies,nothing to see here. I was really dissapointed that this game is so bad. Such a shame for PC.
  17. BlackVoid
    Sep 25, 2015
    2
    The most overhyped game ever. Much worse than the original, instead of the varied aliens, you will mostly face human soldiers. Boring. On top of this, levels are counter-intuitive, easy to get lost and not find the way forward. Black Mesa in HL1 was an exciting place, compared to that, the levels are bland and uninteresting. Play the original instead, that is much better.
  18. halflifeistrash
    Apr 17, 2015
    0
    The gameplay was completely ruined by the fact it's only single player. How can you truly enjoy a game with your friends all by yourself? Let your friends WATCH you play? Absurd. Need same room multiplayer!
  19. Alpacalypse
    Mar 22, 2015
    0
    This game has aged horribly. The story is rather decent, but the gameplay is just pathetic. Shoot your peashooter weaponry at guards and zombies, and then use your gravity gun to pick up a saw and throw it at people.
    You will then take the saw with you on your entire game and use it exclusively.
    Sure, you can argue that a game that has a good story is all that matters. But, a sandwich    This game has aged horribly. The story is rather decent, but the gameplay is just pathetic. Shoot your peashooter weaponry at guards and zombies, and then use your gravity gun to pick up a saw and throw it at people.
    You will then take the saw with you on your entire game and use it exclusively.

    Sure, you can argue that a game that has a good story is all that matters. But, a sandwich with the world's best bread (the story) is still a horrible sandwich is the meat is made out of a dead dog's **** (the gameplay)

    As it stands, Half Life 2 is a prime example that gamers will reach to the bottom of their fanboy purses to make anything Valve makes overrated.

    This game would be better fitted as a book, to be honest. It tells a great story, but the gameplay is just so agonizing that I couldn't get past 40 minutes. If you want a good first person shooter, go play Far Cry or Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.
    By the way, this review is going to get a lot of flak for not worshipping a game this overrated. Just some foresight.    … Expand
  20. Superficiality
    Feb 7, 2015
    3
    A nauseating first person shooter in an unrealistic and dull environment. You have to do everything the way the game wants you to, so all you do is shoot up men in masks hundreds of times using the same weapons. Story was sort of interesting, but it bored me.
  21. ShawnD
    Dec 29, 2014
    3
    I'm giving this game a low rating because it does most of the things I hate:
    -Unskippable cut scenes.
    -Acting like I care about any of these dumb characters. -Half the game is driving. Rage pulled the same stunt in 2011 and that too was a disaster. All it does is make the game painfully slow. -Does this game even have a plot? It was so boring that I didn't care to find out. A good game    I'm giving this game a low rating because it does most of the things I hate:
    -Unskippable cut scenes.
    -Acting like I care about any of these dumb characters.
    -Half the game is driving. Rage pulled the same stunt in 2011 and that too was a disaster. All it does is make the game painfully slow.
    -Does this game even have a plot? It was so boring that I didn't care to find out. A good game tells you very little so you're left wanting to know what the story is. HL2 does the exact opposite. Unskippable cut scene after unskippable cut scene. Instead of googling to find what the story is, I'm googling to see if there is some console command to skip the stupid cut scenes. I can't believe someone at Valve actually thought it was a good idea to force players to watch the same crap every time they play the game. Start a new game - hey I wonder if that face hugger is going to screw up the teleportation this time. I'll need to watch the 5 minute cut scene to find out!
    -It seems like large segments of the game are unfinished. Half of the game is driving or walking, but there's nothing going on. There's nothing to shoot and there's nothing shooting at me. Why was this left in the game? It's like they forgot to add monsters and nobody in beta testing noticed how boring those sections of the game are.
    -Physics are completely broken. You can run 100mph in reverse just by running backward and jumping. At least bunny hopping from quake took some practice.
    -The guns seem a lot crappier than they were in HL1. The amount of ammo one can hold has also been greatly reduced.
    -HL1 was awesome because it was straight forward. It told a story without telling you anything. An experiment goes wrong, monsters appear, military try to cover the whole thing up, etc. HL2 is about.... what exactly? it's about running through water canals because a guy in a turtle neck sweater is the leader of some people who wear gas masks. This is Metal Gear Solid level of bad story telling. Snake, you have nanobots inside you because blah blah clones Big Boss blah blah The Combine blah blah turtle neck sweaters.

    You can't truly grasp how boring this game is until you watch someone do a speed run of it. Then watch someone do a speed run of Quake. Which one looks more like a game and which looks more like a tech demo?    … Expand
  22. infinitePUGZ
    Dec 4, 2014
    3
    This game is way overrated, there are so many better games out there. People always praise it for its story and rich dialogue, but unlike Portal (which had me excited to progress through the story and listen to ALL of its witty, funny and overall extremely well acted characters) Half Life 2 was less than mediocre. Good dialogue was few and far between, with most of the speech just beingThis game is way overrated, there are so many better games out there. People always praise it for its story and rich dialogue, but unlike Portal (which had me excited to progress through the story and listen to ALL of its witty, funny and overall extremely well acted characters) Half Life 2 was less than mediocre. Good dialogue was few and far between, with most of the speech just being "look its Gordon Freeman!" or "are you Gordon Freeman?!".... its disappointing to say the least. I'm not counting the graphics because my pc isn't great and the game probably looks amazing on ultra settings but I wouldn't know.

    Secondly, the story isn't at all innovative or different, I couldn't care for the characters or the world. I wasn't interested enough to who, what, where, why, when or how for any of the story's components - it's nothing new.

    However much anyone says about the gravity gun, to me it will always be a glorified hand - it picks things up and throws them. Apart form that the combat is just like a typical fps although they did a good job with the weapons.

    Finally, the gameplay isn't too great: linear level design, empty landscapes, dull environments. I just wanted this game to be over, I didn't enjoy playing it. If you want a gaming masterpiece, check out Portal and Portal 2.    … Expand
  23. CoreyintheHouse
    Nov 8, 2014
    0
    The graphics are clunky and absolutely disgusting, the guns are unrealistic and disproportionate. Its lame I do not recommend this game to anyone who calls themselves a lover of games. This game is a classic, a classic piece of ****
  24. dandul9
    Sep 2, 2014
    0
    I saw on the internet all the hype and reviews that say that this game is the best game ever so i bought it
    it was soooo boring; lame puzzles story ehh average and the gameplay horrible so overrated
  25. usedsoap
    Aug 22, 2014
    2
    **** for its time and **** now... not an immersive story, first half of the game you do boring tasks and then when you start to shoot things and run away from that its still boring.
  26. monkeyditachi
    Aug 16, 2014
    0
    I will never understand why this game gets as much hype as it does . It makes you do silly puzzles randomly to show off its engine . I heard this was one of the best games if not the best so i was expecting a lot more then this .
  27. thisSuckz
    Jul 11, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the most pointless game ever.you spend the first 30-40 mins doing pointless menial tasks that are not fun to do and are incredibly boring. This game has to be one of the worst games ever created. I f i wanted to watch a film that takes 30 mins to get to any action i would have done so instead of playing the first half of this pointless game. To top it all off valve after 7 years still have not released the sequel to this stupid game.… Expand
  28. T0G
    Dec 14, 2013
    4
    Maybe my expectations were set too high by the first game and all the hype but Half-Life2 is so linear it may as well be an arcade game. One of the few games I have uninstalled immediately after finishing. Very disappointed. I will avoid the 3rd outing.
  29. Conner428
    Nov 10, 2013
    3
    Here's the problem with giving an overrated game a bad score: people will ignore what it says and just say that that person is wrong. First of all, I am not hating this game just to hate (hell, at least I gave it a 3). Second, I am taking all the hype for this game out of the equation. Graphics: I honestly felt like I got a beta version of the game when I started it and saw the very basicHere's the problem with giving an overrated game a bad score: people will ignore what it says and just say that that person is wrong. First of all, I am not hating this game just to hate (hell, at least I gave it a 3). Second, I am taking all the hype for this game out of the equation. Graphics: I honestly felt like I got a beta version of the game when I started it and saw the very basic (borderline texture starter kit) and dry textures. The guns didn't look too bad but everything else looked like it hadn't even started rendering (yes I played the game on Ultra settings). Concept: put a gun in front of the screen, give an invisible entity a name, and have people tell it to do stuff only to always be interrupted mid sentence by enemies and never find out what they were going to say. Valve tried to give Freeman no personality or dialog so that the player could relate with him but the outcome was the exact opposite. It felt like just controlling a floating gun with zero personality. Story: The biggest confusion for me was how much people praised this game's story line. You literally start the game with many questions from the last game and are only given more questions. The G-Man spouts off nonsense and makes it seem like it's important and you wake up in god knows where in the future (no clue as to how many years because the game never specifies). No one is shocked in the least to see you after so many years looking the exact same you did when they last saw you and they ask you to go from point A to point B for no good reason. That last sentence is literally the entire story. One full game and two 3 hour episodes with absolutely no story progression except for the end of episode 2, and even that isn't that great because you had no emotion ties to the character who dies. People will constantly defend this and say "Valve will eventually explain the story. Just give them time". Why? Why judge a games story based on what your assumptions are? That's not innovative, that's sloppy writing. AI: I never even knew this was something that was seen as something great about this game until after I beat it........ so I have no idea why it's praised. Enemies act like enemies (in annoyingly low numbers and way too weak (even on hard)). Alyx is uncomfortable with how she acts with a guy who is probably twice her age and is actually quite annoying pointing out everything that happens in front of you. Replay Value: None. The game is linear with nothing on the side to keep it entertaining. Physics Engine: similar to the AI, I didn't even know this was something that was looked at as innovative. A physics engine should not determine a games worth especially when it's only used to have you "solve" kindergarten puzzles or to encourage you to use a weapon (Gravity Gun) that was boring and useless right after its tutorial. Conclusion: this entire game felt like a students project for an indie game. No story, no atmosphere, bad dialog, slow paced, confusing for the sake of being confusing, and has a complete lack of feeling like any work was done with it. This game was very underground when it came out (mostly because pc gaming wasn't as big in 2004) and so most of its original praise is from the, for the lack of a better word, hipsters that played this game. In essence, this game is a hipster game. It's a hipster game because it's full of things that normally wouldn't be seen as good but it's praised for those things so people jump on the bandwagon (similar with Stanley Parable). This actually only a small fraction of what I can say about this game but I am not about to write three reviews for one game.… Expand
  30. mortabunt
    Oct 4, 2013
    1
    Half-Life 2... Often proclaimed one of the best, if not one of the greatest first person shooters, if not video games of all time. Released in 2004 to great fame and accolades, I was but then an 11 year old devotee of Sonic, Metroid, Zelda, and Star Wars. I hardly knew or cared. But as I grew older, and the internet became more prominent in my life, I began to hear of this wonderful thingHalf-Life 2... Often proclaimed one of the best, if not one of the greatest first person shooters, if not video games of all time. Released in 2004 to great fame and accolades, I was but then an 11 year old devotee of Sonic, Metroid, Zelda, and Star Wars. I hardly knew or cared. But as I grew older, and the internet became more prominent in my life, I began to hear of this wonderful thing called Half-Life 2, starring this great hero, a nuclear physicist named Gordon Freeman, who battled against the evil Combine to save humanity from its position under the jackboots of a tyrannical alien regime. When I discovered TvTropes, I got exposed to many more references to this game. I was told of the epic journey of the great hero fighting all alone against the future straight out of Nineteen Eighty-Four. I read that I was supposed to be a critical piece whose actions and choices would decide the fates of billions. I read about leading the citizens in rebellion against their alien oppressors in a climatic battle in City Seventeen. I heard about the awesome Gravity Gun. I read about the fearsome striders. I read about turning the antlions on the invaders. I read about the horror of Ravenholm. I heard about great and memorable characters, an engaging story, and so many other things which sounded like heralds of greatness.
    I first got my hands on a valve game, Left 4 Dead, in '08. And I loved it. I still do, just as I do Left 4 Dead 2. I got The Orange Box in 2010. I got it more or less for Portal. Portal, damn, that game is fantastic. As you would expect, having consecutively played three superb games from Valve, I was very much looking forward to the next game in my sights: Half-Life 2. So I selected it from the main menu of The Orange Box on my Xbox360 and began a new campaign on the medium difficulty setting. I as already an FPS veteran at the time, having played through games like Metroid Prime 1 & 2, Bioshock, Metro 2033, Goldeneye 007, the Halo series, F.E.A.R., Doom, Doom 3, and Quake 4. With everything begun, I was prepared to be blown away. I was eager for the greatest FPS ever made.

    It sucks.

    I personally rate games mainly on story, gameplay, and characters, with all of these being roughly equivalent. For me to approve of a game, it has to do well enough in these three categories. However, I ultimately pass judgement based on whether or not the game was fun to me. I can forgive quite a lot of if a game is an entertaining experience. Do I think Half-Life 2 is fun? NO! I think it's awful. I had to force myself to finish this game. It failed in story, gameplay, and characters. It wasn't even something that I could enjoy taking the piss out of.
    I know, you're probably frothing with rage and confusion over why I think Half-Life 2 is an overrated piece of crap. I've heard the arguments from the fans, but I just don't see it like they do. I respect their opinions, but I disagree. Truth be told, I feel like this game was always very close to being the great experience I was told about. Of course, realistically, nothing could have lived up to the hype. Even though I habitually make a note to deliberately not buy into hype, it was impossible to go in with anything other than great expectations. I could argue that it had to end in disappointment, but I disagree. I've played other great games, like Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Far Cry 3, Metroid Prime 2, Metro: Last Light, and Portal, and felt that they deserved the praise they got. Perhaps not the extravagant fanboy praise, but plenty of praise and accolades nevertheless. Half-Life 2 got so many elements right and had a lot of good ideas, but the execution was so often feeble. If maybe just only a few elements were different, then perhaps I would be raving about how I love this game. And I think that, had I played it when it first came out, or at least within two years of its release rather than six, then I could very well have been much more favorably impressed. I could I personally actually quite like Half-Life 2: Episode 1, which was a much tighter game with a much more interesting and dynamic plotline where the player character actually seems to accomplish things.
    The story is irritatingly impenetrable while being of only vague concern, and yet still managing to hang constantly over the player while constantly keeping them in the dark.
    The gameplay is the worst part, given how it fails to make combat fun in a first person shooter while bloating the game to excessive length with vehicles and puzzles.
    The characters are mostly forgettable with a few good exceptions. Gordon Freeman is the worst possible kind of protagonist for this game. Alex Vance should have been it.
    The game is not fun except in small doses and in certain parts. Your experience may vary. I would recommend watching a walkthrough or LP rather than spend money on it.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2004
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2004
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 81 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 81
  3. Negative: 0 out of 81
  1. CPUGamer
    100
    Nothing less than a revolution in the gaming industry that will keep gamers busy for years to come, just as the original did.
    Read full review
  2. Play.tm
    95
    An ephemeral and controversial ending, along with the few issues described above, means that for me, Half-Life 2, while a compelling and highly enjoyable game, falls short of the size of impact that the first title had on the gaming world.
    Read full review
  3. Playboy
    100
    A graphics overhaul delivers detailed facial animations and sophisticated physics that leave battle zones strewn with debris after intense shootouts with shuffling corpses, overfed curstaceans and other assorted foes. [October, p.37]
See all critic reviews »