Half-Life

 PC
User Score
9.1

Universal acclaim- based on 5680 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,113 out of 5680
  2. Mixed: 349 out of 5680
  3. Negative: 218 out of 5680
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  1. Mike
    Mar 27, 2006
    10
    Pc god of games.
  2. JoeR.
    Mar 27, 2006
    10
    Debated as the best PC game of all time. Online mutliplayer is incredible. The story of the game is genius. Still selling today!
  3. Drunky
    Mar 25, 2006
    10
    It's quite possibly the best FPS ever. Yes, the graphics are aging, yes the crate puzzles were a bit on the annoying side, but they are minor flaws on a beautiful game. The AI still amazes me now, as the soldiers hide, throw grenades and constantly cause a thread, and then there's the set pieces. I always get excited when I see the G-Man. The story is excellent, people who It's quite possibly the best FPS ever. Yes, the graphics are aging, yes the crate puzzles were a bit on the annoying side, but they are minor flaws on a beautiful game. The AI still amazes me now, as the soldiers hide, throw grenades and constantly cause a thread, and then there's the set pieces. I always get excited when I see the G-Man. The story is excellent, people who complain about it clearly can't be bothered to chase after it. Like so much about this terrific game, you have to work at it. You need to discover every clue, talk to every scientist, that's the way to play the game. And what a game it is...… Expand
  4. U
    Jul 1, 2005
    10
    Best Game. When your finished playing single player, there are a ton of mods for both online gaming and single.
  5. AnonymousMC
    Jul 1, 2005
    10
    This game is one of the greatest frist person shooter ever!!! So what if the grafics were bad, for it's time the AI is extremly good. Also the game play really get you invloved in the story, and leave you asking questions even after the game is over. It desidened so perfectly, and i can't wait for the sequle, i with i could give this game a 15.
  6. JackS.
    Apr 9, 2005
    10
    Will always be my favorite all time game. ever. cant stop playing it.
  7. MartinV.
    Oct 31, 2004
    10
    "sure it set a new standard on its DATE"... What kinda of **** is that, the game is 7 years old? Of course there are "better" games now. That doesnt change the fact that it was the best for its time and continued to influence game development for many years to come. What if all FPS games released the last 7 years had been as boring as Doom3 for instance? Of course we all want nice smooth "sure it set a new standard on its DATE"... What kinda of **** is that, the game is 7 years old? Of course there are "better" games now. That doesnt change the fact that it was the best for its time and continued to influence game development for many years to come. What if all FPS games released the last 7 years had been as boring as Doom3 for instance? Of course we all want nice smooth gfx, but i want GAMEPLAY as well!… Expand
  8. DavidL.
    Oct 31, 2004
    4
    Good graphics (for its day, and still servicable today) and balanced weapons are about the only thing going for this game. Level design is counterintuitive, boring and often boneheaded, enemies are poorly balanced, and the much-vaunted "revolutionary" storytelling falls flat on its face - they make the game harder to get into than any other component. Lacks even a speech log, making it Good graphics (for its day, and still servicable today) and balanced weapons are about the only thing going for this game. Level design is counterintuitive, boring and often boneheaded, enemies are poorly balanced, and the much-vaunted "revolutionary" storytelling falls flat on its face - they make the game harder to get into than any other component. Lacks even a speech log, making it possible to miss descriptions of mission objectives completely and permanently. Valve even tried to shoehorn block-pushing puzzles into an engine that was never meant to accomodate them. Bottom line: playable, but by no means enjoyable.… Expand
  9. ANGELM.
    Oct 17, 2004
    10
    Another incredible game.
  10. BenH.
    Oct 11, 2004
    5
    MP is bulky slow and unrefined... how people continue to play this is beyond me.. sure it set a new standard on its DATE. but many games have surpassed it in the MP area. I can understand the score becoz of the date.. but thousands of people still playing this game online are misingout on much better MP games now. I dont hold any hopes for half life 2 being a big hit.. this one jsut got lucky.
  11. JordanP.
    Aug 29, 2004
    7
    Let me take you back to 1998. A heated battle between the two big FPS's namely Unreal and Quake II. Now, they were good for their time, but the AI was poor and both had next to no story and little interaction with the enviroment the player was placed in. Then comes Half-Life, and it features good AI and a storyline, plus interaction. With it's features many overlooked the fact Let me take you back to 1998. A heated battle between the two big FPS's namely Unreal and Quake II. Now, they were good for their time, but the AI was poor and both had next to no story and little interaction with the enviroment the player was placed in. Then comes Half-Life, and it features good AI and a storyline, plus interaction. With it's features many overlooked the fact that all were under-developed and the game was repetitive. My point is, it's only amazing due to the timing of it's release. A good game, just overated.… Expand
  12. ScottP.
    Aug 3, 2004
    10
    Truly one of the greatest games of all time on the PC. Have re-played it recently and found that it still retains much of the great addictive quality it originally had. Becoming dated now, and yes, its true, the jumps and doors did get slightly repetitive, but the game still kept me at the seat of my pants at all times just bursting to make the next jump.
  13. ADude
    Jul 27, 2004
    5
    Looked very cool when it appeared, but over time you get to realize how boring it is...
  14. PaulO.
    Jul 23, 2004
    10
    Quite simply, a classic. The graphics weren't as good as some of the other Quake 2 based shooters, but this was more than made up for by a totally immersive storyline, smart level design, and controls that felt just right. Not to mention, when you get done with the main story, there are some excellent mods available, some of which are practically entirely new games.
  15. Jacob
    May 17, 2004
    10
    This game is (as Tony the Tiger would say) GRRRRREAT. Its storyline, graphics, and gameplay far surpass any game made in the same time period as Half Life. And I cant wait to see the upcoming battle between Half-life 2, Doom3, and Halo 2. Its gonna be SWEET!!!
  16. BillB.
    Apr 26, 2004
    10
    It's awesome.
  17. Marc
    Mar 21, 2004
    10
    You are Gordon Freeman...now strap yourself in for the ride of your life. Seriously.
  18. PhilT.
    Mar 10, 2004
    8
    Absolutely groundbreaking in its day, still very playable today. A very engaging narrative level design that is still not surpassed by some more recent games. I Loved it! Bring on Half Life 2!!!!
  19. MaciejW.
    Mar 8, 2004
    10
    Incredible game with fantastic atmosphere!!!! The best game ever, with no doubt. It is just shocking game.
  20. DemonicAngel
    Feb 9, 2004
    7
    Just for the fact that it showed the FPS genre was capable of much more than Quake and the like were able to deliver, I award Half-Life a 7. Now let's get down to business. The game is unfortunately very uneven, and whilst the first half is excellent, I soon found myself losing interest around the middle section of the game. The pacing really starts to suffer around this point,with Just for the fact that it showed the FPS genre was capable of much more than Quake and the like were able to deliver, I award Half-Life a 7. Now let's get down to business. The game is unfortunately very uneven, and whilst the first half is excellent, I soon found myself losing interest around the middle section of the game. The pacing really starts to suffer around this point,with too many sections where it's very unclear what you're supposed to be doing. The story, for a game that recieved so much praise for its "deep" storyline, is not developed nearly enough - we're left with just "experiment goes wrong, aliens appear, government soldiers arrive to cover it up, and you have to do something about it all", and that's more or less it. Now System Shock 2, that was a game with a fully-developed backstory that you could really sink your teeth into. With Half-Life, the story was mostly irrelevant and in itself provided little incentive to continue. In addition, the final couple of stages are nothing less than ridiculous. So overall, a game that heralded a (brief) new era for the FPS genre, but didn't quite live up to its own hype. … Expand
  21. JustinM.
    Jan 18, 2004
    9
    The best fps in my book, i like half-life better than halo. maybe its because of half-lifes creepy feeling of isolation. I think half-life 2 will be better than halo 2.
  22. GaborA.
    Nov 11, 2003
    10
    A revolution. You forget that the keyboard is at your fingertips. Long, challenging, beautiful, and most importantly fun. An interactive epic which make you want to chant when the game is over.
  23. 1nSaNe!!!??
    Nov 11, 2003
    6
    The good points of the game are the awesome story and creepy moments. The bad points are more conspicous. For example, as the game goes on it degenerates into one boring jumping or crate-pushing switch flicking puzzle after another, although it does have a great final boss.
  24. BitBurn
    Oct 2, 2003
    10
    Yes. This is the best shooter I've played. Sound effects are great. Arsenal is very interesting, AI is very well done for a 1998 game...but most of all, the single player storyline blows them all away! Even today in 2003!! Can't wait for HL2!!
  25. BobG.
    Oct 1, 2003
    10
    The game is 5 years old and it's still rocks!
  26. NathanS.
    Sep 23, 2003
    10
    This Game RULES DUDE!!!
  27. MichaelB.
    Sep 17, 2003
    10
    Awesome Game.
  28. HaydenJ.
    Sep 17, 2003
    10
    First of all- this game kicks ass. Graphics-good even by todays standards story-best fps story ever gameplay- fun as hell, not to mention counte-strike w00t now for all you n00bs saying the graphics suck-- turn the graphics to Open GL mode on 1600 by 1200 pixels, if your computer can even handle that, then talk to me whether u think the graphics are good or not.
  29. BradD.
    Jul 14, 2003
    10
    5 years later this game still kicks the ass of any major contendor. Not just in my opinion, but in the eyes of many PROFESSIONAL video game critics this is the BEST GAME EVER WRITTEN! Buy this now! Its like 20 bucks. Plus you get to play counter strike and day of defeat for 10 dollars less than the retail box's are.
  30. HobartJ.
    Jul 11, 2003
    10
    Amazing!
  31. Erick
    Jun 17, 2003
    4
    This game scares the crap out of me, but it is realy repetitive, same type of monsters all the way to the last level not many weapons, and in some parts it gets realy confusing, its like a maze that does not end but it is ok i guess.
  32. DavidW.
    Jun 4, 2003
    10
    This game kicks ass.
  33. O.K.
    Apr 30, 2003
    10
    It's the greatest single player fps ever, bar none. Many have passed it since, but all stole liberally from the originator. Long live the king.
  34. [Anonymous]
    Apr 27, 2003
    10
    Fry the bast***
  35. KevinK.
    Dec 5, 2002
    10
    Well seems how there are not alot of reviews i will just say. Even tho this game isnt that new it is still the best PC game to ever be made. The mods make it even better. You can play the single player thru and then move easily on to the multiplayer with full enjoyment. BEST GAME EVER.
  36. MatthieuR.
    Oct 15, 2002
    4
    I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I really didn't care for Half-Life. The game engine and the mods are great, but the game itself? I got bored pretty quickly. I tried, I really did, but the lame ass switch-throwing and door opening just gets old.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 1998
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 1998
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 1998

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. All Game Guide
    100
    It isn't everyday that you come across a game that totally revolutionizes an entire genre, but Half-Life has done just that.
    Read full review
  2. My Gamer
    94
    The storyline runs in perfect harmony with the action and acts as a conduit not a stopgap, or a padding device. Each gaming element compliments the next and the entire presentation is nothing short of, well…dare we say it…revolutionary.
    Read full review
  3. PC Gamer
    97
    This is The Big One, and it's even better than we could've hoped. [Jan 1999, p.166]
See all critic reviews »