Platform: PC (Xbox coming later) Company: Valve Current status: Full PC game out in America and Europe, Xbox game expected end of the year in America and no time yet for Europe. Where to obtain: Your local game shop. Ok, so I don't like the game at all but I'm going to provide you all with as much of an un-biased review as I can so you can make up your own mind, and there won't be any comparisons to D3 either. Graphics: Ok, the graphics in this game are brilliant, not only do they look sharp and all but they have a wide range of compatible graphics cards, for example, it plays beautifully on my GeForce 6600 GT BUT it also played well on my old ASUS MX4000 Magic, very bad card but good performance on the game. The graphics though are very good, very good effects and attention to detail in many areas. But what REALLY amazes me about the graphics is the physics engine, it is by far one of the best I have seen, especially with being able to manipulate the environment (using discarded Saw Blades as weapons), and the way the bodies react when you kill an enemy with the crossbow or in fact any weapon. Though there is a bit of a problem that Half Life 1 suffered from, many might not see it as a problem but I just got annoyed with it, they use the lightning graphic WAY too much for my liking, just a minor niggle but put me off it, otherwise amazing graphics. Sound: Now the sound I don't like in the game, there are some nice features but it's mainly terrible in my opinion, the music for example, what little of it there is isn't too good and quite wrongly timed, it almost seems that it's random rather than triggered, but it's triggered at really bad times, just gets annoying really. As for the sound, I'll cover the good things first, the voices, they're well done with some good voice actors thrown in, really convincing, and the death sounds are good, especially when you kill some of the early enemies and an auto-radio message says the unit is down and gives the position they died in. The screams of the zombies are just unreal, terrifying to the bone to hear one of those things nearby, or when they attack you the noise is really chilling, not to mention the other kind of zombie you face later on. Unfortunatly, I was not impressed with the weapon sounds, some have been taken directly from HL1, like the Magnum, not at all good, plus there's no reload sound for the 9mm pistol apart from the click of the magazine being taken out. Gameplay: Well, now this is where the game lifts and falls at the same time, some parts of the game are addictive and you spend hours upon hours playing it but then you hit some areas where it's just too dull, for want of a better word. I found myself sitting there bored playing through quickly just to get that part of the game over and done with, some parts of the game are just downright fun though, especially the vehicles in it, and "Revenge on the Helicopter pt. 2". Overall on gameplay though I'd say there's plenty to keep you interested, even through the dull parts you'll want to get through to see what the rest of the game holds. Storyline: Uhm, there isn't one really... there doesn't seem to be that much of a storyline through the game. The only hint is at the beginning, you're the key, the "One Free Man" (very bad in-game joke), to some revolution or something, but then it gets complicated and then just turns into a series of missions. Kill this thing to get us out of here, destroy this to get past that, recuse him because we say so and you're our only hope, blah blah blah. In conclusion, it's a good game, great in places but unless you're really into Half Life then I wouldn't suggest it all that much, though if you want a FPS game with a bit of variety you might want to check it out, it'll keep you occupied for a while at least. Let's just hope they make an Opposing Force 2 next, eh? I hope you found this review helpful and informative.
