DAY 47 / GAME 47
Half Life
When I first saw the box for Half Life in 1999 I immediately dismissed it as a cheap Alien rip-off. Right on the back of the box even featured facehugger equivalents. But one day, when I was at a computer hardware shop picking up some new parts, I caught this incredible game on display. The intro sequence for Half Life, which looks very cinematic and felt very fresh and smart at the time, was playing on a bunch of computers. I couldn't believe how wrong I was, how I judged a 'book' by it's cover almost literally.
This was back when I was no stranger to game piracy. And very shortly after first seeing it, someone had produced a copy of this game for me. I started into it and I was hooked. It was incredible, but the soundtrack wasn't playing properly and I really wanted an excuse to purchase a real copy, so I ran out as soon as I had the opportunity and bought it. (Turns out, I somehow had the music turned off, I discovered after buying a real copy.) But this was a purchase well worth it's price and more. Half Life, which turns out is based off of the Stephen King short story The Mist, is an incredible advancement from the usual FPS format. It was scary, eerie and a solid piece of sci-fi. Level puzzles were much more complex and the story was fantastic. Not to mention, the Half Life source engine made way for Team Fortress and CounterStrike. Some of the best online FPS games to date.
Half Life is absolutely iconic to gamers at this point. Gordon Freeman the silent protagonist of the ages, one who made the Crowbar a symbol of 'smart' FPS gameplay. Half Life is another one of these games that started everything. It wasn't taking itself very seriously to begin with, but when they realised what they had created, Valve turned that around. Without Half Life there would be no Half Life 2, no Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress 1 or 2, Counterstrike and no Garry's Mod. Think about that.
Half Life
When I first saw the box for Half Life in 1999 I immediately dismissed it as a cheap Alien rip-off. Right on the back of the box even featured facehugger equivalents. But one day, when I was at a computer hardware shop picking up some new parts, I caught this incredible game on display. The intro sequence for Half Life, which looks very cinematic and felt very fresh and smart at the time, was playing on a bunch of computers. I couldn't believe how wrong I was, how I judged a 'book' by it's cover almost literally. This was back when I was no stranger to game piracy. And very shortly after first seeing it, someone had produced a copy of this game for me. I started into it and I was hooked. It was incredible, but the soundtrack wasn't playing properly and I really wanted an excuse to purchase a real copy, so I ran out as soon as I had the opportunity and bought it. (Turns out, I somehow had the music turned off, I discovered after buying a real copy.) But this was a purchase well worth it's price and more. Half Life, which turns out is based off of the Stephen King short story The Mist, is an incredible advancement from the usual FPS format. It was scary, eerie and a solid piece of sci-fi. Level puzzles were much more complex and the story was fantastic. Not to mention, the Half Life source engine made way for Team Fortress and CounterStrike. Some of the best online FPS games to date.
Half Life is absolutely iconic to gamers at this point. Gordon Freeman the silent protagonist of the ages, one who made the Crowbar a symbol of 'smart' FPS gameplay. Half Life is another one of these games that started everything. It wasn't taking itself very seriously to begin with, but when they realised what they had created, Valve turned that around. Without Half Life there would be no Half Life 2, no Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress 1 or 2, Counterstrike and no Garry's Mod. Think about that.
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