Half-Life  (Games, PS2)

In 1998 the PC's original Half-Life changed first-person shooters forever by proving that a compelling story can be told within the genre; prior to its release FPSs were mindless action games but although Half-Life certainly had its fair share of action it also contained plenty of exploration puzzle and story elements. Now as a PlayStation 2 game it's never looked or played better. This version contains the outstanding single-player story mode as well as a few new ones; while the new additions aren't so great the story mode is one of the best adventures on the PS2.

The game follows the escapades of Gordon Freeman a young research associate at the Black Mesa Federal Research Facility. A typical day at the office goes completely awry as numerous alien life forms invade the facility; the fate of said facility and quite possibly the world is in the hands of an unlikely hero...

The graphics here trump the originals (understandable since there are more than three years between the two releases)--the character models have four times as many polygons as well as smoother textures and animations. The sound is also very good with some of the funniest voice acting yet heard in a game. Of course the single-player gameplay is excellent thanks to some very well-developed enemy artificial intelligence. Unfortunately the new modes aren't nearly as brilliant. Decay the new cooperative mode seems like an afterthought and pales in comparison to the cooperative modes in Perfect Dark and Halo. Deathmatches only support two players which is incredibly lame considering many PS2 first-person shooters support four. But despite these flawed modes the single-player story is so superb that it totally justifies the purchase.

Product Features< b>

PS2 release of popular PC action shooter< li>Play as Gordon Freeman research scientist on a top-secret project gone awry< li>Battle terrifyingly intelligent monsters< li>Features new co-op game split-screen deathmatch and skirmish mode< li>For 1 to 4 players< li>< ul>