Does It Hold Up?: ‘Half-Life’ (1998)
Gordon Freeman fights a headcrab, one of the hostile alien creatures, with a crowbar.
By CYNTHIA WU
Scientists often debate what is ethically correct, as our curiosity and need for progress sometimes lead to dangerous research that could end in horrible disasters threatening millions of lives, and perhaps even costing us our humanity.
Half-Life, a first-person shooter developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios in 1998, is an exceptionally interesting game that depicts the results of just such an experiment gone horribly awry. But at 23 years old, does this classic game still hold up today?
Its story follows Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist. Due to a failed experiment to enhance teleportation technology, a rift in time and space opens up and hostile alien-like creatures emerge through it. The disaster becomes uncontainable, and the aliens begin threatening humankind.
Half-Life is a first person shooter that implements platforming and puzzles. The game was revolutionary during its time due to the environments it places the players in and their interactivity. Instead of expressing the story through just cut scenes, Valve designed Half-Life to convey the plot through the player’s surroundings.
While trying to escape, you watch your comrades and workers being shot, torn apart, and dragged away. This makes the game feel truly immersive, as you are part of the experience. In addition, you can influence a lot of your surroundings, something Valve does very well at. You also decide who dies and who lives. Although this doesn’t apply to all characters, you can simply shoot many of your comrades and they will permanently die, no longer being part of your surroundings or helping you.
The facilities you run through feel realistic, instead of just designed specifically for the puzzles. The game never forces you to run around aimlessly looking for a distinct key to unlock the next area. Instead, you climb through vents, hide in the shadows, and blast your way through. The layout of factories, offices, and observatories just makes sense.
Moreover, the weapons you discover and unlock throughout the game are in logical areas. For example, you won’t find weapons on the floor just waiting for you to pick them up, but you can find a gun in a security supply closet. This makes the overall experience more realistic and immersive.
The enemy A.I. is also quite well-developed. They often call out instructions and warnings to one another and then act upon them.
But while Half-Life’s level design and environmental aspects were revolutionary, the shooting aspects feel lackluster and underwhelming. Throughout the entire 12 hour game, there is a large variety of weaponry, from normal guns to melee weapons to alien weaponry. However, very few of these are actually well-designed. Many are simply too weak and do not inflict enough damage to be viable.
Another shortcoming of Half-Life is the ending. [Spoiler alert for this paragraph.] You go through a teleportation device and arrive on the alien world, Xen, to defeat the final boss that was keeping the rift open. Xen is an entirely new area with a different feel to it, but the excitement only lasts a few moments until the world becomes dull. The platforming and landscape, lasting about an hour, feel very basic compared to the rest of the game.
Of course, the 23-year-old game’s graphics and audio do not live up to today’s standards. The visuals are jagged and the textures have no depth. Like with many old 3D games, it simply looks as if the developers pasted an image onto the walls, doors, and ground.
Despite the bland ending and dated graphics, I would still recommend experiencing the original Half-Life at least once. The story and immersivity of the environment truly shine, making this a worthy journey through video game history.
★★★★☆