Half Life 2

Apple of my eye
A plot is nothing without believable characters and Valve has gone to appreciable trouble to make sure the game's actors draw the empathy of the player. As such, the Source engine has the ability to do facial animation and lip-syncing with incredible accuracy. The attention to detail is amazing, and although Gordon himself doesn't participate in any of the in-game conversations, when other characters do, it looks completely natural, down to the flexing of muscles in lips and the movement of eyes and eyebrows.

If Half-Life 2 does have a flaw, it's in the exploration of themes and certain game mechanics. Some elements of the plot for example, which you are given the feeling will be expanded on, are simply left by the wayside - something you don't realise until the game comes to its conclusion. Additionally the ending of the game, while funky, is disappointing from a storytelling point of view, and trivialises the experience as a whole. Many players will come away from the game feeling a little cheated.

Barney! You look so real. Touch me.	The airboat levels are some of the best.

Cars and combat
Flavour for the combat sections of the game comes via the addition of vehicles including an airboat and buggy. Instead of just appearing in brief blasts, vehicles make up a few hours of the game, and you'll spend a lot of time cruising sand dunes and blazing down waterways. This gives the game much-needed continuity as you travel from location to location. The physics engine makes these parts of the game very enjoyable and when you finally do leave your boat or other craft behind you will feel as though you've lost a good friend - a friend that can fang it down a causeway at 80km/h.

Additionally, enemy AI, like that in Half-Life, is top-notch. Combine soldiers will take cover, call for aid, and retreat if engaged by superior forces. Troops rappel from roofs and drop from gun ships and unless you keep an eye out constantly during a fight, you will find yourself surrounded and overwhelmed. Monsters such as zombies and headcrabs are much more aggressive than their Half-Life counterparts and even just a few of these creatures can prove to be a daunting combat experience, especially in dark, enclosed spaces were there's no room to manoeuvre.

A diary of a Freeman
Half-Life 2, in a nutshell, is the shizzle. Take it from us - when you're down in those sewers blasting zombies with your shotgun, or swapping rounds with Combine troops as you dance from street-to-street, you will stop mid-combat, welcome a few cursory rounds into the softness of your body, and think 'Hot damn, this really is a good game.' Five years of waiting. Twenty hours of play. It's been worth the wait.