Introduction

It is undeniable by this point that Half-Life is one of the most important game series of our time. Each game in the franchise revolutionized the industry in its own ways, pushing not only the First Person Shooter genre, but the entire landscape forward. From the original game released back in 1998 with its at the time unique take on story telling, to Alyx's showcase of the potential that VR has, we take a look back at the Half-Life franchise and see just what made the games so special and influential.

Half-Life (1998)

Developed by Valve software and published by Sierra Studios for Windows back on November 19th, 1998, Half-Life was Valve's debut product. It follows the story of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist working in the Black Mesa Research Facility, who is tasked with conducting an experiment that goes horribly wrong, creating an interdimensional rift and causing the Earth to be attacked by an alien race from a distant world. The gameplay consists of combat, platforming and light puzzle solving. The game was nominated for and won many awards and is considered one of the most influential FPS games of all time.

A Revolution for Storytelling and Immersion

The premise of Half-Life's story is very simple. A standard sci-fi tale of an experiment that goes horribly wrong, leaving it up to the player to set things right and save the world. At a glance, this is nothing special. However, what made Half-Life stand out at the time, was the way said story was portrayed. Most games at the time did have a very basic plot, however, it was simply written at the back of the box, to just give some context into why the player was doing what they were doing. In the words of the legendary John Carmack himself, "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.". This was a statement that the entire industry went by, especially in the First Person Shooter genre. However, Gabe Newell, founder of Valve and lead game designer of Half-Life, disagreed. He wanted the story to be the primary focus of the game, and to have players experience it. Therefore, everything that happens in the story unfolds in the game, in real-time.

The game opens up with an iconic tram ride, immediately immersing the player into the world around them. Unlike games of old, which almost immediately gave the player a gun and practically told them "Go have fun killing bad guys", Half-Life has a very slow start, which builds up tension. The disaster that leads to the core gameplay loop actually happens in-game, with the player in full control throughout the entire resonance cascade and the build up leading to it. But the game goes beyond just having the story introduced to the player through means of gameplay, as the entire thing unfolds as the player plays, much like an interactive movie. Scientists and security guards often speak to Gordon to relay important information about what his next objective is, or simply commenting on recent events. At one point, the military is sent to the facility, apparently to rescue the survivors. However, it is quickly revealed in a genius sequence that they are not there on a good cause, but to wipe out any witnesses. This is portrayed to the player with a simple action of a scientist running down a set of stairs towards his "savior", only to be gunned down in an instant. It is moments like these that defined a new direction that games would take in the future, becoming more story-driven and immersive.

One thing that I feel goes often overlooked when people talk about this game, is its complete lack of cutscenes. Safe for two sections (one being at the very end of the game), the player is always in control. This, combined with the first person perspective, makes for an incredibly immersive experience. It gives the sensation that the player is the protagonist, and that they are a part of the virtual world. This immersion is often broken in modern games, with frequent cutscenes used to advance the plot forward, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but can ruin a player's immersion depending on the person, as it reminds them they are not fully in control but acting out a role in a play.

Run, Think, Shoot, Live

Half-Life's gameplay can be unforgiving, but at the same time, satisfyingly rewarding. It consists of combat against enemies, solving simple puzzles and 3D platforming sections.

Starting with the combat, it has been described by the developer's own words as "Run, Think, Shoot, Live", and each of these words apply to the core gameplay loop.

Running is something the player will do a lot in all combat encounters. Given the fast movement of both the player and enemies alike, movement from cover to cover is essential for one's survival.

Think refers to not only the puzzle segments of the game, but also to the amount of strategy the combat itself has. The player gains a hefty arsenal of weapons throughout the game, each with its own use case scenarios. There's also the enemies, each behaving in different ways and having unique attack patterns which require different strategies to tackle. These factors combine brilliantly in a lot of arenas, especially later in the game, requiring the player to make quick decisions on the fly about which enemies to prioritize, when to attack and with which weapon.

Shoot is pretty self explanatory. The game is a First Person Shooter after all, so a good chunk of the player's time with the game will be spent gunning down enemies. Knowing when to shoot, however, is key, not only to save on ammo, but to also guarantee the conquest over enemies. Take the marines for example. They cannot do multiple actions at the same time, so they either stand in one place and shoot, or run away. When running, they are vulnerable to attacks, which is the perfect time for the player to shoot. Otherwise, the player must run and hide from incoming bullet sprays.

All three of the aforementioned skills need to be mastered in order for the player to live through the game's many challenging sections. The gameplay thus culminates to a very satisfying core loop, which although may catch newer games off guard, can be extremely gratifying once mastered. My only complaint would be that most weapons are hit-scan, meaning there are no actual bullets to dodge, so unless the player is hiding behind cover as to not get shot, there is no way for them to avoid projectiles. This, at least, goes true for the player's own bullets as well, so it can be considered as a double edged sword.

Outside of combat, the player can also engage in some light puzzle solving. These are fairly frequent and serve as excellent downtime between combat scenarios. Some of the most prominent examples of these puzzles include the rocket puzzle during the Blast Pit chapter, or the teleportation puzzles in the Lambda Core chapter.

The last major gameplay element of the gameplay is, in my view, its weakest. Platforming in this game can be hit or miss due to the fast movement of the player character, making it very easy to mess up a jump. Some of the last segments of the game, in particular the "Xen" chapters consists of a lot of tacked on platforming segments, which only slow down the gameplay to a crawl and can get very tiring very quickly.

It is also worth noting the variety of gameplay you get throughout the game's runtime. The beginning chapters are more akin to survival horror, with a limited arsenal and supplies, as well as darker and creepier areas and overwhelming sense of dread and despair. However, the further you go into the facility, the more action-packed the chapters become, with the absolute peak being the Surface Tension chapter, with action set-piece after action set-piece, making for the most memorable section of the entire game for many.

A Dated But Beautiful Art Style

At first glance, it is clear this game is from an older era. Low poly visuals and blurry textures make the game look extremely dated by today standards. As a game from 1998, which uses a fork of the Quake 1 engine dating back to '96, this is no surprise. However, there is no denying that the game does have its own unique style. Compared to other games from the time, which were a lot darker and consisted of frequent hellscapes (Take Quake 3 for example), Half-Life feels very clean and tries to go for a more realistic look. Visuals across the board are consistent, no textures particularly stand out and everything fits in well. My personal favorite would probably be the Xen chapters. Despite their controversial nature and being the lowest point of the game, I think the skybox in the first level looks gorgeous for the time, and overall the texture work does give the place a very alien look and vibe.

Valve released an "HD" pack with the release of the Blue Shift expansion back in 2001. It contains vastly improved weapon and character models, featuring HD texture work and higher poly counts. However, this pack does nothing to address any of the environmental visuals, so all the levels remain blocky and with muddy textures, making the characters and weapons stand out too much, as if from another universe. Furthermore, some of the weapon models have been changed to completely different models (i.e. the MP5 becomes an M4A1 but still uses the same ammo as the glock, which is now a beretta), which is very jarring to see. I recommend just playing the game with the HD pack off.

Iconic Sound Design

Sound design is just as important for a game as anything else. It is the core of not only gameplay elements, but also world building. That being said, Half-Life's sounds are iconic and exceptionally well made. Weapons sound impactful and brutal, aliens sound otherworldly and mysterious, footsteps are iconic of an era long since gone and gibbing sounds are juicy and brutal. The game also has some great ambient tracks that fit the dreary mood of each area perfectly, as well as some of the most kickass rock tunes during combat I've ever heard. The original soundtrack fits the tone of the game perfectly.

The only area where I find the sound design to be lacking, is some of the dialogue. Voice acting is decent enough, but the mixing is way off, and lines are delivered in a very compressed form, which can sometimes be a bit jarring and take away from the experience.

Conclusion

To conclude, Half-Life is one of the most influential and beloved games for a plethora of reasons. In a time where story in games was only an afterthought, Half-Life changed that and blew the minds of everyone with a new form of storytelling done all in-game, which proved to be so innovative, that games to this day use the blueprint Half-Life had set all the way back when it first came out. It is thanks to Half-Life that we got strong, narrative driven experiences such as Bioshock and Call of Duty: World at War. The gameplay is punishing yet rewarding for those who put the time in to master it, and offers a wide variety of weapons to play around with and enemies to kill. It also has stellar pacing, with frequent breaks from combat consisting of simple puzzle solving or platforming. Graphical fidelity, although dated, still brings a unique and recognizable style and the sound design adds to the game's atmosphere all the more.

And with that, we close the first chapter of this long saga. Stay tuned for Part 2, in which we'll be taking a look at Gearbox Software's debut in the industry with Half-Life: Opposing Force.