Well... I'm not Gordon Freeman, but I bet he wishes I was!
This weekend I hit the game a second time. I have no real idea how far into the game I am because I've managed to completely avoid any news about the game, avoided stategy guides, etc... so I don't know how far into the game I am. I do know this however, I have seen several 'maps' now.
The game is simply fantastic. In that, I mean the game itself is fantastic (more on what I mean by this in a sec) - I am having a hell of a lot of fun playing the game. From the crazy run as the beginning as you run away from the Combine without a weapon to jumping around frenetically in the train yard and underground railway, to zooming around the canals of City 17 in my hoverboat hingamajigger. It all makes for a fantastic game.
However, I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed by some things - and they have nothing to do with the game play at all, it's just stuff that bugs me...the technology-freak side of me always wants more I guess.
So, the biggest disappointment? The physics. Don't get me wrong, they are amazing, but... and it's a big but to me... they still don't feel quite right. They way they are implemented works fantastically for the game itself, but there are aspects of it that bug me at times.
So, examples. Sure, the intro/tutorial section of the game provided me with a cool playground with teeter-totters, swings, a marry-go-round, and enough crates too place on them and watch the fun. And, yes, objects had weight, and the one object's weight affected the others. All like you'd expect. But it still did not quite feel right. Better than anything I've played before, but still not quite right.
However, other than saying they just don't feel right I just don't know how to describe it properly... you'd have to have played the game to get it. Like I said, it's not like the physics are bad... I guess I personally was just expecting more due to the prior-to-release-hype behind the game's physics engine. It's good... just not as realistic as I'd hoped.
The second issue I have is in-game world consistency.
For instance. I was walking along a wooden plank atop scaffolding. Also at the top of the scaffolding was a wooden crate that was in my way. So I crowbarred the crate and it broke as expected. After that obstacle was beaten, I quickly saved because I was going to attempt something crazy - try and destroy the planks on the scaffold itself. But I could not! Why could I destroy a wooden crate, yet wooden planks would even so much as spliter? Well - because the game required them to stay in-tact.
I understand that the game is somewhat linear, and the scaffold could not be destroyed because I could no continue on through the game as intended. Destroying that scaffold would have been bad for me, so they made the wood a sold object that could not be destroyed. It's not a huge deal really, but it does remove the immersion into the game. Something like that happens in-game and the illusion of reality and immersion of ruined.
Anyways; I'm starting to rant about something I am truely enjoying... it is a fantastic game, and if you've not played it you owe it to yourself to give the game a try... especially you were like me, bought the game on release day but have these last nine months and have still not installed it. It's fantastic, I just can't wait to get off this water buggy of mine.
