Monday, August 01, 2005

HL2 Game Addiction

I finally bought a new PC! It has been a long time coming and the old beast (an AMD K6-2 400 Mhz) had certainly given more than it was originally worth. But, because my old PC was so slow, I hadn't been able to play any games for a couple of years.

This was both a blessing and a curse. A curse: because I used to like gaming on my PC; Doom and Quake hold especially fond memories. A blessing: because I couldn't spend hours in game-land and I actually had a few years of getting some work done!

But now... AMD Athlon XP 3000+ with 1GB of RAM, there isn't really a game out there I can't play!

And so, I went out and picked up a copy of Half Life 2, because I remember really enjoying the first one; very immersive.

Well, I'm now addicted! What an amazing game. I barely saw the light of day for a week whilst I played that thing (which is why this blog hasn't been updated in ages).

The graphics are damn good, but it is really the Half Life world and engine itself that makes the game so impressive. You can interact with almost anything in the game; pick up rubbish and throw it around... or put it in the trash - throw and smash tables and chairs - drive vehicles and operate machinery. The physics are great and everything looks and moves the way it should.

The storyline is pretty good too and the whole experience is more like a block-buster movie than a game. It is fast-paced, atmospheric and very scary!

So, that's where I have been for the last couple of weeks... saving the earth! And all I've got to show for it is a bad case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.