The usual array of pistols, shotguns and machineguns are present, as well as more exotic numbers, such as the Combine rifle and laser-guided RPG, each looking and sounding just right. Of course, none of the physics-based weaponry is included at the expense of conventional small arms, which HL2 features as prominently as one might expect. Some enemies will do the same to you, knocking over fixed gun emplacements or tossing barrels your way – just a few examples of the core fundamentals of the way the game implements physics. Not only does it give the player the ability to manipulate things, like crates and barrels, it also allows them to use the game’s worldly objects as weapons, hurling them with great force and, one might add, satisfaction, at the opposition heavy objects can do damage, while saw blades and other such sharp items prove suitably lethal. Indeed, nothing typifies the core fundamentals of the game more than the gravity gun. But most of all, the game physics aren’t just tacked on, they’re not just integral to the game, they ARE the game. So impressive is this new way of thinking, that it makes other games look positively lazy by comparison. While Max Payne 2 would be the same game with or without boxes that fall over when grazed, Half Life 2 lives and breathes physics.
While other games before it have incorporated the Havoc 2.0 physics engine, Half Life 2 is the first to make Newton’s laws work for their worth, instead of serving merely as incidental effects that have no bearing on the game. It doesn’t become noticeable until you’re instructed to pile up some crates in order to escape through a window, but in Half Life 2, physics play an important role – a very important role. Unquestioning acceptance of the game environment is where HL2 excels – physics for example. It’s a world that’s so well conceived in its dystopia it would impress Orwell himself – it’s a world called City 17 and for the next fifteen or so hours you’ll be taking up unquestioning residency. It’s a game which sets out to cast the player into a world so believable that they take everything for granted – and it succeeds. With bad games it’s usually obvious what’s wrong, – graphical errors, frustrating level design, soulless repetition, cringe-worthy sound effects – but unfortunately for reviewers, Half Life 2 falls foul of none of these things. You might not realise this, but it’s actually more difficult to review a very good game than it is to review a very bad one.
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