It has taken us a week to reach the Top MegaGame of 2004 but considering the wealth of exciting titles released during the past year it is a surprise it only took that long. Most of you will think that a game deserved to be in the Top 10 that didn’t make it. But such is the beauty of democracy; those who cared enough about the games they enjoyed in 2004, cast their votes and shaped the Top 10.
The Number 1 MegaGame of 2004 is a true diva of the industry, one that has played an intense and at times emotional game of hide and seek with gamers, over the past six years. The build-up to this sequel’s release was worthy of an entire soap-opera season. Fans became frustrated when they found out that the object of their affection would not appear at the originally announced date, only to be confused further by finding out that code form the game had been stolen. For a long time following that theft, the game didn’t even have a release date with its future up in the air as publisher and developer became entangled in a bitter legal battle. When, a year later, a date was announced rumors and doubts begun surfacing regarding the distribution of the game and how the battle between publisher and developer may result in further delay. Even when the game was released, a series of delays authenticating it over the internet and problems with the developer’s host application meant that anyone finally playing the game felt very special indeed.
Out of this troubled past and out of the ashes of a developer in crisis, arose Half-Life 2, the most voted for game in the Top 10 MegaGames of 2004 vote. If you took all other games in the Top 10, summed-up their votes and then doubled that number you would be just under the number of votes Valve’s baby managed to accumulate. With a history such as the one mentioned above, covered in extensive detail in the MegaGames Chronicles of Freeman, you can see how a game like Half-Life 2 manages to stir passions and create controversy.
It has been six years since we were first introduced to Gordon Freeman and his battle to save earth but when gamers loaded their copy of the game, it seemed that time had stood still. The original Half-Life brought cinematic production values to gaming by introducing exciting narrative, memorable characters all delicately held together by a plot which was second only to the intense and heart-stopping action. Being the first game to truly lift gaming out of the miserable confines of the University dorm, Half-Life enjoyed unprecedented success and left an entire generation of gamers craving more. Valve was faced with the unenviable task of matching a classic.
In many ways Valve and iD, creator of the Number 2 MegaGame of 2004, had very similar tasks which they approached with very different philosophies. While iD decided to strictly follow the original game, falling pray to some of its limitations at the same time, Valve chose to innovate but achieved it without betraying the essence of the original. So while the player feels that this is the same Dr. Freeman which they witnessed single-handedly save the world during the Black Mesa incident, they are also in for a full blown attack on the senses with 21st Century technology. This time around the good Dr. has to traverse huge expanses in order to reach his various goals, from humid marshes to the exquisite architecture of the city to bleak post-modern facilities, this is a journey which grabs the gamer by the scruff of the neck and hurls him around as if trapped in the clutches of the infamous gravity gun.
Valve’s innovation however, does not stop there, the extreme attention to detail when creating the character facial features has an immeasurable effect on the player who quickly finds himself drawn in, even on an emotional level. Then there is the story, which is not force-fed to you through cut-scenes but which you have to extract from weary citizens and battle weary rebels and is delivered by some of the best voice-acting ever to grace a video game. The actual story does remain slightly basic and will not claim any originality awards but Valve, knowing how effective its facial technology is, wisely chose to let the characters deliver it, thus doubling its effect on the gamer. Then you just have to consider the physics; while Havok has been used before in games, the way Valve incorporated the physics engine into the gameplay is truly a sign of great gaming minds at work. The sheer brilliance of the gravity gun doesn’t fail to amaze and when you begin using it to line crates so that you can walk over the sand without infuriating the Antlions or to float over a radioactive canal, or to use a radiator as a shield from enemy fire then your jaw really hits the floor.
In fact, playing Half-Life 2 you come to realize why the original game and now its sequel, have come to be appreciated so much, they are complete games in every sense of the word. It is the game which will leave you with the most memorable experiences and one which you will find yourselves returning to time and time again.
Valve has created a game which will keep surprising you, in a good way, through its every twist and turn, a game which will leave you gasping for breath as you travel through its beautiful and haunting world, a game which will drain you emotionally as you become involved with its characters and a game which will drive you on and on to play but which will leave you slightly melancholic once you have completed it.
Half-Life 2 is by no means perfect, the way the pace can drop when faced with a puzzle for example, can frustrate but if after the entire experience you can think of anything other than WOW to say, you must have an agenda. Forget the delays, the bickering between developer and publisher and the authentication woes, even the lack of campus steam support for students, 2004 will be known as the year we stopped talking about what Half-Life 2 might be and begun discovering what it is.
As you may expect from a game so intense and highly anticipated, the comments made by voters tended to be filled with superlatives, …I chose Half-Life 2 because just like when the first Half-Life was released it was the best game ever to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting public in this universe.Much on the same wavelength was another voter who claims, I selected HL2 because I have been a Half-Life fan since HL came out and the new Half-Life 2 is the best game of 2004 because HL2 has improved its graphics quality by 10,000 times and the story is also amazing and continues from HL 1 and other HL’s such as opposing force, blue shift etc.. To tell you the truth I was crying when the game ended ‘cause I was sad that this was the end of HL 2 and I hope they come up with HL3 in the future.
Even experienced gamers were taken aback by H-L 2s quality, Half-Life 2 is the best game that I ever have played, period. And this despite my 15+ years as a gamer. I've never experienced a game before that has so totally enveloped me during its course. A great proportion of those who voted for it, had some comment to make about a certain prominent feature of its arsenal, …besides the excellent story, beautiful engine, and CS:Source, I only need to say 2 words – Grav. gun. Comments about the in-game use of physics continued, Half- Life 2 put the Havoc engine to uses that I am still figuring out. They all have great merits!
Some gamers did try to include a bit of criticism in their comments, Half-life 2 is an obvious choice for the top-spot. It is a 1st person shooter in the truest sense of the word -- you never leave the eyes of Gordon Freeman. Excellent production values and a great engine propelled it to the legendary status held by only a few games, including Half-life 1. The “deus ex machina” ending could have been done without, but no game is perfect. In a confusing move, a gamer who voted for H-L 2 comments, Half-Life 2 is, of course, a great game. Even though it has a slightly dated graphics engine, and the only reason it looks so good is because they use such good textures, it still is a great game… the voter then goes on to offer some advice, …when you take Half-Life 2 textures and put them in the Doom3 engine, it is just awesome.
Maybe the most fitting way to complete this tribute to the Top MegaGame of 2004 is by a comment which says it all: Half-Life 2 -- Well, I've been waiting for this title for a very long time and I was expecting it to be breathtaking. It did what it promised and pleased me with its superb graphics, incomparable physics, and addictive story-line. The addition of the emotions for the characters added a sense of belonging to the game in such a way that you can turn your back when you don't want to listen.
Number 2