This is an unpopular opinion I believe, but I don't think Half-Life is that good. I just don't see it as a masterpiece everyone claims it to be. I beat it for the first time earlier this year and I wasn't impressed. I played it again for 25th anniversary, and my opinion hasn't changed very much.

I think it's consistently frustrating - there's a lot of poor enemy placements, like headcrabs in vents early on. Are they supposed to be scary? I found them more annoying than anything. Or when you see a medical terminal[i.imgur.com], and then an enemy[i.imgur.com] spawns behind you. Or cheap moments like this sniper[i.imgur.com] that isn't very obvious. The game baits you with a health pickup, only to deliver a middle finger. Or or this normal looking cracked wall texture[i.imgur.com]? Except it's not and will rain you with bricks[i.imgur.com] (doesn't do a lot of damage, but still kind of annoying). Or this structure[i.imgur.com] full of teleports? They may teleport you forward, or towards bonuses... or straight up cheap death. How generous.

I could go on, but I hope I won't have to list more examples. I just don't think Half-Life holds up all that well. Even physics aren't very good, when you have a bunch of platforming and you're awfully slippery, falling to your death is not uncommon. Air mobility is poor, and ladders are janky as hell. You have to realize that the game may not be so kind to first time players... or even second time players in my case.

So... why recommend anyway, despite it supposedly not being all that great? Well, it IS one of THE games of all time. You should check it out and make your own judgement. You may find this game to hold up just fine, or find it to be an infuriating piece of garbage. And it's not without merit - it's immersive, while there are some pacing issues, it's mostly pretty good - there are almost no cutscenes to stop you and you can ignore NPCs if you know what to do already. Everything happens in real time. The gunplay is also decent. There must be a reason why it's so beloved. It may not be my cup of tea, but it's still an interesting piece of gaming history. Half-Life 2 is way better though, haha.

This is an unpopular opinion I believe, but I don't think [b]Half-Life[/b] is that good. I just don't see it as a masterpiece everyone claims it to be. I beat it for the first time earlier this year and I wasn't impressed. I played it again for 25th anniversary, and my opinion hasn't changed very much. I think it's consistently frustrating - there's a lot of poor enemy placements, like headcrabs in vents early on. Are they supposed to be scary? I found them more annoying than anything. Or [url=https://i.imgur.com/JWhXYQI.jpg]when you see a medical terminal[/url], and then [url=https://i.imgur.com/1BLqe6e.jpg]an enemy[/url] spawns behind you. Or cheap moments like [url=https://i.imgur.com/h2Dovhi.jpg]this sniper[/url] that isn't very obvious. The game baits you with a health pickup, only to deliver a middle finger. Or [url=https://i.imgur.com/zQGbQLh.jpg]or this normal looking cracked wall texture[/url]? Except [url=https://i.imgur.com/FWQ7RBM.jpg]it's not and will rain you with bricks[/url] (doesn't do a lot of damage, but still kind of annoying). Or [url=https://i.imgur.com/pYkUaxp.jpg]this structure[/url] full of teleports? They may teleport you forward, or towards bonuses... or straight up cheap death. How generous. I could go on, but I hope I won't have to list more examples. I just don't think [b]Half-Life[/b] holds up all that well. Even physics aren't very good, when you have a bunch of platforming and you're awfully slippery, falling to your death is not uncommon. Air mobility is poor, and ladders are janky as hell. You have to realize that the game may not be so kind to first time players... or even second time players in my case. So... why recommend anyway, despite it supposedly not being all that great? Well, it IS one of THE games of all time. You should check it out and make your own judgement. You may find this game to hold up just fine, or find it to be an infuriating piece of garbage. And it's not without merit - it's immersive, while there are some pacing issues, it's mostly pretty good - there are almost no cutscenes to stop you and you can ignore NPCs if you know what to do already. Everything happens in real time. The gunplay is also decent. There must be a reason why it's so beloved. It may not be my cup of tea, but it's still an interesting piece of gaming history. [b]Half-Life 2[/b] is way better though, haha.