Half Life 2 is a masterpiece made by Valve, short and simple. When this game came out in 2004, it was an advancement that would take gaming further than it ever had been before. Even today, 14 years later, it's graphics are still comparable with new games and it's physics is still unmatched. There are a lot of people who only get this game to have add-on's in Garry's Mod, but I feel that anybody who has not played this masterwork yet should.

I don't know what to really say besides that this is one of the most advanced physics engines ever created in gaming. In 2004, no one had ever seen such things in a video game. It was utterly breathtaking back then, and still so today (especially after you realize this game was made 14 years ago.) The ability to use the gravity gun/other items to break, throw, explode and utilize different objects around the map is fairly unique. Once you get the gravity gun after getting to Eli's lab, you don't really need to use as much ammo anymore, as suddenly the entire world around you has become a weapon at your disposal.

I might just be weird, but when I get bored, I will sometimes listen to vocal walkthrough's of the story of Half Life. The events of Half Life 2 picks up around twenty years after Half Life 1, and the explanation of things that have happened in-between are explained brilliantly by the rebel's and your fellow Scientist's and Allies. Marc Laidlaw's talents at writing stories is something to behold for yourself. I can't really describe it in any other way besides that it is beautiful.

If you like action games, then you will be extremely excited for hours on end while playing this. I can't tell you how many times I jumped after suddenly being attacked by zombies or Combines. With the use of the physics engine, the gameplay of Half Life 2 is incredibly realistic. Things break when they are supposed to break. Enemies die when they are supposed to die and react pretty realistically. You will be on the edge of your seat for the whole time you play this game.

What else can be said about this game that has already been said? There is a reason this game was awarded 39 Game of the Year awards, best game of the decade, a 96/100 Metacritic (PC) score and 10/10 Steam score. I also believe that what I have said above is reason enough to buy this game. At the time of me writing this, the game is on sale for 90% off, making it only $1 dollar. If you don't have this already, pick it up now; it is worth every cent. And even the usual $10 dollar price is well worth it. If you don't have this game already, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Overgrowth was an interesting purchase. I bought it on the Steam summer sale for 40% off, and I'm glad I did. After reading the background of the development of this game (9+ years), I was intrigued. I bought it, expecting a pretty cool game; and I was right. The physics are phenomenal, and is the key selling point of this game. There are a lot of complaints about how the story is all over the place, and I feel a lot of people forget that this game is the sequel of Lugaru: The Rabbit's Foot. While that does explain the story from the start, I will say that the ending is a bit abrupt. I definitely wasn't expecting the ending to be where it was, but what are you going to do?

One feature of this game that I am happy exists is the ability to edit the game and manipulate the enviroment using the F1 key. I feel this makes up for any faults this game may have, as it shows that the creators want to give the user the ability to form the game to his/her own liking.

The physics, as I stated above, are phenomenal. While it can be a little buggy, the fluid motions the character's make when fighting are incredibly satisfying. The feeling of throwing a spear into an enemy and seeing it stick can't be beat. However, there is one occasional bug that happens in arena mode (which I will talk about more in the following paragraph.) Sometimes when you respawn in arena, you will clip through the floor and instantly die. This isn't really a problem, since you just respawn anyway, but it does show that nothing is ever perfect.

I mentioned this above in the synopsis, but I feel I should go into a bit more detail. The story, at least in this game (and in most people's opinions) is a bit vague. Yes, this is a sequel, but it would seem that this game has overshadowed it's predecessor. I noticed while playing that it seems to jump around to various different parts of the stories, with some character's appearing and then never being heard from again. If you are buying this game for the story, I would highly advise you play the first game before this one.

There are a lot of people that feel this game is too much for what it is. To that, I would have to agree. Thirty dollars for a game you can finish in under three hours is a bit much. Luckily, at the time of me writing this, it is on sale. I feel that if you want to buy this game, wait for the sales to get it. Is it worth the sale price? Absolutely. This is an amazing game that makes you feel really good while you play it. And even after you finish the story, you can always go and play the arena mode. That has another few hours of enjoyment, if you like repetition. But luckily, if you get bored after all of that, you could always go and edit the game using the editor.

Overall, I give this game a solid 8/10. It's amazing if you can get it on sale.

This game used to be really fun. I enjoyed buying cars and driving them around the city. That is, until I recieved a false ban from the game. Rockstar's policy is that "every ban is final", and there is no turning that around. I took the time wrote several e-mail's to their support line and got the exact same automated e-mail each time. Rockstar's support system has gone severely downhill, showing that they are not committed to their fans anymore; they just want your money. They used to have a system where you would call the support line and talk to somebody, but they took that feature off. I understand that the game itself is extremely enjoyable and has great features, but the downgrade in Rockstar's care these last few years tarnishes it's reputation in my eyes. They seem to expect that an automated banning mechanic works with 100% accuracy and mistakes can't happen. Considering that in the last two months fans have been reporting a wave of false bans, I don't believe that is correct. So, do you like to run risk of getting your money/playtime completely destroyed by a terribly implemented banning system and horrible customer support? If you do, then buy Grand Theft Auto 5. If you don't want to risk wasting money, then save your money for something else. They do not seem to care about the customer anymore.

Update: I came back to add some more things. In the last three days, I have sent three more e-mail's involving this. As background, a month ago I sent four seperate e-mails to customer support. In all four of them, I wanted to know 1.) what I got banned for, and 2.) to request a phone call. None of these requests were answers, and I was given the same, automated e-mail after a day of waiting for each response (basically saying "Bans are final and you can't do ♥♥♥♥."). So after my ban was expired four days ago, I checked and, sure enough, both my level 65 character and level 37 character were deleted. So I sent another e-mail, asking, again, why I got banned (as I have still never gotten a response). I, yet again, still received the exact same e-mail from before (one even took two days to get to me.) I have sent yet another one, but under different terms. I have yet to find a way to talk to a real Rockstar employee on e-mail, as it seems all of the "support staff" that write back are bots, as they all seem to have the same exact e-mail to write. Obviously there was a reason I was banned, but I would like to know what that is. However, Rockstar apperently does not want to tell me. The money I have wasted is the least of my concerns now; I just want to know what happened. As of this edit, I have yet to get a new type of e-mail (all just saying "You got banned, you can't do ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥"). The one thing I want to get out of this now is for Rockstar to change their customer support back to the way it was, where they had actual staff to answer questions. I'm sure they changed it based on how many people play their games, but I actually wouldn't mind waiting a week to get an actual e-mail back from an actual person. I personally think that is better than waiting a day or two for an obvious e-mail automatically generated by a bot. I have sent this into Rockstar as a suggestion, but I'm sure they will just crumple it up and throw it away with the rest of them. It's a shame what this company has become.

Must admit, I don't usually get F2P games, and even when I do get one, they usually arn't what I expected. This was WAY better then I would have previously thought. Lot's of action, speed, and fun.

There are lot's of fun players in this game, and I found it very fun and amusing. I think this will be a game you see me playing a lot.