Hear that? Yes, level one complete! Some more text-based briefing and transitional loading screens and you are out. Completely out of the game back to the real world for a few seconds, back in front of your television with a plastic controller in your palm, in the middle of the night.

This may seem like a normal feeling but it’s what we have come to expect from some titles today, we as consumers want action we want pick up and playability we want an online multi player we want to be told what to do and let someone hold our hand. With not many titles daring to present us with a real challenge anymore, One that can frustrate us and keep us trying at the same time, That give us that sense of accomplishment. But that is exactly what we need, some of us just do not know it yet. It’s been awhile and we have stumbled from the path somewhat, we always do it takes something big to help us realize what we have been missing. Remember when you did not know what time it was and you forgot you had a piece of plastic in your hand when you kept saying in your head “I’ll just finish this bit and go to sleep” Fond memories and a smile starts to emerge on that cynical face of yours.

11 years ago the face of gaming was changed forever, it will always change and be flipped on its side exposing yet more possibilities to escape the clichés that start to mount up after lack of innovation and always continue to push boundaries. But for now this tale is about the beauty in this game, that sense of immersion and being part of the story, where you were the protagonist, a Game that sucked you in and made you play till the end. Sure there were a few Great Games out at the time but this title did more for the future titles than any other, if you have not guessed yet I am talking about valves Half-life.

Back in 1998 we were stumbling blindly through the alley with small glimmers of hope, this particular title helped to make those flashes of light and clarity that much clearer, and even took some of the other developers beacons of light with them namely id software’s quake engine That half-life was built on, and lead the way for other developers to escape from the darker parts of the alley and walk with more clarity down the path picking up the half-life touch where they left it so far ahead of the pack.

Even to this day valve proved that they still know what a Great game is about with when we were treated to half-life two which blew our minds yet another time and without them we would not have those games of today that have taken lessons, big or small from an old classic like half-life.

looking back at a half-life and trying to compare it with the games of today presents’ difficulties as subsequent to its release most games copied ideas from a half-life or tried to be the next half-life and we are so used to the innovation that it had created it has no longer become innovation but standard so for someone to play it today would be no great revelation but to play it back when it was released in 1998 was. So what exactly made a half-life a benchmark of quality for the genre?

As you started the game valve have already set the playing pieces on the board and made their first move before we even know it. Our protagonist Gordon Freeman is on his tram ride to work at the secret underground Research facility called black mesa, the ride sets the pace and atmosphere for the game as well as letting us see the scope of black mesa and the possible locations you can expect to encounter. The game starts as a normal day at work meeting and greeting people as you stroll in late and wander around getting a feel for the facility until all hell breaks lose and an experiment freeman is involved in goes terribly wrong and a portal into another world is unleashed creatures’ now fill freemen’s world and plagues the black mesa facility killing all who stand in their way. This was unique for a FPS as you weren’t presented with say a static image with some text or a small CGI sequence of what has happened then left to clean up and work your way through the aftershock half-life puts you right in the middle of the catastrophe in a brilliant opening sequence as you feel helpless only to witness the horrors that are unfolding half-life’s story is not that detailed people have claimed it to be a “glorified doom” but the real breakthroughs in this game is not the story its the way the story is presented and the atmosphere is maintained and immerses you into the world of freeman.

Once you escape the scene of the experiment gone wrong, you can then see how the stark contrast as environments and people change compared to when you came in for work in the morning ,and everything was running as it should. People are being killed around you some even taking their last stand daring to fight the aliens or even shooting at their own team members as they become the next victim of the head crab and get turned into a human zombie. As you progress through the facility there are no levels And this was a big innovation at the time, the game play is not just made up of killing everything in this Level or room finding the key to the big door and then entering the door to complete the level to be greeted with the next level and another big locked door labeled level 3, the game is however free-flowing you still follow a path but it feels more like your own choice to discover the path as there is no big glowing door or green keycard is instead a lot of discovering exits is needed like
crawling through vents or clearing a path sometimes finding an exit can take time, but it creates the illusion of a less structured path, Even including interesting scripted events like when you press the button to call For the elevator and it plummets down the shaft with scientists inside screaming as they fall to their death and you have to jump into the elevator shaft and climb up the huge maintenance ladder it is moments like that help keeps the game feeling fresh and less like a task.

when a player does find a new location there is a small transitional loading period then the new area is loaded until we stumble across the next one so instead of big contrived levels it is smaller quicker areas that give half-life an unique feel the games’ use an un broken narrative structure taking place entirely in first person, only to break when Freeman looses consciousness or the mysterious G-man decides to have a chat.

The game was also laid out in such a way to keep the player immersed by being more realistic and believable with weapons and ammo being found from dead guards and solders or in supply closets not feeling like things have been placed there, specifically for you the players to use, you find them and gain an advantage for all that crate smashing and hunting in small rooms looking for weapon lockers, the health and armor for your bio hazard suit (which Freeman is introduced to at the beginning of the game as he starts work)which you can refill from the wall mounted stations not randomly placed huge red plus symbols placed on the floor, there are health pickups but they seem more sensibly placed in cupboards Or on tables around soldiers that have used them to store ammo and medical supplies as they hold a position.

The scripted events help maintain this feeling as well, and some were so well done the first time you witnessed them you stopped whatever you were doing and just watched them mystified by the depth and amount of small scripted scenes that took place through the game. But hopefully not for too long to be a victim of the head crab, which is now almost as recognizable as Mario in the world of gaming. The Game play is just as unique as the way the story is told Among with the Head crabs, Alien slaves & grunts, bullsquids and houndeyes, and smaller Aliens. The aliens also infect humans and turn them into zombies, and that was not the half of it for Freeman later on the game the army sent to “help” end up shooting at everyone and everything to clean up/cover up the situation.
But he does find some help along the path in the way of scientists that survived who can help if you interact with them by opening locked doors that Freeman lacks security clearance to or helping to explain what exactly is going on help also presents itself in the way of the black mesa security guards who can open doors and even help you in fighting the Aliens although they are AI is not very smart and they do tend to die quite easily unless you devote most of your resources and time to keeping them alive. So most of the time you will find yourself alone.

All the different enemies had ways to be killed easily and the game play forces the player to chop and change tactics depending on whom he is fighting for instance the human soldiers work as a team and communicate over a radio with the distinctive crackle of “all clear” they lay in a wait and do not actively seek you out and nothing gets the feathers more ruffled than hearing a group of solders laying in a wait once you attack they even try to split in teams to attack you for maximum effectiveness instead of standing their firing off round after round if there being shot at they crouch to avoid being so easily shot throw grenades to flush you out of hiding and even run away when they were badly injured clutching their wound sometimes cursing or screaming MEDIC making there Behaviors more believable and less like shooting cardboard cutouts,
Half-life is not just run & gun game, it is broken down into different environments where the player has to navigate,  his way across a room that has little or no enemies and it becomes more like a platformer,and there is some element of puzzle solving or timing your jumps. These do help to keep to keep interest along with fighting the boss’s of the game and just plain old exploration hunting for more weapons the change of paces of environments helps a lot. As the game does start to feel stuffy after fighting your way through an underground rail station and then an underwater maze but if the player perseveres he is rewarded by being let outside again and fights the army once again with a brilliantly scripted scene while scaling big cliffs that surround the black mesa facility a chopper follows Freemans every move and does everything he can to stop him that is until he discovers a guided rocket launcher.And as they say “the rest is history” and if it isn’t part of your history go out there and buy a copy of Half-life

After the initial success of Half-life it did not stop breaking new territory it has to be Noted that valve supported the modding community very well, out of this we got Counter Strike practically a benchmark for online FPS’s and the excellent Team fortress being the most played of all the mod’s

Half-life has taught us a lot and was revolutionary at the time this is a title that every gamer should experience Once, even if you have before blow the dust off the case and play it one last time just to chart the progress of games, it has been so fast with so many releases and so many jumps in technological advances with more platforms than ever catering for all our gaming needs from casual to hardcore there is something for everyone. Sometimes a title like half-life can give us something that a new release cannot it reminds us where we have come from and what to be thankful for and being able to still stand the test of time to someone who can appreciate it.

Never forgetting That one title can make a big difference if a developer like Valve dare to go where others are afraid to tread. Some people believe that we keep stumbling over the same cliche’s in a genre like FPS’s, and that developers have become lazy making the same model and adding to it with gimmicks. But we are just waiting for another title to turn this Genre on the head and we wonder how we survived without it.

By Greg Roake.             GregRoake@hotmail.co.uk

PC oyunculuğunun vazgeçilmezi; Steam hizmetinde bu hafta en çok satılan oyunlar:

1. Left 4 Dead 2.
2. Borderlands ve  Dragon Age: Origins.
3. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.
4. Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition ve Civilization IV: The Complete Edition.
5. Aion Standard Edition.
6. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II.
7. Saints Row 2.
8. Cities XL Limited Edition.
9. Left 4 Dead.
10. Counter-Strike: Source.

I’d like every one to meet RealLifePudding!! Pudding is a member and a friend of Secret Option F, and when playing with us, he’s often the Medic, Engie, or Heavy dominating your sorry ass He’s also very well known for his video editing he’s done for us and Jening. Pudding plays from Berlin Germany, and even though he’s half way around the world with tons of lag, he still play many games with us, and we appreciate it very much!!

In this article we’ll feature many of Pudding’s video he’s done, and a small chat with our German friend.

here’s an example of his editing work. AMAZING!! “They’ll Come (a HL2 short)”

More on RealLifePudding and his videos after the break!!

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Aldershot: what are some of your favorite games?

RealLifePudding: gothic 2+night of the raven addon, splinter cell series <3

Aldershot: when did you start TF2?

RealLifePudding: i started playing tf2 when it came out with the orange box. but i actually bought it because of hl2:ep2 and portal. i didn’t wanted to play tf2 in the first place^^ but then i tried and loved it.

Aldershot: whats your fave classes?

RealLifePudding: my fav class is engineer and heavy, even though i try to cut my playtime as engie.

Aldershot: what are some changes you’d make in TF2?

RealLifePudding: i would totally remove all the hats and the random drop system, and i would make harder achievements. I would also integrate a system, where you can delete single stats and not all of them

Aldershot: do you have any thing to say to our readers?

RealLifePudding: things to say to the readers…. not really. just keep playing and enjoy your life. it’s the only thing you will miss the most, when you lose it. also tf2 4tw, JENING for PRESIDENT and F! RUUULZ!!!

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Here’s some more videos done by RealLifePudding!!

“the Citadel” A great composite video of the Citadel from HL”

“Nico WEB” A cool mini short of Grand Theft Auto 4

“BluemanGroup Typography 2″ A sweet music video featuring the Blue Man Group

“Combo Collection 6″ Over in Germany and parts of Asia, Pen Spinning is a popular hobby. RealLifePudding being from Germany is an active participant of the hobby, and this is a video featuring some of his greatest moves.

Thanks RealLifePudding for being awesome, and I’m sure we’ll see you in future games!

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Check out more of Pudding’s videos on his YouTube page!! http://www.youtube.com/user/AllNameAreGone