Let me answer 3 questions. Is it the best game ever? No. Is it as good as Half Life? Not entirely, clarification to follow. Is it ONE OF the best games ever and a must buy? Yes.

Half-Life was one of those rare games that came along at just the right moment and without reinventing the wheel, did pretty much exactly what everyone else was doing but improved it just enough and had the complete package to make people think it was revolutionary. At the time it came out it was just another one of many first-person-shooters on the market, but it's immersive environment and story, along with a couple of gameplay innovations, tied it all together in a package that was pretty much perfect. It went on to become one of the biggest games ever, and is one of the first games mentioned when people take about "the best game ever".
So, many years later, Half-Life 2 finally arrived. And about a year after that it finally arrived in my PC. And it's great. No, it really is. The graphics are great, the new gameplay elements are great - especially the "gravity gun" which, among other things, lets you pick up barrels and other parts of the scenery and fire them at super-high speed into the enemy. It's really entertaining, the levels are varied and challenging, and I was gripped by the story...BUT...

...BUT... There's something missing. The story is kind of vague and unexplained - without reading up online about some aspects of it, I will admit I had very little clue what was going on. The lack of cutscenes was used in the first game as a way to propel you headlong through the adventure, which had a very simple plot that didn't require much explanation. The second game has a more complex tale, but still tries to thrust you through it with no explanation, leaving you feeling like a bewildered alcholic waking up from a dazen stupor rather than the take-charge hero you are supposed to have become. By the time you near the end, you get the nagging feeling there is not going to be a satisfactory ending, and you are not left disappointed. Well, actually you are, but you get my meaning.

The game ends on a cliffhanger which promises to be picked up in the recently released Half-Life 2:Episode 1 (which as a title makes no sense at all), and Valve (the game's creators) have promised more regular mini-sequels every year or so, rather than a 5 year wait between huge games. So I'm really glad I bought it, it rocks, it really does, but it's just kind of a 9/10 rather than the 10/10 I hoped it would be. But I can't wait to play Episode 1, which I bought this weekend and should be reviewing here soon.

Half-Life 2: Game of the Year Edition

Half-Life 1 Anthology

HalfLife 2 Episode One (DVD)