Half-Life 2 (DVD ROM)

The game automatically set itself at 800x600 with most of the settings on medium and of course no AA or AF. At these settings it runs smooth as silk (although the fact that the graphics card is only DirectX 7 capable means that I don't get to appreciate any pretty water effects etc). However, there are two main compromises -
i) Only surfaces very close to Gordon are rendered in detail. While moving it is fairly easy to see the border between sharper and more blurred texture changing.
ii) Non-important objects (boxes, non-explosive barrels, bits of wood, etc) become transparent and then disappear altogether at a distance from Gordon. This is mostly of no significance, but can occasionally be troublesome. Cleverly, objects such as medkits and supply boxes are visible from any distance.

As the game was running so well, I tried upping the resolution to 1024x768. At this level it still runs superbly well, with the only problem being a second or so of stuttering following a load screen. (By the way, load times are fairly long, but that seems to be a problem on higher specced machines aswell.)

Overall I am extremely impressed at how well this cutting edge game runs on an old computer. It has certainly not detracted from my enjoyment (although I do sometimes think how truely stunning it must look on a high spec system!). I would highly recommend this game, and I hope this review has convinced anyone with a less powerful computer that they won't be disappointed.

1) Set up a Steam account for you
2) Prompt you for the DVD key
3) Decrypt the already installed files on your hard drive
4) Update the game

Steam is there to reduce piracy through compulsory registration, offer an online channel for buying and updating games and to help with network play. Once it's set up though (and it will take a little over an hour on dial-up), you will ONLY need to be connected to Steam the FIRST TIME you play the single player game. Just follow the 3 instructions about setting Steam options on the Quick Reference Card in the box.

The first time you try to play it offline it will say that Half Life 2 hasn't been set up to be played offline. Go and start it through Steam while online and when you've started the first level, QUIT the game. Then launch the game again without an internet connection, click 'play offline' in the Steam dialogue box and you're sorted, because the game is now registered and has stored the information it needs on your PC. But it's very important to follow the 3 bullet points listed on the Quick Reference Card.

I hope this helps.

BTW: Haven't got that far in the game, but already the atmosphere of City 17 is proving to be pure escapism. But that installation process...

It is lovely. It looks and sounds fantastic, the new engine is a big improvement on the previous incarnation. I sometimes had to stop and just look around at the lovely scenery.

The new ability to interact with the environment is fantastic and will hopefully be improved upon in the future. Gives a much more realistic feel to the game and allows for some interesting gameplay where you have to manoeuvre objects in interesting ways in order to progress. It's also fun lobbing washing machines and such at baddies.

The range of weapons has not vastly changed, except for the new gravity gun, it's the usual familiars. It did feel that the range of baddies was limited, seemed to be fighting pretty much the same sort of things time and again. Also, they weren't especially clever, generally just rushed at you.

The levels are quite big, took about 12 hours playing time. It is very easy though. If you are a veteran gamer do yourself a favour and play it on hard.

The game alone does deserve 5 stars. The reason I've given it three stars:

Steam - A completely over the top, pain-in-the-backside method of distributing and controlling software releases. Installing the game took hours, because of steam. Even playing the game opens up steam and connects on-line. It is always there getting in the way. If Half-Life 2 was not such a good game I would boycott it all together because of Steam. The developers of steam seem to have forgotten about customer service, instead, their software is intrusive, laboured and unnecessary. I understand the need to introduce methods to reduce piracy, but at the expense of the majority? PLEASE STEAM, JUST GO AWAY!