Half-Life 2 Preview

"Good morning Gordon!" - exclaims a bald pale-looking scientist, with a grey moustache blossoming under his nose, as he passes you by... This standard, working ambiance in your average high-tech science lab, suddenly turns into a day in hell for a particular individual named Gordon Freeman. As fate would have it, Gordon inadvertently sets off a dimensional rift that brought a rather lethal alien species to the Black Mesa labs. Soon after that, our hero finds he's in a really tight spot. He has to survive against a group of well-trained commandos as well as a throng of weird-looking aliens... This is a rough presentation of a plot that should sound at least vaguely familiar to you lot (that is, if you haven't been living under a ROCK for the past few years - Ed). Yep, it's Half-Life we're talking about. Believe it or not, after almost five years of hard work and secretive programming and designing, Valve decided to unleash some tidbits on the full blown sequel to the first-person action game that literarily changed the world of PC gaming as we know it, Half-Life 2. All we really know at this point is that it continues the exciting story of its predecessor. All the media released up to this point, is several months old, so, that means that we still have to wait for the E3 to bring you more up-to-date info on the in-game goodies. All in all, those selfish lads at Valve have thrown some crumbs of pure Half-Life 2 goodness our way, and we're more than happy to report about it.

Sir, he won't talk, shall I bring out the Gimp!

Nice move. Didn't see that one coming...

The team at Valve Software essentially took every single penny they've earned with Half-Life, and poured it into the production of a sequel. All their efforts and dogged determination in the past five years was focused on Half-Life 2. (And YOU thought they were working on Team Fortress 2. Silly Reader. - Ed [You did, too - so shut your pie hole. - 2Lions]) Throughout the years, the team was thoroughly involved with creating digital storyboards, modifying the engine created for this game (called Source) and adapting it to the ever-growing HL game community. Other improvements include highly advanced AI routines, bizarre-looking new creatures, zombies, and monsters, NPC's, vast outdoor environments, true-to-life physics, and so on. Valve took the time to consider all the aspects that made the first game so popular, and build on them for the game's sequel. Besides offering a brand new and adaptable in-game engine (which allowed for massively thriving game community), Half-Life presented a very effective and compelling story-driven single-player experience with a cool main game character, well-designed AI, etc. Also, fans of the game should be more than pleased to know that a great number of characters will be reappearing in Half-Life 2.

Although the exact plot structure remains a well-guarded mystery, some details have immerged to satisfy our poor gaming lust and undying curiosity. The sequel takes place not long after the ending of the original game. Gamers will follow the destiny of renowned character Gordon Freeman, who has been hired by the sinister and enigmatic individual - the G-man (you know that dude with the briefcase, whom you finally catch up with at the ending of the first game). At the conclusion of the original Half-Life game, Gordon is offered a chance to work with the G-man, and, apparently, the sequel continues this story, assuming Freeman decides to accept the offer (the reasons behind that decision still remain unknown at this time). Like I mentioned a wee bit earlier, HL 2 brings back some of the old cast, among which you'll find, Eli Vance, the African-American scientist, the aforementioned G-man, and everyone's favorite security guard Barney. Gordon was lucky enough to receive the aid of a new character called Alyx - Eli's enticing young daughter, who will supposedly be your main ally during the game. By the way, several rumors have recently indicated the possibility of players stepping into the shoes of Alyx during gameplay. Well, this speculation was firmly denied by the blokes at Valve, which of course leaves you playing with good ol' glassy-eyed Freeman throughout the entire game. Anyhoo, as far as we've gathered, the scoop in the game is that Gordon and Alyx arrive to an Eastern European-style location called City 17, where a massive alien presence was unleashed. Your specific mission goals are unknown for the time being. All in all, we were informed that the entire game stretches through 12 chapters (all of which are speculated to last at least three to four hours, individually), which create a huge single-player story considerably lengthier than its predecessor. Valve also got the support of the talented scriptwriter and by novelist Mark Laidlaw. The plot unfolds similarly to the first game, which denotes a well-structured storyline that is revealed without cut-scenes - although the game has some scripted events, you'll be able to stop them at any time.

The info we have on things like weapons and items are rather vague at the moment. The development team was only willing to uncover that players will have access to wide-ranging traditional earth-style weaponry, combined with certain experimental alien weapons. Whatever the case, it is more than evident that numerous familiar weapons from the Half-Life arsenal will re-emerge; such as the shot-gun, the MP5, the crowbar (the much-hyped melee weapon), grenades, rocket launchers, and the like. Gameplay wise, all of these weapons and other, currently unknown items, were tweaked and re-enhanced so as to act more convincingly in the game. Much praising and complimenting should go to the programming team for that one - weapon balancing, engine code optimizations, and similar efforts were all twice as challenging to make this time around. With the newly improved physics, weapons like grenades, rifles, pistols, had to be revamped and made to work realistically and properly in the newborn Source engine.

Striving to improve the in-game atmosphere even further, Valve's team of programmers endeavors to advance an aspect that made the first game tick. This time they went all-out to improve both enemy and NPC AI routines. Although the opponent AI in Half-Life was truly superior in comparison to the competing games in its time, there were some unexplainable hitches that tended to throw the gameplay slightly off balance. Barney, your faithful comrade in arms, seemed to have a very weak perception of what he was doing, so he usually wound up dead or surrounded by enemies. Friendly NPC's in Half-Life 2 were described as having more sense and awareness of the danger that lies ahead, hence you don't have to worry about them running off on pointless suicide missions. When it comes to enemy intelligence, you'll be encountering smart and very nasty creatures, other various weird-looking mutants and entities, along with trained soldiers to boot. Recent examples, demonstrated by the guys at Valve, have shown several highly-skilled CPU-controlled characters (both friendly and unfriendly). Monsters were given the cleverness to react to almost anything they encounter in the environment, from different objects and obstacles, to Gordon himself. If an alien runs into a barrel along the way it will send it flying straight in your general direction. Also, even though you can hide just about anywhere, enemies are going to search, break down doors, smash glass windows, look through holes, until they sniff you out and lunge forth to confront you. Quite impressive.

The AI seems to be doing its job rather well so far.

Hey Eli, gained a few pounds have we?

As to what types of enemies we expect... well, there was a bunch already unveiled by the development team. First off, some recognizable Xen aliens will be back to greet you (some of which may work with you against larger and deadlier foes) and new species of aliens, such as the Ant Lions, the huge-legged creatures called Striders (which can be seen on one of the shots). Also, the game will include different types of human soldiers and police squadrons.

So what about that Half-Life 2 engine then? What's it all about anyway? To put it as bluntly as possible, Half-Life 2 uses what they have dubbed "The Source," their proprietary piece of technology that has the gaming world buzzing like mad at the moment. The newly-shaped engine brought numerous perfections to the world of Half-Life 2. The developers were particularly proud with the work they've done on the in-game physics that are now one large step closer to those we're used to in real life (they have licensed and modified the Havok physics engine for that). Well, let's throw you some nifty examples shall we... Gordon can pick up chairs and barrels and throw them at his foes, or he can simply use them to shield himself from enemy fire. Note however, that there are enemies that can do that too, so it's going to be a fair fight in that respect. Quite simply, each object in the surroundings can be moved, damaged, or used as a weapon. Also, all these items have layers of unique textures that make them react differently to collisions and shots. They also produce distinctive sounds, which adds another boost to in-game realism. Naturally, the capabilities of this engine brings on a whole variety of improvements; most of which include highly-detailed textures, diffused and secular bump-mapping used for creating incredibly detailed character models and objects, visually stunning particle effects, and the list just goes on from there. Character models were given a special dose of attention throughout development, and are said to have an average of 5,000 polygons per model. Thankfully, they were all given complex and lifelike rag doll physics that's gonna make every fallen enemy react naturally to the ground features and surrounding objects. The key detail in character modeling is the addition of realistic-looking eyeballs that were designed to make players feel as if NPC's are gazing directly at them, instead of just staring off into space (like the average model skins we're used to seeing in games nowadays). Creating Half-Life 2 gave the developers the opportunity to experiment with various lighting effects, shadows, and reflections. Lighting was created to resemble illumination and brightness we're all accustomed to seeing every day throughout our lives. This means that sometimes you won't be able to see where the light source is coming from because it was carefully and delicately placed to correspond with similar real-life environments.

Apart from being secretive on many game aspects, Valve was also extremely tight-lipped on multiplayer specifics. So far the only thing that remains clear is that Half-Life 2 will definitely feature a number of multiplayer modes, but we still have to wait to learn if they'll bring anything new. One thing's absolutely certain though, the first Half-Life title stands as a video game with one of the largest online communities. HL 2 surely won't be far behind, once the full version sees the light of day. Also, the new engine was hailed to be a lot more advanced and at the same time flexible, making things easier for countless Half-Life mod-makers. To conclude, with all the promised innovations and the support it has from fans and communities worldwide, there's a strong possibility that the game could increase its popularity beyond the success and fame of the original.

The official release date for the game is set for September 30, 2003. At this point, we aren't exactly sure whether the Xbox version will have any different elements, but we do know that Xbox players will probably have to wait a bit longer than PC owners - which kind of a refreshing change I must say. That's the juice we have for you at the moment kids. E3 will bring more details and info, so stay put.