The Brawl delay is actually somewhat of a good thing: It forces me to go out with what little money I have and try to find some decent, cheap games that I otherwise wouldn’t really bother with under most other circumstances. This led me to making two purchases: P.N.03, and Half-Life 2.

As you can tell from the above picture and title of this C-blog, I will NOT be talking about P.N.03, though the delightful blandness, awkward controls, and lack of story warrant a completely different entry itself. But that’s for another day!

No, I’d like to admit that before today, I have never played a Half-Life game before, ever. Sure, one of my friends used to have both games, the PS2 port of the first game and Xbox port of HL2 (which is what I purchased today), but he never was too willing to show much to me. No, he’d play for about 10 minutes, get frustrated, and then put another game in, leaving me befuddled and curious as ever. I knew the games got rave reviews, but never really got WHY they were so great…

…That is, until I stumbled upon Destructoid and saw the love this community gives Valve and all their games. After some reading up and such, I decided I really wanted to try out one of the games, to see for one thing what all the fuss is about, and for another thing to play a game that’s actually GOOD science fiction and not some half-assed bullshit like Halo or the aforementioned P.N.03.

I’m only two hours into Half-Life 2 on the Xbox, but my God, it is the greatest two hours I’ve spent on anything in recent memory.

I’m sure most of you people were already fans of the first game when HL2 came out and started playing the game with a huge gleeful grin on your face, but probably for separate reasons than my own. Oh yes, I was smiling, but not from nostalgic memories like a real fan would’ve been doing. The game booted up, and some mysterious old man was talking to me, speaking cryptically, and I had no clue what he was rambling about. One line latched onto my brain though: “The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.” I knew I was in for an awesome experience.

Next thing I know I’m getting off a train in a place called City 17. A hovering little robot thing zips up to me, snaps a picture, then flies off as I turn towards a huge screen overhead where a man (apparently a face familiar to those who played the first game) welcomes me to the city in a strange, haunting voice. Thoughts of the novel (and movie adaptation of) 1984 immediately spring to my mind as I stand in awe, watching and listening to this man before turning my attention to a guard with a gasmask and distorted voice harassing some poor guy. The thoughts continue lingering as I realize that everyone is in blue jumpsuits and the city certainly isn’t as wonderful as the man on the screen was saying. I was instantly sucked in.

After a bit of dicking around and pissing off the guards and running into an old friend named Barney, the game suddenly goes from one science fiction title to another: before long I’m running through a building being chased and shot at by those masked guys, being directed by citizens shouting “over here!” or “get to the roof!” That’s when I’m instantly hit with the same feelings I had when I watched one of the greatest movies of recent years: Children of Men.

If you haven’t seen Children of Men, get off your ass and grab the DVD. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

And then there’s the teleporter mishap somewhat later on. That’s pure classic science fiction, and one of the greatest examples of keeping the narrative as part of the gameplay as opposed to using a cutscene. I loved that.

To keep this blog from being too long, I’ll stop there. Just know that as a newcomer to this incredible science fiction universe, I now understand what all the hype is about and I am sucked in. Gah, if only I had a 360, PS3, or high-end PC so I could nab the Orange Box! And, you know, I’d like to somehow find the original as well…

And yes, I’m aware the other versions of Half-Life 2 are superior to the Xbox version, since this one is crammed with a lot of load times, but honestly? It doesn’t bother me. Those moments give me time to actually BREATHE and think back on what I had just accomplished and wonder just what the hell will be coming next!

(Gordon Freeman should’ve totally been in Brawl, crowbarring people left and right!)

-Brett