10 Awesome Moments In The Half-Life Franchise

Earlier this month marked the 10-year anniversary of arguably the greatest first-person shooter ever made, Half-Life 2. Valve's insanely anticipated game had endured ridiculous delays (in large part due to much of the game's code being leaked online), but the final product was without question completely worth the wait, totally outdoing the original game and delivering a shooter that has long endured ever since. So, what better time to look back at the history of the Half-Life franchise and all the awesome things it has given birth to? From the best missions and moments throughout the two main games and four expansions to the other tangential spin-offs they led to (but not Portal, because it's just a little too different), this list will be examining what has made Valve's flagship series such a mainstay of the genre. Even though pretty much a week doesn't go by without a Half-Life 3 hoax emerging and being summarily debunked, at least Valve have delivered enough awesomeness here to keep gamers busy until, eventually, Gabe Newell finally releases the first info about Gordon Freeman's latest adventure (assuming all of the fans are actually still alive by the time it happens). Without any further ado, here are 10 awesome moments in the Half-Life franchise...