10 Incredibly Calm Moments In Otherwise Intense Games

6. Meeting Dog €“ Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 is still something of a benchmark for modern shooters thanks to its excellent pacing, refreshing gameplay, varied environments and engaging narrative. It's one of those games that starts strongly and only improves with each passing level €“ the shootouts are tense, the vehicle sections visceral and the puzzles pleasantly kinetic. This imperturbable moment comes in the first half of Half-Life 2's narrative, and essentially acts as a tutorial for the game's much-loved Gravity Gun, which is a physics-based weapon that can be used to draw objects toward the player or propel them away with lethal force. After a blistering vehicle section, players are tasked with playing a game of fetch with a gigantic quadrupedal robot, aptly named 'Dog', presumably because of its loyalty and tendency to run off for no reason. The brief section allows players a moment to simply soak in this gloriously sci-fi imbued scenario.