10 Reasons Why Half Life 2 Is Still A Masterpiece

5. Playing with Physics

For many years, gamers had mealy dreamt of being able to throw a toilet at enemies, and Half Life 2 made that dream a reality. Thanks to the revolutionary source engine, games were finally able to emulate the physics of real life, with objects having a genuine heft and realistic weight. Half Life 2€™s stroke of genius was to actually form complex puzzles with its engine, not only providing a new level of realism but actually forcing the player to think about how to overcome an obstacle by using physics. Things start simple enough, with Gordon having to pick up boxes to jump up to ledges and reach higher ground. As you progress through the game, the environmental puzzles become more and more confusing, with Gordon having to use a washing machine to lower a stuck elevator, or creating makeshift ramps using cinder blocks and heavy barrels. Since Half Life 2 we€™ve seen many games trying to imitate Valve€™s unique mix of shooting and puzzle solving, but none have managed to do it so well. Without Half Life 2€™s advances in using engine physics to create intriguing and cerebral puzzles we certainly wouldn€™t have seen Valve go even further with the acclaimed Portal series.
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Cult horror enthusiast and obsessive videogame fanatic. Stephen considers Jaws to be the single greatest film of all-time and is still pining over the demise of Sega's Dreamcast. As well regularly writing articles for WhatCulture, Stephen also contributes reviews and features to Ginx TV.