A silent scientist, a crowbar, and a city under the yoke of an invader from elsewhere.

On gut feeling, the community ranks it very high, ahead of 94% of games. The detail confirms attachment and the wish to rediscover it, both well above 90% of titles, and fun follows close behind. On the other hand, controller feel and art style fall back around average, even below. The reading is clear: people revere Half-Life 2 for what it invented, its immersion, its revolutionary physics, its seamless narrative, but its 2004 sensations and visuals have logically aged against today's standards. The memory remains immense.

Next to other shooters, it set milestones of immersion and storytelling the whole industry followed.

So, who is it for? For you if you like games that carry you along without letting go, and a slice of video game history. Much less if you judge first on the modernity of sensations and visuals.