My Top Ten Favorite Games: #9- Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite games. Those who have played it understand the draw and greatness to it. By today's standards, the game doesn't look great, but that's ok, because it's message is portrayed well through it's dated looks. And when it released it was the BEST looking PC game out there, finally topping DOOM 3.
It doesn't have integrated multiplayer, though a purchasable add-on was released later on PC, and was incredibly fun. Let me also begin by saying that Half-Life 2 defined the FPS genre as we know it today. Not to say that the original Half-Life didn't accomplish that as well, but Half-Life 2 just did it simply better.
You are Gordon Freeman. A physicist for Black Mesa who says absolutely nothing throughout the whole game, and just does what people tell him to do, such as Bioshock's Jack. Though it's not what he says that matters, it's what he does that counts. He leads the rebellion, controls an entire race of Antlions with a squeally ball, carries around a gravity gun, takes down an entire corrupt government nearly single-handedly, survives Ravenholm, and uses a crowbar as his main way of destroying things. I could continue on but I'd be spoiling too much. Let's just say that Gordon Freeman is one of the greatest video game protagonists ever.
Without saying a word.
Half-Life 2's gunplay is great as well. Call of Duty players may cringe at it's lack of, "Aiming down sights" but you can't not have fun launching a saw blade through a zombie with your gravity gun. I mean c'mon, that even SOUNDS fun. Speaking of sound, the sound quality in Half-Life 2 is nearly unparalleled. The Combine's guards have a distinctive voice, like a robot talking in to a walkie-talkie. Each gun has an excellent punch, some that obliterate your eardrums and some that lightly thud them with plasma bullets sounds. The thing that stood out to me the most is that the voice actors are some of the best I've seen. Even those little rebel guys who nobody really cares about! They all sound like people playing themselves, not people in a studio playing other people. Reactions are genuine, casting is perfect, and the game delivers some of the best performances I've ever found in a video game.
Each level is varied masterfully. One level you could be strolling the streets of a city overrun by zombies, another you could be running for your life through a forsaken prison, and another you could be driving across the country in a tricked out buggy, blasting antlions and Combine soldiers alike.
I could go on and on about Half-Life 2's greatness, but I may just take up pages. If you haven't had a chance to play it, download it off Steam, OR if you don't have a good PC go buy a copy of The Orange Box for your current-gen console. Whatever you do, play Half-Life 2. It's one of Valve's masterpieces.