Character models, animations and physics are also part of the visual mix and here Half-Life 2 does indeed do a good job. But again - is it really so much better than what we've already seen in other FPS titles? With a couple dozen facial muscles simulated per main character, I'm not going to argue with the fact that this probably sets a new standard - Half-Life 2 indeed does things here that no other game has done before. But as players we are never actually required to capitalize on this feature all that much, say by having to try and determine a non-player character's underlying emotions, rather than just doing what he / she orders us to (as happens during most of the game). Further, I'm just not convinced that the lifelike qualities of the characters & enemies really have such a major impact on the overall quality of the gameplay as some seem to believe. Face-to-face interaction with friend & foe is limited and usually takes the form of a tightly scripted interactive scene - you could simply ignore how a character emotes and gestures and the action would still continue as planned by the game's designers. If correctly reading a character's expressions were more crucial for progressing through Half-Life 2, all the trouble the Valve team went to might have been more worthwhile - clearly this feature is something that modders and future game developers might make more substantial use of.
Then we have Half-Life 2's much-vaunted Havok physics. As this aspect has some implications for the game's overall gameplay, I'll be discussing it in more detail further below. As part of Half-Life 2's visual presentation, though, it does contribute quite substantially to the sense of "being there" in the Half-Life world. The ability to pick up and smash objects in a realistic way and seeing wounded enemies slump to the ground convincingly are indeed the kinds of subtle things that can help to better immerse players. Again, though, games like Far Cry, Painkiller and Doom 3 make similar use of physics for all kinds of visual cues and as of 2004 it seems to be a well-established (new) standard for FPS games. Enough games already have this feature for gamers to now expect it in all future releases. Half-Life 2 is not setting a new trend here but simply doing what several other developers have already done.
Another part of Half-Life 2's graphic delights that I also need to mention are the in-game cut-scenes and some spectacular scripted sequences. Here the designers did a good job of keeping some of the better stuff for later in the game, often turning it into quite a rewarding experience for the player. Getting to try out the gravity gun with the help of Alyx's "pet" Dog and going on a hands-free ride in the bowels of the alien headquarters are just two of the memorable scenes I can mention here. More subtle but also effective were several sequences playing out on TV monitors in the gloomy prison stage and elsewhere. I personally like the fact that a first-person perspective is maintained throughout Half-Life 2 (as was the case with Half-Life) - everything is presented to you in the person of Gordon Freeman and you never leave his "body" to view the action from some other place or angle.
Sound
The sound effects, ambience and voice acting in Half-Life 2 are pretty much what gamers have come to expect in modern games - which is to say that everything sounds pretty good, if nor exactly riveting. The aspect I can't say too much about here is the music soundtrack. I tend to turn off background music in FPS games, since I rarely find it helps with immersion and believability (real life doesn't have a backing track, after all). Two notable exceptions to this little rule of mine are the original Doom games featuring moody MIDI tunes integrated into the entire experience and the Medal of Honor series with its rousing musical themes. As from Quake, though, I usually preferred to mute music and let incidental sounds in the audio environment determine the overall atmosphere. I did try the first Half-Life with CD music enabled, but killed it the moment Gordon dons his hazard suit, causing an inappropriate techno tune to kick in (and, for the record, electronic music is my personal favourite to listen to - but not while I'm playing a supposedly realistic game).
Giving Half-Life 2 the benefit of the doubt, I turned the music on at times - but only for very short periods. After experiencing the immersive soundscapes of Doom 3, the borderline muzak on offer here just didn't do it for me now any more than it could years ago with the original. I'll admit that I kept Far Cry's music on most of the time, but that worked better because of the use of short, repeating motifs that didn't draw my attention away from the on-screen action. This is mostly an issue of personal taste, so it's not really a major criticism of Half-Life 2 per se. At least the option to disable music is there, unlike Call of Duty which forces the player to listen to dramatic orchestration along with the war sounds and dialogue.
Speaking of dialogue, Half-Life 2 has some convincing lines competently delivered by good voice actors. This is way better than Far Cry's over-the-top "bad guy" deliveries, which made me laugh rather than quiver at some crucial points in that game. Of course, good voice work has been around for a while - dating back at least to Medal of Honor's release and even earlier games. Then there are the sound effects of weapons, explosions, vehicles etc. and the moans and growls of an assortment of enemies in Half-Life 2. No complaints there. In fact, in the notorious Ravenholm stage it all comes together nicely as the player is ambushed from all sides by the game's most frightening offerings - in terms of both sounds and sights. An interesting observation about Half-Life 2's audio effects is how some have been carried over directly from the 1998 original. The clinical voice in the HEV suit and the high-pitched squeals of the familiar headcrabs should make old Half-Life fans feel right at home. The inclusion of these "classic" sound samples was clearly a deliberate decision by Valve and it works well in linking this ambitious sequel with its illustrious predecessor.
