Half-Life: A History (of one badass FPS)

It all started with a seemingly innocent train ride through the outer reaches of the Black Mesa Facilities. But little did I know—having just bought my first FPS—that Half-Life would become the very backbone of the future of the genre. With multiple sequels released and in the works, an online system that actually derives from the game, and many, many mods available through it, there´s no question on the success of the game itself. Players are drawn to the scientifically minded, yet tough and cunning protagonist, Gordon Freeman. And the surreal plot throughout the series constantly keeps players guessing.

I’ve loved this game ever since I installed the original on my crappy old PC. So, in honor of the Half-Life series of FPS games, I did a little bit of studying up on my favorite shooter. Here´s what I found out about my beloved title:

Originally formed by two former employees of Microsoft, Valve Software was having trouble finding someone to support their first endeavor into the world of first-person-shooters. Their creation, a horror/sci-fi based FPS, was deemed too ambitious for a startup company new to the video game industry. At last, Sierra On-Line took them up on a one game contract. Very good choice.

For those of you not familiar with the basic premise (shame on you!), I´ll fill you in on the essentials. As scientist Gordon Freeman, you work at the super secret and isolated Black Mesa facility. Things seem to be unfolding like any routine day when, out of the blue, an experiment being conducted by Gordon´s team goes terribly awry, and results in a fierce crop of aliens teleporting randomly throughout the facility. To make matters worse, a secret military team has been dispatched to kill the aliens—as well as any survivors or the accident. Simply put, Gordon has his hands full from the start of this epic shooter.

"Big deal," you say. "Sounds like Quake rehashed." Well, you’re wrong, dammit. Half-Life has a slew of characters that are way easier to identify with than anything from the Quake series. And there are no cut scenes; the game, dialogue and all, runs together in a smooth, concise manner. So don’t worry about playing the same game over again; Half-Life is a fresh, innovative title to behold.

Or, at least it was in 1998. But never fear; the title has been expanded on countless times since then. Mods such as Team Fortress Classic as well as the extraordinarily popular Counter-Strike have assured the longevity of the original, albeit in slightly altered forms. And the sequel, released in 2004 to excellent acclaim, has been followed itself by a three part episodic trilogy. Even the abovementioned mods have their own sequels. And, starting with the sequel, this FPS is available not only for PC but also for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. You could say it´s got a bit of a following, at this point.

The newer releases feature fantastic and cutting edge graphics, thanks to the Source engine that is the glue that hold the game apart. I could go into the technical specifics of it, but I´ll defer to the technophiles out there who know their stuff a little better than me. But I do know this; one of the cooler features of source is that the engine itself can be updated via connections to Valve´s online service, Steam. This means that Source v2.0 won´t need to be a reality for a lot longer than would otherwise be expected, on account of the engine upgrading itself.

So there you have it. I hope you´re foaming at the mouth now, to take on bizarre superaliens and crack marine forces on your PC. You should be, if you haven´t been exposed to the game already. You´ve been missing out on one of the greatest FPS´s out there.