Half Life 2 - Xbox 360

How exactly do you go about reviewing one of the best reviewed games of all time? Were talking about a game that has a 96% on Metacritic. A game that currently is ranked the seventh best game of all time on Metacitic. A sequel to what is considered to be one of the best, most innovative first person shooters of all time. There's not exactly a lot I can say about this game that hasn't been said before.

The best compliment that I can think to give Half Life 2 is that it's just as fun and as good now as it was when I played it in 2004. This games held up incredibly well. Sure, some of the graphics aren't quite up to par with games released now, but at the end of the day they're still pretty damn solid.

In fact this entire game is solid. There wasn't a moment that the game dragged, there wasn't a moment that I wasn't having a great time, there wasn't a moment that I didn't think that this game deserved as much praise as it got. The game was great, and the game remains great.

I remember the first time I played the original Half Life game, I was blown away by it. The game, the story, everything about it was amazing. For the next couple years I was satisfied playing mods, Team Fortress Classic and Counter-Strike mostly. Then I heard rumblings about a sequel in the works. I remember being very excited, but it could go either way. It's an incredibly difficult thing to follow up a game as great as Half Life. Valve was fortunately up to the task though.

Half Life was an amazing game, but Half Life 2 upped the ante. I'm not going to say that it's better than the original, but I will say that from where I'm standing they're pretty much on equal ground.

As I said before, nothing I say about Half Life 2 is going to be something new and exciting. We're talking about a game that's several years old and in almost every top ten list. So all I can say is that it's an amazing game. It's a game that every gamer should play at least once. If you played it and enjoyed it, do yourself a favor and go play it again. I had forgotten how great a game it was. I usually name it when I'm talking about my favorite games, but up until I replayed it again I think I had forgotten why. Playing it again gives me renewed appreciation for what may be one of the best first person shooters of the decade as well as a game that really sets the bar for what first person shooters should be.

Squid.