Half Life Page 2 A massive 402Mb So where do we begin? Lets start with reviewing it's installation. Ahum, seems to me that we are always starting a review with that kind of info :-). You might think that we are doing this to irritate you. Nag, it's just that we think it's quite logic to start with the (different) installation types that a game offers. When I inserted the Half-Life review copy it automatically started the installation screen. Damn, autoplay was again enabled. I immediately disabled that feature and was ready to put that damn game on my hard drive. When you install Half-Life there is no such thing as customize your installation. There aren't even any other options included such as 'Minimum', 'Medium' or 'Maximum'. Nag, here the program automatically installs the necessary files on your HD so you can play it a.s.a.p. It will install approximately 402 Mb on your sweet hard drive. That isn't nothing, you know? Remember Unreal? That was pretty much the same amount. A very large amount of files were installed onto your computer. However, can we really complain? Not really because when you compare the quality of nowadays games with those lets say 5 years ago, there's a huge difference. Not only in graphics but also in sound effects, music, etc ...    But if you are one of those gamers that cannot afford large hard disks you might be annoyed with the fact that this game needs a lot of space. If necessary you will have to make a important choice. Delete some stuff that's important to you so that you can continue with its installation or just bring the game back to your dealer. However, I should certainly not apply for that last choice. If you do that, then your absolutely a crazy mofo! Or you might try to locate some unwanted stuff and delete it so you can free some more space for Half-Life. Good luck because we all know that most of the files that are ON your PC are small treasures. And who in the world want to get rid off those treasures? I guess nobody. After installation I was pretty much ready to begin my journey through one of the most anticipated games of 1998. Something goes terribly wrong! When you load up Half-Life you will notice that there isn't a nice good looking introduction FMV file running. Instead you will get a very cool, lets say awesome 3D underground base called the Black Mesa Test facility. Your journey begins when you are sitting in a train that rides to your destination. During that pretty long intro, you can walk freely in the train and as you look outside you will see some magnificent in- and outdoor environments. Outstanding!! You will see your fellow scientists working in their several labs, machines that are carrying cargos and a lot more. If you got an 3D-accelerator then it's all 'eye-candy'. This kind of intro is very different from other FMV scenes that you see in other games. I can't really describe whats so different but the dark and creepy atmosphere is really present here. When you arrive at your destination you will need to visit the test facility because everyone will address you to visit it as quickly as possible. Probably you will be needed for a new experiment. So after locating the lockers room you put on your special suit and head over to the "Test Facility". Your colleagues will begin with the experiment and your job is to fellow their instructions. Suddenly something goes horribly wrong! The machine explodes and you are being transported to another alien-world.    Not for long however because seconds later you return to the same place where it all started. However the whole machine is screwed up and you will find out that most of your colleagues are killed. How? You don't have a clue. But ... you also notice that you didn't come back alone. No!! An alien-race has come along and slaughtered almost everyone in the underground base. Not only the aliens wants you for breakfast, the government also decided that they want to get rid of you and your other colleagues. Now it's up to you to stay alive and get the hell out of there and the only entrance is by visiting the outer alien-world. Of course Half-Life's plot is a lot thicker than that. It surprise me that this game has a really really good plot instead of action à la Quake(2). Half-Life is certainly not that kind of Quake or other FPS clone. No, it has a whole other style that is perhaps a bit weird to all of us because we are used to play FPS games where the one thing that you have to do is kill everyone as quickly as possible. Unreal also used that other style and I was delighted that Half-Life is 'different'. Next Page Up Previous Page If you want to review your favorite game, or if you work with a computer game company and want your products reviewing, mail info@playdevil.com. All contributions are welcome. 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