Half-Life 2 [E3 2004]

Half-Life 2 from E3 is here! Ok, you can close your jaw and wipe off your drool now.

While Half-Life 2 isn?t playable on the show floor, Valve offered us a little taste (and we do mean a little taste) of how the game plays behind closed doors at their pre-E3 event. The demo showed off three different areas, including two ?teasers? of what life is like for Gordon Freeman in City 17.

The first two areas gave us a great sense of the game?s atmosphere, if not action. The first area, a subway car, was reminiscent of how the first Half-Life began?with a playable ?cinematic? of Gordon?s arrival in this new world. A small animated sequence demonstrating how HL2?s character interaction works ensued before the train doors opened, and the scene faded away. The next sequence took place in City 17, as Gordon arrived in a train station to discover his world had changed. Guards wearing bizarre gasmasks patrol the halls, speaking heavily-distorted warning to walk this way, or stay out of that area, as a giant screen with a kind-looking leader spoke words of encouragement to the human race, ensuring them that, basically, ?things were better this way.? This area gave us a chance to interact with the environment a bit. Of course, we couldn?t resist picking up items and throwing them (a Chinese food container, in this case) to test the physics (they work great so far). After this, Gordon walked out into the street and saw the giant ?black tower? you?ve probably seen in plenty of Half-Life 2 videos and screens off in the distance, and the graphics here were incredibly impressive?Valve?s sense of art direction is clearly top-shelf?and while the graphics don?t have the over-the-top gloss and lighting effects of a game like Doom 3, all the textures were highly detailed, and things like the subtle reflection of wet concrete looked particularly realistic.

The third area let us try out some of the game?s vehicle physics, placing Gordon in a ?dune buggy? to take a ride along an overcast Cliffside road. Derelict cars left in the streets scraped along the ground believably, and it was more fun than it should have been to push them along with the buggy. After a short amount of driving time, Gordon was accosted by ?roller mines? that emerged from the ground and rolled toward him, latching onto the car and sending shockwaves into its frame, making it bounce out of control each time. This is where we got to first use the infamous Gravity Gun, using it to pull the mines off the chassis and shoot them away. Again, the physics felt spot-on, just as we expected from all the demos we?ve seen.

After this, there was a short combat sequence, with lots of exploding barrels and a few of the gas mask-clad guards we saw patrolling the train station earlier. The guards? A.I. seemed particularly clever, ducking when we tried to snipe at them, using grenades effectively to try and get us to run out of cover. This sequence played a lot like you?d expect from a Valve FPS?tense and fun?though we didn?t really discover any nifty ?physics setups? during our short time in combat.

Valve is planning on showing two new lengthy hands-on ?theater? demos of Half-Life 2 at E3 ? we?ll be sure to provide you with a full report as soon as we get a chance to see them. And no, we still don?t know when the game?s coming out.

The demo levels seemed very safe and cautious?truly just a small taste of what?s to come?and it?s clear Valve didn?t want to give too much away just yet.

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