Half-Life 2 Combine soldierI recently received the Orange Box from Gamefly because I was interested in playing through the Half-Life 2 games again, plus I hadn't ever played the console variants so I was curious as to how the game would feel when playing with a controller.  Turns out the game controls fine and after an hour or so it feels pretty natural.  What has really struck me after playing through first Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One (I'm working through Episode 2 right now) was how well the Source engine has held up 4 years after Half-Life 2 came out.

When Half-Life 2 came out in 2004 it was right on the heals of the much-anticipated Halo 2.  I also played Halo 2 recently, the Games for Windows Live version, and one thing that was clear about that was how bad it looked.  Half-Life 2 is a completely different story.  The Source engine (and thus Half-Life 2) still looks great.  Not only that but there's a marked improvement in the graphics when going from Half-Life 2 to Half-Life 2: Episode One, and then another improvement from Episode One to Episode Two.

The reason this struck me was that I've been realizing how short-lived a lot of game engines are these days.  I remember when id's Doom 3 came out (also in 2004) the game was heralded for being amazing-looking.  The game's engine (Tech 4) was supposed to be the new standard moving forward.  As it turned out id only ever made 4 games with Tech 4 before moving on to Tech 5.  Valve's Source on the other hand is still being used to this day.  In fact, one of my most anticipated game releases this year uses it (Left 4 Dead) and it's looking better than ever.  Including Left 4 Dead there are 11 major Source releases, not to mention hundreds of mods and third-party games which use the engine.

Half-Life 2 : Episode Two Alyx VanceThis isn't exactly news but I just marveled at the thought that Valve was able to create an engine in a field which is ever-changing, and make it last for 4+ years.  Plus it's not just the way the Source engine looks, it also has beautiful sound design, HDR lighting, awesome character animation, advanced enemy AI...the list goes on and on.  I'm starting to sound like a true Valve fanboy but to be honest, if I was ever labeled a fanboy of anything I'd gladly take the label for Valve.  They make great games based on a great engine, and they keep coming up with fresh ideas.  I can't wait to play Left 4 Dead next month and it should be interesting to see what they come up with in the coming years...aside from the eagerly-anticipated Half-Life 2: Episode 3.

Now Playing:
The Real MacKenzies - Mainland
The Orange Box