[standardman]

Originally Posted by madeyeshawn

I love HL2 but IMO it is plagued with peaks and valleys of entertainment, and a thin plot. I never really cared about the plot other than the fact I had a crush on alex. And I despised the vehicle use, I wish they would have cut each vehicle minimum play time down 50%.

I go back to Half Life 2 every few months and it still feels fresh. Although it's entirely linear, the gravity gun leads to a nice variety of tactics and I'm always trying new things. The only level I really hate is the one where you can't step on the sand and last time I did it, I ran through it guns blazing which was very amusing. Oh and some sequences in Episode One were too long.

I like how Half Life's story and characters unfurl around you without needing any THIS PART IS CLEARLY THE PLOT time. The delivery of the story in HL2 is also a thoroughly modern approach - it only takes control away from you when something in the game is taking control from your character, like falling debris and so you feel more attached to what's going on, rather than Halo's old fashioned 'put down the controller and watch' delivery.

Through a mixture of the subtle storytelling and use of technology to make her expressive, I think Alyx in particular has become one of the most believable and well-rounded characters in gaming, SPOILERS: by the end of Episode Two, you find yourself really caring about her and her father.

As for the vehicles, I thought they were great for balancing out gameplay pacing and a blast to drive, especially in episode two. That last level was a lot of fun.

To where bioshock had a deep engrossing story that unfolded every step of the way, and a nice consistent flow of action that left me strugling to pick a part that I didn't enjoy.

Though I love the game, I felt the third act of Bioshock (aside from the nice Big Daddy part) was a let down. This was probably due to SPOILERS: the conclusion of Andrew Ryan's story and the big reveal not being at the end of the game. Essentially the game climaxed and then said 'um, I'm not done yet'.

They are both fantastic games, odviously, so maybe it comes down to gamer preference on which is better.

True enough, the Orange Box and Bioshock were two of my favourites last year and anyone who hasn't tried them should pick them up, regardless of genre preferences.