Tech: A Half-Life Tribute

The original "Half-Life," a game developed by Valve Software, still brings back a lot of memories for me. I remember seeing the PC Gamer magazine review of the title and reeling in disbelief. "Half-Life" had been rated a 97%! A score that high was reserved for only the best of the best (the classic strategy game "Civilization II" had also been rated a 97%). Could "Half-Life" really be that good? With the impetuousness of youth, I handed over my $50 and picked up the game almost immediately.



The first moments of "Half-Life," especially back in early 1999, are some of the most immersive in gaming history. As you can see, there were opening credits similar to a big budget blockbuster. The big difference was that in "Half-Life," instead of watching a character on a screen, you were the character. And you weren't some muscle-bound soldier, either - you were Dr. Gordon Freeman, a nerdy MIT physicist (thankfully, in "Half-Life," it seems a degree in theoretical physics from MIT also makes you adept at shooting aliens).

This was one of the first PC games I ever played using a 3D accelerator card, and man oh man, did it make a difference. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the lighting and detail present in some of the environments. When I saw a construction robot lit up by eerie green radioactive waste, I knew I was in for something special.

But more than the graphics, "Half-Life" and its sequels are defined by their mastery of heavily-scripted cinematic events. Elevators crash, aliens attack, and things blow up in reaction to your presence in a manner that creates a convincing impression that you're the star of an action movie. If you ever want a primer on how to immerse someone in a virtual world, you could do worse than to look at "Half-Life."