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Half-Life 2 couldn’t have been received with any
greater praise when it was released late in 2004 for the PC. With
graphics, physics and gameplay unparalleled by any
first-person-shooter available for the PC to date it comes as no
surprise to learn that is was many peoples game of the year. An
Xbox conversion has been on the cards for  sometime and, at this
year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, not only did we get to see
the game, but we also got to play it.
There was a total of three areas playable and, while the
opening section appears to run a lot smoother than it’s PC
counter-part (even on a machine that by far excels the
suggested requirements for the title), once you encounter more than
a single enemy on-screen the frame-rate drops to an unbelievable
pace and the same screen-jumping that bugged the Xbox version of DOOM3
practically kills any playability in this build of Half-Life 2.
The graphics are incredible but suffer from a lack of consistent
real-time lighting compared to the original version. Even though
it’s groundbreaking work on the Xbox which, when compared to the
GameCube, wasn’t particularly designed to push such effects, I
can see many fans being a little disappointed.
Some very, very nice textures and a reliable control system
show the title does have promise, and that this build was probably
rushed together specially for E3. But with so many bugs and totally
unforgivable pop-up in the background, I can’t see how this title
was worth showing in its current state.
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Return to the Articles Archive 2005 here.
Each of these articles has been written
either independently of Electronic Theatre or by an external viewer. The opinions
discussed in these articles in no way reflects the opinions of Electronic Theatre.
If you wish to inquire about pricing of any titles
for these formats not listed on this site, drop me a line at kjoyce@electronictheatre.co.uk
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