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After the dissapointment with Doom 3, and Halo 2’s controls fiasco .. I was really looking for a good FPS. Yesterday on my way from work I picked up a copy of the newly released Half-Life 2 and here are my first thoughts.

I didnt really hear much about the game before I got it (I mean yes I heard about it, its a huge title, but I didnt follow the hype at all). I picked a copy up at EB, was actually surprised that I got a copy without pre-ordering. I brought it home, unpacked, installed and started it.

Right from the start I saw that this game is diffrent. There was a lot of npc interaction, stunning graphics, and I soon learned a wicked physics engine. Just to give an idea of how cool the physics engine is, one of the early puzzles was a ramp on a pivot. A simple principle, but the ramp was facing the wrong way. The solution to this puzzle was to place some bricks on the other end of the ramp to cause it to pivot and allow it to be used as the exit from the area. I just love the physics, you can literaly stop and have some fun with things on your way (for example start throwing things at a tire tied to a tree and see it swing around. Reminds me of a physics engine demo I downloaded once. Even more amazing is the fact that not only does stuff fall and blow up, things also float, and puzzles have been set up to use that effect.

Overall I love the game, so far I got to the 3rd or 4th major area and I’ll post any more cool things I come across.