On Wednesday, we revealed that the second title to be included in the Shacknews list of Moby Games Classic titles was Valve's 1998 hit Half-Life.
Released in 1998, Half-Life set the stage for story-driven first-person shooters. Widely considered one of the best games of all time, the original Half-Life is a welcome addition to our list of classics. After the break, the Shacknews community tells their stories and impressions of Half-Life, and answer why they feel it's deserving of a spot on our list of classics.
Replayed it a few times, and a few times on source. What always surprises me is how well it flows, from combat to puzzle," Shacker nutcrackr wrote, adding that the Team Fortress Classic mod stole hours from his life. "Half Life is probably my 2nd all time favorite game, behind Deus Ex." Coincidently, Deus Ex was the first game inducted into the Moby Games Classic series.
"One of the games that truly marked a spot on my life and really opened me up to what could be done on a PC, which was great since I came from a pure console background till about 13," edge198 admitted.
Beyond the fact that Half-Life was awarded "over 50 Game of the Year awards" when it launched, it helped usher in a new era of gaming. Titles like Counter-Strike owe their creation and success to Half-Life's development and Valve's support of its passionate community.
"The bad thing about classic games is they are dated. If someone has never played Half Life and decided to play through it they would wonder what the fuss was all about. But honestly that person would have to play other FPS's that existed prior to Half Life to understand what that game did to the industry," Shacker dookiebot says. "It was the little things about Half Life that took the FPS to a whole new experience.
Marrbe agrees, noting that by "modern standards" Half-Life may seem humble. "But in [1998]? Going through an underground research facility with things going on left and right, an information and safety announcer, moody ambient music, and opening credits? That was memorable."
That is what makes a classic. A title that remains memorable for years after launch. A title that, when you ask for memories from a gaming community, brings in a flood of positive reaction.
Check out the original Chatty thread for more stories and memories from the original Half-Life.
Half-Life on MobyGames.com
Description: Black Mesa Research Facility is an ultra-secret laboratory under government contract, conducting top-secret and extremely volatile experiments, where the protagonist Gordon Freeman works. One particular morning, Freeman makes his way to the office for an ordinary and scheduled experiment. However, when the experiment initiates, Gordon realizes that it might not be as ordinary as he thought. Chaos ensues and aliens from the planet Xen begin to flood the complex. Gordon is then thrust into a new role: one of defender and survivor of the Black Mesa complex.
Moby Games Classic is our chance to look back at the games that helped shape the video game industry with the help of our sister site MobyGames.com. It combines a short history lesson on the title and anecdotes from the Shacknews community.