FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
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Tue, 1st Nov 2005
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Voted one of the best games of 2004 – now XBox owners can see what the fuss is all about. The gameplay begins by taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original, and adding startling new realism and responsiveness, Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player’s presence affects everything around him, from the physical environment to the behaviours – even the emotions – of both friends and enemies.

The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people – people he cares about – are counting on him. The XBox version holds very little back and features sophisticated in-game characters, highly advanced AI and incredibly realistic environments, physics and special effects.