Yes, something tore me away from Halo 2.  Yes, it was Gordon Freeman.  Yes, I'm having a blast playing it.  I can't really say anything bad about Half-Life 2 right now and I'm in chapter 7 of 15 right now.  The only minor complaint that I can even think that I have is the constant loading that occurs every 5-10 minutes when bridging area to area.

What makes the game so good?  Well, for one, it looks unbelievably good.  You know those videos you watched on the internet from E3?  Yes, if your video card is halfway decent, it WILL look like that on your PC, too.  At first I couldn't believe it, but the more and more I play it, the more and more I'm loving the visual style of the game, and the amazing digital "actors" that populate the world. 

Another thing about Half-Life 2 that makes it the great game that it is so far is the physics that are used by the Source engine.  Let's say you've got a pipe that you need to get up to, but you can't quite get there.  Add in the fact that you have about 9 explosive barrels lying all over the room.  What do you do?  Well, you can stack all of the barrels on top of each other, creating a pyramid of barrels, and then climb up it like a ladder, or all sorts of other things.  The freedom that Valve gives you in this game is simply dumbfounding, and I absolutely love it.  I wish I could say more at this point, but I feel that I must finish the game before I more accurately pass judgement on it. 

If you take nothing else away from this post, though, please let it be that you NEED to buy Half-Life 2.  It's an amazing achievement in gaming, and well worth the 6-year wait. 

-Jack