@BlinkRape i keep hearing people saying that it's basically a big tech demo. of course, now i'm hearing people say that xD all i've heard for the past 18 years is "half life 2 is one of the greatest and most influential games of all time." it definitely isn't influential in the fps genre, i'd give that to quake and call of duty. maybe the physics were influential, but idk i can't think of a whole lot of games off the top of my head that have similar physics stuff that aren't just straight up puzzle games. when i think of physics in fps games i think of red faction's building destruction physics, or battlefield's. or if we're going more modern, teardown's.

the first half life was awesome, i even liked xen a lot for its weird, fractured, alien landscape and the boss fights. the atmosphere in that game was great, the weapon diversity and how the game made you use different weapons all the time, the multiple ways you could approach combat encounters, and of course the old school 90s charm. there were some good environmental puzzles too, which have been pretty lacking in HL2. i'm kind of interested in checking out the expansions now. not gonna' be playing half life episode 1 or 2 though.