Originally posted by: TheWart
a near perfect game! was not too short because i savored it (as best i could), and the ending was far from disappointing to me.
I agree that it was near perfect...it was the BEST and most immersive FPS I've ever played. But when you heard Dr. Breen accept a "host body" from the aliens, you didn't expect him to turn into some "final boss" alien horror? Or when he was about to send Alyx off to the other dimension, you didn't think you'd be going with her, and that's where the final battle would take place? Instead, the toughest thing I had to fight at the end was a single Strider, 2 Gunships, and a bunch of soldiers, which was just simple with the super gravity gun and conveniently accessible "energy balls". In fact everything was way too easy after you entered the citadel, which is where it should've been the hardest. I would've liked a much bigger challenge at the end, like going to Xen to kill Nihilanth in HL1.
And there were too many holes in the story...why were some of the aliens I fought in HL1 now on my side? Was the 7-day war caused by the disaster at Black Mesa, and if so, how is the Combine related to Nihilanth? Why did I only get to see the Combine twice very briefly? What were those emaciated creatures and reptilian tank beasts in the Citadel, and why were they everywhere when you're in a pod, but nowhere to be found as soon as you're out of the pod? And most importantly, I'm supposed to believe that the Combine was able to conquer all of Earth in 7 days, but was then toppled by me trashing their flunkie's office building? Come on. I should've at least been sent through the portal to shut it down...
I LOVED it, but they left too much unanswered, which I wouldn't mind if HL3 was right around the corner...but its not. So in my opinion, while HL1 had a solid story with a spectacular end, HL2 had a "rough draft" outline with great character development, but a bunch of gaping plot holes and no real climax. I don't mean to knock the game, but I just wasn't ready for it to end the way it did.