Err... I see more people hating on HL2 and saying to those who like it "take off the nostalgia googles" than I see people praising it for no reason.
So, you want me to compare to the games of 2004 era? Alrighty then.
First of all, the game had great graphics for the time it launched. Not only graphics, but art direction. The textures might not be great, but the way they blend on the structures and walls make it seems more like a believable world. (One of the many things people praises now, due to common brown and bloom). It also was very variable, and while there was a sewer level, it wasn't horrible. Deserts, Prisons, The Citadel, the streets, a city filled with zombies, canals, train tracks, buildings gave a fresh look to hl2 every once in a while. You spend a lot of time in the coasts, which is pretty much a desert, but then you go into a concrete jungle, that is Nova Prospekt, and soon you enter the metal constructs part that is the reformed Noba Prospekt.
Gravity gun, was the first of it's kind in a AAA game. It introduced a whole another layer of game play to it. Red barrel weren't just shot when dumb enemies walked near them, now you can grab them and throw at the dumb enemies, or even smart enemies that uses cover.
It was one of the first big games to present full working physics, instead of "Everything falls" physics. You could roll barrels, you could interact with many objects, pick them, throw them around, and they would react. The ragdolls weren't pre-rendered, so they were more natural, even if some ragdolls animations like the death-by-headshot from CS looked amazing.
There's a story to be told in HL2 (which I think it's good), but it's not forced down your throat. Sure, you have to stand around for a few minutes in some scripted scenes, but it's not like it changed anything if you know that Kleiner adopted a headcrab or that your coming is strangely well timed.
Reprogramming enemy turrets for your use was a great thing, the last stands gave a "epic" feel to your advances.
Atleast for me, the weapons felt good. The sound of the magnum when fired felt satisfying. It felt I was shooting a gun that I could kill elephants with, not a BB gun. The Plasma Rifle and it's secondary fire were great. It was accurate, strong and fast. The second fire was great to wreck havok in a small area. The crossbow added a different kind of sniper, shooting red hot bar of metal that was affected by gravity and pinned people to the walls. Not only that, but there was a huge variety. So huge you end not using them all, which some consider a downfall, but I love having a huge arsenal and picking one weapon to use with certain strategy.
I will agree that hl2 isn't perfect. It could've a better variety in NPC, but it was already on par (or even more) than most games that year. But still, I think the evolution of combines was pretty awesome for me. From simple cops, to prison guard, to the heavily-equiped elites of the citadel.
Let's see some 2004 FPSes
You can't compare a game like painkiller to hl2. They are the same genre? yeah. But they aren't different games. Painkiller you confront a huge number of enemies in small space, with over the top guns that fell great. It's a arcade styled FPS while HL2 is a story driven FPS. VERY different playstyle. It's like comparing Medal of Honor Allied Assault/Return to castle Wolfenstein with Serious Sam episode 1/2. It simply does not match.
Far Cry? Dude, I LOVE that game. It had a amazing AI, great weapons (The jackhammer and the sniper felt really good) and groundbreaking graphics. But its much more non-linear than half life 2. Sure, you still need to get to Pont B from Point A, but instead of taking the only route available in the game, in far cry you can take several different routes. Want to sneak in the jungle? Go on. Wanna go by the sea, swimming or with a boat? Sure. Wanna take the main road? No one stopping you. It was superior to HL2 in many ways, but it failed short in many things like story, arsenal available (god damn 4 weapon limit) and some pretty annoying levels where the mutants overpowered and outnumbered you and you were doomed to rely on quick load for beating it (GOD DAMN THAT CORRIDOR). I think Far Cry and Half Life 2 are very close in my "ranking", with HL2 slightly superior.
Doom 3 had maybe the best graphics available, but it fell short the hype. People were expecting a revolution in gaming, but instead got a great game with too much darkness and too few lights, instead of the game send by the gods of videogame to redeem them. I must say, I almost crapped my pants some times playing doom, but after some time I was already aware were Imps/Zombies/Revenants/Etc would summon due to triggers do I could foresee them and expect them with a gun to their faces. Also I didn't had the same feeling from the guns than with the ones from Far Cry and Half Life. The shotgun felt weak, Some times I ran and shot a normal zombie to the chest, or some times even the chest, he would would simply stumble and the nproceed to keep going toward me. They felt weak. And that's a major sin in a FPS game (This is my opinion, of course). The pistol felt great thought, I was headshotting imps and zombies everywhere with them. Even more than with the shotgun and rifle.
I also hate regenering life with a passion. That may have something to do with my undying love with FPSes from hat time. Health pack feels much better, where you choices and strategies actually weights your survival chances. Nowdays you just charge, kill a few people, lost too much health? Press button to enter cover, wait 5 seconds, full health, get out cover, rinse and repeat.
Tl;dr: Half life is far from perfect. But I feel it's a solid game with great gameplay allied with good storytelling.
