- Platform: Windows 2000 / XP
- ESRB Rating:
Mature - Media: DVD-ROM
Game Information
Product Details
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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
1998: Half-Life sends a shock through the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. Valve's debut title wins more than 50 game-of-the-year awards on its way to being named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer, and launches a franchise with more than eight million retail units sold worldwide. Counter-Strike: Source: The next generation of the #1 online action game.
Half-Life: Source: A digitally remastered version of the original critically acclaimed PC game.
A free limited-edition T-shirt (offered in men's size XL only).
Half-Life 2 Prima Book: Information on character backgrounds, the making of the game, and more than 100 pieces of artwork.
Now: Half-Life 2. 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 behaviors--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.
Half-Life 2 defines a new benchmark in gaming with startling realism and responsiveness. The intense, real-time gameplay is powered by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology, which provides major enhancements in character animation, artificial intelligence, graphics, and more.
In addition to a limited-edition DVD-ROM version of Half-Life 2, this Collector's Edition also includes:
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 18 people found the following review helpful
I have much to say about this game because i have been playing it for a week straight now. my mother wants me to eat but then i say "MOM IM 42 NOW I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF" then she goes back to her room. i personally think i can pwn any of you anyday because im a level (i cant even say) i would try to write it but the human mouth can not pronounce it and our basic intelectual values can not represent this elite icon of heroism. I also believe that my name should be in the history books because i have saved many lifes threw my work as counter terrorist. i expect you to send me some e-mails on this because u do not have the power to become what i am so if u have a problem with this imensly true statement e-mail me at mystery_drummer@hotmail.com you should remember that it's the last thing u'll ever speak.
p.s. all who hack shall burn in the pits of hell cause god is always watching and so am i.
-George Terble
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
69 reviews
411 of 519 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Buy the regular edition
Nov 20 2004
By Markus Egger
- Published on Amazon.com
This review is for the collectors edition only (the actual game is awesome).
The collector's edition - quite frankly - is a rip-off!
To make sure you understand what you are getting:
1) Half Life 2 - The game
2) Half Life 1 Remake using the new Source Engine
3) Counter Strike Remake using the new Source Engine
4) Prima Official Hint Book
5) A T-Shirt
The game itself is awesome, no questions asked. The remake of Half Life 1 is cool too, but you can download that for free when you buy the regular version of Half Life 2. The same is true for CS. So basically, you get a t-shirt (which is actually a nice shirt) and the prima thingy.
The Prima book IS NOT THE STRATEGY GUIDE! Instead, it is a tiny booklet with excerps from the strategy guide and the "making of" book ("Raising the bar"). It is an advertisement for these two books at best and by itself almost completely useless.
So basically, you are paying an extra 30 bucks for a t-shirt. Oh, but perhaps you want the nice big box? Think again! The box itself is crappy both in quality and in design. In fact, at first I thought the box got damaged and mangled during shipment, but it didn't. It just looks that bad!
This is probalby the worst collector's edition of any game I have ever seen. It delivers little value, unless you want a t-shirt. It doesn't even have a printed game manual for crying out loud!
The collector's edition - quite frankly - is a rip-off!
To make sure you understand what you are getting:
1) Half Life 2 - The game
2) Half Life 1 Remake using the new Source Engine
3) Counter Strike Remake using the new Source Engine
4) Prima Official Hint Book
5) A T-Shirt
The game itself is awesome, no questions asked. The remake of Half Life 1 is cool too, but you can download that for free when you buy the regular version of Half Life 2. The same is true for CS. So basically, you get a t-shirt (which is actually a nice shirt) and the prima thingy.
The Prima book IS NOT THE STRATEGY GUIDE! Instead, it is a tiny booklet with excerps from the strategy guide and the "making of" book ("Raising the bar"). It is an advertisement for these two books at best and by itself almost completely useless.
So basically, you are paying an extra 30 bucks for a t-shirt. Oh, but perhaps you want the nice big box? Think again! The box itself is crappy both in quality and in design. In fact, at first I thought the box got damaged and mangled during shipment, but it didn't. It just looks that bad!
This is probalby the worst collector's edition of any game I have ever seen. It delivers little value, unless you want a t-shirt. It doesn't even have a printed game manual for crying out loud!
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Notes on the Collectors Edition
Nov 16 2004
By Bernard
- Published on Amazon.com
This discusses the Collectors Edition of Half Life 2. If you would like to hear about how great the game is, venture to the regular boxed game, but I am going to discuss the SLOPPY PACKAGE that Vivendi Universal calls a "COLLECTORS EDITION."
First, I would like you to know, I recieved this on the day of the Half Life 2 release, 11/16/2004. Kudos to amazon.com, they are a great company. However, I would like you to know, that another Half Life 2 "collectors edition" (aka Half Life 2 Gold) can be purchased over steam (go to www.steampowered.com and download the client), for a mere 9 dollars more, and you get over 4 times the extras than this puny package.
This sad package comes with a DVD and a t-shirt
now tell me, what is the price of this? for a DVD with Half Life 2 on it, and a t-shirt, with the half life 2 logo. whats more rich is that once you install the game, you have to still unlock it via steam, and if the steam network is down, then good luck trying to play it right away.
the steam gold package comes with stickers, posters, a hat, a strategy guide, a shirt, the soundtrack on cd, the entire catalog of games played on steam (including half life 1, counter strike, opposing force), and a special edition box.
Make no mistake, this collectors edition is a complete rip off, buyer beware.
First, I would like you to know, I recieved this on the day of the Half Life 2 release, 11/16/2004. Kudos to amazon.com, they are a great company. However, I would like you to know, that another Half Life 2 "collectors edition" (aka Half Life 2 Gold) can be purchased over steam (go to www.steampowered.com and download the client), for a mere 9 dollars more, and you get over 4 times the extras than this puny package.
This sad package comes with a DVD and a t-shirt
now tell me, what is the price of this? for a DVD with Half Life 2 on it, and a t-shirt, with the half life 2 logo. whats more rich is that once you install the game, you have to still unlock it via steam, and if the steam network is down, then good luck trying to play it right away.
the steam gold package comes with stickers, posters, a hat, a strategy guide, a shirt, the soundtrack on cd, the entire catalog of games played on steam (including half life 1, counter strike, opposing force), and a special edition box.
Make no mistake, this collectors edition is a complete rip off, buyer beware.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Know What You're Getting
Dec 30 2004
By Pyanfar Chanur
- Published on Amazon.com
I bought this collector's edition because I didn't see any information on how to get Half-Life: Source...I didn't realize that they'd offer you both it and Counter-Strike: Source for free when you register any version of the Half-Life 2 game. So...if you're buying it for that, don't bother. If you think you're getting a strategy guide, that's not entirely the truth, either. I was hoping to see the Prima trade paperback inside, but what you get instead is a pocket-sized book of excerpts from the guide and what looks like bits from the book "Raising the Bar", a hardcover about the making of Half-Life 2.
The free T-shirt is just the logo, and it's only available in a men's XL.
That said, here's the rest of the story: Half-Life 2 is an absolutely wonderful game. I cannot begin to describe how awesome it is: fun, scary, and real. Where the original game was frightening because the story was fast-paced and intense, and a lot of moments startled you, HL2 is more suspenseful and nerve-wracking because you feel more immersed in it. In any other game, running from the police in a city in broad daylight wouldn't do much for me, but here I feel frantic.
Despite the disappointments in the packaging, I'm still kind of glad I bought the collector's edition, for the "just because" factor. Call it a "special occasion" purchase. Half-Life: Source is a huge improvement over the original game, but if you have the "High-Definition Pack" that came free with Blue Shift, it's not much different from that: don't expect it to look at all like HL2.
One last thing: don't worry about Steam. It's not malware, it doesn't appear to be very intrusive, and I'm actually enjoying all the free goodies they offer me. Think of it less like having to activate Windows XP, and more like having a direct pipeline to the development team.
The free T-shirt is just the logo, and it's only available in a men's XL.
That said, here's the rest of the story: Half-Life 2 is an absolutely wonderful game. I cannot begin to describe how awesome it is: fun, scary, and real. Where the original game was frightening because the story was fast-paced and intense, and a lot of moments startled you, HL2 is more suspenseful and nerve-wracking because you feel more immersed in it. In any other game, running from the police in a city in broad daylight wouldn't do much for me, but here I feel frantic.
Despite the disappointments in the packaging, I'm still kind of glad I bought the collector's edition, for the "just because" factor. Call it a "special occasion" purchase. Half-Life: Source is a huge improvement over the original game, but if you have the "High-Definition Pack" that came free with Blue Shift, it's not much different from that: don't expect it to look at all like HL2.
One last thing: don't worry about Steam. It's not malware, it doesn't appear to be very intrusive, and I'm actually enjoying all the free goodies they offer me. Think of it less like having to activate Windows XP, and more like having a direct pipeline to the development team.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 69 reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
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