Half life 2
Half Life 2: episode 1
Halflife 2: episode 2
Team Fortress 2
Portal
I know that a large number of pc gamers are familiar at this point with Half Life 2, and might be more interested in the gameplay of both portal and Team Fortress. That is, of course, unless you've already played them. I'll have my own non-numerical review for the games below but feel free to add your own below if you've gotten the chance to.
Team Fortress 2:
Despite the class oriented gameplay, TF2 is more of a game for UT and Quake fans than those who prefer the battlefield series; The game tends to be very fast paced. However, the variations between classes offer a strategical aspect that is hard to find in a lot of "twitch" shooters.
There are 9 noticeably different classes, each offering their own set of unique advantages and disadvantages. The collective accommodates for virtually every style of gameplay. I'm not going to describe every class in (too much) detail, but know this - the spy is awesome.
Here's a list of the various classes:
Offensive:
Scout - scattergun, pistol and a baseball bat (fast as hell, but has low health and scatter gun really only kills at point blank range)
Soldier - rocket launcher, shotgun and a ....... I forget (somewhat well rounded character)
Pyro - Flame thrower, Shotgun and a fireman's axe (master of close range combat
Defensive:
Demoman - grenade launcher, mine launcher and a liquor bottle (hard to master, but effective)
Heavy - Minigun, shotgun and fists (powerful, but slow)
Engeneer - shotgun, building tool and demolishing tool (can build teleporters, sentry guns and health dispensers)
Support:
Medic - healing gun, syringe gun and surgeons saw (pretty self explanatory)
Sniper - sniper, smg and another mele weapon that escapes my mind
Spy - cigarretes that disguise him as an enemy class, pistol, knife (Also has a cloaking device)
As shallow as this may sound, the graphics in TF2 is a big part of what makes the game awesome. Now, when I say this I'm not referring to the available texture resolutions, the draw distance or how many levels of Anti-aliasing can be applied. (Gasp!) I'm making reference to the artistic and stylistic map and character models, as well as the "psuedo" cell-shaded rendering process. The game looks like an old humor based comic book, with over-exaggerated proportions and quite possibly the best toon shading I have ever seen in a game. It sets the mood for pointless, gory, yet sarcastically informal and friendly violence. (If that makes any sense) Trust me, you'll understand what I mean when you play it.
The maps that come with the game are few in number, yet probably won't realize it until you've put a decent number of hours into it. That's because with the, exception of a few maps, the areas that the spawn points and objective points are placed change every round. Each map seems to serve as 3 small, but independent levels. The only consistent part of the different sections would be the general setting.
I'm sure I have more to say, but I'll just end by stating my overall opinion of the game; It's fun, good looking and highly addictive.
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Portal is not an FPS. It may look like one at first glance, but it's really a creative and innovative puzzle game. A creative and innovative puzzle game with a very, very short campaign. It's length is forgivable simply because it's as fun as hell (You know, the fun kind of hell).
The ability to create a wormhole through space with the click of a button allows for an interesting and fresh experience in the world of gaming, as well as hours upon hours of entertainment with never ending loopholes. The system is pretty simple, portal A (left clicking) leads to portal B (right clicking) and visa versa. Granted, there are some surfaces on which you cannot create a portal, but the possibilities are pretty much endless.
The main objective is simple, get to the room's exit. However, weight sensitive buttons, switches powered by energy balls bouncing around the room and deadly tripod turrets are in the stand between you and your goal. Water is bad, and gravity can be both your best friend and worst enemy, even though there is no fall damage.
For some, the game may seem hard at first, but once you get into the "portal" mindset, the game flows quite smoothly. You don't have to be a genius to beat the campaign, though there will be points at which you may find yourself temporarily clueless. The game does get significantly harder, after you finish the campaign and try the bonus maps, which are remakes of previous levels with both small and drastic modifications that increase the difficulty level by a large amount.
I'd type more, but I'm too tired to think. It's a fun game, go and try it. I'm not sure either game would be as fluid with console controls, but I may be wrong.
