When I did finally get around to it, though, HL2 instantly catapulted into my all-time top five.
It has an engrossing story told remarkably well.
It has a beautiful, but desolate, setting.
In many ways, it wasThe Last of Usnine years before The Last of Us existed.
Valve has confirmed why Half-Life 2 went silent all those years ago.
This realization came to me during the initial trek through City 17 in the game’s opening hour.
The alien military-occupied metropolis is remarkably similar to The Last of Us' human military-occupied Boston.
And yet, both are suffused with humor.
But the similarities go deeper than just one level.
First-person shooters can be divided pretty neatly into pre-Half-Life and post-Half-Life.
Doom and Wolfenstein are mostly made up of hallways and arenas with little relation to real spaces.
Whether you love Infinite or hate it, there aren’t many games building on what it did.
In other words, The Last of Us picked up where Half-Life left off.
Narratively, thematically, and visually, Abby’s muscles matter.
