I know a lot of people are completing Half-Life 2 in a single diaper-clad
marathon, but I am one to savor these things, so I am playing in more moderate
stretches. One of the things that helps with that is being easily distracted....
I decided to see what Half-Life: Source looks like, and quickly transitioned to
being analytical about the Source translation of the game, to enjoying the
nostalgia of the renewed experience, to being caught up in gameplay. I ended up
playing well past the resonance cascade (I still cracked up when Barney
mutterered about wanting to get his hands on the guy responsible for this), and
now have a saved game to go back to. It certainly reinforces my feelings about
game design... even with the Source-engine enhancements, a lot of the visuals
inspire a "wow, was this really old school state-of-the-art?" kind of reaction,
but as the bard said, the play's the thing, and the play is still fresh today.