When was the last time you heard a good story? For me, it was last weekend – I was chatting with a friend who regaled about his exploits from the previous Saturday with a buxom beauty at a local nightclub (always makes for good listening). Also, I saw Skyfall again last week (bloody good storytelling). Such narrative is part of our everyday living. It weaves its way through everything from sitcoms to sports commentary, giving our lives a certain texture. Gaming and stories go hand-in-hand, but the results can be seriously mixed; things that were refreshing ten years ago can seem tiresome in the modern light of day (princesses needing rescuing by knights/plumbers/hedgehogs anyone…ANYONE?).

Every once in a while though the industry goes through something of a shake-up, with every few years a game coming along that (literally) rewrites the rule book and shows us that clichés/stereotypes needn’t be adhered to. For the original PlayStation, that game was Metal Gear Solid (cinematic cut-scenes & extended Codec conversations giving the narrative some added layers). Of recent times we’ve seen Heavy Rain (multi-character plot lines and clever use of QTE’s making for a unique experience). Back in 1998 though, no one could deny the marvelous influence of a new title from developer Valve Software that went by the name of Half-Life.

Admittedly I was somewhat late to the Half-Life party (if I’m being brutally honest I didn’t even hear of it until the turn of the millennium!). There used to be this quaint computer game show on ITV called ‘Cybernet’ (it was nothing fancy – modest production values and a charming voice-over artist – and it was on at 3.00 in the morning!). On one particular episode, they were showcasing a countdown of the best multi-platform games up to that point. Integral to this story is the quality of software being produced at that point (Christmas ‘98 was dominated by the sounds of ocarinas being played).

At the apex of the show was the revelation of numbers 3 to 1 and to my surprise the top spot was occupied by a game with a highly scientific title. When that week Cybernet finished it was like my mind went completely blank. I couldn’t remember the rest of the chart, I couldn’t remember any of the articles, just my disorientation of learning about the top game around at that time (and the accompanying video of some guy called ‘Gordon Freeman’ running around, crowbar-in-hand).

It’s safe to say most of our introductions to Half-Life will be along those lines; a friend or magazine article waxing-lyrical about the new gem in the FPS line-up, and most of us being slightly taken aback by the fact that we had precious little prior knowledge of such a title (imagine if someone had to tell you what The Dark Knight was??). To be fair it’s not really our faults – the majority of the gaming population were either smitten with their N64’s or poised for the transition to the proverbial ‘next-gen’ (remember when ‘next-gen’ referred to the PlayStation 2? Halcyon days or what?). However, if you were a PC man/woman, liked a first-person shooter and were clued up, you were ready for the next evolution in game-based storytelling.

Half-Life was all about immersion. By ignoring FMV and keeping the action in-game, Valve made the very conscious decision to cut out the middle man and ensure gamers were a part of every firefight as well as every conversation. It was a bold move at the time; Full Motion Video had a good reputation and made for a rewarding bit of eye candy whenever you finished certain sections (I’m literally thinking of Final Fantasy VIII right now – haven’t thought about that game for years). But Valve were smarter than the average developer and knew very well that captivation was more important than visual fireworks, and that one-day in-game engines would rival the splendour of a pre-rendered cut-scene.

The 00’s were the decade in which that prediction would come true, but we can pretty much thank Half-Life for kick-starting the move towards it. There were other noteworthy themes that also ran through Valve’s title: the idea that science can’t always be controlled, governmental influence and that classic doomsday scenario in which extra-terrestrials could oh-so-easily take over. HL explored all of these as well as wearing its movie-inspired concepts on its sleeve. The game was deep, rich and spawned a plethora of equally deep, rich additional content (Counter-Strike being the most celebrated example). And then…we all started thinking about great a follow up would be.

During ‘03/’04 Valve demonstrated a master class in wetting the public’s appetite. Information about Half-Life 2 was drip fed at a calculated pace with each new video looking more impressive than the last (Xbox World Magazine was always great, mainly for the content on the packaged DVD, and I remember one month purchasing such a copy, going round a friend’s house, and the three of us sitting there just gawking at how good HL2 looked). It wasn’t like all the clever marketing was needed (with hindsight being 20/20, the product would have spoken for itself), but it made those two years incredibly fun for any teenager who wanted to be on the cusp of what was worthwhile in the industry. As with anything the anticipation can almost be the best part, but when it comes to software that has Gordon Freeman on the front cover, this definitely is not the case.

Half-Life 2 was breathtaking. Just as EA now operate with the FIFA franchise, Valve chose to listen to fan demand and crammed a plethora of thoughtful new features into the sequel. The admission to City 17 may have seemed dystopian and oppressive to our hero, but for us, it was sheer paradise. No longer were players confined to simply wandering corridors; now there was sunshine and helicopters and apartment blocks, as well as the usual soldier/alien cannon-fodder. You could sprint, you could shoot guided rockets and best of all you could drive! Everything felt slick, none of it felt tacked on. Yes, there were loading screens and yes the game couldn’t escape the fact that it was still a game, but when the gameplay was so precise, and the characters that believable, you couldn’t help but fall in love with it. And then just when you thought Valve have shown their best set pieces they go and drop in the Gravity Gun – awesomeness personified.

Half-Life has and always will be one of the life’s little joys. Every spinoff/expansion pack is an affirmation for an industry that continues to push the boundaries of entertainment. We’ve had Episode One, Episode Two, etc. There’s more around the corner, whether it’ll be the final part of that trilogy or the fabled HL3 we can’t be sure. What we can be sure of is that it’ll look great, it’ll play great… it will simply be great.