Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition

Your gun had better be loaded if you're playing Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition, the smartest, shootingest, bloodiest game ever to hit the PC. Take control of a scientist charged with destroying the alien invasion force that arrived, courtesy of government experiments gone wrong. Of course, the post-X-Files world brings additional bad guys in the form of federal "cleaners" who want you just as dead as the monsters.

Power up your environmental suit and plunge through level after level of increasingly difficult and creepy challenges, rescuing your fellow scientists and ultimately clearing out the whole complex--if you're lucky. Gameplay is smooth and simple, after the obligatory false starts and botched maneuvers common to learning every new game. Persistence pays off, though: Half-Life rewards tenacity with increasing power and understanding of the virtual world.

 

Play on a network and cooperate or compete with folks across the world or in the next cubicle. For those who've mastered the intricacies of Half-Life, the Game of the Year Edition includes Worldcraft 2.0, which was used by the designers to build every detail of the base. Make your own levels and snicker at other players' pathetic attempts to evade your deathtraps. It's easy to see why Half-Life won Game of the Year from over 50 publications. Try it and see for yourself--if you're not too squeamish.