March 1999 Volume 80 Number 3 "serving the protectors"
PC Games
By By Mike Horsfall  (mich@picknowl.com.au)

HALF-LIFE

Is it a dreary, mundane life you lead? Is it the same stuff - just a different day? Perhaps now is the right time to explore a new life or seek a new career, even travel to a different land.

But it’s not a new life that you need; it’s a Half-Life - the latest in 3D action games from Sierra Studios and Valve™.

Step into the boots of Dr Gordon Freeman - he’s unmarried, without dependents and it’s clear he has a taste for danger and excitement. After accepting a position at the Black Mesa Research Facility, Freeman leaves his job in Austria and heads for the United States.

His work will involve anomalous materials, so he’ll be required to wear and operate a hazardous environment suit (HEV). After being trained and certified in its use, Freeman will take on his role as a research associate at the top-secret underground base.

It’s just another day at the office, or so it seems, until there’s a Resonance Cascade Scenario - the experiment you’ve just started working on blows up.

Now, with aliens coming through the walls, a military death squad killing everything in sight, and your colleagues in bits and pieces, you’re scrambling to stay alive. Where do you go? Who can you trust? Are you the next victim to be scraped into a body bag? One thing’s for sure: it’s time to move - and fast.

A scientist pleads with you to get to the surface to warn the outside world of the impending danger. In pursuit of your freedom you not only have to deal with the attacking aliens and military death squad, but you must also find a route to the surface. You’ll need to climb over rubble and through air-conditioning ducts, tunnels and shafts; you’ll go underwater and jump for your life.

A number of weapons will be secured along the way to help you fight off your enemy, and you’ll also have to steal them from the aliens. Without these weapons, it’s history. Your mission is simple: run - think - shoot - live.

Half-Life is full-on action with fantastic graphics, superb sounds and great gameplay. It’s available now and is suitable for a multimedia PC with at least a Pentium 166 and a 3D accelerator card. It’s the best 3D-action game seen to date and will awaken those lovers of games such as UnReal and Quake.

To win a copy of Half-Life, write your name and station on a used envelope marked Half-Life. Send it to Mike Horsfall at Sturt Police Station (12).