I installed Half-Life 2 last night. 5 CD’s of goodness packed with an eternity of pain.

It took a while, so I had to think of things to do while it ran. Here’s my list of suggestions for filling the time:

• Evolve
• Grow old
• Learn a new hoby

I’m now a master at scrimshaw, can levitate objects with my mind, and am too old to care.

But after installing the game, authenticating via Steam, getting my files unlocked, and updating… I was able to play.

OMG! OMG! PRETTY! PRETTY!

I should have taken some screenshots for posting because you can do amazing things in this game. In the first level when you arrive in City 17, you start off in a train terminal. There are suitcases on carts everywhere. You can pick them up and put them down (or toss them around).

I created the leaning tower of luggage using suitcases and boxes. I also threw bottles at the NPC’s, breaking them over their heads (they didn’t seem to mind much).

After much mucking about, I ran in to my old friend, Barney (the security guard at Black Mesa) and he eventually hooked me up with a crow bar. Why didn’t he give me the damn gun on his hip? Fine. Since Barney was on a ledge above me when he tossed it down and was therefore unreachable, I had to take the crowbar the beat a gun outa someone else.

“Give…” *whack* “… me…” *wack* “… that !” *wack* *thud*

I didn’t get to play long, as we had a meltdown at Casa De Tone (report cards came in the mail for my two sons… bad things ensued). But I did get to kill a veritable cornucopia of bad guys and a large number of “barnacles” (hint to those who haven’t played it yet… red barrels are your friend and your worst enemy at the same time. Stay conscious of where they are in relation to you and the enemy).

The game is beautiful. From the shadows under characters to the physics model to the way water looks (both above and below), this is by far the most eye candy I’ve ever seen. The textures are incredible and give this FPS a feeling of realism that I’ve not seen before.

Someone at ID is looking at Doom3 right now while wiping away a tear at what might have been.