I played Half-Life (1998) for the first time in 2026 | Retrospective | Gaming Through the Years

I’m not even a huge fan of first-person shooters... so why did Half-Life completely win me over? In this retrospective, I break down how Valve’s design philosophy, seamless world-building, and player-driven storytelling reshaped the FPS genre, and where the cracks begin to show nearly three decades later.

Time codes:
0:00 - My Experience with FPS
1:43 - Valve & The State of FPS in the Mid-90s
3:19 - Story Through Gameplay, Not Cutscenes
4:45 - Why the Story Works
7:58 - Pacing via Level Design
10:00 - The Invisible Guiding Hand
12:36 - NPCs & Graphics
14:56 - The (Few) Flaws
17:09 - The Controls
19:00 - Impact & Legacy (and Half-Life: Uplink)

Endcard Artwork by OcaRockaRina (Twitter)

Half-Life © 1998 Valve, Sierra
Doom, Quake, Quake II © 1993, 1996, 1997 id Software
Diablo © 1997 Blizzard, Sierra

Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Parasite Eve © 1994, 1997, 1998 Square
Disruptor © 1996 Insomniac, Universal
Tomb Raider © 1996 Core, Eidos
Pokémon: Blue Version © 1996 Game Freak, Nintendo
GoldenEye 007 © 1997 Rare, Nintendo

Mega Man Legends © 1997 Capcom
Metal Gear Solid © 1998 Konami, Kojima Productions

Featuring Music by Kelly Bailey

This video exists for the sake of analysis and review and is thus protected under Fair Use.