Half-Life 2

I'm in the process of playing (arguably) the best computer game to date. I don't make this claim lightly. After all, I'm Generation X and therefore part of the videogame generation. I've owned and/or played games on the Atari 2600, the first Nintendo, Sega Genesis, SNES, Playstation 2, the Commodore 64, and of course the PC. I've played the original arcade games Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Zaxxon, and Frogger. Those big consoles were everywhere you looked; drugstores, five and dimes, pizza places, and of course the arcades themselves. I consider myself a connesiuer of sorts for all of these games.
I played the original Half-Life awhile ago which was a great game in itself. Considered an FPS (First Person Shooter) its strength lay in its storyline. Its much anticipated sequel (Half-Life 2) released late last year and taking five years to develop, builds on the story and is worthy of a Hollywood script. In addition, the game has amazing graphics which requires an updated computer. Without giving too much away, the gameplay is loads of fun requiring a certain amount of strategy. A certain positivity runs through Half-Life 2 which seemed to be absent in its predecessor. In fact certain parts of the original were simply frustrating.
Well, I'm hooked. I've abandoned all of my other recent computer games like Doom 3 (which is a horror survival game that can scare the sh*t out of you), Sims 2, and Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. I'm about two thirds complete, and if my partner was not already playing his Age of Mythology game on the newer computer, I'd probably be playing Half-Life 2 right now instead of writing about it.
Anyways, highly recommended :-)