Now, I don't remember the details exactly, but somehow I managed to get my hands on my first video card in 1998 or 1999. However, I didn't own a decent computer then, so I had to put the card in my roommate's PC and play games in his room. There was one game I wanted to play beyond all others - Half-Life. I had heard about it, read about it, and dreamed about it.
It was everything the hype told me it would be, and more.
For the next week I battled through the Black Mesa, and it's an experience I will never forget. I had played 1st Person shooters before, but this took the storytelling to a new level, but with a subtle, understated style. It was an amazing experience.
I haven't played the game since, and I'm glad I haven't, because I'm sure it has aged. But at the time, it was a miraculous achievement. And the guns felt great.
Nowadays when I rarely play a FPS, almost everything I see I can trace back to the original Half-Life or Half-Life 2. These games were tremendously innovative, and a lot of people forget that.
And my God, there was nothing like finally getting my hands on the rocketlauncher and taking down that evil fucking helicopter.
I think i have both half life games on steam but never played them.
you should definitely play Half-Life 2
I'm not a fan of Half-Life but I sure do love the Portal games!
yeah they're great!
I must have started Half-Life a dozen times but never made it through. At most it was a couple of hours.
dammit, Mothman! :p
I played Half-Life on a PS2 back in the day 'cause I wasn't doing serious games on PC. It was great. I really liked it. Half-Life 2 I played on Xbox and then Xbox 360 when it was part of Orange Box, with the extra chapters if I remember right. Too bad Valve went the way of Steam instead of building Half-Life 3. Seems like we'll never see it now.
There’s still hope! 
They certainly have enough cash now. They even aquired Campo Santo last year. Wonder what they're doing with them. The Idle Thumbs podcast with all their developers went dark soon after the aquisiion. Mysterious machinations afoot.
Ah, back in the day when advances in tech actually made a noticeable difference in games and new graphics could still wow us. I'll be over here having a nostalgic moment if you need me.
Ha ha. I understand.
I don't remember playing Half-Life. It's a blur. On the other hand, I remember Half-Life 2 a lot better. There's always Black Mesa. I'm sure at some point I'm going to have to get, and play it. Once it's out of Early Access of course.
I don't think I ever played the original Half Life but I do remember the hype around the game.