I think this about Half-Life 1:
- It's just Goldeneye 007 with a physics engine tech demo
- Gordon Freeman is a Gary Stu (silent protagonist that everyone knows, has a Ph. D in physics at 27, goes from a nerd scientist to a one-man army in a matter of minutes, the only one who can save us from the Combine)
- fanboys praise it's supposedly great story, but when asked "what story?", they immediately fall back on punting to
I.O.U. One Plot "indirect" or "environmental" storytelling.
A lot of this makes sense, but I disagree about the Gary Stu part mostly because Gordon Freeman has to BE a character in the first place in order to be a Gary Stu. The whole silent protagonist thing in HL1 gives him no characterization at all. All we get is that he's 27 and has a PhD (this is more than possible -- go to grad school right after undergrad, most get B.S. at 22, so 5 years for a PhD is do-able). He could've been a 2A fan/gun enthusiast as well (the Southwest USA is very pro-2A and he could've easily been his hobby in his off time). Other than that, he has the HEV suit, which is the only reason he didn't become a headcrab zombie 5 minutes after the resonance cascade. The suit is what made him the one-man army. If anything, the HEV suit is the Gary Stu, but THAT's not a character either.
Because of this, Ross Scott's "Freeman's Mind" series (an all-time favorite of mine) makes Gordon out to be a paranoid almost-prepper asshole, which is just perfect given what he is able to do in the game. Maybe this non-cannon version of Freeman is a Gary Stu, but again, he actually is a character (unlike the game).
HL2, on the other hand, really ups his Messiah-like image and I would say he's definitely a Gary Stu there (that's the game where he fights the Combine). HL1, he's just in the wrong place at the wrong time and thrown into shit for the sake of the game.
You can probably tell, I'm biased towards this game, but I agree the story is vague -- it's not great and tells you almost nothing, which is part of the charm. HL1 is a thrill ride (think a ride at Disneyland/Universal or whatever -- not Citizen Kane) and any "fan" who says otherwise is just dumb IMO.
Lastly, the Goldeneye 007 comment is odd, mostly because the control scheme in HL1 is WAY better -- you can play HL1 and it feels like an FPS, while Goldeneye feels like an old game. I think the control scheme and how well it was setup (hence why it aged well) makes it more than just Goldeneye 007 with a physics engine. I'll admit this is a more contentious point.
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An overrated game for me is a little tricky for me. If I had to pick, I would say Fatal Frame mostly because it's really not that scary (especially since the Silent Hill series was out at around the same time). Gameplay was also fairly repetitive once you learned the mechanics.