Half-Life

Until Half-Life, action games were essentially shooting galleries with lots of high-tech gloss and little emotional involvement. But H-L showed what could happen when plot, character development, and pacing were embedded into a first-person experience. Half-Life has something of a half-life itself: The popular online game Counter-Strike is an offshoot of this seminal shooter.
NOTE-WORTHY A fan letter from actor Geoffrey Rush is displayed in the lobby of Valve L.L.C., the game's developer. (PC, PS2, 1998)