Half Life 2 (Mac)

Half Life 2 is now available on the Mac, so I thought I'd revisit what I thought was my favourite game of all time. I'm surprised by what I found, and wonder whether this suggests that my UX demands have increased and become more nuanced since I originally played it.

Mac specific issues
Pro: Instantaneous switching between game and any other application.
Con: Disappointing frame rate (<30fps), especially for such an old game (2004)

Game issues
Annoyed by having to replay the same section over and over again because I don't understand how the game wants me to complete the puzzle, or move on through to the next section of the game. It's presented as an semi-open world, but in reality the only interesting paths are linear. I find myself unintentionally and unknowingly backtracking sometimes because I find it hard to read where I'm supposed to go, or what I'm supposed to do. Sometimes these backtracks can be very long and tedious, giving me a very large amount of game world to explore. Ideally redundant paths should be blocked, thus helping to guide me along the intended path. Alternatively, provide dynamic, non-linear gameplay where previous parts of the gameworld still have interest and fun, and where I really can chose my own way through the game.

Loading screens. Maybe back in 2004 this was acceptable, but these days it's not. I expect background loading at all times. If you're going to insist on a loading screen, at least make it interesting, perhaps interactive in a way that's relevant and plausible. Especially you should avoid interrupting the player while they're doing something highly interactive and feedback driven, such as piloting a hovercraft! After the loading screen has completed I often go a bit out of control with the sudden return to gameplay.