Half-Life is one of the most successful and influential games ever made, but not every aspect of its design was far-reaching. Writer and designer Marc Laidlaw was surprised Valve's narrative tricks weren't more widely applied across the FPS genre, despite heavy hitters like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty taking some sporadic cues from Gordan Freeman's adventure.
Valve's FPS puts you into the shoes of Gordan Freeman, and you never leave them – every aspect of the game's story is delivered from a first-person perspective, and you experience every aspect of the story through Gordon's eyes. You never have control wrested away to force your gaze onto some event in the distance, or to look at a cutscene. You won't find many FPS games with the same commitment, even today.
