Half-Life came into my life during a period of uncertainty. My girl had gone to Europe with her family for a few months, and to fill the void I had bought myself, thanks to my mom's money, a brand new computer, with two Voodoo 2 cards in SLI mode. (The Ultimate graphics solution at the time). And I was ready for some serious gaming!

Having already played the Uplink demo, I figured I was in for something special. Some gook on the net sold me a copy of the game, and rushing home I loaded it up, and the rest is history.

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The introductory sequence on the monorail, with the angelic voice giving you the pep talk, while the cavernous expanse of Black Mesa slipped past you, was amazing enough: but when, at the end of the ride, the security guy greets you and starts talking to you, his lips in perfect sync with the words, I knew I had struck gold.

What follows is the most ingenious piece of storytelling ever achieved on a computer in the form of a First Person Shooter. Its similar to living a sci-fi action movie of the highest calibre; not the drivel that shoots out of Hollywood each summer, but one that is finely crafted, exquisitely acted and perfectly directed.

As Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist, you are thrown into the chaos that ensues when a secret experiment goes awry ripping open inter-dimensional conduits that bring forth armies of alien creatures hell-bent on obliterating or assimilating the locals (Aliens style).

Corny as it may sound, the way the story unfolds and the key elements implemented, is what makes it stand out from the rest.

Trapped within the massive underground complex that is Black Mesa, with all transportation systems destroyed or non-functional, you must find a way to reach the surface "to let them know what happened", with the help of the surviving scientists and the odd security guard.

By talking with the friendlies, you're able to gather info on the surroundings, get access to weapons that otherwise you would not have, and to be clued in on how best to kill the big alien around the corner.

Half-Life is one of the seminal moments of my game-playing life. Whether its the first time I came across the three headed beast in the missile silo, or when I shot down the Apache gunship with my laser guided RPG, or when I ran into the military death squads out to clean up after the mishap, there are innumerable moments in this gaming masterpiece that will be with me for as long as I live and breath.

Also Barney, the security guard, has the wittiest lines I have ever heard uttered outside of a Monkey Island game.

And the 2nd VTOL plane sequence has to be the greatest action set piece in gaming history. There, I said it.