After a few hours of playing Half-Life, it's hard to even think of it as a game. Graphics support is perfect, both A3D and Creative's Environmental Audio work out of the box, and besides getting caught on a polygon from time to time, gameplay is faultless. Models are now skeleton based, meaning that the visible polygons move around a skeletal structure of non-visible polygons, allowing for a more realistic flow of motion. Building textures are fairly utilitarian, since you're wandering around a scientific base. It's not really a big departure from Quake and Quake II's greens, greys, and browns, but it is well done and convincing.
Weapons are, without exception, some of the coolest around.
They're not big bangers like Shogo's, but they're real looking and pack a decent punch. The alien weapons, based on organic technology, are freaky fun as they spout of small creatures to hunt down and destroy your enemies. Movement is standard for FPS games, and the default 'Thresh' configuration is built in for keyboard and mouse play, so picking up this game and moving through it is simple if you're not a novice to the genre. Even if you are, the game features a training level called the Hazard Course which effectively teaches you the basics of motion and shows you some of the unique skills Half-life offers, like Long Jumping and both standard and alternate fire. Half-Life's single player game is filled with plot and great cinematic touches which speak volumes about the professionalism and commitment behind this game.