: Having glanced once or twice at descriptions of the
: puzzles in Half-Life, I can tell that it's the sort of game that makes you
: think "If Bungie had access to these kinds of tools, this is how they
: would've done Marathon". I may give it a try someday, just for fun.
Just got through playing the first few levels or so of Half Life for the first time. There are no loading screens as such; once you reach a certain area you'll notice a pause and see a brief loading text, but its very quick (and my machine is 6 years old so newer machines may have even briefer transitions.
I'm not too fond of blood & guts in games but think of it like Quake giblets instead of modern shooters with anatomically correct body parts and spurting blood. In some games you can tone that down in the settings; not sure of the specifics on HL or Unreal. In any case, most of the visible carnage is of alien critters rather than your peers.
Be forewarned, even for these games; if any levels scared you in Marathon, expect the unexpected in HL and in Unreal. Some parts in each are downright scary to me. Note too that the puzzle element is stronger in HL, but not entirely absent in Unreal. Both are atmospheric and most of the environments in Unreal are gorgeous and the music lends to that. So in one you explore to solve getting from here to there; in the other you explore to see all the eye candy.
Have fun with your choice(s)!
