While they can hold their own in a fire fight, they do seem to die a little too easily at times. Squad members do what is asked of them, although a minor criticism is that beyond telling them where to go, you have little control over their movements. It is also here, where you really experience the level of AI present in the game. The level of intensity and destruction brought to these later levels rivals that in Call of Duty, and is simply breath taking. When you re-enter City 17 later in the game, you find yourself fighting along side resistance members, against a formidable force of soldiers, accompanied by the immense Striders. Ravenholm provides a darker side to City 17, and an excuse for the mindless slaughter of zombies and head crabs fully utilising the newly acquired gravity gun and a verity of cleverly thought out traps. Again, the physics are fantastic in the way vehicles respond to the environment.

If anything though, I found the airboat level slightly on the long side, although it does inject another level of adrenaline into the game. Like wise the mounted gun on the airboat brings a new level of destruction to play. The 2 levels that use vehicles are like a rollercoaster ride, both the airboat and buggy handle exceptionally well, and the turbo on the buggy is fantastic. As you navigate your way through City 17 and its surrounding areas, you will find yourself traversing a variety of different environments, each with its own effect on game play. They also have rather different specialties meaning you have to swap between weapons depending on the situation at hand This is rather nice as you find yourself using the full range of arsenal at your disposal rather than sticking with one 'usual suspect' for most of the game. All the weapons feel and sound weighty, each packing their individual punch. The rest of the weapons include all the usual suspects, Pistol, SMG, Shotgun, an (underused) crossbow as well as a couple of others I shall leave you to find for yourselves. In one later and rather memorable level the Gravity gun takes on a whole new meaning and power, causing much hilarity as I ploughed through scores of troops sending them in all directions!

There is a certain thrill using the enemies own weapons against them dont you think? Not only this, but you can fire gas canisters at Zombies who set alight and scream in pain, and if you wish to administer a rather quicker death then the various circular saw blades make short work of slicing unfortunate opponents in two.

Half life 2 airboat