Happy 25th anniversary Half-Life!

I remember myself as a little kid, when i first met Half-life. All the games that i played before were really, how to say it right... unsouled? Unsouled in it's interaction with player and itself. Yes, they had amazing gameplays; yes they had intresting features and delivered so many fun to me; but the feeling that i'm just playing game in my room never left me even for a second with all of them. And i know, that they had souls, but they never showed them. And HL changed it...and the moment it did it, was one of the best moments in my gaming experience.
Train ride, that introduced me insane size and life of the research facility "Black Mesa", where EVERYONE is busy: people that walking around in cafe, taking thier lunch; scientists, that were working hard in thier offices and places, conversating between each other, in efforts to find an answers to current research problems; guards that were helping scientists in solving facility emergencies; fork lifters, that were rolling around with boxes, trying to deliver them in time in the place they need; even robots were busy welding the rockets, other machines, moving heavy cargoes from side to side. Entire picture of that said me: "THIS PLACE IS ALIVE!". Not only me, the player that decided to try the game, but the world entireley was felt like it living it's own life.
And because it living it's own life, it also should has an interactions with me, right? Yes, right. Whole staff in the facility knows me, asking the questions that i never answered, saying what to do and where to go; companions that you can take in your trip if you need help; guards that get angry at you, and scientists that get's scary if you'll hurt them or other personeel. Even enemies knows me, reacted at my presence and the actions i've been doing in fights with them, Everyone were alive not only in relationships with themselfes, but also with me.
Thus HL showed me it's soul, and i instantly understand, that this game really has it!

Carmack said: "Story in a game is like story in a porn... Its not that important"
Newell said: "Fuсk that!"
The story in HL is important, because YOU as a player are important! The story of HL is told by HL itself by all those interactions with you, that were telling the story as you move further. No silly dialog windows, no .txt files in the folder, the story happening all around, and you are the part of it! You making this story started by cascade resonance, you taking the unforseen consequences, clearing the "Black Mesa" from aliens and HECU; you launching the sattelite to the orbit, in tries to stop the alien invasion and all this mess. Fault. And now you going to the belly of the beast itself, World named Xen, to do this work from the insides. And finally, you finishing your mission. The mission in the story, that you had started for yourself.

But there's was something more, and this is a "Goldsrc" engine. Not itself, but all those SDK-tools that Valve released to it! The game and it's engine became open for all of those players that was admired by HL, but after end said: "It's. Not. Enough." Crazy amount of any possible: mods, HLDM maps, weapons, addons. models, textures and MUCH MORE of content just flood the community dome up to the roof; and even now people still creating things and players still getting fun of them!

HL also has a multiplayer. It's classic for those times DM such as Quake and Doom; typical run-n-gun, with no brain and tactic; but for no reason people been choosing to play exactly HL. Maybe because it was not so hard-fast as Quake? Or maybe because you could nuke all of your enemies on the map with one button?
Some players then didn't even played a story, but were picking MP instead of it all the time.
Crossfire, Stalkyard, and Bootcamp were our places to make some noise.
And AG! Next level of HLDM, that you need to be really skilled and braved to even try it, but if you did - Welcome to the HL elite forces.

Thanks to Gabe Newell and his team. Thanks to the HL community, Thanks to all those lunatic mad players that played HL then, and playing HL now! Thanks to you, Gordon Freeman! Thanks that you all made me feel, that i'm the part of this story the part of this story!

Happy 25th anniversary Half-Life!