Boxes and Ladders - the damn physics of Half-Life One

I haven’t been gaming for as long as others, so I’ve missed out on some classics. Thanks to the Steam Summer Sale, I now have my own copy of Half-Life 1 (the Source version). I’ve played all the sequels but never got around to playing the original. Really enjoying it so far… except for one thing. The movement and physics.

Okay, maybe that’s two things. When controlling Gordon Freeman it feels like he’s on roller-skates. A slight key press and he’s half way across the room. This gets very annoying when trying to line up to a vent to crawl into, or navigating the platforming sections. The physics are also very annoying, in the way they don’t do what you want them to do at all. I know they were very advanced at the time, and the physics of HL: Source might be different to the original, the problem is still there.

Above is a humorous video to show my point - where I’m currently stuck in the game. Watch me jump around as my gormless security guard sidekick stands and watches :P