I picked-up a copy of the Xbox version of "Half-Life 2" over the weekend. The game was only $9.99, which is actually cheaper than most Xbox Live Arcade games. The great thing about the game is that it is backwards compatible with the 360. I started playing the game, and I immediately started using the duck, wait and shoot strategy that I learned while playing "Gears of War" (GoW).

 

Thanks to Half-Life 2's pacing, the strategy isn't as effective. I guess this all sums up to me saying that the cover system in GoW has affected the way I play shooters. I'll won't be rushing in as much anymore, I'll cover and wait for the opportune moment to strike. Sure, it might make games like Half-Life 2 more difficult to play, but it's a different style of gameplay that would be pretty interesting in the Half-Life (or Halo) universe.