There was a lot of expectation put on this game.
Some expecting it to be unrealistically good.
Some expecting a train wreck.
Some who were not familiar with the series, but had heard of the older games through hype filters.
While it never reached "HL3 confirmed" chest beating levels of anticipation- it was there.
A lot of time to hope and dream. Things seldom turn out as good as we dream, particularly when we have so long to do it.
Mostly, it is everything i thought it would be- a great game I will play for thousands of hours.
Good reviews? Bad reviews? Spluh?