Man, I fucking love Half-Life 2, but you know what? You're fucking right, dude. Great review. Didn't agree 100%, of course, but you did succeed in showing the game in a new light that I hadn't seen before. I will say, though. The whole thing about awkward pauses or camera mugging could've been toned down, or omitted because it was really a bit of a stretch. Other than that, you've earned yourself another sub.

HL2 wasn't the first game to have a physics engine, that's true, but the physics engines in games like Psi-Ops and Max Payne 1/2 were far more primitive than what was in HL2, and they weren't as dynamic and versatile as the amount of options you have in HL2.

1:35 There is actually a slightly different reason toward the crowbar being reused as the melee. Originally there were to be 3 melees. A Crowbar, the Combine's electrical stick thingy's, and a pickax. Originally you lost your weapons at several points in the game. This was around 2003. However, during gameplay demos, testers didn't like the lack of the crowbar and because it was such a beloved fan favorites to so many, Valve decided to make the crowbar the only melee. So Valve did have the right ideas in mind having the melee be realistic, but they wanted to please the gamers, so they took demo testers complaints into serious considerations. 

Was I the only person who didnt murder the scientists?

I think they were mugging the camera cause Valve really wanted you to see those facial animations, that shit was so amazing in 2004

In Blue Shift, the point is survive and escape. In Half-Life the point is to defeat the aliens. If Gordon wanted to escape, he would not have willingly gone to Xen. And he didn't know that G-Man would save him.

The reason the physics engine for half life 2 was so praised is because the way you could interact with objects in the environments Ravenholm is a good example of this. using anything that you can as a projectile was innovative at the time cause no other game could let you do that

The funniest part about Half Life 2 is that Gordon is a hero of humanity... While most players probably shot every scientist for shits and giggles.

HL2 was one of the best gaming experiences of my life, but I can't criticise you for saying otherwise because you make some damn fine points! It has to be said the characters aren't all that likeable and the dialogue is corny at best. On reflection, most of the game did seem to focus less on story development and more on introducing new game mechanics. Even I got confused when Barney, Kleiner and Eli introduced themselves as Gordon's colleagues back at Black Mesa, since they were never even introduced in the first game. HL2 did seem more like a reboot than a sequel like you say. Maybe the reason the series came to a standstill was because they didn't really have anything substantial to work from.

This gave me quite a new perspective on Half Life 2, and I have to say it makes quite a good point upon continuity errors between the two games, as well as lack of content in the second game. It makes me wonder if those continuity errors are the reason valve has not wrapped up the half life series yet...

28:49 That was a quicksave, not the sound's fault.

A bit of nit picks: