I got Half-Life 1 in 2003, and it 100% lived up to all the hype. I adored its map editor, whereas other engines were impenetrable to 16 yo me. After HL2 released I spent many evenings modding the Source engine. It was such a huge influence on me as a game dev. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years!
For anyone remotely interested in the process of game development, the 20th anniversary update has commentary by the developers which are absolute gems. They’re really gonna make me play through the game yet another time