I completely agree. It amazed me that people hailed HL2 as one of the greatest games ever. I thought it was awful - and as you say, all because of the lack of

I completely agree. It amazed me that people hailed HL2 as one of the greatest games ever. I thought it was awful - and as you say, all because of the lack of agency. It's not so much a game as a series of set pieces to show of the cleverness of the level designers.