Half-Life 2 vs Tomb Raider Game of the Year
Half-Life 2 is an FPS horror game (2004) while Tomb Raider Game of the Year is an action-adventure platformer game from Crystal Dynamics (2013).
What each one is
Steam files Half-Life 2 under FPS and Horror. In contrast, it files Tomb Raider Game of the Year under Action-Adventure and Platformer.
Reawakened from stasis in the occupied metropolis of City 17, Gordon Freeman is joined by Alyx Vance as he leads a desperate human resistance. Experience the landmark first-person shooter packed with immersive world-building, boundary-pushing physics, and exhilarating combat.
Tomb Raider explores the intense origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor.
At a glance
| Half-Life 2 | Tomb Raider Game of the Year | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 9.0/10 | 8.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (98%, 278,618) | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 269,396) |
| Critic aggregate | 96/100 | 86/100 |
| Price | $9.99 | $2.99 |
| Install size | 6.35 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | verified | verified |
| Released | 2004 | 2013 |
| Developer | — | Crystal Dynamics |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Half-Life 2 vs Tomb Raider Game of the Year, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Half-Life 2FPS horror gameTomb Raider Game of the YearAction-adventure platformer gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Half-Life 2FPS, Action, Sci-fiTomb Raider Game of the YearAdventure, Action, Female ProtagonistThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Half-Life 2 ✓Score 9.0 · 98% on Steam · 96 criticTomb Raider Game of the YearScore 8.7 · 96% on Steam · 86 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Half-Life 2278,618 reviews · 1 add-on · 6.35 GBTomb Raider Game of the Year269,396 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Half-Life 2$9.99Tomb Raider Game of the Year ✓$2.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Half-Life 2VerifiedTomb Raider Game of the YearVerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueHalf-Life 2 and Tomb Raider Game of the Year on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Half-Life 2 (GamingPickz Score 9.0)
- The cheaper right now: Tomb Raider Game of the Year ($2.99)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionSingleplayerStory RichShooterAdventureAtmosphericMultiplayerPuzzle
Where they differ
FPSSci-fiClassicFirst-PersonDystopian Zombies
Female ProtagonistThird PersonThird-Person ShooterExplorationAction-AdventureQuick-Time Events
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Half-Life 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Tomb Raider Game of the Year is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Half-Life 2 | Tomb Raider Game of the Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | DirectX 8.1 level Graphics Card (requires support for SSE) | DirectX 9 graphics card with 512Mb Video RAM: AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT |
| Minimum CPU | 1.7 Ghz | Dual core CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 2.1 Ghz (4050+), Intel Core2 Duo 1.86 Ghz (E6300) |
| Minimum RAM | 0.5 GB | 1 GB |
| Install size | 6.35 GB | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Half-Life 2 · Tomb Raider Game of the Year.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 9 accessibility features for Half-Life 2 and 1 for Tomb Raider Game of the Year. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Half-Life 2 and Tomb Raider Game of the Year in scope?
Half-Life 2 has drawn 278,618 Steam reviews, ships 1 add-on and installs in 6.35 GB. Tomb Raider Game of the Year has drawn 269,396 Steam reviews.
Is Half-Life 2 or Tomb Raider Game of the Year better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Half-Life 2 rates higher (9.0 to 8.7). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Half-Life 2 or Tomb Raider Game of the Year?
Tomb Raider Game of the Year is cheaper right now at $2.99, against $9.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.