The time when I first played HL1 was around 5 years ago or so, and I was still stunned by the game. It's not the graphics, but more of the general atmosphere of Black Mesa, the relatively basic but useable physics, and that how much you can get involved in the game (mainly due to lack of cutscenes where you would leave FP view, and the fact that Freeman does not utter a single word in the game).
You won't have trouble playing HL2 if you missed out the first game. There are only some mild references to the preceding events (the G-Man sums it up pretty well at the start anyway), most of the story could go well as a stand-alone plot.
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