I’m not young. But 25 years after the hype, I am finally getting around to playing half life (1)! Stupidly missed the free action, but paid a few eurocents for it. They’re totally worth it! Awesome game, holds up very very well after two and a half decades!
The novelty was the story in FPS. Before Half Life, all you have to do is to shoot every moving sprite and grab keys to open doors. The story was a splash screen between the levels.
Nowadays it doesn’t look special to have a story. When I first played Half Life, my mind was blown away.