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!
Indeed, the story was part of it, but the level design and the AI scripting was also a big deal in 1998. So much of today’s single-player FPS experience can be traced back to Half-Life.
Even comparing it to most modern shooters, I almost never feel as hunted as I did by the human enemies in HL. A big part of that is definitely the level design, but also the enemies in HL are very mobile compared to most games where the action is all happening roughly 180 degrees in front of you.