The overwhelming approval of Half Life 2 shows that it is a great game, and to say otherwise is to say that the enjoyment of most is trumped by your personal opinion. That being said, every one of us likes some terrible things and hates some good things, because sheer chance means that occasionally the good won't resonate with one of us, while the limited bad is particularly irksome. Much like how everyone probably likes a game that's generally considered bad because it happens to do something interesting that is particularly intriguing to you, and the huge amount of bad just happens to not bother you. A games quality isn't a point on a graph, its a bell curve, and there are always outlier. If it doesn't appeal to you, that is not a bad quality in you, but it DOES mean that you are an outlier. Its fine to be an outlier: There are no fines involved, and no one has any right to criticize your taste, but it might be edifying to understand with as much objectivity as possible WHY it is so appealing.
Half Life 2 Was impeccably designed, and innovative for its time. The Graphics were incredible when it was first released, and the physics were like no one had ever seen. In particular, the facial expressions were amazing, probably unmatched until LA Noir. And when released, the Physics was unbelievably robust. Sure, that stuff looks less impressive over time, but HL2 falls back on some timeless design that does stand up. It is not as over the top bombastic as other games, but it does construct its story and setting with impeccable skill, and perfect use of the medium of games.
It's difficult to explain, since its amazing design is the product of thousands of little things working together: Id recommend the developer walkthroughs (At least the episodes have them) to appreciate the thought that went into the construction. For example, take the scene that introduces Dog: in a few short minutes, we introduce a iconic character, we show a bit of Alyx's past, we deepen her relationship with her father, provide a break to improve the game pacing, show a happier side of living in City 17 that raises that stakes of the narrative, all while providing a variation to gameplay AND providing a tutorial for useing the gravity gun. The walk there foreshadows ravenholm, you start to strengthen the attachment between Gordon and Alyx without resorting to shallow sex-pandering, and manages a character interaction without breaking the immersion factor of playing a silent protagonist. The mechanics working just below the surface are vast, and if you happen to be open to the experience, you feel the effect of every design choice they make. That's why people like it. Theres many reasons why people give it so much praise. If you don't see that, well you have no shortage of other fun games to play, and my enjoyment isn't threatened by your taste, and neither of us have any reason to be upset at each other.
