HL2 didn’t feel like a it has a technical leap as big as its predecessor

Gotta disagree with you on this one. Half Life was basically the Quake 2 engine with different textures and models. Half Life 2 was absolutely mind blowing with the physics and facial animations. It’s the first game I can recall with that level of physics realism, and set the stage for many games to come. The Source engine was a massive technical leap from Quake engine.

Seeing the HL2 E3 demo was a peak moment in my gaming life.