Well, Half-Life might work as a silent film. (Zing!)

Sorry, couldn't resist the obvious joke.

To me, a good story generally involves good characters. Are there actually any good characters in half-life? Gordon is literally a blank slate, and Alex is an extremely generic attractive side-kick. And uh, theres a scientist and barney. The only interesting character I can think of is the G-Man, but he's more interesting in terms of what he suggests about the structure of the world rather than as a character in his own right (at this point).

I just don't get where the story draws from. Half-Life was effective because it presented a great experience rather than a great narrative.