It gets better but certainly not awesome.. I still don't see what everyone's fascination with HL2 is. Must be the hype upon release because most of it is boring, same with Episode 1. Episode 2 is a little better.
I felt the same way for a long time. I kept playing it halfway and giving up for some random reason. I finally stuck with it, and I find it to be a solid game.
I still wouldn't replay it anytime soon though. I'm still patiently waiting for Black Mesa Source to come, as I much preferred HL1's setting and story to HL2.
But yea, I don't find HL2 to be the revolutionary game that everyone makes it out to be. But a part of it is, is that I absolutely HATE the source engine. Sounds weird, but I've yet to like a source engine game (this includes CS:S, DOD:S, L4D 1 and 2, TF2, etc). Don't know why, but it just never felt right to me.