Nah it was actually a big deal, Doom was basically: Get to the exit, in some illogically defined alien maze designed to maximize fun for the player. In Half-Life simply having the game take place in a logical location was a big deal even. I remember people praising Half-life for stuff as simple as weapons drops were in places that made sense, instead of floating in the middle of a corridor. The story wasn't the main selling point for sure, but the fact that it took place in reality, and had some sort of logical progression of events was a big deal.