bartholen said:
Because you say so, right? You do know that episode 3 (or Half-Life 3 whatever) is just bubbling under the surface now. We haven't had any real news related to it in years, all we have is forum speculation. No doubt that the nanosecond it is officially announced, it will have the greatest load of hype and expectations to live up to perhaps in the entire history of gaming, unless it turns into a case of Duke Nukem Forever. But for now I wouldn't say it has any burden on it, since it's almost vaporware at this point.
Core gameplay redesigned from scratch? To do what exactly? Tell me, how many recent AAA shooters can you name that have more complex gameplay and level design than Half-Life 2? Since its release shooters haven't so much evolved as they have become mindless popcorn entertainment. In comparison Half-life 2 is actually quite complex compared to most big shooters released in the last few years: no regenerating health, suit charge, vehicle sections where you actually have to move the vehicle yourself, light puzzle and platforming sections (like the beach in Sandtraps) and 10 weapons and their ammo management.
I guess, if you're just talking about "pure" FPS, those which are based mostly on shooting things with no RPG elements. I'd say Halo 4, but I've only played the first, so, I don't know.
Karoshi said:
What I do not expect that it's gonna become some Holy Grail and reinvent the whole shooter genre. The funny thing is, despite however acclaimed and praised HL2 was, almost no other shooter tried to imitate their way of storytelling or tried for once to go without flashing goals and arrows that show the player the way. It's hard to do what Valve is doing, and therefore most developers don't even try.
I think the problem is that a lot of people expect just that from HL3, people expect Valve to be the "saviour" of gaming somehow. That's more or less why I made this thread.
Example:
chadachada123 said:
I don't know if they're being serious, but those sorts of expectations.
Sacman said:
For two, well I don;t blame you for this, because it's really the subtlties in things, like level design, enemy placement, and game mechanic focus that makes all the difference in Half Life games, I mean ust think of Half Life 2, and tell me what are the differences between, say RavenHolm, and the Return to city 17? there isn;t any difference in the actual shooting mechanics, but it seemlessly, moves from, high action, to tense survival, without losing a beat, and that's because the great depth in Half Life's gameplay, doesn't come from, complex shooty sticks, contrived leveling systems, or even it's damned physics engine, but from the shear intelligence and flexibility of it's core design, to ceate depth in the gameplay... because gameplay encompasses more than just when you're shooting at stuff, and takes into account everything from level design and item placement, to implementation of player freedoms and organic problem solving... all of which are pretty much timeless and universal truths, that make a good game, it's why, you know the older half life games are stil playable, and enjoyable, despite being old, because at their core, the design philosiphy is solid and engaging...<.<
No no, I absolutely love subtlety, but to me, Half-Life 2 isn't all that. I played it once, and I wouldn't play it again, not in a blue moon, because it's got little re-playability, not in the ability to play differently, not in unlocking more content, none of that.
Half-Life 1 was great, but these days it just wouldn't hold up. Like I said, in both games there's a lot going on under the hood, but what about greater versatility in gameplay? So, you have say, 10 weapons, but limited tactical freedom. I'm not going to see it as getting an AAA game's worth if it doesn't do more than that, but then, those are my expectations of a great FPS as opposed to other peoples' expectations from the next Half-Life game.
Casual Shinji said:
You know you're comparing two very different ways of storytelling, right? You don't need constant dialoge to tell a narrative or convey emotion. It's like comparing Shadow of the Colossus with Resident Evil, and saying it's worse because there's not as much cutscenes and dialogue
I guess what I mean is, can Valve really create a deep and immersive world in the same way BioWare or Bethesda can? There's this expectation that they need to match that level of storytelling in their own way. For sure, Portal 1 and 2 are the closest to great storytelling from Valve for some time. I don't doubt they could create a story that's a good continuation of the Half-Life franchise, but that's it. Its story will probably come off as weak compared to others.
The reason I mention Infinity Ward is because they're great at making an impression, even though the core gameplay of CoD single player is shallow and linear. I personally despise CoD but it's not without merit for its way of creating a first-person cinematic experience - which isn't too conceptually dissimilar to Half-Life 2's first-person narratives.
What could separate Half-Life 3 from a generic Science-Fiction FPS?
Doom972 said:
Younger and new gamers seem to want to have the plot spoonfed to them. I love Bioware games, but not every game needs to be like that. If Deus Ex, for example, had such long dialogues it would've only had a negative effect on it, because you wouldn't feel like you're the one uncovering the conspiracy, but everyone else around you. I like it when the game trusts me to be able to figure things out for myself (even when I don't).
Oi, I'm neither young nor new to gaming. I'll have you know I love the original Deus Ex, HR, and System Shock 2. They employ subtle storytelling through the environment - books, newspapers, NPCs, everything. Then this might as well be about Half-Life vs. its more interactive FPS-RPG sisters. I guess I just don't like Half-Life as much anyway.
Also, that first remark sounds pretty prejudiced. There are plenty of younger or "new" gamers who absolutely love complex, immersive games, and plenty of older, more seasoned gamers who enjoy the likes of CoD and Farmville.
