Can someone please tell me why Half-Life 2 has such appeal?

[HappyDD]

I am not a big fan of the Half-Life series and I think this is mostly because I played Half-Life 1 way too late. I also hate jumping puzzles in FPSs. The fact that Half-Life 1 had jumping puzzles and was dated looking made me uninterested. However, I did play Half-Life 2 fairly close to its release day and want to ask this question: What's the lasting appeal of this game? As a shooter it's alright, but to me the dicking around while not shooting ruins it. Not that I need guns blazing 24/7, I really enjoyed Amnesia for example, but I just don't get why people are so excited for Episode 3 when Episode 0 left me no reason to keep following the story.

If anyone can tell me what they liked about it that made it different from other games of the genre, then please let me know. Likewise, if you just love Valve that's a fair answer too.

 

[repeating integers]

I too would like an answer to this question. I've never seen anybody provide a proper reason why they like Half-Life 2 that isn't "It's DEEP/it's the THINKING MAN'S FPS/ It's made by VALVE". I thought it was alright, but no more.

 

[Mcface]

Its a run of the mill generic shooter over rated by the legions of valve fanboys.

It's decent. It's not great by any means.

INB4 "LOL IT HAS PHYSICS! PHYSICS!"

Yes, you can throw crates at the wall. Instant FPS god tier.

 

[L4WLI3T]

Because the story isnt as shallow as "Your a soldier, heres a gun, go commit possible war crimes"

 

[Nikolaz72]

The mods for it. I would buy HL2 if not just to try the billions of extra free games you get with it.

 

[Lordmarkus]

Because it's the 1984 of videogames.

Everybody loves 1984.

 

[blackguard89]

I simply like the mix of the story, the gameplay, and the action.Those are my reasons.

 

[Helios_(DEL)]

atmosphere,plot,suspence,attention to detail, imagination, engin shall i go on?

 

[Armored Prayer]

Never understood the appeal either, but that might be because I played it several years later. Its a good shooter and I enjoyed it, but the puzzle sections and it's fanbase ruined it for me. Great cast of characters though.

 

[dfcrackhead]

well I'm on my third runthrough of Half-Life 2 right now and it's still fun and I often find myself enjoying it as much this time around as I did the first time, sometimes moreso because those damn rollermines can't come out of nowhere since I know where to expect them from. It's a fun game and I really love VALVe's work as well and I eagerly await Half-Life 2: Episode 3 or Half-life 3, whichever they decide to put out.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Because some people happen to like it and other people don't.

Can we please get past this whole issue already?

 

[CactiComplex]

I love it, but I couldn't really tell you why. I don't think it's particularly deep, and it's certainly not because it's made by Valve. I guess the closest to a proper answer I could give it that it can hold my attention for a long time, I enjoy the story, and it's got the right balance of shooting/non-shooting parts for me.

Not sure that'll give you much insight, but hey...

 

[David Bray]

I hate Half Life 2. If you don't like it, don't be ashamed. Just find something else to recommend to people.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

It's fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. It has the fans for that.

 

[Scarim Coral]

It was because at that time the physics, facial expression and the graphics were ground breaking (well ok it was more amzaing like).

 

[repeating integers]

atmosphere,plot,suspence,attention to detail, imagination, engin shall i go on?

See, I only get about half of those. I will admit that the atmosphere was brilliant, and there was quite some attention to detail (which they actually used as a storytelling technique). And Ravenholm was terrifying, which I assume has something to do with your "suspense" point. But I didn't notice a plot at all, and it was rather limited in imagination ("hey, let's get 1984 and insert aliens and zombies! WE'RE SO ORIGINAL"). The engine's graphics aged well, especially the water effects, and the physics were good - though I do recall that Halo 2 had a similarly good physics engine, it's just that it didn't wank in it like HL2 did with its (somewhat diverting) physics puzzles. Then again, I was only able to play through half of it before having to stop (as I have had to explain many times, I will finish it one day, but can't right now... it's complicated)... but really, "it's great so long as you ignore the entire first half" has never been a good argument.

It is not bad. It's somewhat enjoyable. But... for me it just gets held up too highly.

 

[TheMann]

The main overwhelming appeals to Half Life 2 was the immersive and fleshed out environments that the game presented. The detail Valve went into to depict the Combine's ravaging of Earth was astounding. From the Orwellian feel of City 17 with it's despondent population to Ravenholm, to the coastal areas where, if you pay attention, the washed up boats and empty piers show the the water line has receded at least 50 ft., indicating that the planet's resources are being drained. The other aspect is the phenomenal job done with the NPCs as far as the emotive voice and the highly believable facial expressions and movement. The physics engine was also highly advanced for the time.

Also I Thought the game play was just plain fun.

 

[hilarius117]

Honestly, the FPS controls I found wonky myself. But I like the characters and the environments. Also, the main character is a freakin physicist! A physicist!
Other than that though, I found it good, but not fantastic. Although the gravity gun was much fun.
Also, it was really the first game to story tell the way it did with first-person and no cut-scenes... I could be wrong, but at the very least it was the first to do it well.

 

[Wolfram23]

I haven't played it in a long time, but it was very very good for it's time. It had great action, but it also had very good/advanced puzzle systems for it's time. The story wasn't completely mind blowing, but it was very well done as was the voice acting - basically the immersion was perfect. It also had some very creepy/scary/intense moments (like headcrabs in the sewers and dark rooms).

Basically it was like... the BioShock of the past.

Up to that point I don't think I ever played a FPS game that was so epic.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Can someone tell me why I've seen 300+ threads like this over two years?

Listen, it has great gameplay, great voice acting, an interesting way of telling the story (as well as an interesting story), and decent graphics even by today's standards. Also, IMO, great music. But it's also YEARS old.

So guess what? It just isn't your type of game. If you really don't get why it's gotten so popular over the years, then you just haven't been paying enough attention.