Does Half Life 2 Hold up?

[TheBestPieEver]

NO I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE GRAPHICS AND I AM ONLY ON THE 3RD CHAPTER OF THE GAME

So... for various reasons I never played half life 2 when it came out, nor any of the episodes that followed in its wake. I dropped out of PC gaming in 2002 and I didn't have any money from 2005-2008 because I escaped from home. When I finally picked up The Orange Box I only had time to play the amazing Portal, the jewel that everyone was talking about.

Yesterday I bought the Orange Box again to finally get myself into half-life. However, so far I haven't enjoyed much of it. I liked the dude that gave speeches through a giant-ass screen when I arrived at City 17 but other than that the game has been actually pretty boring. The gunplay's not all that good and when I used a mounted machine gun I didn't got any satisfaction from the raw power of it (It's physics were actually pretty shitty). The characters that I was told were incredibly charming are actually pretty bland except for the scientist dude and his pet monster. And all of the weapons are generic guns, way less satisfying to use than their counterparts in other games. Finally I got to a section where I had to turn a valve(HAH) to release some water into the room and then I got stuck and went off to blow some shit up in Just Cause 2. That's not a problem, I will certainly go back and find the answer to the puzzle of the room but my question is... is it worth it? Is Half life 2 all that great today or is it just remembered fondly because it was the king in its time?

 

[Zhukov]

Oh man, is it this time of the week already?

Personally, I didn't play HL2 until 2010. Still enjoyed the hell out it. Love the setting, love the passive style of storytelling, like the characters, love the set piece scenes, love the distinctive sound design. The moment-to-moment gunplay is a little dated for my taste, but it was still fun. Graphics, obviously are definitely showing their age. Like the puzzles. Like the level design.

As far as I'm concerned, that means it's holding up like a champ.

If you're not impressed then that's fine, I can't be bothered jumping down your throat about it.

 

[shrekfan246]

I think it depends on your exposure to other shooters, your knowledge of shooters around when it was released, your expectations of the game itself, and what you're actually expecting to get out of it when you go in.

The gunplay isn't all that satisfying and the Source Engine version it uses is showing its age, but the world is still built well and apart from Gordon "I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream" Freeman the characters all exhibit some semblance of personality.

Personally, after "Ravenholm" I got too bored to continue playing the game. But I can still acknowledge that it's a very solid title. Those driving sections left a lot to be desired, though.

 

[Netrigan]

I never particularly thought the Half-Life series was terribly good at gunplay. It's solid and workmanlike somewhat elevated at the time with game-changing AI (which is also a bit on the dated side). Works well within the context of the game where you're not meant to be a mowing everyone down with ease, but the weapon changing system was always on the clunky side unless you're hot-keying your favorite weapons on the PC.

I loved the hell out of HL2 when it came out, but I've had diminishing returns on the series ever since, largely because the plot ends up revealing itself as a series of convoluted objectives rather than a story. Again, this largely works in context because the levels themselves tell a story of what happened since the events of the first game, but the present day story is Freeman getting lead around by NPC through set-pieces.

The one thing which bugged me then and still bugs me to this day, getting locked in a room while NPCs talk at each other about what you need to blow up next, while your only contribution is jumping around like a mad man while they completely ignore your childish antics. Some folks find this immersive, I find it the opposite of immersive as it takes me out of the game every single time it happens.

 

[Smeggs]

No, not these days. For the longest time the gameplay was a standard that was held by HL2. Not particularly anymore.

And I still don't understand why people seemed to be creaming themselves over the story. What story?

"Mcbadass fights evil conquering alien force with military weaponry-OH-and there's a hot chick, a robot, some zombies, and a guy in a suit who sounds like a Speakn'Spell."

Like...there was never much story to begin with. Half-Life is very heavily driven by the action, which honestly has been quite outdone by many shooters of the past three or four years. The series is practically nothing more than a bad joke now because of whatever planning or lack there of that Gaben had. I can't even remember the last time anybody made a remark about Episode 3 coming out.

 

[Netrigan]

Why don't people bring up this argument about GoldenEye 007?

Because the GoldenEye fanboys are in a special kind of denial about the how well that game stands up. Everyone else knows it doesn't even begin to hold up to modern standards.

That we can actually argue the case for Half-Life 2 says something about the game. It's dated, but it's not *that* dated. A lot of folks are going to be able to enjoy the game so long as they dial back the expectations a bit.

 

[Nomanslander]

The moment-to-moment gunplay is a little dated for my taste, but it was still fun.

It was dated when the game came out, the first game had better gunplay. Gameplay wise, I felt HL2 relied a bit too much on gimmicky stuff like forcing me to move around platforms to walk across or littering Ravenholm with sawblades and dropping cars. Gravity gun was still awesome though.

 

[Lilani]

Oh man, is it this time of the week already?

Personally, I didn't play HL2 until 2010. Still enjoyed the hell out it. Love the setting, love the passive style of storytelling, like the characters, love the set piece scenes, love the distinctive sound design. The moment-to-moment gunplay is a little dated for my taste, but it was still fun. Graphics, obviously are definitely showing their age. Like the puzzles. Like the level design.

As far as I'm concerned, that means it's holding up like a champ.

If you're not impressed then that's fine, I can't be bothered jumping down your throat about it.

Same here. I first played in 2011 and I still can't keep from going back to it at least once a month to piddle around in some level or sequence. Of course the graphics aren't as sharp as games today and it plays like you'd expect a game on the Source engine to play, but it's still a very well designed and crafted game and definitely worth your time.

 

[Saviordd1]

Eh, kinda.

The guns suck, except for the combine assault rifle, the SMG and the gravity gun they REALLY suck.

The story is...alright I guess, pretty generic. That said the setting is pretty good, its to bad we spend so much time playing a super hero to properly explore it.

Barney is a good character, Alyx is alright, everyone else exists.

Also the silent protagonist thing just annoys the piss out of me, there's a difference between "allowing me to insert myself" and "breaking my suspension of disbelief by having there be a fucking romance in the game".

So in summary, sorta, but its not the god game everyone makes it out to be, at least not anymore.

 

[mrhateful]

The game was amazing compared to what have come before that, I mean i think space invaders is pretty boring today but that doesn't make it any less good. It just means that its gotten relatively worse compared to what else has come. Its not a story driven game(which are games that are eternal) its a technology one and as technology improve the star children stops sparkling.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I know it's kinda offtopic, but your post was more about your personal life than about Half Life 2...

 

[TheBestPieEver]

I know it's kinda offtopic, but your post was more about your personal life than about Half Life 2...

Yeah... I let myself ramble sometimes. I have deleted most of it, thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Zeh Don]

There are a few ways to "look" at Half-life 2, however in my opinion it stands up in all of them - feel free to disagree.

In terms of First Person Story telling, Half-life 2 remains the champion. It's story is less told through lazy cut scenes and more through the world and incidental details present therein. The lack of children and pets, the deep philosophical ramblings that bombard the citizens, even the furnishings in the houses tell a story better than some pathetic shock-value opener. The trips to Ravenholm and Nova Prospect towards the middle of the game dip the world in a dark and terrifying vibe that supplants most full fledged Horror titles because it doesn't SAY anything. It just puts the details in the world and lets them speak for themselves.

In terms of Gun Play, Half-life 2 isn't as visceral as it's modern day counter parts, however the moment-to-moment gameplay is still well ahead of basically everyone in the industry save for perhaps Halo. The A.I. drives the scenario based combat, meaning it reacts to the player and allows them to employ wildcard strategies that the A.I. adapts to. Most modern shooters all but ignore A.I. in favour of scripted battles - Half-life 2 weaves it's scripting amongst the on-the-fly scenarios. The first real battle against the Combine drop ship on the freeway, the fierce firefights through the City during the game's final chapters, and even the moment-to-moment use of the gravity gun allow for a more varied and immersive experience.

Lastly, it's setting is incredible, though lacking the awe of something akin to Bioshock's Rapture. It's eschews the realism of the modern shooters, leaving behind your glocks and M14s for more inventive and "fun" firearms. Instead of simply killing "The Non-Americans" as is the norm for the industry today, you're fighting monsters and alien soldiers, not because they "Hate Freedom for [reasons]" but because they're simply trying to wipe out humanity, turning them into zombie soldiers for their army. It's escapism, pure and simple - and for the dreamer in me, it wins out over the endlessly boring Military Shooters of today.

All my opinions, of course.

 

[DazZ.]

You just bought the game and have started playing for the first time recently yourself.

Honestly you're in a better position to answer your own question than anyone else, and if you say you don't enjoy it just accept you don't enjoy it.

 

[TheBestPieEver]

Snip

Well... to be honest I haven't reached any of that sections myself. I am on the 3rd chapter and the onlye that I have seen (The AI) has not let me impressed... but hey, I am really sick and Can't do much else. I gave worse games a longer chance.

You just bought the game and have started playing for the first time recently yourself.

Honestly you're in a better position to answer your own question than anyone else, and if you say you don't enjoy it just accept you don't enjoy it.

Guess you're right, but I shouldn't judge games on their first hour. My favourite games tend to start out really shitty.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

It's an older game. And just like playing any older game, you have to go into it with the right expectations. The first person shooter genre has advanced considerably since Half-Life 2 was released. Many of the things that were pioneered by Half-Life 2 have been done in so many games since that it can be hard to imagine why it was a big deal in the first place (the use of physics is the big one, although there are others). You need to go in knowing that this game is not a modern game, and base your expectations accordingly. Although it should be noted that Half-Life 2 was ahead of it's time, so it's not as bad as other games from the period.

However, if you can get past the fact that this is an almost nine year old game, it is still well worth playing. I would say the primary reason for that is because nobody has made a game that's Half-Life 2 but better. Yes, other games have taken individual elements from Half-Life 2 (some more blatantly than others), but it's all of those elements put together that make Half-Life 2 special.

Also, I want to add that I'm not a terribly big fan of the first couple of levels after the introduction. They have a few good moments, and they're important to introduce all of the gameplay and story elements, but I don't think the game really becomes great until after Water Hazard. Basically, stick with it, it gets better.

 

[NightmareExpress]

Funnily enough, I played it for the first time since about '07 last week.
The way that the story is told (not in your face, yank control from you cutscenes everywhere) really feels nice/natural, but the story itself is rather cliche.

There are some excellent characters (Barney, Alyx, Lamarr), but then there's also pants on head Freeman.
Just can't take him seriously, and it feels like some kind of sick joke when you're supposed to "project" yourself into this guy. It would work a lot better if it was like Zelda and there wasn't actual voice work done with other characters, is what I'm getting at.

Gameplay and level design isn't anything particularly special. Just a mostly standard (albeit retro feeling) FPS affair with vehicles that feel like beachballs and loading screens separating level segments. But I'd much rather be experiencing this game (or something similar) than a lot of more modern FPS titles. To cut HL2 a little slack, it's very close to being a decade old so a few of the more technical issues are semi-forgiven (to me).