Enough with the constant praise of Half Life 2

[DioWallachia]

I couldnt play it back then but now with all the praise it gets and the non stop recomendation of the people towards it like it was the Citizen Kane of gaming of all time i have become tired to the point that i dont want to play it anymore.

Seriously, could you people at least tell me why is good? compared to WHAT kind of game is good?? Have you play anything else back then or its just pure nostalgia filter now? and not in the kind of response of: "it has a good story and gameplay mechanics and gives free blowjobs"

Noooonononononono. I need a REAL answer. Like a specific part that sets appart this game from the rest.

Thank you for your time.

EDIT: When i said "I dont want to play it anymore" is that whatever simple curiosity i had for this game it has banished because of the hype and the mindless people that keep telling me that i should play it and everything else is just crap ripoff of Doom or Zelda. See why now i cant bear to play it?? or wait, you cant apparently because you keep confusing Hype Aversion with hate.

 

[Weaver]

Constant praise? This exact thread is made on here at least once every 48 hours. If anything there is just constant complaining that it gets constant praise.

The "real answer" is that different people like different things. Not liking HL2 isn't some abomination and liking it is not strange.

 

[Skin]

No need for this topic really. No game developers (except Valve) are going back to the HL formula, so all is well.

 

[RA92]

Oh, okay. I'll go make an MLP thread then.

 

[Gralian]

Roughly speaking, it's to do with the variety. The enemy variety, the weapon variety, the environment variety.

Stop for a moment and think - how many modern shooters really throw all sorts of soldiers, vehicles and varied aliens at you? Just look at Half Life's roster - the three types of combine soldier, the gunships and cars, the various flavours of headcrab and zomboi, the striders, the barnacles, the antlions etc - the point being that you generally don't get such a mixed bag of antagonists coming at you with such varied design. It's really quite refreshing. After all, don't the Locust get a little dull after the hundredth encounter?

As for the guns, that speaks for itself. Not to mention innovative weapons like the grav gun, which is also a large reason for its popularity, as well as Half Life being one of the pioneers of the Havoc engine and physics based puzzles. People had immense fun watching dead enemies ragdoll when they died. I know i never get old of shooting a soldier and seeing him flop down off the cliff he was standing on, for example.

And the locations? Well, as far as i remember you go from city rooftops, to a trainyard, to an aqueduct, race through on a boat thing, end up in a creepy old town, back in the city, then on sandy beaches, then in a large prison facility etc. Environments change often and it's not like (going back to previous example) Gears whereby it's the same ruined cities every damn level.

I'd also say the fact the narrative is so nonexistant may be a factor. People want to know about the combine about the 3 hour war, what exactly the combine are and how they convert people as well as these weird aliens and how headcrabs work exactly. But none of that is ever explained. The example i'll use to back this up is Silent Hill 2. You don't know what the heck the creatures are or how they work or even where they came from, but they intrigue the hell out of you and you want to know more although you're never told anything concrete - it's only hinted at. Likewise in HL2 you see xray images of people who have turned combine, for example.

That said even back when it was a new release i did think the praise for it was excessive, much in the same way i think Portal praise is ridiculously excessive. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying it now and then.

 

[Awexsome]

Eh, you just gotta deal with it. Although sometimes I get annoyed with the double standard.

HL2 is generally accepted as a good game that not everyone likes. Cant please all of the people all of the time. If Halo got the same here like it deserves then I'd be more inclined be less bugged. Until then I am inclined to troll those who hold that double standard.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Stop liking things that I hate!

That's all I'm getting from you.

 

[Zaik]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/I-hate-Half-Life-so-much-I-feel-the-need-to-open-the-5-billionth

I already made a group for all the people like you, go there to get your trollface on instead of wasting time posting a thread to get 50 replies of "we already know".

 

[sifffffff]

Not sure why either to be honest. Certain games, which are perfectly good games, are played by people at the right moment in their lives and they achieve a "sacred cow" status to them.

Don't get me wrong. Half Life 2 is a fun game. It's not the best game I've ever played but it is a fun one. However I'm able to play it without the rose colored glasses so many other people have and see the flaws in it.

Half Life 2 isn't the only "sacred cow" thrown around here though. Stick around long enough and somebody will tell you Baldur's Gate is the greatest RPG of all time. I'm playing through it right now for the first time and though it's okay I am feeling as though I'm forcing myself to continue along with it.

Since I'm not one of the people who play Half Life 2 with the rose colored glasses I can't answer your question and since those people seem unwilling to answer it in any way other than to call you a dick or troll your thread I can't help you.

 

[Xanadu84]

Everyone loves a few bad games and hates a few masterpieces. That is fine. You don't even need to question yourself unless you are a journalist. But the evidence suggests that HL2 is a exemplary bit of the medium. But games have a lack of critical language to explain this. I could give a laundry list of characterization strengths, aesthetic design, pacing, emergent storytelling's and so on, but I'm not sure this would help. My reccomendation? Play the dev commentary. See how intense thought went into details you didn't even notice. Or, don't, and just enjoy games. Either approach is fine.

If you want an answer here, I reccomend you break down the question. Are you wondering why the plot is beloved? The characters? The level design and setting? The engine? A specific level? There's dozens of moving parts to HL2, and the real answer to this question is that all these parts are good and fit together.

 

[wurrble182]

the fact that it's something like 8 years old, and still looks and plays better than most of the shooters that come out today? the fact that other games can try so very hard to ape it (resistance 3) and yet cant even come close to toppling it? the fact that from start to finish it is filled with amazing set pieces and things to do/see - while at the same time lasting 3/4 longer than the average modern warfare game.

and yet, im not even the games biggest fan, and couldn't give a shit about HL3 and when/whether or not it's coming out. HL2 was just staight up minding blowing and light years ahead of it times, only today do the cracks even begin to show.

 

[Hyper-space]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/I-hate-Half-Life-so-much-I-feel-the-need-to-open-the-5-billionth

I already made a group for all the people like you, go there to get your trollface on instead of wasting time posting a thread to get 50 replies of "we already know".

Well, why is it that when people make threads about games that the escapist community considers "okay" to hate, NO ONE says a word about it. But when its a game that is considered sacred, everyone and their cat goes on about "different opinions" and shit. Its only "different opinions" when someone doesn't like a game the community does and never when its something else that is considered cool to hate.

You see, when its a game such as Halo/COD/Whatever, all hatred for it is considered objective. But when someone DARES say anything bad about Half-Life 2 or Baldur's Gate, its considered trolling.

snip

This. I've been on this forum for 4 years and this has always been the case.

The escapist community is not immune from double standards and hypocrisy.

 

[Michael Hirst]

Well okay here goes.

In Half Life 2 I enjoy many aspects of the experience which seemed lacking from other shooters at the time and it also paved the way for some pretty unique advancements in gaming technology including what is arguably the biggest step in a physics engine. For the sake of slimming this down I'll put the rest in smaller points.

Variety: Lots of different levels called for different play styles or added new mechanics to the game which dind't make it feel repetative at all (Driving sections, Ravenholme, Defence missions, leading squads etc)

Gravity Gun: It was an interesting idea at the time and the most fun weapon in the game, giving us the ability to toss around random objects was pretty neat and made Ravenholme very memorable for not giving us much ammo for the conventional weapons.

Weapons: I can carry ALL of them, even back in the days of Half Life 2 we were starting to suffer from games limiting our arsenal to just 2 or 3 weapons, this dulls the gameplay and forces the player to stick to one all round gun (Assault rifle usually) for the entire game.

Immersion: The experience felt very involved and atmospheric, when i played Halo it was just a game and it didn't pull me in the same way Half Life 2 did, exploring Half Life 2 just felt more gripping to me. There's also how the game never went into full cutscene mode and told you the story directly rather than cutting to FMV's or Cutscene (which can get annoying sometimes)

Characters: There were some well written human beings and not just emotionless, or Anger issued marines acting macho and dickish all the time or just trying to be all quiet and badass. Alyx Vance remains one of the few female videogame characters who seems realistic (she's not a complete slave or in complete spiteful denial of her gender)

Music/Sound: It's really damn good and makes everything amtospheric as hell, some of the most udnerappreciated music in videogames if you ask me and the attention to detail in general sound design is a great achievement by Valve.

These are just a few reasons I consider HL2 to be a very good game and still exemplary in the areas of level and sound design especially now in an age riddled with generic shooters that take place in glorified corridors with balding angry marines.

Now stop being whiny because people like something you can't appreciate!

 

[Skin]

HL2 defenders; you are really stretching your arguments thin in defense of this game. The OP is not going to change their mind just because you think it is better than modern shooters.

 

[Hal10k]

You know, I think we should find a way to spice up this thread next time it comes around. Maybe make the OP wear a funny hat or something.

 

[Weaver]

HL2 defenders; you are really stretching your arguments thin in defense of this game. The OP is not going to change their mind just because you think it is better than modern shooters.

Which is why this thread is entirely pointless. Just like literally every thread before about HL2 before this, the OP doesn't care what anyone says as they have already made up their mind.

They played the game, they didn't like it.
Talking to people who did isn't going to make you like it. I assume the OP is intelligent enough to form his own opinions on things and doesn't need the reaffirmation of some random people online.

You know what? I didn't like Inglorious Basterds (not to be confused with the 1978 The Inglorious Bastards or Quel maledetto treno blindato, which features proper spelling). I pointed out what I didn't like about it to my friends and it was just stuff they didn't have a problem with. But I didn't attempt to sway their opinions, because tastes differ.

If someone doesn't like a cake, there's shit all you can do to make them like that particular cake. If someone doesn't like Half Life 2, no epiphany will be granted by discussing it here.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

You know, I think we should find a way to spice up this thread next time it comes around. Maybe make the OP wear a funny hat or something.

Well at least the weekly HalfLife hate threads break up the monotony of the daily CoD hate threads. And for that at least we should be grateful.

I for one would like the OPs to form their objections in verse.