Half Life 1... what is it, and why have i never heard of it?

[Onyx Oblivion]

I bought Half-life one. It's not bad, but I regret buying it. You can clearly see why its the sequel that made Valve so successful.

 

[Ganthrinor]

As I recall, Half-Life was one of, if not the first game to use WASD movement keys, and a button aside from spacebar to open doors and flip buttons. Half-Life was much more focused on Physics puzzles than any other FPS game at the time. Anybody remember the shark tank puzzle? Half-life also had a crapton of third party mods and game addons made for it. Half-Life: Opposing Force was one of the better ones (imo) and Blue Shift was also very well done. Both addons told the story of Black Mesa from alternate perspectives.

And let us not forget Counter Strike and Day of Defeat.

 

[Nimbus]

Not really. It hasn't aged very well.

I really hate when people use that term phrase. When a game won't run under Vista, or uses a gameplay mechanic that simply isn't fun anymore, THAT is a game that hasn't aged well. half-life may look old and be a little less sophisticated in its design (compared to the brilliant sequel) but it's a historic game. and you will absolutely enjoy half-life 2 more after playing 1, there are just too many call-backs in HL2 to recommend otherwise.

the only other thing I will say, the last levels on Xen are notoriously obnoxious. give them a fair shot, but if you start to go really nuts or just get stuck then you can go ahead and start half-life 2, and finish 1 when you've got time.

When a project like Black Mesa Source is possible, the game is beyond just showing it's age a little.

Also, Black Mesa Source is going to fucking rock!

 

[Tacota]

I bought Half-life one. It's not bad, but I regret buying it. You can clearly see why its the sequel that made Valve so successful.

It's just an old game, you might not enjoy it as much these days. However, the game was amazing then, and to some, is still just as awesome. It was not the sequel that made them so successful, it was Half-Life 1. If Half-Life 1 wasn't so awesome, half the people who bought HL2 wouldn't have. I'm not saying that HL2 isn't just as good, just saying HL1 was epic for its time.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Not really. It hasn't aged very well.

I really hate when people use that term phrase. When a game won't run under Vista, or uses a gameplay mechanic that simply isn't fun anymore, THAT is a game that hasn't aged well. half-life may look old and be a little less sophisticated in its design (compared to the brilliant sequel) but it's a historic game. and you will absolutely enjoy half-life 2 more after playing 1, there are just too many call-backs in HL2 to recommend otherwise.

the only other thing I will say, the last levels on Xen are notoriously obnoxious. give them a fair shot, but if you start to go really nuts or just get stuck then you can go ahead and start half-life 2, and finish 1 when you've got time.

When a project like Black Mesa Source is possible, the game is beyond just showing it's age a little.

Also, Black Mesa Source is going to fucking rock!

oh hell yea! once BMS is available, then I'll stop recommending that people buy and try hl1. BUT, last time I checked BMS was still in limbo. awesome fucking trailer tho

EDIT: Black Mesa Source Trailers: http://www.blackmesasource.com/downloads.html
Contains superspoilers: Scenes that look so cool that you'll be disappointed when you see their original 1998 counterparts. But the scenes you see here in glorious DX9 graphics are very faithfully ported from the original game, which I believe came with DX6. So yea, fucking ancient by today's standards.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I bought Half-life one. It's not bad, but I regret buying it. You can clearly see why its the sequel that made Valve so successful.

It's just an old game, you might not enjoy it as much these days. However, the game was amazing then, and to some, is still just as awesome. It was not the sequel that made them so successful, it was Half-Life 1. If Half-Life 1 wasn't so awesome, half the people who bought HL2 wouldn't have. I'm not saying that HL2 isn't just as good, just saying HL1 was epic for its time.

Look. I'm not against old games. Not in the least. I've had a ton of fun with some of them. But its archaic at this point. The gameplay is just plodding along grabbing health and ammo, with only the story pushing me forward. Also, I'm killing any scientist who stops while following me and says, "I CAN GO NO FURTHER!" And the story is running out of Steam. I haven't played it in a over a week. I doubt I'll ever finish it. The shooting isn't fun, and the story kinda sucks.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Hm. I've often wondered why nobody speaks of it as lovingly [and occasionally rabidly] as HL2. I suppose so many games emulated it after release that it became lost until the sequel innovated yet again.
I must play it..

 

[tiredinnuendo]

In case what Nimbus said wasn't clear to the OP, let me make a suggestion.

A project is currently under work to recreate Half Life, completely, in the more modern source engine. See link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGlhgVz5r6E

It might be worth waiting for that to experience HL1, and for the record, you don't need to play HL1 to appreciate HL2.

- J

 

[tthor]

Surely the op is a troll? Even if he is still quite young, a swift google search would have told him what it is and common sense would have told him it was obviously the first game to pre-date HL2. I mean, HL2 does enough to reference the first game at the beginning with everyone remarking how long its been.

i am not a troll,
just too lazy to bother googling

 

[Good morning blues]

If you haven't ever heard of the first Half-Life, my only explanation is that you've been living under a rock. Considering the influence and popularity it's had, it's like not having heard of Metal Gear Solid.

 

[Ph33nix]

it was a goood game, i was playing it befor this post, it just came out 11 years ago

 

[jboking]

what was it? why is it that it has been forgotten?

It hasn't been forgotten, get Steam and there you go. Half-life 1 ready for purchase. However, Half-Life 1 was nowhere near as good as Half-life 2, which is probably why Half-life 1 gets overlooked so often.

Half-life 1 isn't bad, it's just not as good as it's successor. For how cheap it is on steam, it's worth a look.

 

[YuheJi]

If you haven't heard of Half-Life 1, surely you've heard of Counter-Strike? No Half-Life 1 would mean no Counter-Strike. Or crazy GoldSrc and Source mods.

 

[KiLl_RoY]

these days, i hear a lot about Half Life 2.
but 1 thing i've noticed is, i've never really heard anyone ever talk about Halflife 1. i mean, if there is a 2, there must have been a 1. but nobody seems to talk about it, and no game stores i've checked have it.
what was it? why is it that it has been forgotten?

Just out of curiosity, how old are you? The gap in time between 1 & 2 is pretty big.

i'm 17

Yeah, there you go. It came out in 98, when you were 6/7. It spawned the insanely popular (STILL) Counter-Strike, and was more or less forgotten after the novelty wore off.

Im 15 and i was practically raised with half-life 1

 

[RanD00M]

And no game stores i've checked have it.

That's because it was released in 1997.

 

[Sewer Rat]

I have the ENTIRE available series, so I can explain.

HL1 had exellent gameplay for the time, using a modified Quake 2 engine. It was praised with alot of trophees. However, when HL2 came out... Oh boy, totally new experience!

would a person want to play halflife 1 before they play halflife2?

Not really. It hasn't aged very well.

Agreed, I got HL source after playing HL2 and I really just couldn't get into it.

 

[Grampy_bone]

Playing Half-Life today is like watching Seinfeld or the Matrix. What it did is now commonplace but when it was released there was quite literally nothing like it. Back then all shooters were rooms + guns + monsters. Half-life took the same basic concept and introduced a much more dynamic-seeming and enthralling experience through the use of subtle in-game storytelling, cinematics, and scripted events. FPS games have been trying to emulate this cinematic style with varying success ever since.

So if you want to see who did it first and how, then you owe it to yourself to play through Half-Life. just be warned that the game sorta stinks after you get to Xen.

 

[Resistance205]

I...I....WHAT!?

Sorry but as a gamer, you have to know about Half Life 1...You have to, otherwise I will lose all faith in gamers! Thats the next step after losing faith in humanity!

Half-Life 1 is 11 years old, you haven't heard of it because you're young? Half-Life was awesome, I loved every minute of it, and when HL2 was announced and we saw what it looked like, it was the most realistic game ever conceived by man.

I'm 15 and Half Life 1 is one of my favorite games of all time, age shouldn't matter when it comes to games.