Half Life 2 is not a good FPS

[LazerLuger]

ITT hating Half-Life 2 so you sound edgy...

A wide arsenal of powerful guns with detailed tech manuals was never the point of HL2, which may disappoint gun nuts and /K/ommandos raised on Modern Warfare.

 

[Puppeteer Putin]

I love a cyclical discussion as much as the next guy, so I'll hop on.

I enjoy thr voiceless protagonist. It allows you to THINK through the dialogue that's spouted at you. Your free to think "He's a dick" or "What an awesome baddy" without being interrupted by some idiotic, goody-toe-shoes smart-cracking "hero" who, by the sounds of things, has only every read Hardy boys and Bond novels. You can fill the gap, if your immersed. Of course they want to get some sort of universal response, or some base understandng, but each playsers interpretation is their own - regardless if they think the same as what the character is being FORCED to feel.

Plus Gordon suffers from a severe case of autism. Yeah, how do you feel now?

How can it be unique? Each player has to do exactly the same as every other player. And, surely it's utterly immersion breaking if everyone is like "Yay Gordon's here, now go kill Mr X", when infact you want to join him, yet the game will only progress once you have killed him. It's only as unique as playing through Devil May Cry and thinking "damn he's awesome", or "damn, he's a dick" as the game is identical everytime for every person.
Plus, you show how it's lazy on their behalf not making a good character who is agreeable, without using shitty one liners or poor voice acting.
As for him being autistic, with his shot, maybe there should be more autisic people put into the military (but knowing autistic people, I think your comment was somewhat in bad taste. If true, bad taste on Valves behalf).

It's not lazy, it's a deliberate design choice. This is Valve, they know how to make a Character (Portal, TF2, Freaking Barney). The inclusion or ommission of anything is a deliberate choice, not a "... Ah fuck it" decision. That MAY of been the case with the first game - no space for his voice files or perhaps they couldn't afford a voice actor - but necessity is the mother of invention. They created this character that ALL gamers can identify with.

Your missing the point. I acknowledged that they designed the game to get a universal response - otherwise the story wouldn't progress in the manner it does. The point I'm making is that a point of view isn't shoved down your throat - Your character doesn't have any predisposition, likes, dislikes, predijudices, ANYTHING. He is a blank slate. Anything that is thought is YOUR emotional response to the situation NOT the characters. Yes everyone may think the same thing but it's their PERSONAL response, NOT the characters. It's unique because it's the response of the individual, not the character. Need I continue?

Regardless how you look at it the character, if he said anything, is forcing you to his own personal beliefs no matter how well or badly conceived - in HL2, Gordon is nothing. He is a conduit for a player to perform their actions, albeit linear.

 

[phar]

Jeez its like watching Terminator2 and saying omg the SFX are so bad.

Gaming is moving along quite fast... 5 years has seen huge changes.

 

[Puppeteer Putin]

There is no point in him being a blank slate though, as your emotions have no effect on the game.
I'll give an example:
Scenario 1
In Devil May Cry, you have to kill Mundas. So you do, Dante gives off a quip, and you think "Honestly, maybe I would have taken Mundas' deal and gone for the apocalypse..."
There is character & a persons emotional response to the situation.
Scenario 2
In same situation with a voiceless protagonist, you still have to kill the bad guy, and you still think "Honestly, maybe I would have taken Mundas' deal and gone for the apocalypse..." The only difference being that the first instance has a character in it.

Point I'm making is that a voiceless protagonist doesn't change a person's response to a game where you cannot act upon your responses. You just end up with a mute main character.
Therefore he isn't a conduit, as you may think "F**k this resistance, I'm down with the Carbine", but you are still going to have to kill them. The actions are a mute Gordon's actions, not yours.

Ah, now we're chasing a different kettle of fish. The game assumes that your sucked into the story. By your logic, everyone that plays the game isn't being immersed in the story - they're just playing "Insert Generic FPS title here" game for the sake of playing it. They're ripping the game apart with their Scientific analysis, ignoring all emotional and story driven engagement.

Think of a fictional novel. The author usually wants to exert a specific response out of the reader, whether it's hate, love, fear, envy, empathy, whatever. They design the characters and the story to get that response. This won't appeal to everyone due to their own personal experience or simply they don't like it. That's fine! That will lead to a "Wow, he's got it all wrong" response, they aren't being involved in the story, they aren't responding the way the author intended. This is what's happened here. Those who play HL2 play it for the story and for the feeling of being involved in another world, being lost in Valve's creation - if the tools used by Valve aren't sucking you in, then so be it. It's not everyones cup of tea. There are other games that are made differently that perhaps you like, and others don't.

You're quite right! They didn't need to have a voiceless character, he didn't need to be a blank slate at all. Hell they didn't even need to make a game, but they did. They didn't have to, but they did because it's their story and they can tell it through whatever techniques and devices they choose to use.

Actually, have a read of this awesome article: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_195/5910-String-Theory-The-Illusion-of-Videogame-Interactivity

Not directly related, but I thought you would find it interesting.

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

You sir, are a king at making conversation. (The OP)

He got three badges already. Gratz.

 

[danosaurus]

Plus voiceless protagonist = total cop out by Valve at an attempt to make a likeable character.

In my opinion, it's better to have a mute character than one who says things that I wouldn't say in that situation. Valve's reasoning behind not giving Freeman a voice was that it'd help players to immerse themselves in the Half-Life universe, and I have to say I agree.

I think it's nice to get the opportunity to fill the shoes of a character without hearing them spout off irritating one-liners like certain other video game protagonists do.

Agreed.
Although this is besides the point of the OP, how can you even judge a voiceless character, it's basically letting your mind do the replying for the dialog.

Seems to be effective for Link, why not Gordon?

 

[Avatar Roku]

Plus voiceless protagonist = total cop out by Valve at an attempt to make a likeable character.

In my opinion, it's better to have a mute character than one who says things that I wouldn't say in that situation. Valve's reasoning behind not giving Freeman a voice was that it'd help players to immerse themselves in the Half-Life universe, and I have to say I agree.

I think it's nice to get the opportunity to fill the shoes of a character without hearing them spout off irritating one-liners like certain other video game protagonists do.

I agree. A silent protagonist is far from a cop-out, it's a method of improving immersion. It's not the best choice in every scenario (an RPG would likely fail with it, for example, and Splinter Cell wouldn't have been the same without Sam's black humor), and lord knows it's been done poorly in some cases, but in this case (and the cases of Zelda and Metroid, IMO), it was done wonderfully.

Maybe in a sandbox game a voiceless protagonist could work, but not in the controlled environment of HLF2. You say it helps you to go into their shoes, but you have no freedom, so suddenly you can't be you, you're just a camera perched on a mutes head. In Half Life, they tell you to do X, you go do X. You try to shoot them, bugger all happens. Because of this you're simply doing Gordon's bidding, meaning that they could have easily given him some character instead of pretending that you are Gordon. Just comes across as lazy in my eyes when so many characters out there are likeable.

The way I see it, the entire point of the story is that Gordon is a slave of the G-Man, and then the Vortigaunts. What he actually has to do is secondary, the point is he's being forced. Kind of like the average gamer, n'est pas? As such, it's our responses that change the entire story. Sure, he may be forced to save humanity, but would he do it anyway for altruistic reasons? Would he run and hide? Would he do it so he could bang Alyx? The possibilities behind his motivations (beyond the G-Man) are endless, and each one depends on the player who imagines it. It gets us emotionally invested in the character, because he's us. You know what, here [http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gordon-freeman-strongest-personality-in-gaming/a-20080118104744203035]. It's a bit biased, but he says it better than I can.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I felt playing HL2 was like participating in wonderful cinematic story more than being in a FPS.

No game has sucked me into it's world and made me care about it's characters in the way it has. Alyx is the best NPC ever created too, she is cleverly programmed to NEVER become an annoyance.

 

[Joeshie]

How can it be unique? Each player has to do exactly the same as every other player.

You're completely failing to realize that everyone can react/think differently to the same scenario.

And, surely it's utterly immersion breaking if everyone is like "Yay Gordon's here, now go kill Mr X", when infact you want to join him, yet the game will only progress once you have killed him. It's only as unique as playing through Devil May Cry and thinking "damn he's awesome", or "damn, he's a dick" as the game is identical everytime for every person.
Plus, you show how it's lazy on their behalf not making a good character who is agreeable, without using shitty one liners or poor voice acting.

What you are failing at here, like so many others, is understanding that the immersion comes from us feeling like we are Gordon. When Alyx is speaking to Gordon, I don't feel like she is speaking to Gordon, I feel like she is speaking to me.

Most games pull immersion breaking experiences because they switch from gameplay to cut-scene. Your immersion is broken because at one instant you control the character and the next you are watching the character. The flow works in Half-Life 2 because every single instance in the game is seen through the eyes of Gordon, through your eyes. It's the consistency that allows us to remain immersed in the world.

It's kind of crazy how many gamers are completely missing the entire idea and beauty of having a mute character like Gordon whom we control the entire time.

 

[Sewblon]

I played it on the maximum difficulty setting so I didn't have a problem with lack of challenge. My only complaints are, the driving sections exist solely for their own sake, and it didn't really have an ending.

 

[Good morning blues]

I disagree. The weapons selection is weak in comparison to the rest of the game (but certainly not in comparison to the average FPS) and the fact that you're quickly shuttled between setpieces means that there aren't any boring bits to get sick of.

 

[Ghostkai]

When is everyone gonna learn, certain people get kicks out of discrediting popular or (widely accepted) "good/great" games.

They enjoy making topics about it even more so. Perhaps as a way to get a hot topic badge.

...or maybe not everyone has the exactly same opinion about every game?

No I appreciate that, but you know I'm right, this feels just like another Halo bashing thread. Seems they pop up to be trendy.

 

[runtheplacered]

I think HL2 was great. Wanna fight about it?

 

[Joeshie]

You know what, here [http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gordon-freeman-strongest-personality-in-gaming/a-20080118104744203035]. It's a bit biased, but he says it better than I can.

Holy shit. Thank you. That perfectly sums up why the idea of Gordon Freeman works perfectly.

 

[buckythefly]

Your argument is very solid, but its all personal opinion. I could apply your logic to any major FPS and it would be true. Look at the cash cow halo, the weapons are weak sounding and underpowered feeling, a majority of the single player set pieces are unnecessarily confusing composed mostly of random geometry thrown together and wrapped in high-def textures.

Also your complaint about the dialog scenes while completely true. People who play half-life generally aren't looking for a adolescent bloodbath full of F bombs and instant gratification. The characters are fully fleshed out, and the voice acting is great. So although its completely acceptable to be of your opinion at least the game is good at it does. I personally would rather have a few minutes spent explaining to me why I should be shooting up these dudes, rather then just, being thrown headlong into the firefight.

 

[Puppeteer Putin]

You know what, here [http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gordon-freeman-strongest-personality-in-gaming/a-20080118104744203035]. It's a bit biased, but he says it better than I can.

Holy shit. Thank you. That perfectly sums up why the idea of Gordon Freeman works perfectly.

Was just thinking the same thing. Cheers!

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

ITT: Some new gamer judges an old game by comparing it to current games that use standards created by the game.

Seriously, travel back 5 years. Make this same topic. Remember to bring some aloe.