Half Life 2 Misconceptions.

[Soviet Heavy]

I love Half Life 2. Lots of people love Half Life 2. Some don't.

I'm not here to convince you to go out and play Half Life 2, but rather to discuss misconceptions people new to the game might have.

A lot of the time when i see these discussions, there are a lot of vocal people who will state their distaste of Half Life 2 based on their experiences. I believe a number of people who disliked Half Life 2 went into the game with the wrong expectations.

These people are not at fault for having misconceptions about the game. The main people at fault are we, the Half Life 2 fans. There is nothing wrong with promoting your favourite game, but we have a tendency to sugar coat our descriptions quite a bit.

One of the biggest problems we the fans present is our idea that Half Life 2 is a modern game. Which is wrong. Half Life 2 is a last gen title, like it or not. It was made in 2004, in the last few years of the previous console generation. PC gaming has evolved a lot since then, along with the consoles.

So when we go out promoting Half Life 2 as the best FPS of this generation, we are fooling both ourselves and the curious newcomers. Half Life 2 has aged well, no doubt, but new players are going into the game with the wrong mindset. They might go in expecting huge firefights, cover based combat, or regenerating health. The game itself is quite different than that.


So to sum up, as this is a little long, Half Life 2 is an old game. It is a dated game. It is a good game, as long as you play it with the proper expectations in mind. Promoting it as a modern game is a disservice to the new players, and consequently leaves the new customer dissatisfied.

 

[The Procrastinated End]

Well your whole dated game argument gets a little doubted seeing as how episode two didn't come out in the last generation.

 

[Jolly Madness]

But hell, the multiplayer is fun anyways!

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Well your whole dated game argument gets a little doubted seeing as how episode two didn't come out in the last generation.

Even though Episode 2 came out in 2007, it remained a last gen game in terms of gameplay. Health Packs, run and gun, and one man army scenarios were still being used.

 

[Hybridwolf]

The games amazing, but the biggest problem is the length of time between sequels. If valve operated on a mortal release secdule, then maybe there would be more newcomers to the series. However, it's now become a game which is more of a cult game now, as the dedicated fan base waits. Personally? I'd love to have the game just finshed, so I know how it ends. I've already forgotten half the storyline....

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Its just that Valve psycho fanboys have a tendency to go "Half Life 2 is the bestest game evar and you sux if you haven't played it!"

So a person goes out and buys it expecting an amazing and revolutionary game. What he gets is a game that looks and plays like it came out in 2004.
It was revolutionary, for its time. Thats the big problem. We keep touting it up as this transcendent masterpiece, but people who have been bred on more recent FPS titles won't see anything they haven't seen before.

 

[GundamSentinel]

They might go in expecting huge firefights, cover based combat, or regenerating health. The game itself is quite different than that.

I've always been of the opinion that cover based combat and regenerating health were actually a step backwards. The system as it is used in Half-Life promotes being active in a battle. You have to get out of cover to get healed, so you have to be faster and more efficient in taking down your enemies. You don't get bogged down in drawn out shootouts with a handful of enemies like in Killzone or Gears of War. That's a plus for Half-Life IMO.

 

[Judgement101]

But hell, the multiplayer is fun anyways!

There wasn't a mutliplayer. Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was a stand along game.

 

[The Amazing Tea Alligator]

But hell, the multiplayer is fun anyways!

There wasn't a mutliplayer. Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was a stand along game.

Zombie Master. You have a point, and I agree, but Zombie Master.

 

[Chipperz]

It's a misconception that Valve has screwed over developers who could competently handle episodic gaming?

It's a misconception that "he's mute so you can reply with what YOU want" is the biggest cop out since "well, we THOUGHT they had weapons of mass destruction, that's why we bombed them"?

It's a misconception that the game's vehicle sections are long, boring and handle like arse (and I've been playing games with perfectly serviceable vehicle sections since the 90's)?

It's a misconception that every last gun feels the same for at least the entirety of City 17? In a SHOOTER?

It's a misconception that leaving control of the character during exposition is shockingly bad at creating immersion once you get bored and start jumping on the furniture? (not specific to Half Life 2 - the ONLY game that's done it well is Mercenaries)?

It's a misconception that having your identity reaffirmed ("GORDON FREEMAN!" "GORDON FREEMAN?" "GOR-DON FREE-MAN!") makes the average gamer want to vomit to cleanse themselves of their hate?

Well, thanks for telling me. I was under the impression these were legitimate concerns.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

Recently played Half Life 2 for the first time (played the original when it was first released on PC) and it is nowhere near the best shooter of the last generation, timesplitters 2 or even Black was better than HL2, the game is so repetitive I have given up playing 3 hours in, i'll just boot up portal instead

 

[Judgement101]

But hell, the multiplayer is fun anyways!

There wasn't a mutliplayer. Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was a stand along game.

Zombie Master. You have a point, and I agree, but Zombie Master.

I forgot about all the mods. Well played, sir, well played.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

It's the same story with any old-school game - there are people here who are going to argue that Half Life 2, PoP: The Sands of Time, Morrowind, God of War, Metal Gear Solid, etc. are the best FPS, platformer, RPG, hack-n-slash, and stealth games, respectively, but newer players might disagree entirely because:

A) They have an extra decade of games that came after to compare them to (thus, the older content isn't exactly special; or
B) They just plain never liked it to begin with.

We should probably be careful as well, lest we look back with our nostalgia glasses on and declare mediocre games to be the second coming of Jesus in game form.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

The game now serves as a foundation of excellent game design, but we've long since installed carpet, tile and furniture on that foundation. Stripping that all away and living on the foundation itself can be a lackluster experience and cause back problems when it comes time to sleep. To be perfectly honest, I'm afraid that the "impressed by HL2" ship has set sail a while ago.

I'm hoping that Episode 3 will at least have some complexity added to the game mechanics.

 

[maturin]

Well your whole dated game argument gets a little doubted seeing as how episode two didn't come out in the last generation.

Even though Episode 2 came out in 2007, it remained a last gen game in terms of gameplay. Health Packs, run and gun, and one man army scenarios were still being used.

The market is still full of run and gun one man army games, if you didn't notice. And I don't think regenerating health is the objectively superior successor to static hit points.

 

[Kwaren]

I didn't play it when it came out so I missed the train and don't feel like running to the next station to catch it.

 

[Clockwork Scarecrow.]

Well your whole dated game argument gets a little doubted seeing as how episode two didn't come out in the last generation.

Even though Episode 2 came out in 2007, it remained a last gen game in terms of gameplay. Health Packs, run and gun, and one man army scenarios were still being used.

"run and gun, and one man army" How exactly has that changed recently?

Also maybe they kept the health packs to keep it similar to the original or perhaps they didn't like regenerating health.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

As a member of last generation (and several generations before) I played it when it was new. I tried to keep myself nonjudgemental and... I hate that game. I hate it so bad, it's as fun as drilling holes in my own skull.

So no, not everyone who hates it has a misconception or is put off by how old it is. Some people just don't like the game because it exists.