Half-Life 2 - "the best graphics ever"?

[Del-Toro]

I actually found that I was more immersed in Doom 3 than Half Life 2. Maybe because I didn't find the resistance to be as sympathetic as everyone seems to think they are. When you consider that the combine annihilated all resistance in seven hours, and that the Overwatch primarily exists to ensure humanity has a place among the combine's membership as opposed to down it's ironsights, the resistance just seems to be fighting for it's own pride than for humanity's better interests. In Doom 3, you ARE Doomguy, an individual with no real name (as of the game itself) stuck on a desicrated mars station, fighting Demons, and you can apply any traits you want to him because you are him. What I'm saying is that the graphics aren't quite what some people like to yell they are and the story was enough of a disbelief breaker to me as to be less than fully immersive.

 

[Javex]

......Erm play Crysis. It's physics are better. It's graphics are 10 fold better. Half Life 2 looks really dated nowadays.

Crysis might look fine and while it's fun to wreck those trees, I really found the combat boring. Sure, the suit made it interesting, but the gunplay itself was uninspired and dull.

Fair enough, but HL2 really takes the crown for boring gameplay - same enemies etc in the same corridor crawl environment. At least Crysis looks damn flash while doing it, and gives an open environment in which you can choose your angle of attack. Hell, HL2 doesn't even have a lean function.
Everyone saying the facial animations etc are "the best" clearly hasn't played any modern FPS.

So Half-Life 2 has boring gameplay? Did you beat it? Did you make it far enough to drive down Highway 17, getting pursued by a Combine Gunship and squashing AntLions? Or far enough to fight the Striders? Or escape from the city? HL2 has a linear, but well paced campaign. And as for the facial animations... In the start of either Episode 1 or 2, D.O.G. lifts a pile of rubble off of you, and stands you up. Then you see Alyx. Her's is probably the most emotional human face in the history of gaming.

Crysis, while fun and pretty, will always be known for its graphics, and not much else. Half-Life 1 AND 2; on the other hand, was praised for innovation.

 

[Outright Villainy]

The graphics: No not really, it's a little low poly in parts and it doesn't have as many effects as modern games. However, the animation is still top notch, facial movement is still some of the best I've seen and the physics is still really solid. So it's bloody immersive and that's good enough for me. I think it's one of those games that'll stand the test of time, like super mario world or Link to the past. It's not the "Ooh Shiny" of Donkey kong country, but it's foundation is a lot more solid, and it still holds up today, so it probably always will.

 

[Cowabungaa]

The best? Well they were back when HL2 was first released, but obviously they're relatively outdated by now. That said, the Source engine can still produce some pretty nice looking games; L4D/L4D2, TF2, Portal. Sure, they're not Crysis, but are still up to standards.

RDR's graphics are the best I've seen. They make me just want to camp out and watch the sun go down. HL2's were way ahead of their time but the Source engine as a whole looks pretty outdated now.

On the 360 perhaps, but on the PS3 it's pretty dang "ew" at times. The sunsets and rises are indeed magical, but oh boy...I was once just looking out over Bonnie's ranch and...yúck. Horses even in medium distances were véry blocky and moved like wooden puppets.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

well, rigth now no, however when it was released, it was great. Now with Cinematic Mod 10 it improves a lot, and it certainly looks awsome.

 

[e2density]

Regardless of how many people that will say "OMG MODERNN WORFARE TWO BEST GAME EVER CUZ IT HAZ GRAPHICKS LOL FAG", HL2 was revolutionary for it's time, and remains that way today.

 

[Dexiro]

I wouldn't say they had the best graphics ever but the general design is great.

Valve are masters at level design though which is the main reason for immersion. I don't know a great deal about it myself but i've seen a TON of tutorials that always seem to use Valves games as examples of the best design.

 

[KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life]

Personally, I think the sleek-yet-used appearance of Mass Effect does the best job at immersing you. To me, Half-Life 2 is just like so many other Mature games: It's too lacking in colour. What little colour there is works well, but there's just so much brown that it makes me lose interest.

 

[Sark]

HL2 is the only game to give me a nosebleed. This was from the stupid preset field of view though.

 

[flamingjimmy]

This came to my mind a while ago. Even before the recent automatic graphics update from Steam, Half-Life 2's graphics were still really good. Many of the indoor areas border on photorealism, and the facial animation is still top of the line. The physics are impressive to this day, and the level of interactivity the player has with the game world is still exceptional compared to many modern games.

I'm not talking about how many polygons one can stuff into a frame, or how realistic effects can be. I'm talking about how well a game immerses you into it and makes you believe in the world. In this sense, I haven't found many games that do it as well as Half-Life 2 and its episodes.

What are your opinions on this? I'm expecting some "LOL VALVE FANBOY FAG OMG PISS OFF" talk here, but if we could have more of a discussion and less of an insulthon.

I was really really impressed by Red Dead Redemption, I found it very easy to properly immerse myself in the world. I think I large part of it was the absolutely brilliant facial animations and lip syncing, both of which are IMO way better than HL2.

 

[Funkysandwich]

I'd have to say that Half Life 2 presents the most bang for buck in terms of system requirements vs graphical detail. The first time I played HL2 was on my old laptop that was a 2.4 ghz celeron single core with integrated graphics and 256mb of RAM, and HL2 still blew me away.

If you play Episode 2 and then play the original half life 2, you can really see the difference the updates to the source engine have made. HDR lighting, updated textures, better character lighting and a whole bunch off other stuff I'm too lazy to write really make the game much better than it was.

 

[Sandvichman]

I think Mazty is just trolling. Clearly that kind of person that gets all hyped up about bloom and HDR effects. Half-life 2's gameplay is VASTLY superior to Crysis, and tbh i've never played an FPS with such poor hit detection as Crysis.

 

[Caliostro]

The thing about Valve is that they do their homework. There's more to ambiance than graphics and Valve works with absolutely everything they can get their hands on, which very few publishers do. Everything in their games is meticulously placed where it's placed for a reason, to create a specific effect, which is why Half-Life games age so much better than their contemporaries.

Does the source engine have the best graphics at this point? Hardly. CryTek is currently unbeatable in sheer graphical power. It has been since they released their first CryEngine, and with CryEngine 3 soon to be out the door, which is to include procedural destruction, it's showing no signs of slowing down. The CryEngine is simply breathtaking.

Valve's Source does have some phenomenal animations though, particularly facial features.

DICE is also jumping on that particular bandwagon with their Frostbite engine, that allows a higher level of interactivity between players and environment... But it still needs some work.

So far, all signs point to CryEngine 3 becoming the absolute dominant game engine in both power, adaptability, freedom, interactivity, efficiency... everything really.

 

[katsabas]

Best graphics? Valve game? MMMMMMMnot quite. When it gets to Wipeout HD level of detail then maybe.

 

[Voodoomancer]

I'm not talking about how many polygons one can stuff into a frame, or how realistic effects can be. I'm talking about how well a game immerses you into it and makes you believe in the world. In this sense, I haven't found many games that do it as well as Half-Life 2 and its episodes.

+ + +

There's too much emphasis today on super-definition and polygon counts and blooooooom and whatnot. I'd rather have an environment where I can pick up and throw anything around, a physics engine that makes sense, and faces that don't look like someone hacked the jaw of a mannequin and put it on hinges.

I actually think Source environments are more realistic than many "realistic" games today, because the real world isn't brown and every little light doesn't bloom like the spaceship from Close Encounters.

 

[Kajt]

The graphics of the Source engine are excellent in my opinion.

I'm expecting some "LOL VALVE FANBOY FAG OMG PISS OFF" talk here, but if we could have more of a discussion and less of an insulthon.

Spoiler: Also,