In my time on these forums, I have seen dozens of posts praising Half Life 2 to be an amazing game. I have played it, and I'm afraid my appreciation for it is not nearly so high.
The game has almost no plot to speak of (or if there is, it is completely impenetrable), and I'm pretty sure that it only exists to send the character from one locale to another. You have no idea why or who you are fighting; only that you have to and get to another location for some reason or another.
Now, let's talk about the AI. Absolutely terrible. Squadmates get themselves killed by running into a fire that has been there since you came to the area, and the enemies stand still shooting at you and only rarely use any sort of sensible tactics, like flanking (and even then, I'm pretty sure its accidental).
Half Life 2 has most of the standard archeotype FPS weapons, like the pistol, the better pistol, the sniper-variant, the SMG, grenades, and the shotgun. Most of these weapons have almost no stopping power, and, to be frank, aren't all that fun to use. The shotgun is only effective at ranges varying from 1-4 feet, and most of the others are similar in their weakness. The exceptions to this rule are the magnum, crossbow, and rocket launcher, but most circumstances eliminate the possibility of using them. Most levels do not have enemies far enough away to safely use the rocket laucher or crossbow, and the magnum doesn't have the range to make it a viable alternative. Either way, there is barely any ammo for these guns, so using them is a serious decision.
The actually original weapons (the Gravity gun and the spider-thing controller) are nice, but once again, circumstances rarely allow or require their use. What objects the gravity gun can kill people with are few and far between, and even then, lugging them to the next battle is a pain. The spider control thing can be useful, but the only times thatit is of use is cancelled out be the auto-turrets that kill your allies, and even when there aren't these turrets, they aren't all that fun to use (except for setting off mines).
And, oh the puzzles. Most of them are ine, but their one and only one solution can be extremely frustrating. For example, in the Ravenholm level, there is an electrified fence that separates you and where you need to go. There is a wire attaching the fence to an electric source inside of a room on the third floor of a building. There is a room full of circle saw a little ways back, so one expects to be able to cut the wire in half by shooting a saw at the wire (the obvious solution). However, this does not work, and the game makes you grind through a house full of zombies to turn off the power, while cutting the wire would be much easier and makes more sense.
Now, I'm in no way saying that Half Life 2 is a bad game. Its environments are varied and interesting, and the controls are streamlined and work well. The graphics are good, and decent even by today's standards, and the weapons at least look cool. The enemiy types are varied enough for combat to stay interesting, and the vehicle controls don't suck, like in most FPSs.
This game is only original in that it uses a decent physics engine. If anything, it's more of a tech demo than a game.
The game has almost no plot to speak of (or if there is, it is completely impenetrable), and I'm pretty sure that it only exists to send the character from one locale to another. You have no idea why or who you are fighting; only that you have to and get to another location for some reason or another.
Now, let's talk about the AI. Absolutely terrible. Squadmates get themselves killed by running into a fire that has been there since you came to the area, and the enemies stand still shooting at you and only rarely use any sort of sensible tactics, like flanking (and even then, I'm pretty sure its accidental).
Half Life 2 has most of the standard archeotype FPS weapons, like the pistol, the better pistol, the sniper-variant, the SMG, grenades, and the shotgun. Most of these weapons have almost no stopping power, and, to be frank, aren't all that fun to use. The shotgun is only effective at ranges varying from 1-4 feet, and most of the others are similar in their weakness. The exceptions to this rule are the magnum, crossbow, and rocket launcher, but most circumstances eliminate the possibility of using them. Most levels do not have enemies far enough away to safely use the rocket laucher or crossbow, and the magnum doesn't have the range to make it a viable alternative. Either way, there is barely any ammo for these guns, so using them is a serious decision.
The actually original weapons (the Gravity gun and the spider-thing controller) are nice, but once again, circumstances rarely allow or require their use. What objects the gravity gun can kill people with are few and far between, and even then, lugging them to the next battle is a pain. The spider control thing can be useful, but the only times thatit is of use is cancelled out be the auto-turrets that kill your allies, and even when there aren't these turrets, they aren't all that fun to use (except for setting off mines).
And, oh the puzzles. Most of them are ine, but their one and only one solution can be extremely frustrating. For example, in the Ravenholm level, there is an electrified fence that separates you and where you need to go. There is a wire attaching the fence to an electric source inside of a room on the third floor of a building. There is a room full of circle saw a little ways back, so one expects to be able to cut the wire in half by shooting a saw at the wire (the obvious solution). However, this does not work, and the game makes you grind through a house full of zombies to turn off the power, while cutting the wire would be much easier and makes more sense.
Now, I'm in no way saying that Half Life 2 is a bad game. Its environments are varied and interesting, and the controls are streamlined and work well. The graphics are good, and decent even by today's standards, and the weapons at least look cool. The enemiy types are varied enough for combat to stay interesting, and the vehicle controls don't suck, like in most FPSs.
This game is only original in that it uses a decent physics engine. If anything, it's more of a tech demo than a game.
