Half-life: a call to all the pc gamers out there.

[thom_cat_]

Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2 are both MUCH better games then Half Life 2. Hell, I've gotten more fun out of Counter-Strike!

My personal opinion is that L4D1 got boring after a few months and from what I have played of L4D2 (I'm boycotting) it's shithouse and I'd rather play the original instead of pay more money to get some polished version that does away with many good things in the first, and develops consolitis with huge guns and the exact same gameplay.

HL1 has aged badly, I agree with most of the other people. It was a remarkably good game for its time and will remain a classic, but can't compare to modern games.
Hl2 was brilliant, it was a marvel in technology, and storytelling. The plot was easy to pick up on so you don't even need to have played HL1.
The whole world of HL2 can be conceived easily upon earth. From the evil alien overlords to the struggling resistance, even to the technology and alien life embedded in the planet after the colonization. (Antlion culture is my personal favourite)

Episode 1 was a bit of a disappointment, it didn't expand on HL2 really, and it felt like you hadn't moved forward. It had a few good cinematic moments (the fall in the van) but other than that it felt empty.

Episode 2 was brilliant, the technology holding up strong and looking good, the story was progressing and new gameplay was added, portal looked to be merging with the Hl universe (Borealis) and one of the main characters is killed.

In conclusion play HL2 and Episode 2, only play Episode 1 for story continuation which can actually be gathered from the starting cinematic of Episode 2. Hl1 was good for its time, but wait for Black Mesa.

Name a single ground-breaking element in Half-Life 2.

The method of storytelling was new for its day, the story unfolds entirely without cut scenes or fill-ins. And remains new for today as cutscenes remain widely used.
Physics was new in the Source engine.
New and unused facial animation systems.
Groundbreaking AI
Gravity Gun
The list goes on.

 

[Souplex]

As someone who recently played the Half Life 2 and it's episodes in the interest of being a fair and balanced critic, I can safely say that it is a depressing piece of average, and it was supposedly an improvement over the original Half Life. That is kind of sad.

Also, for those of you who want episode 3: They would be done with the series if 90% of Half Life 2 weren't padding. Think aboot it: You are aboot to teleport to the next part of the story? Nope, headcrab screws it up and you need to go through that annoying hovercarft part. You are aboot to kick some Combine ass with the Shoehorned in physics gun? ("We made a physics engine, and we are going to make you care!") Rubble blocks your way and you need to run through Ravensomethingorother. I forget the reason you needed to use that dune buggy that steered like gremlins were wrestling over the wheel but I am fairly certain that was filler as weill. Those are the most noticeable instances in the first part.

Episode one has the least filler with the only part that distinctly stood out as filler being the underground zombie part.
Episode 2 is basically filler until you get to that obnoxious sticky bomb part. *Train gets de-railed* Looks like you have to walk. Alyx is mauled and now you need to save her for some reason despite the much more likeable generic soldiers (Because they don't make stupid puns like "Zombines") being killed off left and right. Whats that? You need to journey to the heart of an antlion nest to find a macguffin needed to save that unlikeable sidekick. Now you need to find a car. Then you actually start advancing the plot again.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I bought the orange box and have never been so thoroughly unimpressed in my life. I have no urge to even finish the other episodes of hl2, let alone play the first one.

 

[MarsProbe]

Gah, not another Half-Life related thread. Not that I don't like Half-Life or anything but more than it gives a group of (mostly) "newcomers" to moan about how they aren't actually that good, Of course that's going to be the case if you have only played a Half-Life game recently.

Sadly, things have changed since HL2 and its subsequent episodes were released and everyone who has being playing the likes of Halo and even MW2 are of course going to be finding things about HL2 a little lacking. But I suppose it's just one of these things people have to go over numerous times.

 

[thom_cat_]

I bought the orange box and have never been so thoroughly unimpressed in my life. I have no urge to even finish the other episodes of hl2, let alone play the first one.

Maybe that's because it was released in 2004... go play something else from 2004 and see if you like it. Get out episode 2, as that's the latest, play that, then come back here and give us your opinion.

Gah, not another Half-Life related thread. Not that I don't like Half-Life or anything but more than it gives a group of (mostly) "newcomers" to moan about how they aren't actually that good, Of course that's going to be the case if you have only played a Half-Life game recently.

Sadly, things have changed since HL2 and its subsequent episodes were released and everyone who has being playing the likes of Halo and even MW2 are of course going to be finding things about HL2 a little lacking. But I suppose it's just one of these things people have to go over numerous times.

I get what you mean, even games from a few years ago seem lacking in front of the all out action of these games, WHICH AVOID STORYTELLING.
The game isn't what makes Hl great. IT'S THE UNIVERSE, and the story that revolves around it.
And the only way you can access said universe is by playing the games!

 

[Ganthrinor]

If you've ever played a game where you stand behind a gun and shoot at things while running around, you've essentially played Half-Life.

Sure, it's got a Physics engine, but shit, what doesn't these days?

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I'm with the "Request denied" guy on the first page. I've HL2 and while I can appreciate the significance of the series, I'm really not that into it. At this point the story is cliched and lackluster, though the level design is pretty good and the modding tools are phenomenal.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I bought the orange box and have never been so thoroughly unimpressed in my life. I have no urge to even finish the other episodes of hl2, let alone play the first one.

Maybe that's because it was released in 2004... go play something else from 2004 and see if you like it. Get out episode 2, as that's the latest, play that, then come back here and give us your opinion.

I actually started episode 2 (orange box came with both the episodes as well.) I gritted my teeth and was able to get about 2 hours in before I finally just said "fuck this game" and never played it since. Though I don't see what your point is because the it's pretty much the exact same game.

 

[Captain Ninja]

never played any HL :O but i dont really care, i find most older games that are meant to be legendary don't live up to the hype for me, probably because the video game industry is always evolving and getting better, only in little steps so people don't think there that great, but i might pick it up off steam....might

 

[xenos60]

I seriously doubt there is a large proportion of serious PC gamers who haven't played any of the Half-Lifes. Hell, I know plenty of casual gamers who have. They're overrated anyways.

 

[technoted]

i've played HL 1 (my personal favourite) and HL2 on PC but sadly i've only played the others on X box when they came out in the orange box, please dont hurt me.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

The method of storytelling was new for its day, the story unfolds entirely without cut scenes or fill-ins. And remains new for today as cutscenes remain widely used.

I don't think you know what "groundbreaking" means. A slight variation from the norm which is widely ignored by the industry is not groundbreaking. In HL2's case, it wasn't even original. We're talking about 2004 here. Plenty of games had figured out that you could leave story bits in-game by that point (see: most RPGS).

Physics was new in the Source engine.

The original Halo had physics. Source's physics were supposed to be much more advanced, but they really just amounted to picking things up with the gravity gun and launching them at other things.

New and unused facial animation systems.

Facial animation was hardly a novelty by the time Half-Life 2 came out.

Groundbreaking AI

Compared to what, the original Doom? Once again, Halo: CE had better AI than Half-Life 2, and was released years earlier.

Gravity Gun

See above.

The list goes on.

On into obscurity, perhaps.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Name a single ground-breaking element in Half-Life 2.

* Physics engine puzzles
* Realistic, emotive facial expressions
* The gravity-gun

This was all brand-new to Half-Life 2, and in my opinion a lot more significant that Doom 3's film-noir lighting style. BTW, I didn't know that admitting Halo has worth was somehow damaging to my argument that Half-Life is historically significant and a huge influence on modern games. It is possible for more than one game to matter in the long-run.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Physics was new in the Source engine.

The original Halo had physics. Source's physics were supposed to be much more advanced, but they really just amounted to picking things up with the gravity gun and launching them at other things.

Can you honestly not see how this is different? The original Halo maybe had vehicle physics, but not hands-on interactive. That was a VALVe innovation.

You know, it's becoming clear from reading your posts that you just don't want to acknowledge the facts. I'm not going to get wrapped up any more Halo vs. HL trollery.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I bought the orange box and have never been so thoroughly unimpressed in my life. I have no urge to even finish the other episodes of hl2, let alone play the first one.

Maybe that's because it was released in 2004... go play something else from 2004 and see if you like it. Get out episode 2, as that's the latest, play that, then come back here and give us your opinion.

I'm sorry, I just have to address this... That is the worst explanation I've ever heard. Are you saying a game made only SIX YEARS AGO hasn't aged gracefully? I played Dawn of War for the first time recently (also made around 2004) and was blown away. It's alright to use the age card on a game that's actually old, but anything made in the last ten years shouldn't be able to use a calender to excuse its many flaws.

I mean, The Punisher came out in 2005. Shinobi came out before that. Devil May Cry came out quite some time ago, and people still love and play that game. The PS2 Shin Megami Tensei games have been running practically since the birth of the system. The original Halo (still a brilliant game) came out in 2001! Age in this case is no excuse.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

* Physics engine puzzles
* Realistic, emotive facial expressions
* The gravity-gun

This was all brand-new to Half-Life 2, and in my opinion a lot more significant that Doom 3's film-noir lighting style. BTW, I didn't know that admitting Halo has worth was somehow damaging to my argument that Half-Life is historically significant and a huge influence on modern games. It is possible for more than one game to matter in the long-run.

Film-noir lighting style? Have you actually played Doom 3? Do you really think that just dismissing points without addressing them is constructive for your argument?

And how, exactly, is pointing out where Halo has been influential supposed to help explain why Half-Life 2 has been influential? Is this supposed to be some kind of equivalent exchange thing?

The original Halo had physics. Source's physics were supposed to be much more advanced, but they really just amounted to picking things up with the gravity gun and launching them at other things.

Can you honestly not see how this is different? The original Halo maybe had vehicle physics, but not hands-on interactive. That was a VALVe innovation.

You know, it's becoming clear from reading your posts that you just don't want to acknowledge the facts. I'm not going to get wrapped up any more Halo vs. HL trollery.

#1 If you really think that Half-Life 2 was the first to do decent facial expressions, then I can only conclude that you are unaware of other games being released in 2004 and before.

#2 Half-Life 2's physics might have been revolutionary if they were realized as something beyond a gimmick. If you'll notice, no games since have made the player spend a copious amount of time stacking barrels on one end of a seesaw in order to progress, probably because it was a huge waste of time. As I pointed out above, "ground-breaking" means that you actually have some impact on what people do after you. Not even Valve's own games followed suit.

Meanwhile, here is what people were able to do in Halo: CE. If you look carefully, you'll notice that it's not just the vehicles that are getting knocked around by the explosions.

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


#3 Expecting people to agree with you without putting any real effort into making your case or into understanding theirs is not exactly socially healthy behavior. If you want me to acknowledge HL2 as being influential you're going to have to come up with at least a single example of it influencing later games. There's no way around that.

 

[Volafortis]

I always figured that anyone with Steam has played a multitude of Valve games, including the Half-Life series, (or at least part of it)

 

[NeutralDrow]

No thanks, I'm not interested.