Half Life not that great?

[cjspyres]

I'm going to be honest, I've never really liked the Half Life series. I've tried to play it multiple times and I've never been able to force myself to finish. And before anyone accuses me of having bad taste in games, I've played many great games. System Shock series, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls, Red Dead Redemption, both Portal games, you get the idea. I've just never found it to be so good that it should receive the praise that it does. It just feels like a generic run and gun shooter. Is there something that I'm missing?

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Ryotknife]

well by todays standards....yea its kinda run and gun. back when it was released (keep in mind HL2 was released...what..7 years ago?) it was the cutting edge of....well everything. And the graphics prevent it from aging poorly as it is not photorealistic (which age like liquid crap). Hell, HL2 created a benchmark that wouldnt be surpassed until Crysis 1.

Model T ford is a piece of crap compared to todays cars, doesnt diminish what it accomplished. A lot of the magic that was HL2 has been copied in other games after it was released, so quite honestly i dont hold it against anyone who played that games years after they have been released.

It is like our generation scoffing at black and white movies when, at the time, they were very profound.

 

[neversleep]

I don't know what you, and a whole bunch of people who keep bashing it on these forums are missing. I freaking loved half life two. Loved the combat, loved the beautiful level design and the storyline(even though it's tad thin).

I won't accuse you of anything as long as you don't go off like some other posters here, ranting about how the whole series is shit because everyone likes it and they don't.
Maybe you would enjoy the next episode or half life whenever that finally arrives. Half life 2 and 1 were both shooters that did things never seen before in gaming. FPS with a storyline and the havok physics engine. If they continue the trend with their next release maybe you'll get sucked in as well.

And if you aren't, that's fine too. You can't argue taste.

 

[chocolatekeith]

Oh wow.
How long's it been since the last thread?

 

[Fractral]

It is just a run and gun shooter, with a few things that make it stand head and shoulders over the rest of the crowd. Firstly, it innovated big time with the physics puzzles- as far as I'm aware no game had ever done that before, and its in the Guinness World Records as having the first ever full physics engine. Secondly, it had the whole 'Narrative through Gameplay' or whatever you'd like to call it.
I played it through for the first time last summer, along with the episodes, and I really enjoyed it. If its not for you, that doesn't make it a bad game, nor does it make your opinion invalid or mean that you don't get it. Different things are fun for different people. For me, the slightly alternative gameplay and narrative made it fun; such things may not be as good for you.

 

[Zhukov]

Eh, join the club. They have t-shirts.

Personally, I wasn't all that impressed by the first one. I'm sure it was great by the standards of 1998, but it hasn't aged well. Had some cool moments though.

HL2 and the episodes however are fantastic and supremely well designed games. I thoroughly enjoyed them despite not playing them until early 2010.

 

[cjspyres]

I'd like to go ahead and thank everyone that's replied so far for not being mega-douches. I know it's a touchy subject, but I was hoping to get a legitimate answer, and I did! I feel like I need to rephrase what I said though. I absolutely do understand that it should be praised for its physics engine and the narrative through gameplay. I probably should have put that first.

 

[lRookiel]

HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME ! No just kidding, that's Baldurs Gate :3

OT: It is a good, perhaps even a great game, I really enjoyed them anyway. To each his own, that's all I gotta say on this.

 

[Kordie]

Triple post in a half-life thread, HL3 confirmation?

Anyways, I just finished playing the HL games again, and still find them fun. For me it's a big change of pace from many of today's brown shooters. It's not for everyone though.

 

[Don Savik]

Cool story bro, you want a cookie?

Just about every thread imaginable where people have the choice of saying their favorite popular game they hate you get about 10 people that say "Man, Half Life is such an overrated piece of garbage. I'm so glad I'm cool enough to see past its generic scripted bullshit" so excuse me if I come off a bit harsh.

It came out in 2004, as far as shooters in 2004 go, it was pretty damn amazing to say the least. Also it was very sandboxy in its combat. As in, some jackass script didn't hold your hand telling you who to shoot, how to shoot them, or when to shoot them. Its very much like Halo in that regards. Halo was "run and gun" and yet it gets even more praise despite being even more lacking. The gravity gun added a whole new level of depth to the combat (as it gave you a lot of options) but in the end its still combat. All shooters involve shooting of some kind.

Also the beautiful environments, seemlessly integrated script pieces and story, nice vehicle sections, and physics puzzles. It had a lot to offer that most games these days don't have. I think it still holds up to today, because we still have a lack of strong fps games as far as the single player goes. Bioshock and Crysis are the only 2 I can think of (portal is a physics game, not a shooter).

I find it fun, other people find it fun, and if you find it fun then why do you care if it lived up to the hype is got? Does that diminish your fun somehow?

 

[Erttheking]

Why is it that everyone gets so worked up when someone makes a post about this? He doesn't like the game, why are you getting so worked up over it?

OT: I know the feeling, I guess I'm just not a fan of older games, I couldn't get into Halo CE either.

 

[Smooth Operator]

You missed the atmosphere and story probably, if you just run past that then it really is just run and gun, but even then it is a superior shooter to many new comers (weapon variety, enemy variety, setting variety, good pacing and progression, combat with consequences, very rarely loose control of character, colors, no QTE, ...)

 

[Ryotknife]

well, this thread used to be a bit understanding/respectful, now we are getting the haters from both sides

 

[Ldude893]

I'm going to be honest, I've never really liked the Half Life series.

*gasp*

Oh my god, HE'S GOT AN OPINION. AFTER HIM WITH SPATULAS.

OT: The Half Life games were legendary because they did everything brilliantly according to the standards of video gaming during the times they were released. They didn't revolutionize anything, they just scored perfect marks on every aspect like gameplay, plot and graphics (the Source engine still looks great even today).
Maybe it's just dated to you or you have different tastes, and I understand that. It's no use forcing feet into shoes that don't fit.

 

[baddude1337]

I first played Half Life 1 when it was on PS2. Before that time my only experience with FPS's was DOOM and Goldeneye. So I was pretty fucking pumped for it. I play it through including both expansions sometimes every few years.

Half Life 2, while an awesome game... I dunno, I'm not as amazed by it. I really can't click as to why, it just feels sort of by the numbers to me. Which is a weird thing to say seeing how much I love the original.

The last stand against the bugs in Episode Two though ranks as one of my all time favourite gaming moments.

 

[CityofTreez]

It's an overall respectable game.

For me since I played it late I find it a bit unfair to compare to game now considering that it was made back in 2004.

It's overrated but it's not bad either.

 

[Newby_Newb]

I have never understood the amount of praise that Half-Life gets, It's a good game but it is not deserving of all the praise that it gets.

 

[Michael Hirst]

You don't like a popular game, it happens to all of us and really there's not much to debate in a thread about it, most of us learn the hard/long way though.