Is Half Life that good?

[Vigormortis]

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This, I've found, is often one of the deciding factors in ones opinion on the Half-Life series. That being, presumptive expectations on how the story is going to be told.

Many, but certainly not all, of the gamers I've met that think the series is "overrated" say that the story is presented and paced very poorly; if not missing entirely.

However, of the few I've convinced to replay the games a second time, many of them change their minds. Especially when I tell them that they shouldn't go in to the games expecting every bit of narrative to be presented to them in some long winded bit of exposition. Rather, that the narrative is presented in a combination of exposition, environmental detail, and event interaction.

Once one realizes this it's easy to see that there is a wealth of story to be gleaned from the games. A story filled with great characters, good pacing, richly detailed locales, and a host of references and homages to pop sci-fi and classic literature.

Now, granted, some of those that do change their minds on aspects of the narrative still say they don't like the games. Which is perfectly fine, of course. Opinions are opinions. However, almost all of them walk away with a new found appreciation of the craftsmanship behind the series.

It's the same experience I had with Bioshock. The first and second time I played the game I walked away not liking it. However, I also walked away with a high level of admiration for the skill and artistry that went into the games design. Even today, though I'm still not a fan, I will still declare Bioshock as an amazing game.

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Sad part is, this forum sees at least one thread like those listed a minimum of once a week. Going at least as far back as the year I joined.

Ugh...why is it that the Half-Life fans the are ones who're constantly challenged on their opinions around here? You rarely if ever see other fandoms attacked as viciously.

Maybe My Little Pony fans or Nintendo fans, but certainly not Halo fans, Call of Duty fans, or even Mass Effect fans.

It's gotten so bad that many of the Half-Life fans around here are actually apologetic when professing their admiration for the series. They've actually been made to feel ashamed of liking the games.

That's just....disgusting.

 

[Wickatricka]

Never played half life 1 but half life 2 I remember the first time I played it and it right from the get go it had me immersed in the world. Seriously it was that good I didn't even know it had such a large following (I was like 13 and just picked it up out of the used section of gamestop because it was like 10 dollars) I got it for the original xbox and thought it was simply amazing and can see now why people like it so much.

 

[The_Scrivener]

I think HL is extremely overrated. I don't think it did anything terribly tremendous outside of its first few minutes. The gameplay has aged horribly both in terms of platforming and mundane blocky shooting environments.

However...

I played HL2 very late (like within the last year) and I'm a believer. Alex and Dog are wonderful characters. The diversity in the environments really kept me going and I have so many scattershot fond memories from all over that game. Ravenholm. The beach drive. The high tech towers. Aside from maybe Super Metroid, I've never felt like a game had so much density of gameplay without infinite fluff stitched onto it. Such a substantial experience.