Poll: Half Life 2, Ep 1 + Ep 2

[SextusMaximus]

Okay, well I got HL2 far past the release date - and compared to other shooters, it's incredibly boring. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it was fun when it came out and it's probably fun now looking back. But having played games such as ME2, RDR, Halo 3, Battlefield BC 2, etc. It's reasonably boring. My question?

Should I skip Half Life 2 and play the two Episodes, or play through HL2 just for the experience?

Also... I never played HL1, so I don't know whether that makes a difference.

[h4]Guys, I'm not trying to Troll - as I said to someone else, I wanted to know if it was worth playing if I didn't like it, I wanted to check out Ep 1 + 2 in preparation for an Ep 3 announcement and didn't want to spoil any plotlines on google. Sorry if you thought differently, I'll PM a mod to take it down if you found it offensive. [/h4]

 

[Asehujiko]

How far in are you? Everything before and including the boat sections is pretty much the low point of the game. The game gets a lot better after you get to the second resistance base.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

No, you shouldn't. If you didn't like HL2, you won't like the episodes either.

 

[AkJay]

You should definitely Play Half-Life 2 first, otherwise it's like starting a game halfway through. Plus, HL2 is a brilliant game that should be played.

 

[Lemon Of Life]

It kind of picks up after a while, but if you're two or three hours in and still hating it, skip to Episode 1 or 2, which offer a much tighter, maybe more fun experience.

 

[mr.aravaro]

No, the episodes don't make sense without HL2.

 

[Abedeus]

No, because that's like watching Return of the King without watching the previous movies.

 

[Corven]

Like the other guy said how far into the game are you, get to ravenholm before passing judgment.

Also why would you play the episodes if your not even going to finish the main game, that just seems strange.

 

[unoleian]

Well, Half-Life 2 is fairly quite old by gaming's timeline standards now, and a lot of the features that were new and cool in it when it first hit the scene are now rather expected in every game.

Ep 1 & 2 are really more of the same, just with some new little tidbits tossed here and there, and a continuation of the storyline, not much more.

You can't really go into HL2 and its eps expecting to be blown away by anything it features any more.

It's a solid shooter with a compelling story these days, and really not much more.

I agree that it definitely picks up toward the end of Water Hazard, and there's much fun and challenge to be had, but there's nothing groundbreaking about it anymore, if that's what you were expecting.

 

[Davey Woo]

If you find HL2 boring, the Episodes won't be any more interesting, they're just a shorter play time.
You won't know what's going on in the episodes unless you're pretty close to the end of HL2 in which case you may as well just finish it any way.

 

[Ekit]

No, you have to play Half-Life 2 first if you want to follow the story.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

No, you shouldn't. If you didn't like HL2, you won't like the episodes either.

This, pretty much. If you think Half Life is boring, you probably won't like the episodes either.

Just play them in order, or don't play them at all if you really think it's that boring.

 

[Professor M]

I am so happy that so far everyone voted No. Nice sense of community there.

Half Life 2 is a must for the story, but also because it sort of eases you into the mechanics. The episodes on the other hand just sort of launch straight back into it with only a brief pause

Edit: Woah, jumped the gun there! If you're not liking Half Life 2 so far, persevere, like everyone's said it does pick up. But skipping it for the episodes isn't going to change much really, they're more of the same.

 

[yayforgiveaway]

Neither the story nor the gameplay is good so I'd skip it .The only good thing coming out of HL is Freeman and Breen [as characters] (and headcrabs ;p)

 

[reg42]

No. It's a direct continuation.

 

[Sentient6]

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT skip over HL2. A) The Episodes are direct sequels to HL2, so in order to understand anything, you need to play HL2. And PLAY, not read the plot on Wikipedia. and B) The Episodes differ very little from HL2. If you didn't like that one, you won't like the Episodes.

PS Is there a Badge for resisting the urge to call the TC lots of horrible names for liking Halo 3 and ME2 over HL2? I think I deserve one.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Sorry, you need to play HL2 to understand the episodes, and understand how Valve want you to play the game.

The game HL2 and the episodes in general do get better and better the further in you get.

Like the other guy said how far into the game are you, get to ravenholm before passing judgment.

Also why would you play the episodes if your not even going to finish the main game, that just seems strange.

Ravenholm is where the game actually starts!, anything prior to that is technically a tutorial in getting you used to the vehicles and physics.

 

[Good morning blues]

I dunno. I'll agree that the game really picks up at Ravenholm, but if you don't like HL2 I don't see why you'll like the episodes. That said, I have no idea why someone who enjoys video games wouldn't like HL2, so...

 

[MiracleOfSound]

The airboat levels early on in Half Life 2 are the most generally hated part, I recommend you keep playing a few hours more and see if you start to enjoy it.

If you don't, then don't bother with with the episodes as they're pretty much the same as the main game with some updates to the engine.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Should I skip Half Life 2 and play the two Episodes, or play through HL2 just for the experience?

If you don't like 2, you won't like the Episodes, simple as.

Plus, if you ain't past Ravenholm, get on with it fool!

Anyway, Half Life series has never been big on the exposition led do-this-do-that style other shooters tend to follow. It's still linear but you tend to be left alone a lot, which works for some and not for others. If you don't get on with that, fair enough, but I think HL2 is worth persevering with till the end, if only because in the episodes you get a lot of whatthehell is goingon? moments if you don't.