Yeah, so I just borrowed The Orange Box from a friend, and decided to play Half-Life 2.
I'm about 8 hours in, and it's easily one of the most frustrating games I've ever played in my life.
Firstly, lots of the enemies are just plain annoying. From the pimples hanging from the ceiling that snag you and pull you up to the head crabs that seem like the Infection form Flood from Halo on a permanent sugar high, to the Head Crab thing that THROWS crabs at you that reduce your health to 1 hit point, and the guy who throws them can take an unnatural amount of damage, often ranging from an exploded barrel and a grenade to 10 shotgun blasts. It almost seems like Valve tried their hardest to make the most annoying enemies of all time. Plus, those giant crawler things take a ton of damage to. For something that seems like a grape held up by three toothpicks, it can take an upwards of 8 rockets. I bet I could cut through that thing's leg with a butter knife, and it takes 8 rockets? Get out of here!
The plot is also nonsensical. Maybe it's because I never played Half-Life 1, but all I can gather is that Gorden Freeman is a very famous Scientist that is better trained in combat then any soldier on the planet. Other than that, I know there's a rebellion going on, and very little else. Often, I just walk along, praying that I'll hit a safe zone for long enough to collect a little ammo before being kicked out on my own.
The level design is what kills it for me. To its credit, there are some pretty cool puzzles, but so often I can never find where I need to go! I end up walking around for up to 20 minutes before I find an inconspicuous vent, or a little staircase tucked away in the corner. This is not good game design. If the places you are supposed to go are not easy to find, you put WAYPOINTS in the game, or objectives, or something to help me figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing.
Oh, and why is it that whenever you have a plot-important ally around, they can die? That makes me groan whenever Alex or someone else rears their ugly head, because suddenly things turn into an escort mission!
So, I suppose the point of this rant of mine is, am I missing something? People rave about Half-Life 2 as one of the best Single Player FPS games ever, and while it can be fun at times, I've certainly played better FPS games before. If the design was less sloppy so I wouldn't get lost all the time, I might amend that statement, but really, am I missing something here?
-Hours later-
Firstly, I do not thing the game is "Hard". I think it is "Frustrating", and that the level design is "Decisive" and "Confusing" and "Secretive" and "Uncooperative".
Secondly, I finished Half-Life 2. The ending was much stronger, with the Ultra Gravity Gun spicing things up a bit. I don't think it redeemed the game, but the end was probably one of the highlights of the game.
Lastly, while I was at it, I finished Episode One. I thought it was a lot better than Half-Life 2, but god damn was it short. It was almost as short as Portal!
I'm about 8 hours in, and it's easily one of the most frustrating games I've ever played in my life.
Firstly, lots of the enemies are just plain annoying. From the pimples hanging from the ceiling that snag you and pull you up to the head crabs that seem like the Infection form Flood from Halo on a permanent sugar high, to the Head Crab thing that THROWS crabs at you that reduce your health to 1 hit point, and the guy who throws them can take an unnatural amount of damage, often ranging from an exploded barrel and a grenade to 10 shotgun blasts. It almost seems like Valve tried their hardest to make the most annoying enemies of all time. Plus, those giant crawler things take a ton of damage to. For something that seems like a grape held up by three toothpicks, it can take an upwards of 8 rockets. I bet I could cut through that thing's leg with a butter knife, and it takes 8 rockets? Get out of here!
The plot is also nonsensical. Maybe it's because I never played Half-Life 1, but all I can gather is that Gorden Freeman is a very famous Scientist that is better trained in combat then any soldier on the planet. Other than that, I know there's a rebellion going on, and very little else. Often, I just walk along, praying that I'll hit a safe zone for long enough to collect a little ammo before being kicked out on my own.
The level design is what kills it for me. To its credit, there are some pretty cool puzzles, but so often I can never find where I need to go! I end up walking around for up to 20 minutes before I find an inconspicuous vent, or a little staircase tucked away in the corner. This is not good game design. If the places you are supposed to go are not easy to find, you put WAYPOINTS in the game, or objectives, or something to help me figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing.
Oh, and why is it that whenever you have a plot-important ally around, they can die? That makes me groan whenever Alex or someone else rears their ugly head, because suddenly things turn into an escort mission!
So, I suppose the point of this rant of mine is, am I missing something? People rave about Half-Life 2 as one of the best Single Player FPS games ever, and while it can be fun at times, I've certainly played better FPS games before. If the design was less sloppy so I wouldn't get lost all the time, I might amend that statement, but really, am I missing something here?
-Hours later-
Firstly, I do not thing the game is "Hard". I think it is "Frustrating", and that the level design is "Decisive" and "Confusing" and "Secretive" and "Uncooperative".
Secondly, I finished Half-Life 2. The ending was much stronger, with the Ultra Gravity Gun spicing things up a bit. I don't think it redeemed the game, but the end was probably one of the highlights of the game.
Lastly, while I was at it, I finished Episode One. I thought it was a lot better than Half-Life 2, but god damn was it short. It was almost as short as Portal!
