Poll: Half-Life, Why Everyone Finds it Wonderful?

[The_Bat_Dan]

People give ashit about half life because they think its a good game. So doI. I'm getting pretty damn sick of seeing threads like this so this ones the last straw... Next time I see one of these the user who started its getting reported... Simple as.

 

[ViolentlyHappy91]

Half-Life...where to begin. I personally love the game, here's a few reasons.

- Amazing Friendly AI
- Amazing Enemy Combat
- Great story: Okay, breaking this down now. Half-Life had a great story, and the way you're thrown into it was enjoyable. You had to work your way through a massive complex, not sure of where to go next, but that's what it would be like if you worked at Black Mesa.

Half-Life 2, it starts with you just appearing on the train, you're not sure what to expect if you didn't play the first. Everyone seems to think you know everything that's happening already, because they don't know you were taken by the G-Man, that's why it's confusing and everyone but you seems to know what's going on.

- Weapons were just fun, in all of the games.
- Physics were fun to play with, if you wanted to take a break from gameplay.
- Level design...just wow.

These are just some of the reasons I love the series, and while the games aren't the best in the world, they are up near the top of the ladder.

 

[Yokai]

First and foremost, it had wonderful characters. Alyx, Barney and Eli were all very believable and human. They felt like real people and this pulled HL2 out of the uncanny valley that even today, many games are stuck in, and made it so much more immersive.

Secondly, the environment and setting was very evocative of the post-apocalyptic, totalitarian world the characters inhabit. There were the long stretches of quiet, devoid of a soundtrack or excessive background noise, in places like the train station in the first level and the coast along Highway 17 that made the sense of desolation appropriately clear. Not only this, but enough work was put into the game environment that the graphics hardly look dated, even today, and the player will often notice little details that realize the world even more.

And thirdly, it's simply great fun. The excellent application of Havok physics, the awesome soundtrack that plays at exactly the right moments, and the numerous and unique enemies and weapons (gravity gun FTW!) make the game quite enjoyable to play while at the same time being atmospheric and believable almost to the point of being a work of art. (Damn that was a long sentence.)

So, in short, the game itself is very atmospheric, the characters are humanlike and easy to sympathize with, and the gameplay in general is fun and challenging. That's why I like it.

 

[DiamondJim]

This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxyZaZlaOs&feature=related

On topic: It did many things very well. Good combat, weapons, physics, puzzles, character, humor, graphics, sound, story... can't really go wrong.

Plus, you get kids who write fan fiction like in that link... XD

 

[Scarecrow38]

The characters and the story really sold it for me. And the graphics were great. Even though its years old now, it still looks realistic compared to many games.

 

[EvilMaggot]

It has great realistic characters along with excellent gameplay. Gravity Gun. Best weapon ever.

hmm

Gravity Gun vs. Portal Gun = who would win in most fun and awesomeness ?

 

[ThorSummoner]

to the extent of my understanding;It is THE foundation of Css, garrys Mod, Portal, And Tf2; includes a userfriendly editor with tools for makeing mods, includes all sorts of tools for customization, and has free online play.

 

[ygetoff]

It has great realistic characters along with excellent gameplay. Gravity Gun. Best weapon ever.

I agree. The characters are some of the best I've ever seen.
It's pretty good in other areas, as well. The gravity engine is pretty good (I was actually surprised by how good it is for a 2005 game). The weapons are rather "meh" though (they feel weaker than they are). The puzzles are fun, but some of them definitely disrupt the flow of the game, especially in the vehicle sections, where stopping to activate an annoyingly concealed lever to raise a ramp takes away from the fun a bit. Some of the puzzles (read: the ones that utilize the physics engine in a unique and realistic way, like putting buoyant barrels underneath a partially submerged ramp in order to raise it and move on) add a lot to the game, though.

 

[Ph0t0n1c Ph34r]

While I agree that Half Life brought many inovations in gameing from impressive AI to interactive enviroments, I still believe that the "Gorodn is silent so one can portray him in thier own character" theory as complete and utter bullshit. There is nothing wrong with a silent character but that's like saying the doom marine has potential for player inserted story. While the other characters are memorable and interesting, Gordon appears to me as a souless vessel with no personality.

 

[quiet_samurai]

I love it, it's totally engaging as far a gameplay, has some of the most realistic support characters I've even seen, and it is one of the most polished and well made games ever made.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Storytelling through an interactive environment - it was the first game that took it to that level

Great characters. who build relationships with the player without resorting to cutscenes

At the time of release, it was probably the best looking, most technologically advanced game out there

The entire things drips with atmosphere and tension

Alyx... THAT is how you make a friendly AI. Has any game since surpassed her?

The voyage up the citadel... breathtaking piece of interactive art.

This is what im thinking.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

It was the first game I ever played that I felt a part of the world around me as opposed to an onlooker.

I really cared about the world and people in it, and at times it made me forget it was just a game.

Oh, and also... Dog.

 

[Arcyde]

I think it's decent. But I really don't care for it.

 

[Space Spoons]

Personally, I liked it because I usually suck at FPS games. There's a pretty heavy emphasis on combat in Half-Life, but it's less about accuracy and more about survival. I don't have to try for a headshot to kill an enemy quickly, 'cause I can just use the Gravity Gun to throw a piece of furniture at him.

Also, there's usually as many puzzle and platforming elements as there are FPS combat, and I find that to be a pretty refreshing change of pace in a genre that usually follows the "run here, shoot the guys, drive here, shoot the guys, run here" formula.

 

[sgtshock]

I've seen this thread many times before. Someone new to Half-life 2 plays it for the first time, and while they don't hate it, they don't think it's anything special.

I think it's because so many of the things Half-life 2 introduced have become commonplace. Realistic physics and ragdolls, highly interactive environments, characters who do more then stand there and spit out your objectives, and a story told through your environment rather than cutscenes, it was all new and exciting in 2004. But today, every game and their grandma have these things, and new players aren't wowed by it.

 

[Xanadu84]

First off, make sure your playing it on PC. Valve games were meant to be on the PC. Playing Half Life on a Console is kinda like playing Mario Brothers on a mouse and keyboard.

Secondly, you have to understand the initial appeal. The original Half Life came out over a Decade ago, where it pretty much set the new standard for FPS games. Being late to the video game hobby, it was probably my very first real video game personally. Besides the game itself (As well as its excellent expansions) it also brought us the polished engine that brought us some of the greatest mods ever, and an engine that is still being used by the mod community today. Say what you will about the kinds of people who play Counterstrike, it was a highly polished , very fun game that set down some incredibly deep roots. Just because most of the people still playing it today are nostalgia addicted psychopaths doesn't mean that there's not a lot to love.

Fast forward to 2004. Or from our perspective, travel back in time to 2004. 5 years. In video game years, this is like going from watching a present day movie to watching a silent movie. When HL2 first came out, the graphics had me awestruck. It was like watching a program on a computer in a science fiction film, except is was real. Somehow. Go back to the present, and realize that the Source Engine is still alive and well. How many computer related things from 5 years ago can still be sold as present day? Not a lot. Its not impressive anymore when compared to a lot of games, but it manages to hold its own, and stay in the same ballpark. It's like seeing a 98 year old man on the Olympic gymnastics team. Besides, certain features like the Physics, or facial animation, still blow most of the new-fangled technologies out of the water.

Next, there is the mods, and things that the user content community do. There's a lot of mods out there for Half Life, and many of them are very good. I'm no programmer, but I know that it would be hard to find a platform that's more user friendly then source. That earns a lot of loyalty from fans.

Now enjoyability is a subjective things. So I can only speak for me, and for those trends that most people seem to agree with me on. All the nitty gritty work that went into designing Half Life 2 is incredible. It might use the tools other shooters use, but it uses them better then any other shooter out there. The story is just right for this kind of game. Its present just enough to drive the character, and keep them wondering both in and out of game. It presents questions and hints of answers at a rate that constantly teases the player to want to know more, and they put the little touches in that make a huge difference in how you relate to the characters: Watch some of the developer commentary and you will see the surprising weight that can come from a simple gameplay mechanic, a throwaway line, a facial expression, etc. They include storytelling mechanics that are very iconic and memorable, and add real depth to the characters. (For example, if you say, "Talk like the G Man", everyone knows what that means). Gameplay is well paced, and filled with a wide variety of necessary skills which build on each other and continue to present new and different challenges. The shooting and mechanics are simple and intuitive enough, but they give all your actions and choices a real sense of individuality and uniqueness: For example, in many games all the guns might feel like there's a continuous stream of damage to varying degrees and accuracies, but in HL2 the Magnum feels very different from the Machine gun, which feels very different from the crossbow, which feels...well, you get the point.

Basically, Half Life may seem like its another shooter with graphics that are amazing only in a historical perspective. But real connoisseurs TEND (Not always, but tend) to greatly appreciate the hard work that goes into all the details. I suggest watching the commentary, and you might appreciate some things about it a little more.

Or maybe not. Just go with whatever you enjoy most. For a lot of people, that's HL2. I don't consider myself a fanboy per say, but I do personally have a great well of appreciation for the kinds of work Valve does. I don't think any other developers match it.

 

[Lemur_Ninja]

I enjoy how the "Source" physics engine works almost flawlessly. The character evolution is also enjoyable. All together, the main reason I like the game is due to the plain fun the game delivers.