Poll: Has Half-Life stood the test of time?

[sgtshock]

As a gamer, I was pretty much raised by Half-Life. The original Half-Life was one of the first shooters I ever played, and also one of the first I played from start to finish. I loved the hell out of it, and I was overjoyed when Half-Life 2 came out. I enjoyed every second of it, and I wasn't alone: it received nothing but praise from the press and earned many Game of the Year awards. Everyone loved it, and it was in many people's opinions, one of the greatest games ever made.

So why does everyone who plays it nowadays hates it?

Maybe it's just me, but over the past few months I've noticed a trend on the Escapist. I've seen thread...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.130817#2874341
after thread...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.129666#2814812
after thread...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.122209#2451191
after thread...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.112206#1987975

...saying pretty much the same thing. Someone new to Half-Life plays it, doesn't see anything special about it, asks people what they see in it, and flame wars follow. Normally I'd dismiss it as people hating on it just because it's popular, like Halo, but I noticed that everyone who says this is a newcomer to Half-Life. Coincidence?

Half-Life is pretty much the quintessential old school FPS. There are health and shield bars, a plethora of weapons you can carry all at once, boss monsters that take a ton of punishment, linear corridors, and no ironsights or cover systems to speak of. Despite everything the Half-Life games did to revitalize the shooter genre, few modern games resemble it.

Do newer gamers, raised on games like Call of Duty and Gears of War, have different expectations than older gamers? I can see how someone used to the huge battles of Call of Duty or the nonlinearity of Crysis could get bored by Half-Life's linear corridors. Plus, so many of the things the Half-Life games revolutionized, like story telling through the environment and realistic physics, are commonplace now. And what?s the last game you remember that actually broke up the action with puzzles and exploration instead of nonstop combat? I've always loved the Half-Life games, and I enjoy playing them even today. But I'm not blind to what people might dislike about it.

Is Half-Life's award winning gameplay becoming dated? Have modern gamers become spoiled by today's games? Or do people just hate it because it's popular?

Note: I?m not saying Half-Life is smarter or better than CoD, Gears, or whatever. I'm just suggesting people have different expectations.

TL;DR: People who played Half-Life when it came out loved it. People who play it now hate it. WTF?

 

[grimsprice]

Games get old. Like your poll says, they may have revolutionized the gaming world but so have newer games, and without the newer updates to the gaming world older games just don't compare.

For example. Movies that first had sound were the shit back in the day, but then somebody figured out how to get color onto the screen. How many old movies are really really nuanced and good compared to todays movies?

 

[SnurreFisk]

It's old, but still a hell of alot fun!
There's a reason why it's been nominated to that many prizes!

Imo, it's still better than many modern titles. But then again, I'm a bit nostalgia-seeking.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Short answer, Yes.

Long(er) answer. Yes, it's still a lot of fun to play. Half Life holds my attention better than pretty much all the 'modern' shooters which have become cookie cutters of each other in the last 4 years. The level design's still good and it's no more linear than 99% of what comes out now. Besides graphics very little has actually moved on since Half Life came out, some of the conventions have changed a bit (FPS have got a shitload easier and dumber since then) but it's still enter space, kill everything, reload, repeat.

Half Life happens to do that very well.

People that dislike it tend to come from playing newer games, more often than not they get put off by the unforgiving nature of it, especially the lack of checkpoints and making you find your own health (gasp!!!). I also find younger players bemoaning the lack of sign posting a lot, which I find a disturbing trend.

 

[dark_taint92]

well im pretty new to the half life series only played half life 2 and ep 1 and 2
but i thought it was a nice break from some of the newer games out like gow2
im a huge gow2 btw but it can get very tiesome after a while with no real health bar so to speak
halflife 2 is an excellent game i prefer the health bar to newer ones coming out all the time the weapons catalogue is impressive yet only gives u a certain number of weapons which are rather nice to use
plus linear corridors are fun to have once in a while u dont get loast you know where your goin in them dont you
you sed somthing about puzzles and i enjoy puzzles alot but the see saw puzzle starting to get on my nerves now its used to many times every other level reli ooh look another see saw mechanic
anyway i think half life is an excellent game and no its not gettin old at all

 

[Librarian Mike]

For a game made in 1998, Half Life has stood up exceptionally well. It still looks quite good, and plays well without annoying bugs (I'm looking at you, Deus Ex). The last part of the game is a little annoying, but that has nothing to do with its age.

 

[Merteg]

Both Half Life and Half Life 2 are still some of the best shooters.

Like your poll says, haters will be haters.

 

[Abedeus]

Games get old. Like your poll says, they may have revolutionized the gaming world but so have newer games, and without the newer updates to the gaming world older games just don't compare.

For example. Movies that first had sound were the shit back in the day, but then somebody figured out how to get color onto the screen. How many old movies are really really nuanced and good compared to todays movies?

Yeah, but it doesn't mean that Godfather is worse than Transformers 2, just because it doesn't have special effects or it didn't have digital enhancements.

 

[RyePunk]

In my opinion. No.
Although those graphics sure are ugly now.
The gameplay itself is solid, and very enjoyable. There is alot to be said about a game that has guns as diverse as pistols, smgs and shotguns. Oh and snarks, gluons, explosive crossbow bolts and guided rockets.

If Half-life was given a new coat of paint it could easily trump any shooter out now.

 

[RazerSauber]

I think it's because Half Life offers such an amount of fun in the games that they grow old less quickly than other games. Crysis was similar to half life in that it was an FPS, lots of physics and looked like the dogs bollocks for it's time. Crysis didn't have anything fun in it though, the enemies just.. died. The combine scream and fly wildly through the air. Half life creates tension and a story that's persistent, easy to understand but incredibly in depth. You grow an emotional attachment to characters like Alyx, Dog and Crowbar. No other FPS gives so much replay value either. I could play all the HL games again and have fun, I can't play Far Cry 2 again cos the story bored me out of my mind!

I do think Valve need to get their arse in gear. We've been waiting ages for Episode 3 and what do we get? A shed load of TF2 updates and Left 4 Dead 2. I don't want either of these, I want the Half life story to finish! Yes there's a certain quality Valve stick to and the games are a joy to play end to end but for the love of god, build and release them!

I think that the ideas in half life are old now, physics based puzzles are limited by.. well, physics and a lot of the possibilities have been explored in the series or other series so it's becoming difficult to create new surprises. The way you can carry all weapons is old now too. It takes away a certain challenge from the player when they turn up to a fight and run out of bullets. They can quickly switch to a weapon they have stocked full of ammo and blast away. Lastly, the idea of aliens is old now.. That area has been explored, done well and needs to be left alone for a while.

The half life games will never get "old" because they are ground breaking when they come out, as slow as that may be. They do need bringing to the times though and Episode 3 is a perfect opportunity to do so.

Now, commence flaming..

 

[A random person]

I would say it has, other than the AI (and modern AI isn't too great either), stood the test of time. The setpieces, atmosphere, and dude shooting is as effective as it would have been 10 years ago.

Besides, Xen sucks just as much regardless of how old the game is.

 

[grimsprice]

Games get old. Like your poll says, they may have revolutionized the gaming world but so have newer games, and without the newer updates to the gaming world older games just don't compare.

For example. Movies that first had sound were the shit back in the day, but then somebody figured out how to get color onto the screen. How many old movies are really really nuanced and good compared to todays movies?

Yeah, but it doesn't mean that Godfather is worse than Transformers 2, just because it doesn't have special effects or it didn't have digital enhancements.

I'm just gunna go out on a limb and say that maybe thats the worst example you could come up with. I do understand what you are saying, and its true, but you're talking about two totally different genres of movies with entirely different ideas of what is 'good'. That would be like comparing the ground breaking advances in Half Life with the newer advances in Smash Bros. Brawl, totally different genres. In fact thats a good example. The original Smash bros was an epic and groudbreaking game, but Brawl is still going to be better because of what its improved. Take someone who has only ever played Brawl and they most likely will miss certain things the original didn't have. Idk just an opinion.

 

[AlphaOmega]

It did, and if you do not like the looks. grab half life: source and apply the official high textures plugin of steam.

 

[MikeOfThunder]

Short answer, Yes.

Long(er) answer. Yes, it's still a lot of fun to play. Half Life holds my attention better than pretty much all the 'modern' shooters which have become cookie cutters of each other in the last 4 years. The level design's still good and it's no more linear than 99% of what comes out now. Besides graphics very little has actually moved on since Half Life came out, some of the conventions have changed a bit (FPS have got a shitload easier and dumber since then) but it's still enter space, kill everything, reload, repeat.

Half Life happens to do that very well.

People that dislike it tend to come from playing newer games, more often than not they get put off by the unforgiving nature of it, especially the lack of checkpoints and making you find your own health (gasp!!!). I also find younger players bemoaning the lack of sign posting a lot, which I find a disturbing trend.

Man... I am taking "enter space, kill everything, reload, repeat." as my slogan now lol

 

[Lordmarkus]

I got the Half-Life series last summer and when I started playing, it was instant love. I didn't care much about the graphics cause the gameplay and atmosphere were so good I forgot it quickly. So for me, Half-Life has aged very well. In terms of atmosphere, nothing I have played has beaten it yet. Sure, when you strip it down, both Half-Life 1 and 2 are very basic shooters. Basic shooters with unrivaled atmosphere, soundwork, story and gameplay.

 

[AceDiamond]

I'd say that given the interest surrounding Black Mesa: Source, that yes it has still stood the test of time to the point where it can be brought into another generation with just a graphical facelift

 

[Sporadic chaos]

I picked up Half-Life 1 from Steam when it was on sale and I would definitely say its stood the test of time. Even though its almost 11 years old it was the most fun I've had playing through a game in a long time.

 

[ThePirateMan]

It did, and if you do not like the looks. grab half life: source and apply the official high textures plugin of steam.

Hah I actualy like the looks of the old one more.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Well, I just started to play it the other day and I'm enjoying it.

It's different and it deffinitly feels old school, but it's still fun.