Poll: Is it too late to jump on the Half-Life Train?

[Jaeke]

Some of my most memorable and nostalgiac experiences in my gaming as a young child have been in the FPS genre, Halo, 007, Metroid Prime, and even once long ago I tried out Half Life but I got bored just when you got out of the sewers in the first level.

It's been YEARS now since I tried Half-Life and after years and years of always having a view of Half-Life as the Ark of the Covenant for a lot of gamers (though I've never been a big fan of Valve or their products) my interest has sparked again but I'm torn a bit because, well its been a decade since Half-Life and about 5 years since the latest game.

But to the players of Half-Life, is it too late? is it good at all? can I still find enjoyment in these games?

captcha: art of god

I hope so...

 

[thebakedpotato]

Only way to find out is to play them.
You won't have my memory of high school friends hacking the computers in the lab we were in and playing counter strike on the LAN. But... Might enjoy it.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

Just try it, though. It certainly helps if you like this type of storytelling, art direction, etc.

 

[Jaeke]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

Just try it, though. It certainly helps if you like this type of storytelling, art direction, etc.

Well for Metroid prime that was moe like 7 or 8 so not YOUNG child persay, but young in regards to my gaming career.

 

[Zhukov]

I played Half Life 2 for the first time in early 2010 at the age of 22, approximately six years after release.

I still fucking loved it. The game instantly rocketed its way into my favourites.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Zhukov]

The first Half Life is still the best first person shooter ever made. Hands down. There is no arguing it. It just is. 100%.

I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why do you prefer the first game to the second?

 

[Lilani]

Some of my most memorable and nostalgiac experiences in my gaming as a young child have been in the FPS genre, Halo, 007, Metroid Prime, and even once long ago I tried out Half Life but I got bored just when you got out of the sewers in the first level.

It's been YEARS now since I tried Half-Life and after years and years of always having a view of Half-Life as the Ark of the Covenant for a lot of gamers (though I've never been a big fan of Valve or their products) my interest has sparked again but I'm torn a bit because, well its been a decade since Half-Life and about 5 years since the latest game.

But to the players of Half-Life, is it too late? is it good at all? can I still find enjoyment in these games?

captcha: art of god

I hope so...

It's never too late I only played the series for the first time last year. I think they've aged pretty well, personally. Well all but HL1, that one is from 1998 and it shows...quite a bit. But honestly you can start with HL2 and you won't really have missed much. I'll give you a summary of it here, but I'll spoiler it if you really don't want to peek (it is sort of fun to watch play out, but honestly there aren't too many surprises or plot twists which would hinder your experience if you knew them ahead of time):

Spoiler

All you really need to know is the scientific research facility Black Mesa was destroyed in an alien invasion accidentally caused by a test of experimental equipment Gordon Freeman participated in. The experiment caused the seams between dimensions to split open, allowing the aliens to pour in from their dimension to earth. In order to stop the invasion, Gordon goes to a part of the Black Mesa facility called the Lambda Complex (which is where the lambda symbol for the series comes from), and there he is sent through a portal by other surviving scientists to the home world of the aliens. There he defeats their oppressive and hostile ruler, which fixes the seams between the dimensions (or so he thinks).

Throughout the game, he's followed by a guy known only as the "G-man." He's a creepy guy with weird eyes and a weird voice, always wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. You see him at random points during the game, spying on you but always out of reach. At the end, Gordon is approached by the G-man, and he asks Gordon to work for him. If you don't choose yes then you end up dying, so the game ends with Gordon accepting his offer and the G-man swooping him off to God knows where (which, as you learn in the beginning of HL2, happens to be about 10 years later). There in the future, the aliens have regrouped and taken over the planet, but the ones that you freed from oppression are now on the human's side (they are called Vortigaunts, you actually fought them as enemies in HL1). And then you get swept into the resistance against the aliens

So, yeah. I say have at it. Start with HL1 if you really want to, but I started with HL2 and I have no regrets (still haven't finished HL1, actually...).

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

I'd say go ahead and play away. I only played Half-Life for the first time this year - after playing Half-Life 2 I might add - and I still enjoyed it. I went in pretty sure it wouldn't live up to the hype and ready to draw my own conclusions about it, and from what I've played so far, I've really enjoyed it. It's always worth going back to those apparent "classics" you missed and giving them a go - how else will you know if it is worth your time?

 

[DoPo]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

(In a few years time) "Hey guys, should I try the ES series? I was a young child when I played Skyrim"

BE PREPARED!

OT: I don't even understand the question. Since when do games have an expiration date? I've been with the HL series since their release and they've always been great. They are still great. Of course, your mileage may vary but still, I doubt that should be affected by time.

 

[Jazoni89]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

(In a few years time) "Hey guys, should I try the ES series? I was a young child when I played Skyrim"

BE PREPARED!

OT: I don't even understand the question. Since when do games have an expiration date? I've been with the HL series since their release and they've always been great. They are still great. Of course, your mileage may vary but still, I doubt that should be affected by time.

If you think that's scary, their are probably people on this very forum that had Halo as their first game.

I feel sorry for those poor young souls, no wonder they run around outside causing trouble when they were never expose to a Mega Drive in their youth.

 

[BernardoOne]

I only played them this year(all of them). And i loved it, far superior than some of the today shooters. It aged pretty well

 

[Goofguy]

It's never too late. And nowadays, you can get both games for cheap. Both are well worth your time. HL2 is coming up on 8 years since release and it still looks and plays great.

I do feel kind of bad for you though, in that you didn't have the chance to enjoy the original HL and its multitude of multiplayer mods at the peak of its popularity. You could jump between the various mods and feel like you were playing completely different (and extremely fun) games. And there was never a shortage of other players. Yup, I'm going to sound like an old coot but those were the days.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

Just try it, though. It certainly helps if you like this type of storytelling, art direction, etc.

Well for Metroid prime that was moe like 7 or 8 so not YOUNG child persay, but young in regards to my gaming career.

So this is what it feels like to be Mr. Burns. I guess I'm okay with it.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

Just try it, though. It certainly helps if you like this type of storytelling, art direction, etc.

Well for Metroid prime that was moe like 7 or 8 so not YOUNG child persay, but young in regards to my gaming career.

So this is what it feels like to be Mr. Burns. I guess I'm okay with it.

It's never too late I only played the series for the first time last year. I think they've aged pretty well, personally. Well all but HL1, that one is from 1998 and it shows...quite a bit. But honestly you can start with HL2 and you won't really have missed much. I'll give you a summary of it here, but I'll spoiler it if you really don't want to peek (it is sort of fun to watch play out, but honestly there aren't too many surprises or plot twists which would hinder your experience if you knew them ahead of time):

Spoiler

All you really need to know is the scientific research facility Black Mesa was destroyed in an alien invasion accidentally caused by a test of experimental equipment Gordon Freeman participated in. The experiment caused the seams between dimensions to split open, allowing the aliens to pour in from their dimension to earth. In order to stop the invasion, Gordon goes to a part of the Black Mesa facility called the Lambda Complex (which is where the lambda symbol for the series comes from), and there he is sent through a portal by other surviving scientists to the home world of the aliens. There he defeats their oppressive and hostile ruler, which fixes the seams between the dimensions (or so he thinks).

Throughout the game, he's followed by a guy known only as the "G-man." He's a creepy guy with weird eyes and a weird voice, always wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. You see him at random points during the game, spying on you but always out of reach. At the end, Gordon is approached by the G-man, and he asks Gordon to work for him. If you don't choose yes then you end up dying, so the game ends with Gordon accepting his offer and the G-man swooping him off to God knows where (which, as you learn in the beginning of HL2, happens to be about 10 years later). There in the future, the aliens have regrouped and taken over the planet, but the ones that you freed from oppression are now on the human's side (they are called Vortigaunts, you actually fought them as enemies in HL1). And then you get swept into the resistance against the aliens

So, yeah. I say have at it. Start with HL1 if you really want to, but I started with HL2 and I have no regrets (still haven't finished HL1, actually...).

I'm not sure if it's just me, but when I played Half Life, I got major X-Files vibes the whole time. From the underground research facility, government cover ups, the term "g-man" and the character himself, and probably the fact that it was my favorite show at the time, it just seemed like a really big influence. I wonder what it would be like to play it fresh from the context of it being 2012.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

Mehh...
The halflife series always seemed generic for me. Some of the most boring fps imo. Although, I'm in the very small minority there, so you'd probably like it.

 

[Waffle_Man]

The first Half Life is still the best first person shooter ever made. Hands down. There is no arguing it. It just is. 100%.

I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why do you prefer the first game to the second?

I realize that you asked someone else, but as someone who strongly prefers the first game to the second game, I might as well give you a few reasons (even if they are not his reason).

Firstly, the original doesn't have a jarring feeling that the world revolves around you. Sure, you act as a major agent of the story, but you aren't instantly recognized by every single solitary person in the world.

Second, the game's combat is a bit more freeform. I know some people might angrily shout "but the Gravity Gun!" Don't get me wrong, I love the gravity gun, but the difference between hitting someone with a table and hitting someone with a box isn't as big as the difference between shooting someone through a wall with the tau cannon and driving enemies into your laser traps with grenades. Sure Half-life 2 has a lot of the weapons that Half-life 1 had, but it's restrictions on ammo essentially allow the game to tell you which weapons to use where.

Third, the game has much more immediate and driving conflict. I know that the combine very clearly made out to be super evil bastards, but to put it lightly, the game always feels so futile. I know that futility can be handled well with themes like "fighting a battle because it's the right one and not one you can win," but the game doesn't really handle the idea well. You're always moving around, winning pretty much every battle, and pretty much never making major mistakes. Yes, other games do this too, but most of them have an obtainable goal in mind, which is what progress implies. Here there is never any logical way for you to win.

Notice how the only improvements to the situation are made off screen? That's because it wouldn't make sense if you saw them first hand. How does a dying resistance all of the sudden have the capacity to topple a force that defeated every military on earth in seven hours? How does a group of scientists come up with unprecedented advances in science in the middle of nowhere? Maybe the underground is absolutely huge, but it seems unlikely when it seems to get slaughtered and destroyed left and right, and it's facilities are slapped together at best. Even if you do win, the planet has pretty much been ruined. Also, the controller... Seriously, I will be shocked if they come up with some way for the Controllers to be fought that isn't the magical immortal-killer-o-matic that we see so often when the writers carelessly decide to raise the stakes too much. Hell, is there even a visible end point to the series anymore?

Contrast this to the original Half-life. There is a huge problem, but because it is talked about before it happens, it is conceivable that it can be dealt with. Every problem you face in the game can be conceivably overcome, and there is a world that is left to save. Every problem is an obstacle to that goal, and there is a conceivable end. It's a far more compelling reason to play through the game.



Fourth, Snarks. Seriously, Snarks. Why are they not in Half-Life 2? They were fucking awesome.

 

[Jaeke]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

Just try it, though. It certainly helps if you like this type of storytelling, art direction, etc.

Well for Metroid prime that was moe like 7 or 8 so not YOUNG child persay, but young in regards to my gaming career.

So this is what it feels like to be Mr. Burns. I guess I'm okay with it.

Psh, you're not even twice my age you could pass off as a sister to someone my age.

I should have worded that better, my YOUNG child gaming career I guess would be like Earthworm Jim, Sonic, Super Mario 64 and LoZ:OOT.

Happy Late Birthday.

 

[Jaeke]

I was going to say it's entirely possible, but then I realized you said "young child" and "Metroid Prime" in the same sentence, so now I honestly can't say. My life has been turned upside down.

(In a few years time) "Hey guys, should I try the ES series? I was a young child when I played Skyrim"

BE PREPARED!

.

Damn. That even makes me feel old :\...

 

[Aeonknight]

Having just recently replayed all of HL1 and 2, I've gotta say...

It definately has some noteworthy problems with it, but overall it's still worth playing.

HL1: glitches. they're in there. trolley's hitting invisible walls, levers not raising water levels properly, etc. Not nearly as well refined as everyone says, but that's what console cheats are for I suppose.

HL2: vehicles. Especially in episode 1. The vehicle sections tend to drag on and on and on... it got old.

Alot of that is just nitpicking though. It's still worth a play.