Poll: The half life series

[fix-the-spade]

So what do we all think? I'm curious to know what makes the games legendary.

I think you have to temper your opinion slightly with the knowledge that Half Life 1 landed in 1998 and Half Life 2 landed in 2004. They're twelve and six years old now, so the OH MY GOD factor has diminished somewhat.

There's also the minor point that gaming is subjective, just because all the critics harp over it, doesn't mean you're contractually obliged to think the same. Although I have to admit to loving both and having played them through several times.

 

[Milney]

HL2 was good, and the episodes were good as well, but now I want to see Adrian Shephard return. I'd love to see him take on the Combine in his own way - the U.S. Marines way. Race X didn't stand a chance against him in Opposing Force, and the Combine sure as hell won't either. If they keep getting thwarted by a bespectacled man in a scientific power-suit, imagine how badly they'd fare against a hardened military corporal.

This!

Shephard and his wrench. I loved Opposing Force, and would pay good money for a HL2 Episode where he gets released by the G-Man again. Perhaps end the story of Freeman with him rebelling against the G-Mans influence and have the G-Man have to "reactivate" Shephard to "fix" him.

 

[Milney]

wow... way to miss out on gaming history due to being too lazy to look up HL:S :| you could just wait for this i suppose http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G32_q_3es8E&feature=player_embedded

Holy crap. Is that real? A full remake of Half-Life in the Source Engine?

I...I'm....going to have to change my trousers....

Some quick profile checking in this thread and I think you can see the divide between the "Half Life *drool*" guys and the "Huh, what's this?" people.

I think most people who were around during the birth of FPSers, or near enough to appreciate the leaps and bounds that Half-Life heralded appreciate the series, even if they're not fanboys, where the younger members of the board are (perhaps understandably) confused by the attention it gets as all they've seen was a simple polished FPS (the sequel) when they were young.

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

HL1 was revolutionary for how it implemented AI. Before that, most games just had the enemies rush you in a straight line with guns a blazin'. HL1 introduced an AI that actually used squad tactics to outmaneuver the player.

Erm, it did? The soldiers usually just rushed me, guns blazing.

OT: It was alright, I guess. Not a big fan of either episode though. But it spawned my favorite mod of all time, so I can't really complain about it.

 

[Lemon Of Life]

I kinda like it. I think the G Man is interesting, I like the setting, the sort of bleakness that makes it believable but somehow not boring. I find the characters cool and the atmosphere perfect. But, unfortunately the gameplay doesn't do that much for me. I appreciate that it is a fantastic game, it's just I don't find the shooting isn't fun.

 

[The Root Beer Guy]

The first Half-Life was great because it was revolutionary at the time. HL 2 and subsequent episodes were incredible not because of game play, but because of their incredible and very real characters. Nobody-and I mean nobody- can make such believable and emotional characters like Valve can.

 

[Fusionxl]

Half Life 2 has awesome cutscenes and average gameplay.

Half Life has average cutscenes and much more interssting and faster gameplay, due to the wider variety of enemies and the veritable arsenal of awesome blowy-uppy gadgets.

Cutscenes? In my Half Life? It's more likely th...no wait, there aren't any!

OT to avoid getting banned: I have played through most of the games and I respect Valve for not becoming a soulless money grinder over the years, they put dedication and innovation into their games and their high reputation is well deserved.

PS: Gravity gun. That is all.

PPS: Gief Episode 3

 

[Casual Shinji]

I never played the first Half-Life, but playing Half-Life 2 and the episodes was like my eyes opening for the first time.

The shooting mechanics may not hold up very well anymore with today's shooters, but it was the overall adventure and atmosphere that made me fall in love with the game.

 

[ben---neb]

Half Life 2 was my first 'proper' FPS and I was blown away with how good it was. Ravenholm terrified me (only the first time round), I loved every second of it. The Episodes were great as well espically Episode 2 that was amazing.

The original Half Life I didn't get on with. I turned on God-mode after a few hours and still never quite finished it. I got to Xen but just got a bit bored.

 

[Dr. Paine]

Well I think the problem is you find Half Life generic but in actuality it helped define generic. So yes while Half Life may seem a little generic and bland it helped to define generic and bland.

Seinfeld is unfunny x3

Anyway, Half Life 2 was my first real FPS (unless you count Portal as a real first person shooter), and I just loved it. The characters actually held my interest, and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite/least favorite. (A slight tangent here: I had a friend who'd played it long before I ever did, and she kept telling me about Ravenholm. I had access to a 360 for a night, and decided to cheat and get to Ravenholm to prove her wrong. I played about ten minutes, didn't get creeped out, and said as much when we next talked. Cut to Christmas '09 *Yes it took me that long to get a 360 and The Orange Box*, and I played the thing properly. Ravenholm... kinda freaked me the hell out then.) Episode 1, I've actually re-played more than any of the others for some reason. Most of it is fairly bland, but the parking garage and hospital chapters keep making me come back for more. Ep2 was fun, but easily the weakest so far.

I care more about story and characters than the gameplay mechanics, unless the mechanics really suck (Bioshock comes to mind, I played it after Half Life and it took me half the game to figure out how to use weapons well), so I've almost never let my opinion of a game be defined by that. As long as I can kill what's in front of me, I'm fine. Also, mostly sticking to JRPGs (ex-FF addict here) and the Spyro series must've helped.

Anyway, I love it. Good story that isn't shoved down your throat, challenging, and just something I don't want to put down. I can't speak for the original/spin offs, as I've never been able to play them.

 

[SturmDolch]

I haven't played the original Half-Life, but the Freeman's Mind series on Youtube is one of the funniest things I've seen.

Half-Life 2... I er... "obtained it" a few years ago and beat it. I liked it quite a lot. Fast forward a few years again, I bought Orange Box for $20. And played through it again, and the episodes. I love it! I don't think it's generic at all... The only thing I didn't like was that bloody Strider defence level in Ep. 2... Oh my god, I hate escort missions, but this game proved that defending inanimate objects is even worse.

 

[Lukeydoodly]

I have only played Half Life 2 and both episodes and I'm not impressed. The main character is a mute, the guns are boring and the driving sections are god awful.

 

[Au Naturel.]

I enjoyed them. I found them alot of fun and thought they were very interesting. Story-wise and what-not. They weren't the best game that I have ever played, but certainly alot of fun. Besides... picking up saw blades and other dangerous things then hurling them at enemies cutting them in half/blowing them into bits is always fun.

 

[Rusty Bucket]

I have only played Half Life 2 and both episodes and I'm not impressed. The main character is a mute, the guns are boring and the driving sections are god awful.

Spoiler: Good luck.

 

[Treblaine]

Hello all.
I was just wondering what the community thinks of the half life series.
It appears that the general idea is that the original half life dragged the FPS genre into the future somewhat, a bit like an evolutionary leap from DOOM style level orientated game-play to.. well... Half life... And the series carried on as such.
But as much as I admire what the game(s) obviously did for the genre, I cant help but feel that it isn't actually that amazing. Its reasonably enjoyable, but the weapons aren't particularly exciting/interesting (to look at or listen to), the enemies are (mostly) unimaginative and the protagonist is a mute (which does make it harder to empathise with him). But then again, this is only my opinion, perhaps I just need to play them more to enjoy them properly, my experience being limited to an hour or two on HL 1 and around 6 hours or so on HL2.
So what do we all think? I'm curious to know what makes the games legendary.

Again the Hollywood archetype comes stomping in to say what makes a good game.

Ever considered that if your character was talking it would seem less like you were role playing and more like you were just remote controlling some character?

Silent protagonist are as an essential gameplay element as "montage" is to cinema.

 

[Treblaine]

I have only played Half Life 2 and both episodes and I'm not impressed. The main character is a mute, the guns are boring and the driving sections are god awful.

Spoiler: Good luck.

And that was only his 14th post on this site... wow. Got off to a hell of a start

nope, I'm an idiot, mixed him up with the OP.