Poll: Why do people think of Half Life 2 : Episode 1 as the weakest link in the the series?

[SoMuchSpace]

I mean Half Life 2 - Loads of people universally agree it's one of the, if not the best FPS of all time.Ep2 is regarded as even better by many people.

When it comes to episode 1, people go it's good, but not as good as either of the other 2.

Why?I mean it's clear EP1 was supposed to be about making Alyx likeable, so that people can actually feel something when the...accident happens to her in EP2.They really succeeded in that, and while EP2 is awesome, i regard Ep1 as better, because character development is clear as sunshine.I mean even in the developer commentary they say that Alyx being likeable was their biggest goal at that point, and to do that they made her from bossy -> adjusting according to player style.In the greater picture it is clear that without EP1 i would have not enjoyed Ep2 at all.

So what is your take on it?Also this is not "waah people don't like a game i love as much as i do" thread, i'm just merely asking your opinion.

 

[Moth_Monk]

I found it to be the best of the 3, though that isn't saying much. The series was overrated as fuck.

I think all of the Half Life games are each equally as good as one another.

 

[Esotera]

I thought 2 was the worst of the series so far, but it wasn't exactly a bad game. 1 was very good, but not as long as it should have been...episodic content can go hang itself from a tree.

 

[repeating integers]

I'll tell you why I disliked it: It was, plot-wise, utterly and completely pointless. It was just a retread of the first third of Half-Life 2, except ever-so-slightly longer. Why couldn't the Vortigaunts have just teleported you outside City 17, rather than putting you at the base of a tower that was about to explode, putting their messiah figure in real danger of becoming a splode?

Gameplay-wise, I found it a bit boring - the underground level was nice (though it didn't help my paranoia) but everything else seemed to be another retread, only this time of the final third of Half-Life 2.

I much preferred Episode 2, which was fresher in terms of both plot and gameplay (in fact its gameplay was my favourite of the lot, I liked the way they took a vaguely Halo-ish approach to the level design and made it a series of open areas that allowed for multiple strategies and experimenting).

 

[The Wykydtron]

Oh lol. Flame War in the making 30 seconds into the thread. I love the Internet XD

OT: Yeah Ep1 was pretty good I think, Ep2 just overshadowed it by having so much stuff happen in it compared to Ep1.

The Advisors, the whole thing with Alyx early on, the ending and the damn Strider battle that I breezed through first time round but somehow it's a bloody brick wall in all my other runthroughs.

But i'll always like the zombie section in Ep1 more than the rest of the entire series, nice to see what happens when the Combine lose control. Plus turning your torch off in the dark for so long can make Alyx scared. It's adorable

 

[SoMuchSpace]

Retread of HL2?Really?

the combine in Hl2 vs The combine in Ep1

They are central to the the plot, and in Ep1 you seem them losing all control.How is that a retread?besides as for the vortigaunts not teleporting you out : there were rebels in the city, and it was directly possible that gordon could contain the core since he had anti radiation suit.Besides with the messiah image of gordon, making him look like a sissy and run away isn't exactly going to go down well.

 

[SoranMBane]

For me it's the fact that once you get out of the Citadel, it's pretty much all urban areas, which is boring. Then there's the Rebel escort mission at the end of it, which I guess at least means Valve are being honest about those morons being anything other than walking balls on chains. So it all really comes down to the gameplay aspects of Episode 1 being sub-par compared to Episode 2. It's still a fantastic game by general gaming standards, especially because of Alyx, but compared to what came before and after it's just kind of a slog.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I think it's just how much Ep2 upped the game, the last mission is a blast and they lay down some heavy emotional and mystery stuff at the end, plus that is fresh on peoples mind.
So episode 1 is just the middle child that noone really takes a look at twice, but all in all it wasn't anything that let the series down, well except for the Valve dev time.

We waited for it forever then you get in thinking oh they took sweet their time so this must be a hugely amazing adventu... it's over already?!
WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME GABE???

 

[Rawne1980]

Sorry, am I no longer allowed to express my opinion?

Certainly not.

How dare you dislike something someone else likes that's just madness.

I got called a "hipster" for saying I couldn't get into the Half Life games a bit back.

According to some posts on this forum we all have to like the same things.

 

[repeating integers]

Sorry, am I no longer allowed to express my opinion?

Certainly not.

How dare you dislike something someone else likes that's just madness.

I got called a "hipster" for saying I couldn't get into the Half Life games a bit back.

According to some posts on this forum we all have to like the same things.

On this forum, telling between the hipsters who hate it because it's cool and the people who hate it because they just do is a genuine problem.

 

[Rawne1980]

On this forum, telling between the hipsters who hate it because it's cool and the people who hate it because they just do is a genuine problem.

That's the problem, I didn't say I hated it I just said I couldn't get into it.

The story was okay but just didn't "grip" me if that makes sense. I did say I can see why people love it but it just wasn't for me.

That was when it first came out though, I may see it differently now. I've recently ended up liking quite a few games I didn't care for a few years ago. Probably because i've got more time to enjoy them.

There is no game series I hate. I admit I don't like CoD but that's nothing to do with them all "being the same" that's just because i'm not a fan of modern war type games. I spent enough time in the army to know what it's really like I don't need it in my entertainment. That and i'm not a fan of multiplayer games. I usually slap a game on to relax on my own in peace and quiet which involves no one else.

But I don't "hate" any game.

Well, except ET but that's another story.

 

[Cranky]

On this forum, telling between the hipsters who hate it because it's cool and the people who hate it because they just do is a genuine problem.

That's the problem, I didn't say I hated it I just said I couldn't get into it.

The story was okay but just didn't "grip" me if that makes sense. I did say I can see why people love it but it just wasn't for me.

That was when it first came out though, I may see it differently now. I've recently ended up liking quite a few games I didn't care for a few years ago. Probably because i've got more time to enjoy them.

There is no game series I hate. I admit I don't like CoD but that's nothing to do with them all "being the same" that's just because i'm not a fan of modern war type games. I spent enough time in the army to know what it's really like I don't need it in my entertainment. That and i'm not a fan of multiplayer games. I usually slap a game on to relax on my own in peace and quiet which involves no one else.

But I don't "hate" any game.

Well, except ET but that's another story.

Yes, this. I finished the entire Half-Life series before, and although I felt the gameplay was fun to an extent, it got boring after awhile and the story is just really bad IMO. And I'm glad I see others who felt it overrated.

 

[mad825]

I always thought HLE3 was the weakest link in the the series.

 

[GothmogII]

Eh, they were more a failure in Valve's episodic experimentation, but really...if you play HL2 through Ep1 and 2 from start to finish it's technically one long game.

Separately though, they're both rather weak, however EP2 shines because of the kick in the stomach ending whereas EP1 feels like a 'what Gordon got up to after HL2', much like Barney's shenanigans in Halflife: Blueshift. Diverting, but not overly important to the series as a whole.

 

[Terrible Opinions]

I prefered Episode 1 uber alles until a fairly recent playthrough of the whole set. I still hate how much time Episode 2 has you dicking around with antlions, but everything post-larval-extract was glorious.

Though Episode 1 still has my best gravity gun kill ever. Cinder block to a combine trooper's head from across that great big courtyard that you have to escort the civilians at the end.