Should I start playing the half life series?

[Dogstile]

Give it a go, you might enjoy it. Just know that Valve are not the best at telling you what to do on occasion, so if you get stuck, no shame in finding a guide. Yes, that's a negative point. A player should be pushed in the right direction, sometimes they fail at it. Come at me people who can't admit that. *flameshield*

 

[hazabaza1]

- no jellyfish bukake

I... what? Are you mixing up your dating sims with your FPSs?

It took me a long time to get this - he's referring to the red "jelly" that covers your screen when you're injured in a lot of modern FPS games.

Huh.
Certainly a unique way to describe it.

 

[zidine100]

I would say play the first, but since black mesa is just released, and it is awesome id just say wait till at least the xen chapter is made. Its not like the series will be finished anytime soon anyway, so your not going to miss much by waiting a while.

 

[CAPTCHA]

To be fair I think the ending of episode 2 was fairly well done and rounded the story off nicely. I wouldn't call the ending so much a cliffhanger as it was open ended. I choose to forget that they ever mentioned that ship which was irrelevent to the plot anyhow, and I don't expect, nor want an explanation regarding G-man who should remain an enigma. Apart from that, what more was there to tell?

 

[Vault101]

The Half-Life series is good but the FPS genre has evolved since then. They're still good games but they are not going to hold up compared to modern shooters.
.

really?

I played Half 2 and episodes back in 2010 and there somthing abut the look and feel of the scoure engine that (strangley) makes it feel like the game hasnt aged it all...its weird

 

[upgrayedd]

Do you not like good games or something?

Aged pretty badly as people said, Number 2 is still pretty tight

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Give it a go, you might enjoy it. Just know that Valve are not the best at telling you what to do on occasion, so if you get stuck, no shame in finding a guide. Yes, that's a negative point. A player should be pushed in the right direction, sometimes they fail at it. Come at me people who can't admit that. *flameshield*

Compared to the handholding and railroading in modern shooters, the Half Life series throws you into the deep end with very little to guide you (ie no minimap, objective markers). You need to look and think about where to go.

- no jellyfish bukake

While funny, I had no idea what you were talking about until a later poster explained it.

To be honest I just pretend the bad guys are shooting jam bullets at your face.

 

[Bostur]

All the HL games have open-ended endings. So even if Valve will make an episode 3 or a Half-Life 3 it's probably going to be a bit of a cliff hanger as well. You might as well start on the series now.

I just played a few levels of Black Mesa, the environments look great and it's pretty close to HL1. There are some differences that old timers will notice, but it recreates the HL style very well.

Give it a go, you might enjoy it. Just know that Valve are not the best at telling you what to do on occasion, so if you get stuck, no shame in finding a guide. Yes, that's a negative point. A player should be pushed in the right direction, sometimes they fail at it. Come at me people who can't admit that. *flameshield*

Nah, guidance should at least be optional. Too many spoilers these days. One great thing about the Half-Life series is that there is a lot of hints in the environment. It will take a little while to learn the graphical 'language' but the hints are there.

Failing is a fun part of playing, if taken away it removes a certain edge from a game.

 

[tippy2k2]

really?

I played Half 2 and episodes back in 2010 and there somthing abut the look and feel of the scoure engine that (strangley) makes it feel like the game hasnt aged it all...its weird

Alright, maybe I should be a bit more specific about "dated" since I've had multiple people tell me that they didn't feel it was dated (and nothing against MrK but I think a more serious version of this "dated" list would be helpful to some people). Just keep in mind, dated does not mean bad; Pac-Man, DOOM, Super Mario, and so on are dated too...

*Also note: I have only played the original HL2 back in 2004. Valve may have made updates and whatnot that I am not aware of.

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-The physics engine. For it's time, the havoc engine was mind blowing. Now, it's just kind of...wonky for lack of a better term. Enemies die and crumble to the ground like death caused their spine to be removed. Valve also LOVES to show off their fancy engine with teeter totter puzzles...seriously, there has to be at least three of those freaking "put heavy stuff on one end so that you rise up" puzzles throughout the HL2 series.

-Health Pack system. Usually is fine until you auto-save with 1 health left...

-The guns don't sound like guns. If you're used to the realistic sounds that FPS now give you, the sounds in this game might bug you. Weapons sound like digital sound files of weapons firing.

-The AI leaves a lot to be desired. It has the old school "charge the player" mentality that makes exploiting very easy.

-Goofy melee system. Now this is something that has bugged me and probably no one else but the melee system always felt goofy to me. Gordon swings the crowbar like a cocaine-fueled carpenter; quick smack smack smack smack until whatever he's hitting falls over.

-Shooting/hitting things does nothing. Shooting an enemy in most modern games causes them to stumble/react somehow but HL has the old school "100 health or 1 health; the enemy acts the same" type of reactions.
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Now this isn't directed at you Vault101 (through my discussions with you in the past I think you understand this part) but I do want to hammer home this point: This stuff does not make the game bad! However, I'm not foolish enough to think that because this stuff doesn't bother me that it won't bother anyone else (especially younger fans who have only played modern games).

 

[Dogstile]

Give it a go, you might enjoy it. Just know that Valve are not the best at telling you what to do on occasion, so if you get stuck, no shame in finding a guide. Yes, that's a negative point. A player should be pushed in the right direction, sometimes they fail at it. Come at me people who can't admit that. *flameshield*

Nah, guidance should at least be optional. Too many spoilers these days. One great thing about the Half-Life series is that there is a lot of hints in the environment. It will take a little while to learn the graphical 'language' but the hints are there.

Failing is a fun part of playing, if taken away it removes a certain edge from a game.

I didn't mean hold your hand guidance. I mean a game should have a minimum of "where the fuck do I go now?". Mirrors Edge had the same problem. I loved the game, but until I knew the levels, I kept getting stuck because I didn't know where to go, even with the red outline mechanic. (It is worth mentioning that it was only about once per level).

 

[Wackymon]

In my personal opinion, the Half Life series still stands up to most modern day shooters. I've had more fun with Half Life then I have ever had with Halo (An alright game), Gears of War (Meh), COD (I fell asleep), while Half Life I genuinely enjoyed. I havn't played through all of them yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy them all. I've played through Half Life 1 fully, and I loved it.

 

[Overusedname]

Without spoiling anything, did episode 2 end the series on a cliff-hanger? I've been waiting to start the series until episode 3 came out but...well...I'm feeling pretty behind and I don't think the next game is coming until next gen.

Does the first one hold up well? And if I start with HL2 will I just be confused?

since black mesa has now been out:
http://release.blackmesasource.com/
(half life remake)

and its free, i say go for it.
start with this one and then move to half life 2.

the download is 3.8 gb big
http://release.blackmesasource.com/

so i recommend you to use the official torrent on their site. dont worry, its legal.

Sounds good. I'll look into it.

 

[Vault101]

-Shooting/hitting things does nothing. Shooting an enemy in most modern games causes them to stumble/react somehow but HL has the old school "100 health or 1 health; the enemy acts the same" type of reactions.
.

huh...now that I think about it I never noticed that before

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

-The AI leaves a lot to be desired. It has the old school "charge the player" mentality that makes exploiting very easy..

The AI doesn't hold up to anything like FEAR, but I don't think it's fair to say it just charges the player. The human soldiers would try to flank you, retreat, take cover, etc. It's not as impressive now as it was then, but the only enemies that charge you are the headcrab zombies and even they got an upgrade in HL2.

Still, the AI doesn't hold up to FEAR or Crysis or whathaveyou. It's not so stupid as to be noticeable though as most FPS enemies die not long after you seem them anyway.

Can't disagree with the other points, though. They don't bug me, personally, but I guess it really is 'dated' when you think about it.

 

[SajuukKhar]

FEAR doesn't have good AI, it was all clever level design and the use of flags.

Enemies only "flanked" because the level designed forced them to, not because their AI thought it was a good idea.

 

[Bostur]

Give it a go, you might enjoy it. Just know that Valve are not the best at telling you what to do on occasion, so if you get stuck, no shame in finding a guide. Yes, that's a negative point. A player should be pushed in the right direction, sometimes they fail at it. Come at me people who can't admit that. *flameshield*

Nah, guidance should at least be optional. Too many spoilers these days. One great thing about the Half-Life series is that there is a lot of hints in the environment. It will take a little while to learn the graphical 'language' but the hints are there.

Failing is a fun part of playing, if taken away it removes a certain edge from a game.

I didn't mean hold your hand guidance. I mean a game should have a minimum of "where the fuck do I go now?". Mirrors Edge had the same problem. I loved the game, but until I knew the levels, I kept getting stuck because I didn't know where to go, even with the red outline mechanic. (It is worth mentioning that it was only about once per level).

I know what you mean. But part of the gameplay in old shooters is the exploration element. So getting stuck ocasionally, and getting that "Where do I go now?" feeling is by design. I miss that minor element in modern shooters, because it makes them feel so very linear. HL is very linear too but because the path is slightly hidden sometimes it feels like there are more paths, even if it's just an illusion. It helps to break up that corridor feeling.
HL also encourages taking small detours and looking around, there's a lot of extra little details to find.

I see it more as a feature than a flaw.

 

[Kimozabi]

Just be rpepared for a major leap between plots of HL 1 and 2. The setting, the villain, the much of anything that happens at the start of HL2 isn't explained aport from brief news paper clippings, so if you want to understand the entire story of Hilf-Life, make sure you look around all the environment.

HL2 suffers vobbly pacing from time to time (such as the ant lion level), and those jumping puzzles...
But it has Alyx Vance, Dog and a slew of awesomeness packed in.

 

[Ryotknife]

Episode 2 ended on a HUGE cliffhanger.

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back had a smaller cliffhanger then Episode 2

The Half-Life series is good but the FPS genre has evolved since then. They're still good games but they are not going to hold up compared to modern shooters.

If you don't mind the dated game-play and don't mind "ball-smashing frustrating" cliffhangers, go for it.

If you know you won't enjoy the dated game-play or hate cliffhangers, hold off.

You could start with HL2 and be pretty much fine. The bald doctor, the bad dictator, and the fat guard were in the first game and they worship you (or greatly fear you) for stopping...whatever the hell it is you stopped in the first game. I'm still not sure what the hell Gordon actually did in the first game besides not die. You're now caught up.

well, graphically HL2 has aged well.

Mechanically...yea. Everything that made HL2 unique has been incorporated into various other FPS afterwards, so you wont see anything really exciting from the gameplay side (other than gravity gun).