So, i'm thinking about playing Half Life 2

[RicoADF]

I'll get half life 2 when they finish the episodes so I can play it all at once.

 

[Mechsoap]

i played the second one before the first, it makes complete sense to worry about something like this but these two can be confused to be completely non related games if they dident call you constantly freeman,

just buy it, its good, i recommend

 

[Outright Villainy]

Ive been kinda interested in the fan remake, Half Life: Black Mesa?

Looks promising enough.

That might be something to look for.

Or not.

You know, either way is totally cool.

I guess.

That's been going for about 5 years now, and all updates have ceased. It's essentially vapour ware, the duke nukem forever of the mod world. Except this one is a genuine loss. Then again, tf2 was 9 years in development, so you never know!

Ot: I've never played the first, and I don't really think you'll miss on much story wise if you haven't played it. It's all self contained, and aside from a few references it's pretty separate.

 

[Dimbo_Sama]

General Rundown of Half-Life

You play a pimp MIT graduate, a portal experiment goes wrong, aliens show up, you kill aliens, government tries to kill you, you kill black ops, you kill more aliens, you end up being taken away for an undisclosed number of years.

seriously, you don't need to play Half-Life to understand the second one all the exposition comes through really naturally and you won't really notice that you never played the first one.

 

[MicrosoftPaysMe]

That game makes me feel stupid (HL2). I can never figure out where to go and I've spent sooo much time accidently back tracking

 

[Tourette]

Buy it, play it, love it.

 

[Imbechile]

You should play the first one because it's one of the best games ever. The gameplay is still fun and better than most "realistic" shooters nowdays

 

[jowo96]

You wont be entirely lost if you dont play the first one, it does a pretty good job of getting you up to speed with what has happened. As far as I know none of the main characters from Half Life 2 really exist in Half-Life 2 atleast not in the same capacity, you wouldn't really know the characters to see them

 

[DoctorObviously]

Play Half-Life first.
Now.
I mean it.

Stop reading.

 

[Folio]

For a while now i have wanted to play Half Life 2, but i have been putting it off because i have never played teh first one. So of course i dont know the general story behind it.

So what i am asking is. Do i need to have played Half Life to understand number 2?
If so could anyone give the general rundown of the story?

Well I have the Orange Box for PC without playing the first Half Life. You pick up on the story pretty quick but you will have questions like: Why am I here? Why am I so popular? Who was that creepy guy with speech problems? and: Why is everyone talking to me as if they think I'll respond.

I recommend Half Life first, of course. You can also just look it up on Wikipedia (but there are spoilers there) or just play Half Life 2 and the episodes and enjoy the ride.

Edit: watch Freeman's Mind on Youtube or Machinima.com, that will make you wiser.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

I was gonna get around to doing that too but since my computer is teh suckass I would probly just go pick up a cheap copy of Orange box for the 360, get a free shot at getting past level 30 on portal again..but yeah, if you have an xbox, orange box has half life one and two, so if you can sink the extra time its a fairly cost efficient shot at getting the whole picture.

That being said, a steam buy of number two is probly easier.

It doesn't have Half-Life 1 you know..



You dont have do, but it's reccomended, you can pick up Half-Life for 6p (that's how much mine was) and it's definatley worth the 6 pence.


[sub][sub]plus the £3 P&P[/sub][/sub]

 

[WelshDanny]

Dont think. Just do

If you don't mind bad graphics, gofor it, it's a brilliant game and i sure had a lot of fun with it!

Bad graphics? Half Life 2 still looks great, maybe a few rough edges.

Agreed. It still looks very good indeed considering it's 6 years old now.

 

[Glamorgan]

I didn't play the first one, and I had no problem with it. Just go ahead and play it. You wont miss much.

 

[Souplex]

Play one, forget two exists. You'll be a much happier person than if you played that abomination of pure average.

 

[RootbeerJello]

i'd leave it alone, simply because it's so incredibly overrated. Also, gordon freeman is the blandest lead character ever.

You're technically correct, but in my opinion you kind of missed the point. While Gordon isn't really characterized at all, characterizing him was never the point. The Half-Life series doesn't aim to tell you about Gordon, but to make you Gordon, and it does this damn well. Messiah is partly right in that you never learn a lot about Gordon, how he interacts with others, his personality, etc., the game never makes you need to know these things, and manages to make you as Gordon both an integral part in character interaction and also essentially a bystander, so that immersion is never broken. Gordon's famed muteness rarely feels forced, and in a way you start to get in Gordon's head as you interact with enemies, characters, and the environment. What I'm saying is that Gordon is pretty much a blank slate, but he somehow works as a character if you accept that there isn't much to know about him.

 

[Blue Musician]

Not at all! But I recommend you also play the first one, at least after the second one.

 

[octafish]

It's not mandatory, but it does give you a better understanding of some events and plot points.

I would recommend playing the original anyway just because it's a good game, as are its expansions.

Edit: Why are people so against playing the originals? So many threads saying "should I play *insert sequel name here* without playing the original?", are people really that against games because of a bit of graphical ageing.

Yes I agree except in the case of Just Cause and Just Cause 2. Just Cause 2 is rollicking good fun, Just Cause is bollocks. Not because of graphics, but because of it sucking.