Storytelling in Half Life 2

[Zannah]

Disclaimer: I never played the first half life, and through the last level of the second installment I encountered an unavoidable steam-bug, meaning my knowledge on this is limited to the better part of HL2 alone, without prequels or episodes. May be, that the story suddenly becomes brilliant if you play those, and I just happened to only touch the ten hours or so, where it isn't. Though personally, I doubt that's the case, and even if it was, wouldn't exactly be a point in the series favor, would it?

Now with that out of the way - I know some people like shooter mechanics from the nineties, and playing around with physics and the gravity gun, was good fun for all of ten seconds, so I'm not going into that. However - whenever there's debates on how to tell stories in games, or on what games told great stories, half life 2 is brought up, and by a number of people, whose opinion is usually quite well grounded. And I'm sorry, but I'm at a complete loss as to why that is.

Firstly, let's look at the story - Aliens invade earth, and suppress humanity with the help of an evil scientist, and plot device x, and only a group of rag tag human rebels, centered around a good scientist, a mute in power armor, and an action girl dare oppose them. Really? I know effin fighting games with stories less cliched. And it's all played straight, right down to the kidnapping of the girl, and the supportive, drunk, russian accented priest, that gets eaten by zombies. And this is supposed to be near the epitome of video-game stories? Really now, guys?

But maybe it's in the delivery of said, slightly tired out formula. Since Half life 2 dared to make a big leap forward, breaking the tired formula of locking the player in a cutscene where he has to listen to the npcs babbling he doesn't care about, by, well... locking the player in a room where he has to listen to the npcs babbling he doesn't care about. Stroke of genius. But at least we can now shoot screens, so we don't understand the npcs talking. Not that it matters so much, since there's never more then one route anyway, and it's not like there's anything interesting to hear.

So from all I can observe, the story itself is a horrible cliche fest, featuring characters fleshed out so well, I have trouble remembering their names two hours after finishing the game, presented in a way that's (the way it's implemented at least) actually a step backwards. I know everyone gets their nostalgia on, and for what ever reason everyone praises valve, but why is this game put on a pedestal for it's story? What am I missing here, guys?

 

[repeating integers]

Why are there so many threads that say "I don't understand the praise for HL2" nowadays? I mean, I agree with a lot of the things you said (and could contribute some more to bashing it if I felt like it), but I don't create threads for the specific purpose of going against the Escapist trend.

[small](As an aside, my main problem with HL2's plot can be found here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.279721.10922099] if you want it.)[/small]

 

[Cowabungaa]

It never takes you out of the perspective of the protagonist, not even during "cutscenes".

Exactly, and that's what matters. No-one says HL2's story is the epitome of story, it's the epitome of story presentation, a triumph of narrative, at least in first-person games. HL2 was one big continuous ride, one flow that never stopped.

That, and a lot of the story is told in the environment. What the invaders did to our planet, how humanity lives now, newspaper articles of the past, that sort of thing. The story is all around you, you experience it in everything while you play. And this made it one of the most immersive games I've ever played.

 

[Zannah]

Why are there so many threads that say "I don't understand the praise for HL2" nowadays?

Because I finally got around to play it myself, after everyone showered it with praise (again) in those columns that the contributors do.

snip

But it's neither the first, nor the only game to do so - why does everyone praise HL2, instead of praising games that did the same thing, but better, and actually presenting a worthwhile story in the process?

 

[repeating integers]

Why are there so many threads that say "I don't understand the praise for HL2" nowadays?

Because I finally got around to play it myself, after everyone showered it with praise (again) in those columns that the contributors do.

I had a similar experience, and I also found it to be held up on too high a pedestal. But then seeing all the threads saying "I don't like HL2" convinced me I wasn't the only one, so I decided against creating a thread about it.

Also this thread is attracting far less attention than I'd expect.

Captcha: now in 3D!

 

[Zannah]

But it's neither the first, nor the only game to do so - why does everyone praise HL2, instead of praising games that did the same thing, but better, and actually presenting a worthwhile story in the process?

Like which first person shooter that came out before 2005?

Well, there's this, or this. And there are even certain games that do the same thing, in the same engine, only much, much better. |:

 

[Ldude893]

It was excellent for the time. Prior to Half Life 2, there weren't that many games where the characters are so full of emotion that you actually feel for them.
And hey, just because a game implements some cliches common to other stories doesn't make the game bad. I'm pretty sure most other pieces of media have a thing or two common with the story in Half Life 2. It's unavoidable.

Captcha: now in 3D!

Dammit, I've no idea what's going on with these CAPTCHAs now. They've got double-vision or something,

 

[Zannah]

All of those have cutscenes that take you out of the first person view.

If you say so ~.~

It was excellent for the time. Prior to Half Life 2, there weren't that many games where the characters are so full of emotion that you actually feel for them.

Which characters if I may ask? Because the mechanical dog was the only one I felt any emotion other then annoyance towards |:

 

[TheComedown]

But it's neither the first, nor the only game to do so - why does everyone praise HL2, instead of praising games that did the same thing, but better, and actually presenting a worthwhile story in the process?

Like which first person shooter that came out before 2005?

Well, there's this, or this. And there are even certain games that do the same thing, in the same engine, only much, much better. |:

The games you list there, a) 2 aren't first person shooters, rather RPGs. b) The last you listed came out 2 years AFTER HL2.

And haven't actually played either of the first to I can't say myself, but 9_6 informs that they all have cut scenes, and looking at reviews, the community is rather mixed on how good those games actually were, Making your statement about other games doing it better purely subjective.

 

[Cowabungaa]

But it's neither the first, nor the only game to do so - why does everyone praise HL2, instead of praising games that did the same thing, but better, and actually presenting a worthwhile story in the process?

Better in what way? How were those stories more worthwhile? I mean good gods, Unreal 2? I moderatly liked that one but, really?

Mind you that I'm not just talking about the cutscene-less way of storytelling, that's one part. The fact that pretty much every inch of Half Life's universe tells the story, the story is everywhere and told through gameplay, dialogue, the environment, freakin' everything. That's even more important than the cutscene-less, flowing gameplay. All that creates an atmosphere and narrative that, if you ask me, still holds it's own over half a decade later, and only few games surpass it. Hell, haven't seen an FPS that did.

And yes, at least Unreal 2 (haven't played the others, Dark Messiah just a bit) did have cutscenes. Not a lot, but they were there. Can't deny that. Seen them with my own eyes. Twice even, as I've played through it again.

If you want a more recent example of that narrative, play mirrors edge or portal 2.

Portal 2 is a good example. Mirror's Edge...not so much. While the world shows the situation really well, it relies a lot on those cartoony cutscenes. Which is a shame, the gameplay has (if you're good at it) a wonderful feeling of flow. They should've carried that through in the narrative.

 

[Balgus]

I just liked it, I loved the antlion part, the driving was O.K. for an fps and even though it was an extremely liner game I didn't feel like I was being forced along that path, every decision I made felt like my choice even if it was the only way.

On a blind play through with out all the praise to make you wonder why it is such a good game, you think to yourself wow this is actually a really good piece of work. People have over hyped it and of course if you're comparing this a first person shooter now a days in terms of animation and over all combat it still holds up remarkably well considering how far we have come with facial animations and graphical improvements. Bare in mind that this is nearly a 6 year old game.

Compare this to a call of duty at the time or a medal of honour. It is on a level of its own in terms of quality. The reason you didn't enjoy it is because of the frame of mind you are in when you start and while you are playing.

 

[LiquidGrape]

It's true that Half-Life 2 isn't the most original story, nor is it the most interesting one you'll encounter in the medium.
But what really makes it stand out is how it is told.

Save one or two cinematics in total, the narrative relies entirely on your progression and interaction with the environments. Add to that the expertly voice over performances, the life-like facial animation (still head and shoulders above pretty much everything released since) and the end-product is something quite special.

Valve is invariably excellent in their storytelling. Portal 2, for example, had the most perfectly paced and constructed interactive narrative I've ever come across.
Whatever reservations one might have about Valve (I know some have them, although personally I fail to see what there isn't to like), I'd think most people can recognise that they know what they are doing in that area.

 

[meece]

Well, there's this, or this. And there are even certain games that do the same thing, in the same engine, only much, much better. |:

Unreal 2? Really? Because I thought that was utter crap lol. Personally I'd still rate HL2 as being a huge cut above DMoM&M. I'm the same way about those as you are about HL2 - cannot remember a single name 2 hours after finishing them lol.

The difference between us I guess being is that I don't demand originality in my entertainment because I accept that something not completely original but told really, really well....is still good if not great. HL2 told the story in an interactive actionpacked way such as by

Spoiler

driving the car down the railbridge and just barely missing that uncoming train.

An awful lot more interesting in my opinion than watching a cutscene about it and then the game dumping you onto the other end of the bridge. That's not good story telling. The locking you in the room is to prevent people who *are* actually interested in plot exposition from accidently leaving.

Then again I also make an effort not to predict films because I know that if I do it'll take a lot of the enjoyment out of them.