whats so great about half-life?

[smargh1015]

Now I'm not saying that I think this game is bad iI just want to know why so many people like the game. See I've never played Half Life nor do iI know anybody who has so please tell why its so popular.


P.S. I've heard it has great pacing but before you tell me that tell me what pacing means in video games.

P.S.S. Don't tell me I ungame savvy retard because I don't know.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[delet]

Sigh, couldn't you check the search bar a bit? This seems to have become a trend lately, oddly enough.

It was revolutionary for its time and it presented a new way to tell story.

Also, pacing in a videogame means that you never start to feel overwhelmed or tired of playing the game. From my experience with Half Life 2, they stopped the combat for a nice puzzle just often enough to keep me going through it till the end of the day.

 

[n00beffect]

Because it is(or was) an innovation It's a classic.It's like asking "What's so great about StarCraft?" Or Diablo... :]

 

[ThePirateMan]

I like the atmosphere, the characters, most of the graphics, the story, the gameplay, Eli Vance, there are crowbars..

More things might be added.

Tho it's really not as good today as it used to be, but just as many other games "it was good at the time".

 

[Radeonx]

I liked the first one, but I found everything in the second to be worse.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

Well Valve does this great job of more of a interactive movie. So instead of "Okay you gotta do this" It's more of a story that you want to be part of. And the game it's self is mad very well. Not clunky or dumb errors bog it down.

 

[Daveman]

dude, search bar

but on topic it had a half decent narrative, which made it better than every other FPS before it, setting a new standard in the industry. I personally found it quite boring though.

 

[Poomanchu745]

It was really really fun and gave me a little bright feeling on the inside whenever I was playing it. Other than that, i couldn't really tell you.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I've played them all, and the story telling ain't no revolution. You just sit in rooms and walk around while people talk to you.

The story itself is good, though.

And the great thing about Half Life is how it took FPS fans, and introduced them to a story beyond "shoot t3h bad guyz".

Overall, its good, but not EPIC or anything. I played HL2, HL2:Ep1, HL2:Ep2 twice each. And will never touch them again. Ever. I also played HL1 once. Never touching it again.

Valve is over-rated...

 

[FactualSquirrel]

Well, it was a good game.

If you didn't like it, you're in the minority but still allowed to have an opinion.

Other people liked it.

End of.

 

[oppp7]

It's more for people who like storyline and atmosphere. The gameplay is ok, but none of it really stands out compared to the rest of todays shooters.

 

[sean.A7x]

Ive played half life 2 and i found it ok, but i did only just get it late last year so i had already played new shooters which are alot better IMO

 

[AWAR]

You have to play them to understand although i think its too late for this.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

P.S. I've heard it has great pacing but before you tell me that tell me what pacing means in video games.

Pace: a rate of movement

Typically used in relation to story, difficulty, or both. This case being the third. Enemies are gradually built up by difficulty, from low aliens (headcrabs, houndeye) to medium challenges (bullsquid, vortigaunts, marines) to more difficult enemies (Black-ops, Grunts, Gargantua) and so on.

Throw in a little story and exposition here and there, and a variety of weaponry there you go. Opposing Force also did this well, and continued past the story of Gordon Freeman. If only they would bring Shephard back...

 

[Stealth Prawn]

Its story telling is absolutely brilliant, and it gets you so into it that by the end of Ep 2 I felt legitimately sad for Eli and Alyx, and even forgot that my name wasn't Gordon.

 

[Souplex]

Not much really. I suspect the entire thing is an elaborate scheme to dump pig blood on Gabe Newell ad GDC.
The shooting bits were depressingly average, Alyx is the worst AI partner I have ever encountered, but the puzzle bits were really fun.

 

[JokerCrowe]

I think it's because it's you are doing the things "Gordon Freeman" does. you never get to see him, there are no cutscenes, and I personally think that even though the story is pretty "out there" Valve have made an excellent job making the NPC's and settings relatable. To the extent that I actually buy that this could happen in real life. But I suck up atmosphere like a sponge... seriously, I thought Portal was... not scary, but disturbing.
EDIT:
And you have to remeber the first half-life was at the time extremely hightech and innovative, making it an instant classic.

 

[Sephychu]

I love intuitive controls, use of game physics, and compelling story. Also, the focus on technique rather than bigger and better guns on the higher difficulties makes me like it more.

 

[Katana314]

One thing I really liked was it was the first game to leave you in first-person the whole time. No cutscenes, no loading screens in which your character assumedly "goes these 45 feet to the next shooting mission" or "takes a ride in the chopper to the next event". It did make things a little more immersive, and though many games have blended in "first person cutscenes" a lot of them still follow the same formula.
Half-Life 2 had physics as its biggest innovation. It feels samey now based on all the similar mechanics that have come around, but it really did feel spectacular in Counter-Strike Source to shoot a computer, see it fly across the room and be able to shoot off individual components like the graphics card and power supply.