Why do people say Half Life 2 is one of the best games ever made?

[Palademon]

First played it this year I think.
Fun, I could play it over and over.
The weapons and areas nicely progress. The story is all around you, and done well without cutscenes.
And I like fiddling with objects.
Also, health packs.

 

[Comic Sans]

I love when someone plays a game almost a decade after it released and wonder why it seems to do nothing new. Yes, if you are just playing Half-Life 2 it may seem dated and unoriginal. However, back when it released, it was an absolute marvel. The best physics engine ever seen in a game, amazing story progression for an FPS, memorable characters, cool set pieces, and pretty much the best damn graphics ever (especially the facial expression and lip syncing, which still hold up well). Pretty much every modern shooter convention we saw for the next several years came from Half-Life 2. So yeah, it's like Ocarina of Time or Super Mario 64, where you had to experience it when it released to get why the hype was so huge.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I played the game with the orange box when it was just released since then was the time I had a PC able to run it. I don't know if it's the fact that it's an FPS or that it was some years after it was brand new or what but I didn't have any experiences remotely close to those I had playing things like Final Fantasy or Persona or Blazblue. You know, those full-body goosebumps and hype so immeasurable you can't help but make girly screams.


It was a game-game, not an experience, which is what I've had come to cherish in this world of gaming. I played up to the point where you have to set some turrets and a bunch of guards keep rushing you, kept dying over and over and just got bored and stopped playing. The world didn't interest me enough to work at the game (and I'm someone who grinds pokemon for perfect IVs and has level 9999 chars in Disgaea 4), the characters were like some second rate american sci-fi TV series thing which I grew out of when I was 11 and there were very few epic or immersive things going on.



I guess I don't play games to marvel at physics engines or whatnot. I play them for epic stories and lovable characters, for an anime-like aesthetic and high levels of immersion stemming from a linear story structure and a lot of personal investment in the characters.

 

[Jacco]

funny how you make a "oh look that thread again" thread, and dont bother to reply I take you are just trolling. If you dont like half-life then shut up and leave the fans alone but we dont need to hear "you" whiney people from other games getting angry just because someone said half-life 2 was better than what ever shit you enjoy.


I didnt even know what half life was at the time, I just wanted to get counter strike souce which came with it but when I played half-life 2 I just really liked it.

Why would I reply to a bunch of people who are being intentionally obtuse, assholes, or a combination of the two? I have been a member here for almost a year now and an observer for longer than that and have not seen this particular topic come up so excuse me for daring to think I could start a thread about something other than Skyrim. If you dont like repeating thread topics, then don't reply to them. And had you bothered to read my post, you'd have seen that I didn't say I don't like Half Life or it's sequels. I actually like them quite a lot.

Another thing people haven't mentioned yet is how strong most of the characters were. The majority of them were actually really interesting and fun to interact with, which isn't even really common in shooters today.

In short: gameplay was good, not entirely revolutionary, but the story was very good for a first person shooter

Thank you. A real reply. I did like the characterization that went on. Especially between Alex and Gordon (despite the fact that Gordon never speaks). By the end of the game I found myself really caring about her despite the fact she was invincible. Lo

 

[psicat]

Hell if I know. I think people where mostly dazzled by the Source engine and physics displayed in the game. I loved Half-Life, but Half-Life 2 always seemed rather mediocre to me.