Why is Half Life such a cultural phenomenon?

[Woe Is You]

Mostly because both games have set new benchmarks for the levels of quality within the FPS genre when the were released.

This is pretty accurate. There are better FPS games out there today (COD4 comes to mind) but the significance of Half-Life and its sequel are undeniable in shaping the whole genre. Much like Wolf3D popularized the genre, Half-Life refined it. Before Half-Life, the FPS was really just that: shooting tons and tons of shit and nothing else (Not that there's anything wrong with that idea, as Painkiller proves). If there was a semblance of a story, it would be told in gobs of text completely separate from the game itself. Half-Life broke away from all of this and was far more polished than other games of its time.

That's the reason why it's such a phenomenon. Same reason why Ocarina of Time is widely considered to be so important: the things it did to Zelda and 3D adventuring as a whole set a whole new ruleset for such games.

 

[deletemeplease107]

IT was sort of difficult to get into for me, but eventually it sucked me in and i couldnt get away from it.

 

[setting_son]

I have played HL1, and it was pretty simple but riddle me this: If HL2's story is as well explained and awesome as you claim, why do I need to have played HL1 to understand it? Surely a well written and presented story wouldn't need a prequel to make sense?

I played HL2 before I played HL1, and I was able to understand it fine. You actually don't need a big understanding of HL1 to play HL2, for it's tangentially related to HL1, in the same way RE4 is related to RE3. Most of the characters in HL2 are new or never really highlighted on in the first game. I couldn't tell which security guard was Barney for instance, nor could I tell which one was Dr Kleiner. Eli Vance is the only one which is really specified in HL1 but you don't really need to know that. So for the most part, the characters are all either new or not highlighted on much. The only real reoccurring character is the G-Man, and that's arguably the only thing that links HL1 to HL2.

It's easy enough to pick up the broad strokes of what's going on, I agree.

I just dont think HL2's story is anything to write home about, I think it has many a plot hole and it isn't especially original either. The world of HL2 lacks the detail and depth that I had come to expect from games at the time of HL2's release. Not graphically, it was and is very pretty, but the story just felt... malnourished and neglected.

 

[iggyus]

The original Half Life revolutionized FPS

 

[setting_son]

If you can't figure it out from just HL1 and the clues in HL2 you have some serious mental problems. Really. Also, big collection of newspapers in Eli's lab.

Yeah, *serious* mental problems. Hospitals are full of people who need help because they're having trouble with HL2s plot holes. Why, schizophrenia is positively trivial compared to the mental problems of someone who has trouble with Valve's magnum opus...

A big collection of newspapers? In Eli's lab? Really? Truly? That's alright then. As long as the storyline gets explained courtesy of a single location in the game. Phew.

I have played HL1, and it was pretty simple but riddle me this: If HL2's story is as well explained and awesome as you claim, why do I need to have played HL1 to understand it? Surely a well written and presented story wouldn't need a prequel to make sense?

Edit:

As I have said before, we clearly do not agree. You like the story, you think it's well written. That's brilliant, a victory for diversity and no mistake. But I, personally, think the story is poorly presented and patchy.

Now, you can carry on pretending that people having different opinions constitutes a mental illness or we can agree to disagree and move on.

That's not really an opinion. There's clues pretty much everywhere. You would have to be retarded to miss them (Then again, in my view 98% of people are.). In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what they put the corkboard of newspapers there for. For the slow ones.

Also, you have to play the original to understand the story in the sequel? Gasp.

Thinking 98% of people are retarded, man you sure are edgy. I wish I could be in your angsty little gang.

A solitary corkboard in one office in a fairly large game does not equal an immersive plot. In Deus Ex newspapers, books, televisions were scattered throughout the game. You could pick up a newspaper and read it. You can't condense that into a single corkboard and claim it's the same thing.

How much more immersive would HL2 have been if you could have read propaganda leaflets from Dr Breen? Or pamphlets from the resistance? Or read books written by a prominent member of the underground? Sure it might have slowed the pace a little but no more than stacking boxes did, or fiddling around with a washing machine...

If HL2 puts you in Gordon's head and you see things through his eyes, dont you think you would be more curious about the world you've emerged into after spending a decade in a space-cupboard thingy?

I'll reiterate it again for your benefit and for 'slow people': Evidently you think HL2 is very immersive and has a well presented story but that wasnt my experience. Experiences are subjective. My not liking HL2 doesnt mean you need to start throwing toys out of the pram and I genuinely don't see why I can't disagree with someone on a forum about computer games without it descending into a passive agressive pissing contest.

 

[Desaari]

Alright, so I played Half-Life back when it came out and loved everything about it, for all the reasons stated above. Half-Life 2, on the other hand, I found dull and rather bland. There was nothing bold or original about the sequel; in fact I feel it was a worse game than the original.
The scripting was worse, the AI was worse, the level design was uninspired, the weapons were boring, there was no story to speak of despite above claims, and I can go on. Sure it had fairly pretty graphics, and the physics were alright, although nothing special (see Deus Ex, System Shock 2), but the whole game felt bland and repetitive.

And then there's Steam. As a single-player enthusiast this was my first encounter with the aforementioned monster. Now, at the time I had a very poor connection; and when this cut out, as it often did, I would resort to playing single-player games. But now in order to play them I had to be online, which was simply infuriating.

Now, I'll admit that I never actually finished Half-Life 2; I got up to a part where one of the walkers (y'know, the ones straight out of War of the Worlds) was chasing me through a tunnel, when it fell through the tunnel floor and onto the object below (not far). This prevented the next trigger from activating for whatever reason, and I had managed to save the game before I'd realised what had happened. So basically I'm screwed, and I'll be damned before I play through that monotony again up to that point just in case it's not boring after all.

I think we should all go back and play Half-Life and remind ourselves what a great game it was, and how there was never a dull moment, before we compare it to it's sequel.

 

[duchaked]

I don't consider things "overblown" once I take a step outside of the forums...

then it's just "oh yeah, that's the available heuristic people see in relations towards that game genre. yup it's a tight game, that's why it's the face of FPS/RPGS/whatever"

 

[Vrex360]

I honestly do not get how Half Life 2 is some kind of divine godsend for gamers, any more than I understand how Halo has suddenly turned into some evil monstrous sin against mankind. They are both just games and it comes down to prefereance.
I still have a theory that after Yahtzee's Halo 3 review and the subsequent Orange Box review.... THAT'S what started the Half Life 2 craze because before that no one even mentioned Half Life in any variety. I think Yahtzee had something to do with this.
I like Half Life 2, it's just not the amazing game I expected from all the fanboy gushing on this website, in fact it just struck me that people who say they hate Halo 3 because it's overhyped and that Half Life 2 is the best shooter ever... they are being hypocrites because they TOO are over hyping something up.
All they've done is start scorning one game and giving heavy amounts of undeserved praise to another game. Am I seriously the only one who noticed this?

Seriously does noone else think it's a bit strange how Halo is mocked as being 'overhyped' and 'generally shit' and that it's fanbase are all stupid ignorant fools who'll like anything with Halo stamped on it. Yet the people saying this are devoted fans of Half Life and will defend it and call it 100% good unquestioningly?
Seriously, please tell me someone else noticed this?

I really hate Half Life fanboys, they seem to think they are ABOVE everyone else and that because they hate Halo they are better than everyone else. That Half Life is the be all and end all of existance, then laugh at halo fans for thinking the same way about Halo.

I like Half Life (2 to be specific) but I can't justify all this hype. Half Life is the 'new' Halo, I guarntee one day people will be typing angrily on forums about how much they HATE Half Life and how it was so 'overhyped' and that Yahtzee was out of his mind when he gave it positive reviews. This whole thing is all following a forumla people!!

 

[The Shade]

Just wait til you go to Ravenholm.

For those of us who have played the game already...

...we don't go to Ravenholm anymore.

 

[edinflames]

My problem is not a demand for realsim. I hate total realism. My complaint is that people complain about realism in games one second, then praise Half-Life's realism the next, even though it is just a few steps down.

Makes sense to me. I guess the OpFlash recommendation won't do you any good

 

[Jamash]

Since I've never played much of Half-Life (I found the first one too boring to play after the first couple of levels), does that make me phenomenally uncultured?

 

[pliusmannn]

Half-Life has one of the best storylines ever, in my opinion. maybe you just have to play all the franchise from the beginning - The Black Mesa to episode 3 (which is still waiting to get released)

 

[pliusmannn]

Just wait til you go to Ravenholm.

For those of us who have played the game already...

...we don't go to Ravenholm anymore.

agree I really hate that part when playing Half Life not first time. In E.P.2 I hated the part when an elevator from garages must go down

 

[Music Mole]

I really hate Half Life 2. I've never understood the universal praise it gets. I wrote a negative review of it for a friend's website when it first got a release and got frenzied emails from the fanboys, as if my opinion was going to hurt Valve's feelings.

Amonst the things I didnt like:

*Every goddamned five minutes it makes me build a seesaw to get somewhere.
*You spend too much time in shitty driving sections.
* When you pick something up it floats there, as if you use telekinesis rather than hands.
* When you drive you operate the wheel with your mind too. Electricity from wallsockets and powerstations is still harmful, presumably having sided with the combine.
* Antlions.
* The aliens who were trying to kill you are now friendly, and electrical shock from them now charge your suit rather than killing you. This is never adequately explained.

I could go on but you get the idea.

I like Half Life, it was a fantastic game but I didnt feel that HL2 did anything original other than ripping off 1984, crossing out the word 'communists' and putting 'aliens' in its place.

In the interests of not triggering a flamewar I would like to remind you that the above is my viewpoint and if you did enjoy HL2 then I'm glad that you did so but for me it was a waste of £30 and was not fun.

I agree with you on many points you have highlighted however, the Vortigaunts being friendly is easily explainable, They had been enslaved in the first game and were usually a peaceful race who were forced from their home planet by the combine, when you defeat the big fetus guy they switch allegance(not too sure on spelling) Vortigaunts also possess the ability to control and use some sort of lightning, electricity shit allowing them to power your armor, that's bout it really.

 

[Chibz]

I personally found the entire orange box a waste of time and my precious, precious PS3 hard drive space.

 

[Jakkar]

My guess has always been that halflife amuses the mind without challenging it. If you compare the quality, depth, atmosphere, freedom, horror and action of System Shock 2 to HalfLife or Unreal they fall so short you'll think you're in the Shire..

.. But most people don't -want- to be terrified witless or forced to think to survive. So they play Halflife, or more recently Halo, Gears of War and the rest of the mainstream, shallow shooters.

 

[Loge]

HL 2 and it's incarnations are mediocre, TF2 included, but as a snotty faced arrogant pc gamer I say valve did a good job supporting the mod community. I help with some sourcemods and I must say if we had a crash we couldn't explain we could ask someone at valve and they often came up with some explanation that helped us. I don't think you get this kind of mod support from other development teams very often. (well okay if your on a console you probably couldn't care less )

 

[Socken]

While I haven't gotten around to playing any Half-Life single player campaign, I can say that TF2 and HF2 multiplayer are freaking awesome.
And Portal is one of the most innovative, and fun(ny) games to ever grace the earth.