Why is Half Life such a cultural phenomenon?

[Pyre00]

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.

Stop putting words in my mouth. I beleive what I was implying was that if you cannot figure out the STORY in HL from just the first and clues in the second, you are retarded. I never argued about it's being immersive, and in fact I don't find it (or most any game) to be immersive.

 

[Shapsters]

why does every one think so highly of portal i personaly dislike the game i had almost no fun with it

Portal literally has no flaws. It is a simple, hilarious and fun puzzle game, the likes of which has never been done before.

 

[Husky.Gnoll]

I believe the reason why it considered a "cultural phenomenon" is because of the storyline, gameplay, and graphics/audio.
The storyline, like most fps games, is based on a one man army scenario, except that this one isn't about some badass like Duke Nukem. It is about a scientist that gets in the wrong place, right time (like G-Man states) and must use not only brawns, but brains to survive.
The gameplay is also different from your Halo or Doom game, adding slight puzzle mechanics into the game to make it more difficult. Even with it being linear, in terms of going from point A to point B, you have more choice then most FPS to date.
Graphics and Audio is also why it was such a hit. Even with the release of Crysis and Fallout 3, Half-Life 2 graphics still look pretty good in terms of its date. (not to mention lower end computers can play it without issues) Voice acting doesn't get better then this as well in terms of a FPS game.

 

[AceDefective]

why does every one think so highly of portal i personaly dislike the game i had almost no fun with it

Portal literally has no flaws. It is a simple, hilarious and fun puzzle game, the likes of which has never been done before.

there is one flaw "the cake is a lie is F***ing annoying as alllllll hell

 

[elitecrewer]

Haven't read up, but it seems to me that HL and HL2 are cultural phenomenons because they're the best two single player FPSs ever, basically. That and they're the most modded (probably the easiest or funnest to mod) games around. Half Life being your 'cultural phenomenon' is probably supported by Counter Strike being the most popular online FPS ever too.

 

[-Seraph-]

snip

Oh your not alone, trust me. Your actually right on the money with what you said in regards the hypocrisy of some people. Your statement about Yahtzee bringing about the Half Life praise around here I aint too sure about but it seems like a valid theory to me. I never really noticed any huge appraisal over the game before that though..or not as much, but it's something to think about.

 

[Shapsters]

why does every one think so highly of portal i personaly dislike the game i had almost no fun with it

Portal literally has no flaws. It is a simple, hilarious and fun puzzle game, the likes of which has never been done before.

there is one flaw "the cake is a lie is F***ing annoying as alllllll hell

How? Its not as though GLaDOs was continually saying it, it was occasionally written on walls. So you really cant find anything wrong with it can you? Or have you even played it?

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I'm not the biggest fan of Half Life 2 or Episode 1. However, I found Episode 2 to be an exceptionally well done FPS experience.

Pretty much this. I didn't get what all the fuss was about until episode 2. I suppose graphics and the physics engine may be a factor, considering Half-Life 2 was released about the same time as the first Halo.

....................What?

I know, it's a little hard to believe (I'm not sure whether it's Halo 1 or 2 but whatever). Half Life 2 was essentially the Crysis of it's time, the kind of game you needed a super computer from mars to power.

Don't get it confused with the orange box, this was merely a release of the original game. It was touched up a little but it's amazing how well it stands up to the current generation, in fact it still looks better than a lot of games.

I'm not shocked, I'm wondering what the hell you're talking about...

Release date(s) November 16, 2004

Halo 1 was 2001...

It's probably Halo 2 then, like I said.

 

[Phototoxin]

Because its been over hyped to death probably.

 

[AceDefective]

why does every one think so highly of portal i personaly dislike the game i had almost no fun with it

Portal literally has no flaws. It is a simple, hilarious and fun puzzle game, the likes of which has never been done before.

there is one flaw "the cake is a lie is F***ing annoying as alllllll hell

How? Its not as though GLaDOs was continually saying it, it was occasionally written on walls. So you really cant find anything wrong with it can you? Or have you even played it?

yes i have i own the orange box but you dont understand it was okay in a game but Fans over use it to the point hearing it makes me angry. Now i know what your thinking......
OBJECTION!!!!!!!!!
That has to do with the fans not the game but it is over used
Also how can i describe to my friends Portal does not have a good story

 

[Shapsters]

why does every one think so highly of portal i personaly dislike the game i had almost no fun with it

Portal literally has no flaws. It is a simple, hilarious and fun puzzle game, the likes of which has never been done before.

there is one flaw "the cake is a lie is F***ing annoying as alllllll hell

How? Its not as though GLaDOs was continually saying it, it was occasionally written on walls. So you really cant find anything wrong with it can you? Or have you even played it?

yes i have i own the orange box but you dont understand it was okay in a game but Fans over use it to the point hearing it makes me angry. Now i know what your thinking......
OBJECTION!!!!!!!!!
That has to do with the fans not the game but it is over used
Also how can i describe to my friends Portal does not have a good story

Its a puzzle game, its not expected to have a great story. You said that the game wasn't as good as everyone says, but then you say you dislike it only because of that line?

 

[Anarchemitis]

Because you're less than 20% into the game.

 

[Pyro Paul]

half life is a cutural phenomenon because of its modability.
although many other games support the ability to mod their game and change certain aspects and introduce player made content, half life does it on such a grandious scale that it is far and above every one else. no other game has spawned such a wild and successful growth of community mods; and infact some companies acctually prohibit it to an extent.


you look for Player Made content for any of the halo games all you may find is a couple of community maps or possibly reskins/retext/resounds for the guns in game... you look at player made content for Half life and you get counter strike, Day of Defeat, Garry's mod, Asure Sheep, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress classic, Team Fortress 2, Sven-Coop, Natural Selection, and a whole host of other near independent player made games... all of it build on the sholders of Half Life. (and most of these games are free)


Half life and Warcraft kept PC gaming alive during the console boom.
and they are still the life blood of PC gaming keeping it in the fight with the ever growing Console market.


very few games have the influence Half Life has had in gaming.
no matter what FPS game you play now adays, it has a little bit of half life in it.
that is why it is a cultural phenomenon.

 

[TheDoctor455]

When looking at Half-Life 2, you have to remember that it was originally released on the PC several years ago. And in its time it introduced some new things like ragdoll physics, the basis for the havok engine, and an enemy/friendly AI that is to this day one of the best programmed AIs out there.

Okay, I've never really had the chance to play the original Half-Life, but i can speak for Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 is also one of the best written games I've ever played, and, as "edinflames" pointed out, a LOT of effort was put into making the friendly and enemy NPCs into actual characters in their own right.

But perhaps the biggest reason that the Half-Life series is such a big deal, is the fact that Valve distributes modding tools with all of their games and allows everyone to do pretty much anything they want to do with the Source engine.

 

[Adam We]

Adam We to the rescue again with some epic half-life2 knowledge! (might of been said before but honestly TL;DR)

Half-life's popularity comes from the fact that it had all the aspects of a good old style FPS while keeping a fantastic storyline, puzzles to keep the user thinking and horror and survival theming without succumbing too - graphics rape,a dicked storyline,or random in your face spookarama or what I have come to call FEAR 2 syndrome.

half-life 2, Like half-life was a benchmark in gaming. A new level of gaming standards set by the valve team, even today valve still blaze a trail brighter then a nobel prize winner on a red bull high with Portal.

When half-life 2 was released it was considered "epic graphics" and even today they are still impressive (to me anyway). It was one of the first games to harbor HAVOK physics and using this new power valve had built the game using an excellent sequence of storyline, mystery, fights, puzzles, horror and the usually quite immersive survival element.

In short the reason for half-lifes popularity is because it is not only good but it appeals to everybody, Ravenholm had me pissing myself the first time, and by Dark Energy I was so immersed I found myself caring for the characters (which is rare!). Half-life 2 gives you a shot at them all and pulls it off with a finesse that even todays modern games still cant match. (seriously, like wtf is with the industry, its like valve is the only mainstream company thats taking the consumer into consideration. The rest are just doing it for cash)

 

[HentMas]

I remember the first time i played half life 1, I didn´t knew any english at all and nothing really made sense to me but it got me going because I had never known any other FPS that scared me like it did...

I remember finishing it and moving on

when I saw the sequel I said "hey, I remember that face and that logo" (I never learned the name of the game until after having HL2) so I bought the orange box and I am happy about it

for those who clame the "history" of the game, here comes a guy who knew no history at all from that game even so liked the gameplay, the graphics and the thrill that the game brought with it

 

[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

Actually, most of us think Ravenholm was the most awesome part of HL2. "We don't go to Ravenholm anymore" is a quote directly from the game. I was just making an insider joke.

oh, sorry for my mistake, i just didn't like to run around with 1HP and Alyx dying

 

[theSovietConnection]

In short Half-Life is the gourmet shooter experience. If you don't care for the finer details then it isn't for you, you might as well stick with the crudity of Halo or FarCry; but if you are looking for absolute refinement then the Half-Life games are a cut above the rest.

To continue the food metaphor, though, remember that in some cultures grasshoppers, ants, and cockroaches are also seen as gourmet. To them they might be delicious, but to people like me, they're still eating bugs.

Just because I didn't like HL or HL2 doesn't mean I didn't care for the finer aspects of it. The environment was well done, and I can appreciate the effort involved in the physics engine. But to me, no matter how often I tried to have fun with it, the game still ended up feeling like a chore, particularly the driving sections, one area where I believe the Halo series will always reign supreme over HL. I can't really explain why it feels like a chore to me, though. As much as I try to quantify it, I can't. Maybe the game just doesn't drag me in as well as it could, I unno.