Zero Punctuation: Half-Life
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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I can't say I dint enjoy HalfLife, but only the mid part. 1st time I tried I got so bored by the dozens of platforming and crowbar smashing that was just so blawww. So goes for the end of it. And 2nd I dont know whats with his "Great" story? Ok their is a pretex failed experiment, portal and mosters, then the cleaning party. But didnt get what conn had the story with the bosses: tentacle one, bruiser, the final boss. I felt really disconected from the story. At mid when u fight soldier was really good(lifelike) AI.
And we should not forget we had Unreal and QuakeII before. Yes didnt have story at all (almost), but they shined in other parts.
I have to saty its a little overrated this game. Its a milestone? Yes. Its the greatest of his time? Definitely a NO.
In 1998 there were so many good games, that for me, HalfLife didnt get in the top ten.
And we should not forget we had Unreal and QuakeII before. Yes didnt have story at all (almost), but they shined in other parts.
I have to saty its a little overrated this game. Its a milestone? Yes. Its the greatest of his time? Definitely a NO.
In 1998 there were so many good games, that for me, HalfLife didnt get in the top ten.
Yes indeed, it's good to see Yahtzee give me some professional confirmation for my firm belief that Half-Life is still fucking awesome! Seriously, I took literally YEARS to beat this game, I bought it as part of a reduced price collector's box in the mid-2000s and never actually got around to finishing it until I'd actually acquired the Orange Box (again, years after its original release when I found it for a seriously reduced price) and needed to finish Half-Life 1 to properly contextualise the sequel. So I was actually playing the original Half-Life and its 2 expansions literally more than ten years after their original release and I was shocked at how BLOODY INCREDIBLE the games still were! The action was intense and exciting, the setting was tense and immersive, the story was fascinating and the overall package was brilliant.
Still, I am a bit surprised that Yahtzee didn't take a shot at Xen, the level that coined the term "Xen Syndrome" for inexplicable late-game drops in quality as it really was startlingly inferior to the rest of the game, despite its fantastic art direction. Or make a joke about Gonarch, the 12-foot tall spider with a huge ball sack hanging off it.
Still, I am a bit surprised that Yahtzee didn't take a shot at Xen, the level that coined the term "Xen Syndrome" for inexplicable late-game drops in quality as it really was startlingly inferior to the rest of the game, despite its fantastic art direction. Or make a joke about Gonarch, the 12-foot tall spider with a huge ball sack hanging off it.
I like how he completely skips over the fact that the last hour spent running around in Xen is incredibly painful, annoying, jarring and really just overall shitty compared to the rest of the game.
I mean, this is the game that coined the trope "Xen Syndrome" so I figure pointing out that the end game is a bucket of arse is at least worth a joke or two.
I mean, this is the game that coined the trope "Xen Syndrome" so I figure pointing out that the end game is a bucket of arse is at least worth a joke or two.
Given the data with which I have been presented: 100%DaKiller said:
This is a fine example of the anthropic principle. Had this not happened, would you have gone "Hey, nothing remotely connected to this game happened recently, and now there's a review? :O"?
OT: I never finished the original half life, when I first played it, I was 5-6 years old, but I still remember greatly enjoying everything upto the first couple of soldier sections.
Never had trouble jumping, I loved it, no jumping=crappy modern gambling.
Half life 2 was weak ><
And Half life 1 was not that linear , it was more contextualized than most games today that are just crazy linear.
Half life 2 was weak ><
And Half life 1 was not that linear , it was more contextualized than most games today that are just crazy linear.
Yeah, it came out THIS WEEK.KingdomFantasyXIII said:
Usually, you have to expect that he needs one to two weeks for a review - depending on how much time he puts into playing (which can be up to one week) plus a few days of writing. Considering that he doesn't like JRPGs that much, he probably won't spend that much time with the new Kingdom Hearts. Meaning it probably need the full week to play it.
So, start thinking outside of your fantasy-realm, where people puke out full reviews in 5 seconds and expect a video for that NEXT WEEK (if at all).
In regards to why Freeman is considered a messiah like figure in Half-Life 2 I though was fairly easy to understand though I agree they lay it on a little too thick. The people who survived black mesa have been telling Freeman's exploits for over a decade and his reputation (and probably the stories) have been blown way out of proportion of who Freeman is and what he did. In essence he disappeared right at his peak, and if you take sports stars for comparison, many of those who exit at their peak (Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros, Bobby Orr, Vladimir Konstantinov) and don't have their waning years are very highly regarded since people wonder what they could have done and achieved if they had stayed. Freeman has that along with a mysterious disappearance and hero like status to build his legend on.
In the same way Alyx has been told stories since she was little about Freeman and didn't need much incentive to fall in love with him. She was probably already in love with her image of him in her head already.
I wished they'd toned it down a notch so it didn't feel quite so smarmy but I can understand why he has the status he does.
In the same way Alyx has been told stories since she was little about Freeman and didn't need much incentive to fall in love with him. She was probably already in love with her image of him in her head already.
I wished they'd toned it down a notch so it didn't feel quite so smarmy but I can understand why he has the status he does.
Never really noticed that before, heh.MrBoBo said:
But it must be said that that wasn't "nearly every AAA game". And Half life's train ride was a lot less atmospheric than say Call of Duty 4's car ride or Bioshock's submarine ride. Still better than Batman AA's elevator ride though! That was painful to sit through!
I truly makes me sad, I recently tried to go back to Half Life, and like every single fucking FPS of it's generation and previous I can no longer play more than five minutes without a severe attack of the nausea. These games used to be my bread and butter! But all these modern day smooth as silk cameras and such have turned me into a wuss. I used to have to walk fifteen miles in the snow grumble grumble fade out...
It feels unfair to review HL/HL2 today.
The games didn't age very well and plenty of game have outdone what HL/HL2 did. Story telling, universe, graphics, game play, voice acting ect have all been outdone. Of course that doesn't mean HL/HL2 is bad it just means that it's, well, old.
The HL series to me is one of those series that just aged really really bad.
The games didn't age very well and plenty of game have outdone what HL/HL2 did. Story telling, universe, graphics, game play, voice acting ect have all been outdone. Of course that doesn't mean HL/HL2 is bad it just means that it's, well, old.
The HL series to me is one of those series that just aged really really bad.
CityofTreez, I can see you have a point on voice acting and graphics (not that I consider those things in this argument to begin with), but what part of the gameplay, universe, and storytelling is outdated?
The universe is so enthralling that there are currently no less than ten thousand people breathlessly refreshing valves news page looking for the next installment. The in game storytelling elements, like spotting the g-man walking through levels, are still innovative after fifteen years. And finally the gameplay and mechanics are so solid that people are still using those same mechanics to play counter strike as we type.
The universe is so enthralling that there are currently no less than ten thousand people breathlessly refreshing valves news page looking for the next installment. The in game storytelling elements, like spotting the g-man walking through levels, are still innovative after fifteen years. And finally the gameplay and mechanics are so solid that people are still using those same mechanics to play counter strike as we type.
Yeah, but atleast they experimented and took risks. These days games are so god damn samey, its the most awful kind of bad. The kind that gets repetitive.CardinalPiggles said:So were alot of 'retro' gamesAzex said:because alot of games today are shitMortamus said:
Also noticed that Yahtzee forgot to about "System Shock 2" in his major games he really likes retro review list. Because it ain't done yet. He only very vaguely mentioned it in his Bioshock review.
Pfft, silly Yahtzee. Gordon Freeman doesn't need to take off his glasses. He's the only guy badass enough to engage in huge firefights with intergalactic demons and government conspiracies with a vision impairment. I'd like to see Marcus Fenix try to be his gruff, badass soldieryness if he was nearsighted.
I'm going to have to disagree here. Gordon Freeman's personality and characterization as even affects the context of certain events. During Half-Life Gman expresses intrest in Gordon Freeman after escaping from Black Mesa in my game (as I was new to shooters) I stumbled through many firefights but got better the more I played. In this example my Gordon Freeman was a normal scientist with no combat experience (due to fact that I the player had little experience playing shooters) who quickly adapted to the circumstances to survive.ConjurerOfChaos said:
Meanwhile my friend who's really good at shooters gets to the end easily. His Gordon Freeman was a natural born killer which is the reason why Gman took him in.
Two players, two different stories. This is why Gordon Freeman is a great character as the players becomes him thus making their experiences his.