Can someone tell me what's so good about Half Life 2?

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forsberg78

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I played it for a few hours, I'm at the part where I'm on this water bike, but I just don't have the urge to continue playing. It's just very boring to me.

What is it about Half Life that everybody loves so much? I'd really like to know!
 
It's the awesome story! and how good looking this game was back when it came out :D
 
Some people like it some don't. I could never get in to it. It was a shooter on rails.
 
Dan_D said:
Everything is good about Half Life 2.
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It's "good". But I can easily see why people didn't get into it. I wasn't a huge fan of it myself, played it through twice and all, but never held me like the original did.
 
Corbin said:
It's the awesome story! and how good looking this game was back when it came out :D
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Well, I am just playing it the 1st time now (my first half life game), so obvious the graphics are not stunning to me.

As far as the story goes, I don't get it. He's this doctor guy who's supposed to escape from a prison? Is that it?
 
I played through it in 2 days.
I loved the concept and story and the game play dynamics.
 
I had a copy of it for 3 years before I got around to playing and finishing it. As I progressed my way through, I couldn't help but ask myself why the hell I didn't finish this game years earlier. It was that good.
 
Half-Life 2 was little more than a monotonous shooter that paled in comparison to the original Half-Life. The only part of HL2 that approached HL1's greatness was the Cathedral level. Of course, even that part was spoiled by the absolutely stupid way HL2 ended. It struck me as if the writers simply couldn't figure out what to do so they just found a cheap way out.
 
I got HL2 and WoW at the same time.

Needless to say I barely played HL2 until about 6 months ago. I sat down and beat it in a few days. It was fun, but not HL1. The physics were pretty novel, especially the gravity gun but it was very linear.

More open-world games have spoiled me. STALKER, Far Cry, Hidden and Dangerous 2...maps where you can move around a bit appeal more to me. It was still a decent story and game but it was definitely slow to start.
 
Dan_D said:
Everything is good about Half Life 2.
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Gotta disagree. Gordon Freeman sucks. He's a blank non-character with no personality.

LOVE the gameplay though, the feel, controls and level design is great.
 
pigwalk said:
Gotta disagree. Gordon Freeman sucks. He's a blank non-character with no personality.
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That's what he is supposed to be. He's a blank slate designed solely to create empathy with the player. You are supposed to assume the role of Gordon Freeman, not merely experience things along-side him.
 
Half-Life 2 is a game filled with a bunch of good parts interspersed with drawn-out and really boring sections. The water bike and car sections are some of these really boring parts. I suggest you skip to Ravenholm and the Cathedral, as they're pretty much the best parts of the game. Then go and play HL1. It's much better. The Episodes are also a lot better since they cut out a lot of the pointless sections.
 
you idiots are all wrong. the so good part of the game is alyx.

this was my favorite level, the last level in EP3 (i have connections to valve and got it already)

article_img.jpg
 
mnewxcv said:
you idiots are all wrong. the so good part of the game is alyx.

this was my favorite level, the last level in EP3 (i have connections to valve and got it already)

article_img.jpg
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My thoughts exactly, Alyx made Half-Life 2 the awesome game it is. Without her, it would just be your everyday shooter.

By the way, I want a full clip of that scene :)
 
I've never played this game, so what is going on there, is somebody doing her or just knocked her out :p
 
I don't know what Alyx's appeal is. Yes, the addition of her to the game is great. I'm all for it and I like that in the game. I just don't understand why she's got her own cult following.
 
MrFace said:
Some people like it some don't. I could never get in to it. It was a shooter on rails.
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Yea I agree and the ending just sucked. I really didn't like it. Overall the game was pretty good though.
 
swatbat said:
Yea I agree and the ending just sucked. I really didn't like it. Overall the game was pretty good though.
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i dont even remember the ending because it continued. so it isnt over. therefore the ending cant suck.
 
I just started HL2 again, for the 4th time....Maybe Im just getting older or something (35) but I still cant get into a groove with this game at all. And after about an hour of playing, I literally feel nauseous and have to turn it off.

I keep trying to play this game thru, mainly so I understand what people are talkin about when they use this game as reference to other games.

As far as Aylx goes...Mehhh, I dont see the appeal. Maybe if she had longer hair, hehe, and bigger...well, never mind.
 
When HL2 came out it, it had amazing graphics, awesome physics, great sound, and a very good storyline. These days compared to other games, it only has the story going for it now but the graphics still put up a fight. I really enjoy the story as its more on the conspiracy level and keeps you guessing and coming up with theories. Those are the story lines I enjoy.
 
Mark_Warner said:
That's what he is supposed to be. He's a blank slate designed solely to create empathy with the player. You are supposed to assume the role of Gordon Freeman, not merely experience things along-side him.
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Yeah, that's what they say, but I don't like it. It's a lazy cop out imo, and I empathize much more with a real character than a puppet. Especially a character with arms. There are many games that do it so well, Chronicles of Riddick especially that I'm just not satisfied with cardboard cutouts anymore.
 
I really like Half Life 2, but felt it was way too long. I wanted to quit when I got to the big as twoer at the end. The best part of Half Life 2 IMO is the two following episodes. They kept my interest so much that I beat both episodes in two days.

I liked HL2 b/c of the story and the gravity gun. Episode 1 & 2 have excellent graphics IMO. I actually enjoyed ep1/2 @ 1920x1200 8xAA 16xAF much better then crysis on all high 1680x1050. There is some pretty intense battles against gunships, helicopters, and stryders in the series taht are worth playing for all together
 
Scheibler1 said:
I really like Half Life 2, but felt it was way too long. I wanted to quit when I got to the big as twoer at the end. The best part of Half Life 2 IMO is the two following episodes. They kept my interest so much that I beat both episodes in two days.
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the end was long, but really, hl2, ep1, and ep2 are all short. all together probably equal the length of an average game.
 
Dan_D said:
I don't know what Alyx's appeal is. Yes, the addition of her to the game is great. I'm all for it and I like that in the game. I just don't understand why she's got her own cult following.
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because these are computer geeks and they probably havent touched a real boob in their life...
 
Not much, it and all the episodic sequels are totally overrated. They are thin-story (despite claims otherwise, the ambiguity and narrative jump from HL1 is merely a vacuum of story in thin guids), repetitive, rail FPSes with pre-scripted events ad nausem ad infinitum.

Alyx as a draw? How deprived are you? And for a polygon girl...she's pretty damn ugly. I couldn't stand her, wanted to push her off a ledge or shoot her right away. I quickly replaced her character model in game.

If you want to play HL2 and have some serious hilarious fun to get over the massive grey mundane boredom of HL2, relace the Alyx model with Bulma from Dragonball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o59FBAnCoss
 
Spare-Flair said:
Not much, it and all the episodic sequels are totally overrated. They are rail FPSes with pre-scripted ad nausem ad infinitum.
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they are good for one play through but I have always wondered what is wrong with people that play through those games multiple times. theres NOTHING different about it because it is linear and scripted just like you said.
 
cannondale06 said:
they are good for one play through but I have always wondered what is wrong with people that play through those games multiple times. theres NOTHING different about it because it is linear and scripted just like you said.
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Yes this is one of the main points I didn't like. It's so linear. Sometimes I don't even know why I am going to so and so place. I just go because it's the only direction for me to move.
 
cannondale06 said:
they are good for one play through but I have always wondered what is wrong with people that play through those games multiple times. theres NOTHING different about it because it is linear and scripted just like you said.
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I disagree. While the levels are linear, things don't always go down quite the same way. I have noticed quite a bit different experiences in CoD4 and other games like Crysis offer much more open ended game play. At least earlier on in the game.

Not every game has enough variation I'd agree, but some are worth more than a single run through.
 
Dan_D said:
I disagree. While the levels are linear, things don't always go down quite the same way. I have noticed quite a bit different experiences in CoD4 and other games like Crysis offer much more open ended game play. At least earlier on in the game.

Not every game has enough variation I'd agree, but some are worth more than a single run through.
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I am only talking about HL1, Ep 1 and Ep 2. Ep2 is the only one that I have actually went back and played through for more than 15 minutes. these games are just too linear and scripted. enemies are in the same place and do basically the same thing everytime. also once you know the little physics puzzles theres really nothing else to look forward too. and yeah the last part of Crysis is 100% linear and really killed it for me.
 
cannondale06 said:
I am only talking about HL1, Ep 1 and Ep 2. Ep2 is the only one that I have actually went back and played through for more than 15 minutes. these games are just too linear and scripted. enemies are in the same place and do basically the same thing everytime. also once you know the little physics puzzles theres really nothing else to look forward too. and yeah the last part of Crysis is 100% linear and really killed it for me.
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Yeah, Half-Life is scripted more than some other games. Call of Duty 4 has similar placement every time, but I find that the enemies do not always take the same actions and their placement does vary to some minor degree. This may also be a result of guys on your team (SAS or Marines) taking some different actions themselves and eliminating or not eliminating the enemies all the same way or at the same time. I've also noticed that some of the guys on my team make it through and some don't. So there is an element of A.I. going on their and not total scripting.

Crysis A.I. is ok but not the best. They tend to do what was usually seen in the first game, and I've never personally experienced the problems with the enemies not reacting to me or doing really retarded things on my system. not sure why, but some people have quite varied experiences with the game and its' A.I.
 
forsberg78 said:
I played it for a few hours, I'm at the part where I'm on this water bike, but I just don't have the urge to continue playing. It's just very boring to me.

What is it about Half Life that everybody loves so much? I'd really like to know!
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If you are only at the water hazard level you pretty much just started. Just play through this game there is a heck of lot a going on and you have just scratched the surface,

You have to understand the backstory. Gordon Freeman is an MIT trained scientist. The first game takes place in a massive hardened research facility called Black Mesa. While Freeman is participating in a test of a mysterious piece of crystal in the "Black Mesa Test Chamber" something goes horribly wrong and a portal to another dimension is opened that results in the facility (and earth?) being invaded by all kinds of strange beasties. The rest of the game involves you trying to escape the alien infested facility.

The second game takes place some time after the first. What happens in between the two games we don't know and we are left to figure it out from clues and hints provided by the environments and the non playable character dialogue. For example, there are vague references to "the six day war" but we never are really told what that entails.

You aren't really supposed to know what is going on. That is sort of the whole point. The details of what is going on, and what happened are scattered throughout bits of dialogue, graffity, art design, ambience and sound. Half-Life is about stepping into the shoes of Gordon Freeman. The developers show you what is going on, but they aren't going to tell you. They don't start at the begining, they thrust you right into the middle of a monumental struggle for earth's survival.

I love this game. You are just dropped into this insane, oppressive world and you must make your way through it.
 
Dan_D said:
Everything is good about Half Life 2.
Click to expand...

+1
Where else do you feel that things around you happen because YOU did something that led to them, you don't just press a button to open a door you shot a barrel that blows up and releases a log to crash the gate and so on...I haven't seen since any game that had so much fun interaction with the environment.
and by Gordon not having any personality makes the player Gordon Freeman.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
Half-Life 2 was little more than a monotonous shooter that paled in comparison to the original Half-Life. The only part of HL2 that approached HL1's greatness was the Cathedral level. Of course, even that part was spoiled by the absolutely stupid way HL2 ended. It struck me as if the writers simply couldn't figure out what to do so they just found a cheap way out.
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That's my opinion aswell. HL1 was much, much better than HL2. HL2 was just a shooter on rails, with a pretty engine at the time. What people like to call a "tech-demo" with some actual gaming parts.
And IMO, they continue to spoil what they created in HL1, with HL2 Episodes, which not only take too much time to be released (completely defeating the purpose of Episodic Content), but they also go beyond the "shooter on rails " part to the monotonous "get to one place and fight off millions of enemies that spawn out of nowhere and repeat until the end of the game" gameplay.
 
Better question, what was bad about it?

It's just an amazingly well put together game, had decent graphics for it's day, hardly perfect but high quality through and through.

It's much less impressive these days however.
 
Frostex said:
Better question, what was bad about it?

It's just an amazingly well put together game, had decent graphics for it's day, hardly perfect but high quality through and through.

It's much less impressive these days however.
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This. I just started playing HL2, and it seems nice. Sure, its not top-knotch as far as graphics go anymore, but it was very "new" in the day. It seems like a great game, and compared to some of the crap that was coming out around the same time, it seems like it would have been GREAT back then.

It was released in 2004, right? In fact, we are approaching the 4 year anniversary of this game. The fact that it stands up that long as a FPS (a genre that is overwhelmed with games) means it is a solid game. Even more impressive back in late 2004, early 2005.
 
Hellraiser said:
+1
Where else do you feel that things around you happen because YOU did something that led to them, you don't just press a button to open a door you shot a barrel that blows up and releases a log to crash the gate and so on...I haven't seen since any game that had so much fun interaction with the environment.
and by Gordon not having any personality makes the player Gordon Freeman.
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95% of the environmental interaction in HL2 is scripted. Aside from a few physics-enabled objects, there isn't much you can do.
mellojoe said:
It was released in 2004, right? In fact, we are approaching the 4 year anniversary of this game. The fact that it stands up that long as a FPS (a genre that is overwhelmed with games) means it is a solid game. Even more impressive back in late 2004, early 2005.
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HL1 was released in 98 and has been standing up as an FPS for much longer. If HL2 impresses you, you should go back and play the first. It's much better.
 
i absolutely love the game, for 2005 the physics were incredible. i just thought it was very original with the gravity gun. also a huge appeal is the mod-ability of the engine and the user support, there are endless amounts of mods and source games making it possibly the greatest investment i have ever made in terms of video games. i have sunk more time into hl2 , css:s and all the third party mods i dont think it will ever be matched in terms of value.
 
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