Lets talk about half life 2

Diesel_Power said:
So for all you HL2 haters, what was the best single player fps you played
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The original HL is high on my list. Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and the first two Thief games are also cream of the crop.

Also I don't hate HL2. It was a good game. Far above average, but it didn't meet my expectations coming from HL1.
 
So basically the people who played HL1 before they played HL2 consider the first to be far superior, while those who came later and played HL2 first consider the second to be the masterpiece.

Does anyone who played HL first actually like the second one better? is the second one so popular because of Half Life newbs?
 
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HL2, Episode 1 and 2 were pure gaming gold. Compelling & exciting from beginning to end.
 
I played it when it first released, and I bought it again last year for ep1 and 2. It was still fun. Ravenholm is still on of the spookiest levels in a game I have ever played. Other then Undying which is non stop spooky.
 
Devnull said:
The game was a huge let down. They were just cashing in on the success of HL1. The game had no story at all, probably less of a story than HL1. By now, any halfway decent game should be like an interactive movie.

The only improvements they made over HL1 were technical. Nothing about the game was imaginative or innovative. Crap.
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I 100% agree with you.

The episodes for HL2 didn't help either. I found them both extremely boring, even more so than the core game.
Vehicle section were the worst!! But overall HL2 just didn't do anything. It was lifeless.

HL1 was just superb in all areas. It as one of the most memorable area in any game (black mesa)
 
yer hl2 was a bit lacking

mainly i think because of the enemey variety but hey, it was 12 years in the future and i dont think the combine would of left alot of xen wildlife roaming the citys

they should do a chapter part in ep3 "where the wild things are" and put some swamp environments with bull squids and hound eyes in there, heh even throw in one of those gargantuan things
 
I loved the first Half-Life, playing that game in... can't remember but a long long time ago left me breathless at the AI, level design, immersion, etc ...

While HL2 was a great game as well, it didn't had this "OMG" feel to it, yeah it had physics but it was lacking in other important department.

Still an awesome game that spawned other more awesome game, cause let's be honest, HL and HL2 engine are a modders dream which is one of the thing that makes these game awesome instead of good.
 
I've probably said this before.... GREAT game, the gameplay was smooth, the environments were gorgeous, ran great on all systems (first played HL2 on a FX5700 and it even looked great in DX8.1), all the characters were very well voiced and acted, the facial animations were great and the plot can be as deep or as shallow as you're willing to dig into it.

What I really dislike about the game? Fucking Gordon Freeman! After playing so many games with much more interesting main characters that have limbs. Escape from Butcher Bay I'm looking at you.
 
Diesel_Power said:
I'm just curious. A lot of you guys say you found HL2 to be rather shallow (I found it rather engaging, no cut scenes and moving around while characters interacted with each other).

So for all you HL2 haters, what was the best single player fps you played?

I said FPS, not RPG.
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For FPS games compared to the quality of their time, Thief2 without a doubt comes top for me. The developers came up with a brilliant concept for the original Thief, they executed it with little regard for the newbie players and the "mainstream" kiddies and made a truly great game.

Then in a rare move (especially by todays standards) they actually paid attention to the community, their gripes, what they liked and what was bad, and Thief 2 was the sort of more refined sequel, it was a masterpiece of thieving sneakery.

There was no cross platform console/PC games back then, at least not FPS, so they had no risk of dumbing it down for the mass market, they found a niche and filled it, anyone that didn't like it could fuck off and play quake or whatever, they never sacrafcied quality in the game to try and target a greater audience.

We will NEVER see games like this again on the PC, not while consoles exist, Thief3 was the first cross platform game in the series and the fans pretty much hated it, a similar fate awaited Deus Ex 2, another game loved by the fans and killed with cross platform development. I'd say the same thing happened to Bioshock, spiritual sequel to System Shock 2 another game loved by many and killed by consolitis.

I would even say that HL2 Eps suffered to a certain degree, the puzzles were never more complex than put the ball in the socket sort of thing, the HL continuation is probably the series of games least effected by consolitis but it's still there...L4D shows this perfectly with it's utterly broken server browser designed for use by simpletons who don't know what ping means and need coloured red/amber/green bars. :rolleyes:
 
If you think HL1 or HL2 are "bad" "boring" or what-ever......

please refer me to a game with the polish and innovation at release that this series has.

Each Episode is near perfectly optimized and played out to perfection.
Yes, it is scripted and being more open ended would be my only complaint.

Graphics and innovation are exceptional for the time released, and each has replay value.

I just ran through Episode 2 a couple of weeks ago, for the 5th or 6th time......still enjoyable.

I would love to see HL1 redone with the source engine physics and graphics.....that would be exceptional.
 
Frostex said:
We will NEVER see games like this again on the PC, not while consoles exist, Thief3 was the first cross platform game in the series and the fans pretty much hated it, a similar fate awaited Deus Ex 2, another game loved by the fans and killed with cross platform development. I'd say the same thing happened to Bioshock, spiritual sequel to System Shock 2 another game loved by many and killed by consolitis.
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Very true. Sadly the PC platform has already reached its zenith. Looking at the game releases coming up the majority are cross platform targeted and my expectations are pessimistic for all of them.
 
I cannot tell you how many times I watched the teaser trailer for HL2 before it came out. The graphics were spectacular. You cannot look back at a game that was released 5 years ago and say "this game has crappy graphics now."

Guess what, WoW has terrible graphics too, I think that game looks like a pile of vomit induced by eating too many Spree. I know it was made a few years ago, but it still looked out dated when it was created.

HL2 is one of the few shooters that I go back at least once every year and play through again. I plan on doing it again soon too. You can have your opinions about the game, frankly I don't care if you like it or not. Why do you have to go on a forum and just say "this game that was made 5 years ago looks like crap and I don't like to play it!"

SO DON'T PLAY IT!
 
I disagree that the HL2 story was bad at all. I thought it was really interesting especially towards the end.
 
vicaphit said:
Guess what, WoW has terrible graphics too, I think that game looks like a pile of vomit induced by eating too many Spree. I know it was made a few years ago, but it still looked out dated when it was created.
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Very descriptive! :D I agree it looks amateurish. Embarrassingly puerile graphics direction, I couldn't bring myself to play it beyond the trial. It looked shit when it came out and looks doubly shit now
 
HL2 is without a doubt the BEST FPS of all-time! I myself have played it at least 5 separate times.

The story is sweet, although i wish we knew at least something about the G-man, although episode 3 is supposed to give us something (whenever that comes out). The physics were awesome, especially just being able to pick up and kill things with random objects which makes Ravenholm one of my favorite spots, so creepy, yet to gratifying when you get to shoot saw blades at zombies and watch them get chopped in half. The graphics were top notch for its time without alienating a lot of people from enjoying the game (*cough* Doom3 *cough*). The facial movements are still top notch, I have yet to see a game to do them nearly as well. Voice acting was very good and fit the game rather nicely.

But I will say that I would have preferred less of the vehicle movement stuff, it does seem a bit tedious after awhile. And I can see some criticisms about the underwhelming feeling about the weapons, but remember you are killing combine... and they aren't entirely human with the exception of the civil patrol. But i do wish they had some more weapons in HL2.

On a side note, I did play the original Half-Life just before HL2 came about. I did love it, but I found HL2 to be much more engrossing, and the physics were amazing.
 
Having played through HL1, HL2, Ep1 and the beginning of Ep2, I really like the universe they created. I haven't seen much back story fill-in materials to read, but it's pretty interersting.

About Ravenholm, headcrabs give me the heebie-geebies REALLY bad. Usually you hear that sound when they attack and it's always from some dark corner and it always makes me jump when they do. Needless to say, when I saw daylight again, I was very relieved.

I started playing Ep2 and at some point, I went into some dark mineshaft and at that point, I shut it down and haven't went back to it. I know I need to, but god damn those headcrabs.
 
huxley said:
.....
What else did you think? I know this is old as dirt I just wanted to see if anyone else has replayed it lately.
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angry-mob.bmp
 
They mentioned last year that only in early 2009 they would announce something. It's almost mid 2009 and nothing so far.
 
TheNuker said:
They mentioned last year that only in early 2009 they would announce something. It's almost mid 2009 and nothing so far.
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oh no there have been a few droppings. Gabe Newell stated that we should expect the production time the longest so far but no longer than that of the original HL2, which lands it pretty well in Q3 10.
 
pigwalk said:
What I really dislike about the game? Fucking Gordon Freeman! After playing so many games with much more interesting main characters that have limbs
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Freeman is that way by design though. He's got no backstory or anything so you can consider yourself as Freeman. I think it works well for the HL games.

Re: Ravenholm

It was a cool level, proabably one of the better designed levels in the game, and the Priest was funny. but I didn't feel like its theme blended in with the rest of the game. It's like it was created to show off the physics in previews, it just seemed out of place.

I still haven't played ep2. Maybe I should.
 
Loved Half-Life 1. Loved Half-Life 2. Two different games. The first game, if you go back and play it, holds up with respect to level design and the overall presentation. A remarkable game.

Half-Life 2, like a lot of second acts, is very different from the first game. However, the core gameplay and characters are the same. The difference is mostly setting. Half-Life took place in a huge complex--a sort of Metroid in reverse as you try and escape.

But think about the core elements of the original game 1) crowbar/Gordon 2) gunplay 3) science gone wrong 4) environmental puzzles 5) strange creatures 6)scripted action sequences 7) boss fights 8) exploration and sightseeing--both games have it.

What some people fail to understand is that Half-Life is not really about gunplay, it is more about adventure and sightseeing. You are supposed to take in the sights and sounds. I personally found every bit of Half-Life 2 to be interesting, even if I was just cruising in the watercraft.

Doom 3 was the one about just blasting stuff. At the time, the experience of Half-Life 2 was like nothing else.
 
it's still one of the best games I have played, plus it doesn't resort to tact R-rated semi-porn or language tactics to "wow" people... (witcher, FEAR, etc..)
Every game has some weak aspects
 
J W said:
So basically the people who played HL1 before they played HL2 consider the first to be far superior, while those who came later and played HL2 first consider the second to be the masterpiece.

Does anyone who played HL first actually like the second one better? is the second one so popular because of Half Life newbs?
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I prefer HL2 over HL1, and I bought HL1 when it was first released.

Both are excellent games though, and if I had a top 10 they'd be #1 and #2 respectively.
 
The witcher wasn't about semi-porn or bad language, it just didn't want to be dumbed down in relation to the books. Nothing in the game was out of place.

Also, about raveholm. That was there to let you see what happens to towns that the combine don't need.

In the lost coast demo, you got to see the process with which ravenholm became like that. Ravenholm was meant to let you see why you were fighting.
 
Niteflite said:
On another note, did anyone else feel light-headed/vomit-ish when they were playing it?
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SAW said:
I could never get far enough into the game to really enjoy it the way other people said it was later in the game due to the "vomit" factor. Ive played tons of FPS type games and never felt dizzy at all. This game though....15min is all I could handle.
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It’s pretty well known problem with HL2. I’m one of those people that shelved the game for many months until a “fix” was found. Now, I’ve replayed it a couple of times and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The problem is that the FOV is set to 75 and that make some people nauseous. Open the console and type this in (I think the episodes have this in the graphics options now):
sv_cheats 1
fov 90
 
huxley said:
3. The weapons give you no satisfaction. The masked enemies are pretty cool but you get no satisfaction hitting them, you dont really feel that brunt force a shotgun blast to the face should give. They dont even back up, they just keep coming. .
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guess someone missed that Mythbusters? :D
 
I've played HL 1 and 2...here are my thoughts.

Source is a GREAT engine. It may not hold up to Crysis or Unreal 3, but much like the WoW engine, it supports its own unique style that despite its technical setbacks, puts fourth a style that still provides those "Oh shit, that's beautiful" moments. That is what I love about the source engine. CryEngine looks nice, but all the artistic achievments are buried under complex textures that just strive to make things "pretty" not so much stylistic.

Although the immersion in HL2 is only partially due to the stylistic source engine, but the area where the game really shines is in the way the story is presented to the play, completely open ended, very passively. It relies on you to put the pieces together yourself by exploring the world, by stopping to smell the roses. There is no explicit "This is who you are, what you are doing here, where you are going" BS. This leaves a lot of people feeling lost because they trying to play it like Halo, expecting plot to be spoon fed to them.

Guns were somewhat disappointing save the revolver and crossbow. Grenades and the RPG could have been beefed up.

I wish the physics puzzles were less numerous, but more challenging. Instead of putting 20 of them in per chapter, put 7 or 8 in but make them hard.
HL2 is, IMO, the most innovative FPS to come out in years.
 
HL2 is, IMO, the most innovative FPS to come out in years.
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Was.. its like 4.5 years old now.

On the OP's weapon comment, the combine carbine certainly felt like it had a lot of stopping power to me.
 
I just played through the COD4 single player campain again...

oh man the ending where eli vance dies is sad but...

Captian Price, with his dieing breath throwing you the... well no spoilers. But that takes the cake. I'm perfectly willing to admit I tear'd up a bit. god damn.
(spoiler youtube'd ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw0ub4Y3c7A)

Yeah, back in 03 Source and HL2 set the bar, but since then its been raised by the likes of Bioshock and COD4.

edit: and having played halo through and through, that games got nothing on any of the above mentioned titles :p
 
The source engine is really a bit dried up now, as I said previously a lot of the wow factor for HL2 came from the advancement in the engine and technology, since then they've made a few additions but nothing too significant.

Part of the problem of episodic gaming really, in the time they're taking to do 3 eps they could have done a flat out HL3 on a revamped engine and it would have had the same wow factor again, instead we get a highly segmented 3 games which total only a few more hours gameplay than a traditional full length game, except the engine technology is stale by the 2nd/3rd installment.

Without a doubt I would have prefered them to do a HL3 and cut this episodic crap out, I'd prefer to wait and be hit with a blockbuster.
 
I personally think the COD4 engine looks like crap. Not to mention all the textures look like they are caked on with a layer of brown mud.
I don't see how COD4 is more innovative or refreshing than HL2. It looks nicer, and maybe feels more intense, but doesn't do anything amazingly new or cool.
There is no gravity gun, nor an emphasis on physics. Things are cut and dry.
 
A 5-6 hour SP campaign raises what bar, exactly? The price/hour we're willing to pay? It's been awhile but I'm pretty confident that HL2 is longer than that, speedruns excepted.
 
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