Which is the best Half Life?

Half Life was definitely more revolutionary and groundbreaking at the time than Half Life 2, but comparing the two games today the original Half Life seems very primitive... and with good reason given that it's almost 15 years old.

Gameplay wise it's a no contest... HL2 has the benefit of a six-year advance in computing power and (from my understanding at least) a higher budget, both of which enable a much more compelling experience than was even possible when HL was released.

In terms of story, I prefer the setting and plot of the original Half Life over Half Life 2, although HL2 has a much stronger narrative. HL provided some context through scripted sequences and tidbits of information while keeping you relatively in the dark about what's going on. HL2 introduces actual characters outside of the G-Man (evolutions of their generic NPC counterparts from HL) and tells a much more detailed and rich story.
 
Oh Half-Life 2 for sure, the gameplay was much improved, graphics, physics and the actual story. I almost find it absurd that anyone would say, Half-Life 1 is better without saying with a caveat that nostalgia plays into that. Going back and actually playing both games, Half-Life 2 is way better. If you want to say "for their time" then you could actually make an closer comparison, but asking which one is better I can definitely say Half-Life 2 out of the two and even for their time, I can say Half-life 2 as well (but that is just my opinion). Not because it had the best graphics but because it had fun gameplay with good enough graphics which makes for a better game.

Many make the comparison that Half-Life 2 is a tech demo, but if thats the case then Half-Life 1 can be made to say was the same, as it doesn't have much in terms of story. Theres an explosion and aliens come through and theres a guy in a suit walking around and the aliens trying to kill you and then *spoiler* (if it can even be called that) the government tries to have everyone killed as well with the gman ending up putting you in stasis at the end *spoiler* Half-Life 1 didn't even really have a story until Half-Life 2 (most of the story you have to infer from the environment like posters and such though in Half-Life 2).
 
pewter77 said:
Oh Half-Life 2 for sure, the gameplay was much improved, graphics, physics and the actual story. I almost find it absurd that anyone would say, Half-Life 1 is better without saying with a caveat that nostalgia plays into that. Going back and actually playing both games, Half-Life 2 is way better. If you want to say "for their time" then you could actually make an closer comparison, but asking which one is better I can definitely say Half-Life 2 out of the two and even for their time, I can say Half-life 2 as well (but that is just my opinion). Not because it had the best graphics but because it had fun gameplay with good enough graphics which makes for a better game.

Many make the comparison that Half-Life 2 is a tech demo, but if thats the case then Half-Life 1 can be made to say was the same, as it doesn't have much in terms of story. Theres an explosion and aliens come through and theres a guy in a suit walking around and the aliens trying to kill you and then POINTLESS SPOILER Half-Life 1 didn't even really have a story until Half-Life 2 (most of the story you have to infer from the environment like posters and such though in Half-Life 2).
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The tech demo thing has nothing to do with story or nostalgia. It's about gameplay. I can replay HL1 every few years. I get bored trying to make it through HL2 a second time. Some people think HL2 plays like a tech demo. The majority of players probably don't agree, but there are a lot of people that share this opinion. It is fine that you think HL2 has better gameplay. You don't need to defend your opinion or spoil the ending of HL1. The ending had nothing to do with your point anyways. OP hasn't played it yet.
 
What is going on here? they all significantly improved themselves over their originals. HL1 while good for the time lacked pacing, too many sections went on for FAAAAR too long. The world wasn't as rich (tech limitations) nor was the interacting with that world. HL1 got so boring at points that I actually quit playing it for the better (IMHO) Sin. Was Sin as "cinematic" no, but it had a better story. HL1 story is man screws up experiment, because of mysterious figure, and spends 20+ hours being told by someone else to do something to fix it (mostly go here then here, not unlike keycard quests) ending with a trip to netherworld for first person jumping (never a good idea). The reason no one noticed was because all the scripted shit happening around you. HL1 is closer to COD in that respect, not to say it is a bad game, just boring by today's standards. HL2 just blew 1 out the water, An actual story, mystery, romance, action. Has it all. Yes the gravity gun is significant, because they built the game around it instead of just the standard shoot, kill, repeat, mechanic of Wolf3d and everything else, including HL1 since, besides Looking Glass Studios stuff. Ep1 is more like HL2:Coda and EP2 is the in between snack before HL3. Both are great, but EP1 since it is more or less and escape piece to be followed by EP2's chase and stand-off narrative feels weaker. Though they did create the first likable NPC companion that both feels like her own person and not dumber than a sack of bricks. Also the Zombine grenade NPC is still awesome. Ep2 starts as a chase ended by a climactic battle, lives are in the balance and significant amounts of lore are explored. It is probably the best of the series so far and makes me giddy with excitement over the eventual Half-life 3.

Hopefully the following preempts any complaints about my reasoning:

No, I do not play games cause I want them to be like movies so "cinematic" sux - see Final Fantasy, having awe inspiring moments, now that's good design.

I do not put game-play refinement or nostalgia over story or good innovation - Why I hate Nintendo, I have played all the same games they are releasing now in the 8/16-bit era, the "new" games are just iterations on the old ones with no real changes, and thusly are not worth my playing time. Also change and innovation for its own sake is neither good nor bad and bad innovation is bad of course.

Also I prefer longer rather than shorter games, and also movie, with the Extended Abyss, Kingdom of Heaven, and others being far superior to their originals. The difference, I never noticed till the end when I looked up and saw how much time had elasped just how long it was. If I am playing and start wondering, what time is it? is this section over yet? how long have I been at this? It was time to move on long ago. Hell if my minds wanders off to wonder if I payed the bills, or have I eaten yet? then it needs some tightening up. Think about the best games you played, you probably played until someone started complaining about how loud your stomach was growling. For a modern example of this see Alice:MR, great game marred by overly long section of game play and story interaction.

Overall it is EP2>HL2>Ep1>HL1
 
HL1 and Opposing Force were definitely great games, I never finished Blue Force (got decently far though). I had a lot of fun in HL2 and its episodes, but I never desire playing them again.
 
I'm gonna have to agree that all of them are fantastic fun. If you have never played any of them, start with HL1 + expansions.
 
D-Wiz said:
What is going on here?
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It's pretty simple. People are different. I figured I didn't have to explain because this is all subjective and a waste of time. I'll try to be brief.

I think the weapons, enemies, setting, story, and Physics! of HL2 are lame and gimmicky. HL2 was fun for one playthrough but that's it.

As far as the "story" I prefer HL1. In HL1 the situation, and execution of it, works. You had to babysit what help you received from the scientists and barneys just to keep them alive. In HL2 there is way too much help for Gordon. I'm not a fan of the endless stream of allied freedom fighters, the endless stream of friendly antlions, the giant robot, the car, or the boat. Gordon going from unknown scientist to Che Guevara doesn't make any sense considering what happened at the end of HL1. How does anybody even know he exists? Why are they willing to throw their lives away to help him? Did the fliers and graffiti that G-Man put up on the streets accomplish this? It is total cheese even if it did make any sense. HL2 is way too cheery and campy after the tone that HL1 set. If anything HL2 is more COD since you are fighting a war. Went from survival horror atmosphere of HL1 to Gordon + his endless legions + vehicles + gravity gun vs the space invaders. Ravenholm was nice though.

I thought about it for a bit and decided:
HL1 is more like Aliens (except it would be Ripley vs the Xenomorphs AND the Space Marines)
HL2 is more like Independence Day (STRIDER! AWW HELL NAW! EXPLOSION! WELCOME TA ERF MUTHAFUCKA!)

Both fun but much prefer Aliens.
 
NONE are the best or worst its a story that goes on.........play Half Life first, Opposing Force 2nd, Blue Shift 3rd, Half Life 2 , Half Life 2 Ep1, Half Life 2 Ep2, and Half Life 3 :D
 
D-Wiz said:
HL1 while good for the time lacked pacing, too many sections went on for FAAAAR too long.
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Unlike the boat or car sections in HL2? There was some serious padding and repetition in those. I'm not saying HL1 was perfectly paced, but I wouldn't say HL2 was any improvement in that department either. I can't actually remember anything about the Episodes, but that says a lot about them in itself.
 
Stoly said:
wasn't there a half life one mod with hl2 engine?
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Half Life: Source. Not sure if it was a mod or actually from Valve. I forget exactly what was upgraded, but it really wasn't significant if I remember it properly.
 
I love both of em, but for me HL1 > HL2.

HL1 was more challenging, longer, and had more varied enemies and weaponry. HL2 had a more interesting world, better characters, and more varied gameplay... though not every gameplay type was a home-run; for example, Source doesn't handle vehicles well.

Both games make me nostalgic... but again HL has a bigger impact on gaming history. It put Valve on the map, spawned CS, and pretty much invented the set-piece style level design that, for better or worse, has taken over modern FPS games.
 
drako said:
though not every gameplay type was a home-run; for example, Source doesn't handle vehicles well.
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Heh...if you thought Source was bad, do you remember the vehicles they tried in early CS? Jeepathon2k, the APC on cs_siege, and even de_railroad. The crap those things would do was hilarious.

I'd have to say that I enjoyed all of them fairly equally at the time. HL1 gets the edge though, the AI was absolutely amazing at the time and the plot was fantastic. The way it introduced scripted events into the gameplay, while standard and cliche at times now, was amazing too.

HL2 facial animations and graphics were quite amazing when it came out. I also really enjoyed the story becoming a global struggle. The huge street battles towards the end felt fantastic, too.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Heh...if you thought Source was bad, do you remember the vehicles they tried in early CS? Jeepathon2k, the APC on cs_siege, and even de_railroad. The crap those things would do was hilarious.

I'd have to say that I enjoyed all of them fairly equally at the time. HL1 gets the edge though, the AI was absolutely amazing at the time and the plot was fantastic. The way it introduced scripted events into the gameplay, while standard and cliche at times now, was amazing too.

HL2 facial animations and graphics were quite amazing when it came out. I also really enjoyed the story becoming a global struggle. The huge street battles towards the end felt fantastic, too.
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Yup the APC on siege, used the same driving mechanics as the trains in HL.
 
The original Half-Life was good, probably the best singleplayer game of all time until Half-Lfie 2 and all of the episodes to date.

It would take the tiop spot over Half-Life 2 if it werent for the fucking Xen levels...
 
TwistedAegis said:
Half Life: Source. Not sure if it was a mod or actually from Valve. I forget exactly what was upgraded, but it really wasn't significant if I remember it properly.
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Half-Life: Source is from Valve Software.

It's the same game with the same maps, just rendered in the source engine. The differences lie mainly in lighting. Just from screenshots alone you would have a hard time telling the difference between the original HL and HL:S, but in motion it's pretty easy to spot the lighting and shadow differences.

Now Black Mesa: Source... if it ever comes out before you're a grandpa... now that will be awesome....
 
TwistedAegis said:
Heh...if you thought Source was bad, do you remember the vehicles they tried in early CS? Jeepathon2k, the APC on cs_siege, and even de_railroad. The crap those things would do was hilarious.
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Oh absolutely. I loved when the APC would sink into the ground on siege and kill everyone in it and all of the uber-serious players would flip a shit. Hilarious!
 
Half-Life 3 is currently available in Barbados. Valve has no plans to release it in any other region.
 
blort said:
The tech demo thing has nothing to do with story or nostalgia. It's about gameplay. I can replay HL1 every few years. I get bored trying to make it through HL2 a second time. Some people think HL2 plays like a tech demo. The majority of players probably don't agree, but there are a lot of people that share this opinion. It is fine that you think HL2 has better gameplay. You don't need to defend your opinion or spoil the ending of HL1. The ending had nothing to do with your point anyways. OP hasn't played it yet.
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agreed. HL2, every time I try to play it, I get bored VERY quickly and never make it past the first few parts. The vehicle sections are hideously long and boring and don't get me started on ravenwood or whatever it is. Even when HL2 first came out, I pre-ordered it, I was so super excited and was pretty much bored from the get go. I made it though the game once and I have never been able to sit down and do it again.

HL1 on the other hand, I just played through again not to long ago for the 20th time or more.
 
One lost me when it went to outer space and became a platform-jumping game. I think Half-Life 2 is far better constructed as a story. One of these days Episode Three might come out, but I surely won't hold my breath.
 
If one were to list memorable events/scenes from each game, I believe Half-Life 1 would come out on top over Half-Life 2, especially since about 65% (just guessing there) of Half-Life 2 consisted of the air-boat and car scenes. Regardless, they are both great games in my book and belong in the all-time great FPS list along with Deus Ex, Deus Ex and Deus Ex. Oh yeah, and Deus Ex.
 
I think #2's the best. While they never outright force you to move at a certain pace, the flow of the game is far more urgent than the others...or really most other games ever. It feels like you shouldn't be screwing around and exploring every dark corner of the map even though you certainly can.
The 2 Episodes were okay, although to me they were a little disjointed and felt more like something you could probably skip and end up at 99% the same spot as HL3.
 
Term-X said:
I dunno, I think despite its criticisms, HL2 was probably the better of the two. The environments made me feel like I was "there".
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I was going to write the same thing.

And just gotta say, i had a BLAST playing opposing force for HL1 :cool:
 
I disliked them all, the best thing that came out of owning HL1 was a little mod called Counter Strike.
 
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