Just finished this game. (Bought the orange box with portal 1 and everything, but never bothered to play hl2 until now)
Spent like 10 hours to finish it.
There were some parts that took wayy too long to get rid of it. I mean, sure this game is beautiful, the gameplay is really nice, but come on do we really need to drive that sea car for like 1 hour ? The story was just pretty boring tbh if not empty. Half way of this car's gameplay, i got really bored of it, but what bothers me more is to have another unfinished game and i did not want to leave until i've finished it at least once. The map is way too big, there were many times where i couldn't stand to play anymore like "go to another piece, kill soldier/alien, open a door" rinse and repeat.
And the story ? What can i say ? I was pretty disappointed. But maybe that was because english wasn't my native language ? Or maybe cauz i've never finished the first one ? Either way, i was feeling really frustrated at the end.
The IA was kinda retarded aswell but we couldn't expect it more since it's the same for every game. But still there were too many narrow paths were i couldn't get back because they were blocking me (gotta give them props though to have them say "excuse me" when they were in our way).
Kind of hoped they'd have given us a more accurate way to throw the object with the gravitic gun, or grenades since i had to send them multiple times before it got to where i wanted it to.
At the end, it was like i was playing a Final fantasy game where you get to an endless tower in order to gain experience / get more challenge. Expect that it was mandatory in hl2. I was like, "when will it end seriously?" I really couldn't stand it anymore. If i had saved and went to sleep, i know i'd have never finished it because i'd have never played it again...
It's like watching old movies. After your attention span has been whittled away by playing too many games that have non-stop action, you can't deal with something deeper. My god, you should try playing classic adventure games like monkey island, you wouldn't last 5 minutes.
Half life 2 was ground breaking for it's time, but there is no doubt that game development has got better, so the graphics look old and the controls aren't as good as some new games. I can't agree with you about the pacing though. One of the genius things about the game's design is how it moves from close confined spaces to open wide areas, and action packed areas to more chilled out breaks in the action.
It sounds like you don't get yourself immersed very much, which is a huge mistake when playing a seamless FPS like HL2. To me, all your gripes sound absolutely crazy, and I don't think you would have had them if you allowed yourself to just become Gordon Freeman.
On June 23 2011 19:48 deathly rat wrote: It's like watching old movies. After your attention span has been whittled away by playing too many games that have non-stop action, you can't deal with something deeper. My god, you should try playing classic adventure games like monkey island, you wouldn't last 5 minutes.
Half life 2 was ground breaking for it's time, but there is no doubt that game development has got better, so the graphics look old and the controls aren't as good as some new games. I can't agree with you about the pacing though. One of the genius things about the game's design is how it moves from close confined spaces to open wide areas, and action packed areas to more chilled out breaks in the action.
Sorry but i've already played way older games and i really enjoyed some of them (PoP, Out of this world) and also enjoyed some old movies that i've never watched before (Event Horizon, Contact) So i really don't care about graphics. Funny thing is, i haven't played any game beside cs, doom, q3 and DoD when it comes to FPS really... (gunz too but played like 1hour ?) Meh. I guess i'm too biased with hl2 maybe... :/
I have to agree OP, HL2 isn't really what I'd call amazing. Couldn't get myself to finish Episode 2. It's not bad by any means, but really it doesn't stand out to me in any special way. But I was late to the party myself, only starting in like 2007 or 2008.
But on second thought, with the word 'deep' flying around twice in this thread already, I might have to go play through it again and twist it into some ridiculous hipster metaphor.
Well for the this game was all about the looks and the story. And I wasn't bored of it at all through the game and two episodes. And I did finish it a few times.
Played HL 2 last year and was blown away. Loved the story, and the game is beautiful, even today. Damn it's deep. Guess we all have differing opinions.
I liked the "wide" spaces... Many Egoshooters feel way to cramped, not HL2... If you have to drive a Buggy down the coast highway, there is a reason for it: It would take ages by feet.
And the Bach were you control the Sandlions is the best thing in any RTS ever, i had such a blast .
Half-Life 2 isn't a game, it's an adventure that happens to take place in a world someone else put together; Gordon Freeman is just empty enough for you to project whatever you like onto him and enjoy your own character.
I played HL2 terrified, some weak willed little scientist with greatness thrust upon him, desperate to survive and trying hard to do the right thing. I always figured that everyone else saw the same thing, until I saw my brother play.
For him, Gordon was some untouchable monstrosity, the ultimate action hero. The HEV suit protects him from radiation and poison, while he chews the bullets fired into him and spits them out. For him, the time spent in stasis had been because they KNEW Gordon was special, saved for some noble purpose.
On June 23 2011 19:48 deathly rat wrote: I can't agree with you about the pacing though. One of the genius things about the game's design is how it moves from close confined spaces to open wide areas, and action packed areas to more chilled out breaks in the action.
I couldn't agree more. My experience playing the game was that as soon after I started getting bored with a gameplay mode/type things changed up. Also, for its time the full physics engine was a pretty huge attraction.
It might have been because you tried to play through the game too fast instead of enjoying it. I thought the pacing was pretty good. For example, when you ride in the boat or the near the seacoast, there's always places you stop by to do something like shoot down rocket ships from towers or infiltrate bases. It's really hard to get bored unless you think of the game in levels and just want to reach the end. Rather than think about it like that, just think of it as (like someone else mentioned) an adventure and take each thing as it comes.
Personally I was just excited every time I got to a new place to explore/invade. Loved HL2.
I was quite disappointed by HL2. Opposed to HL1 it's an extremely slow paced, linear shooter with some simple puzzle elements mixed in... it's not bad but not great either. Recently got episode 1 because i wanted to play a shooter again and stopped playing after about an hour (didn't even bother to save).
I don't care about the graphics (which are imho good enough - some of the games i play a lot recently have far worse graphics), it's just... boring.
I wish someone would produce another Quake/Quake2 style game :-/
I suggest you to try playing through episode 2. I tried playing original HL2, but it just was plain boring. Then a friend suggested to try out HL2:ep2, and I was not dissapointed. It was alot shorter, but also it felt faster, more action packed. So try out episode 2, it's way better than HL2/Ep1.
Half life isn't that story focused, it's valve's platform to display their new engine and for a game that's main purpose was that to play it 7 years later isn't doing it much justice. It was amazing at the release. However I must say that halflife always has been a bit disturbing to me. Because there's so much more room for story but it's never used ./
On June 23 2011 19:41 RaiZ wrote: Just finished this game. (Bought the orange box with portal 1 and everything, but never bothered to play hl2 until now)
Spent like 10 hours to finish it.
There were some parts that took wayy too long to get rid of it. I mean, sure this game is beautiful, the gameplay is really nice, but come on do we really need to drive that sea car for like 1 hour ? The story was just pretty boring tbh if not empty. Half way of this car's gameplay, i got really bored of it, but what bothers me more is to have another unfinished game and i did not want to leave until i've finished it at least once. The map is way too big, there were many times where i couldn't stand to play anymore like "go to another piece, kill soldier/alien, open a door" rinse and repeat.
I loved the big map and the long travel distances in HL2. For me it created a much more immersive world compared to any other FPS game. I wish more games did the same. It never felt tedious. Driving through all the small outposts and towns was really enjoyable experience for me.
And the story ? What can i say ? I was pretty disappointed. But maybe that was because english wasn't my native language ? Or maybe cauz i've never finished the first one ? Either way, i was feeling really frustrated at the end.
You should've probably finished the first one, but even then the story isn't something that's slammed into your face with a bunch of cut scenes.
The IA was kinda retarded aswell but we couldn't expect it more since it's the same for every game. But still there were too many narrow paths were i couldn't get back because they were blocking me (gotta give them props though to have them say "excuse me" when they were in our way).
I didn't have any problems with this. Sure they blocked you a little bit, but you could easily walk past them anyway.
Kind of hoped they'd have given us a more accurate way to throw the object with the gravitic gun, or grenades since i had to send them multiple times before it got to where i wanted it to.
Gravity gun fired deadly objects in almost a straight line, what more can you want. Grenades were easy to use if you bounced them off walls. I mean really does the game have to hold your hand through everything?
At the end, it was like i was playing a Final fantasy game where you get to an endless tower in order to gain experience / get more challenge. Expect that it was mandatory in hl2. I was like, "when will it end seriously?" I really couldn't stand it anymore. If i had saved and went to sleep, i know i'd have never finished it because i'd have never played it again...
This game is definitely overated.
I thought it was nice to see stuff inside the citadel and fight your way to the top to kill the final boss, but I guess people expect a modern warfare #587 when they play a FPS game.
I played it last year and got to Ravenholm, got kinda bored so I stopped. Don't know what it is about HL2 but it just gave me bad motion sickness (especially the motorboat parts). Thought Ravenholm was pretty well done, every other enviornment was just really generic and boring though t.t
This is what happens when young children play classic-style games. They have such small attention spans and are desensitized to anything of any quality.
The pacing of HL2 is very good, so you're wrong there. The mechanics and the graphics can't be complained about because the game is 7 years old. So if you look strictly at the story and the gameplay to evaluate the game... the game is really good.
Story-wise the game is excellent. The point of the Half-Life franchise is to view all of the action in first person with the freedom to move around as if you're really there. A lot happens and it all makes a lot of sense in-world. Maybe you were expecting fully-rendered CGI cutscenes in 1080p HD graphics, which is probably why you were disappointed by the 'story.' I'm also willing to bet that you didn't pay attention to anyone talking to you and just kept running.
On June 23 2011 22:18 TheGiz wrote: This is what happens when young children play classic-style games. They have such small attention spans and are desensitized to anything of any quality.
The pacing of HL2 is very good, so you're wrong there. The mechanics and the graphics can't be complained about because the game is 7 years old. So if you look strictly at the story and the gameplay to evaluate the game... the game is really good.
Story-wise the game is excellent. The point of the Half-Life franchise is to view all of the action in first person with the freedom to move around as if you're really there. A lot happens and it all makes a lot of sense in-world. Maybe you were expecting fully-rendered CGI cutscenes in 1080p HD graphics, which is probably why you were disappointed by the 'story.' I'm also willing to bet that you didn't pay attention to anyone talking to you and just kept running.
Well, i'm almost 30, grew up with Civilization 1, Master of Orion 1&2, Dune 2, Monkey Island 1&2, Doom1&2, DN3D, Commander Keen and Quake 1&2, watch movies only for the story and still find HL2 only average (far from your "very good" or "excellent"). Calling people "young children" because they dislike a game is quite... condescending.
The game is ok but the story is not really interesting "bad guy oppresses city, builds big tower and tries to conquer the world with cyborg slaves, you are the only one who can stop him"... been there, done that... The story often felt quite forced, like "Hey, we thought of a new weapon with which the player could control insects... let's invent a level where he has to use it"
On June 23 2011 20:02 RaiZ wrote: Sorry but i've already played way older games and i really enjoyed some of them (PoP, Out of this world) and also enjoyed some old movies that i've never watched before (Event Horizon, Contact) So i really don't care about graphics. Funny thing is, i haven't played any game beside cs, doom, q3 and DoD when it comes to FPS really... (gunz too but played like 1hour ?) Meh. I guess i'm too biased with hl2 maybe... :/
I think based on that list of games you've played HL2 is really not your game. It's not supposed to play like a regular shooter, that's what made Half-Life so exceptional. The game is driven by your desire to learn more about the world and to find a resolution for the events. That's why there are no cut scenes and levels. If you want to find out what you're supposed to do you have to stop moving and listen to the person talking to you.
Like others have said, it's all about immersion. You have to feel like you've actually just been dropped in the world, like Gordon. You find out what's going on with him.
Hmm after reading op's statements I'm not gonna flinch away from buying this on steam, I never was into fps until recently and heard this game was sweet, sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it but I hope I do.
On June 23 2011 22:18 TheGiz wrote: This is what happens when young children play classic-style games. They have such small attention spans and are desensitized to anything of any quality.
The pacing of HL2 is very good, so you're wrong there. The mechanics and the graphics can't be complained about because the game is 7 years old. So if you look strictly at the story and the gameplay to evaluate the game... the game is really good.
Story-wise the game is excellent. The point of the Half-Life franchise is to view all of the action in first person with the freedom to move around as if you're really there. A lot happens and it all makes a lot of sense in-world. Maybe you were expecting fully-rendered CGI cutscenes in 1080p HD graphics, which is probably why you were disappointed by the 'story.' I'm also willing to bet that you didn't pay attention to anyone talking to you and just kept running.
Well, i'm almost 30, grew up with Civilization 1, Master of Orion 1&2, Dune 2, Monkey Island 1&2, Doom1&2, DN3D, Commander Keen and Quake 1&2, watch movies only for the story and still find HL2 only average (far from your "very good" or "excellent"). Calling people "young children" because they dislike a game is quite... condescending.
The game is ok but the story is not really interesting "bad guy oppresses city, builds big tower and tries to conquer the world with cyborg slaves, you are the only one who can stop him"... been there, done that... The story often felt quite forced, like "Hey, we thought of a new weapon with which the player could control insects... let's invent a level where he has to use it"
The story in Half-Life 2 is a mixture of set pieces and what you find out on your own by looking at the details of the world and noticing things by yourself such as news paper clipping or overhearing a conversation by some guy. Your summary of it is incorrect; the world was conquered in seven hours when the aliens invaded and Gordon was not there to save it. He's a sort of tool the G-Man uses in "selling" his services and what that entails, I dont know and can only speculate that its something to do with messing with the combine.
Your incorrect details of the story makes me think that you played the game much differently than I did because I had fun putting the story together and letting my imagination fill in the gaps. HL2 was awesome because, to a certain extent it gave you freedom in exploring the world. The story progresses in unexpected ways and not once did I think the story was cliche or predictable.
And how can you deny the gravity gun! At the time of its release the gravity gun was one of the best damned things that happened in video games and even now no game (that I've played) has had that kinda innovation.
Continuing on that there is a level of depth to the story that only comes from knowledge of Half Life 1 - and these details haven't even fully been picked up on yet.
In HL1 a mysterious man who turned out to be the G-Man showed up at the Black Mesa research facility and gave the researchers a weird isotope with which to perform an experiment. The experiment went horribly wrong and triggered a 'resonance cascade' that opened up portals all over the facility allowing monsters from a 'border world' known as Xen to enter.
As Gordon Freeman you help to fight back the invading creatures and save as many scientists as you can while you await the arrival of the government. When the government finally arrives however they're interested only in killing everything and covering it all up. Gordon then shifts his attention to evading the military and shutting off the source of the invaders by going to Xen and killing the Nihilanth.
As this happens the Black Mesa facility gets nuked, but the effects of the resonance cascade are too far gone. Portal storms rage cross Earth attracting the attention of the Combine, who invade and take over Earth and sequester the Xen creatures in 7 hours.
Gordon Freeman meanwhile has been tucked away in interdimensional stasis by the G-Man, who seems to be selling his services to the highest bidder, whoever that may be.
On June 23 2011 22:18 TheGiz wrote: This is what happens when young children play classic-style games. They have such small attention spans and are desensitized to anything of any quality.
The pacing of HL2 is very good, so you're wrong there. The mechanics and the graphics can't be complained about because the game is 7 years old. So if you look strictly at the story and the gameplay to evaluate the game... the game is really good.
Story-wise the game is excellent. The point of the Half-Life franchise is to view all of the action in first person with the freedom to move around as if you're really there. A lot happens and it all makes a lot of sense in-world. Maybe you were expecting fully-rendered CGI cutscenes in 1080p HD graphics, which is probably why you were disappointed by the 'story.' I'm also willing to bet that you didn't pay attention to anyone talking to you and just kept running.
Well, i'm almost 30, grew up with Civilization 1, Master of Orion 1&2, Dune 2, Monkey Island 1&2, Doom1&2, DN3D, Commander Keen and Quake 1&2, watch movies only for the story and still find HL2 only average (far from your "very good" or "excellent"). Calling people "young children" because they dislike a game is quite... condescending.
The game is ok but the story is not really interesting "bad guy oppresses city, builds big tower and tries to conquer the world with cyborg slaves, you are the only one who can stop him"... been there, done that... The story often felt quite forced, like "Hey, we thought of a new weapon with which the player could control insects... let's invent a level where he has to use it"
The story in Half-Life 2 is a mixture of set pieces and what you find out on your own by looking at the details of the world and noticing things by yourself such as news paper clipping or overhearing a conversation by some guy. Your summary of it is incorrect; the world was conquered in seven hours when the aliens invaded and Gordon was not there to save it. He's a sort of tool the G-Man uses in "selling" his services and what that entails, I dont know and can only speculate that its something to do with messing with the combine.
Your incorrect details of the story makes me think that you played the game much differently than I did because I had fun putting the story together and letting my imagination fill in the gaps. HL2 was awesome because, to a certain extent it gave you freedom in exploring the world. The story progresses in unexpected ways and not once did I think the story was cliche or predictable.
And how can you deny the gravity gun! At the time of its release the gravity gun was one of the best damned things that happened in video games and even now no game (that I've played) has had that kinda innovation.
Well, i played it a year ago and don't remember much about the story (which is in itself a bad sign). I mostly remember the generic feeling of it - though maybe i just played too many games and read too many books.
The gravity gun was ok, but it felt mostly like "hey, we have a cool physics engine, let's find a way to force the player to actually notice it".
On June 23 2011 20:19 Velr wrote: I liked the "wide" spaces... Many Egoshooters feel way to cramped, not HL2... If you have to drive a Buggy down the coast highway, there is a reason for it: It would take ages by feet.
And the Bach were you control the Sandlions is the best thing in any RTS ever, i had such a blast .
Except for bunny hop ! Joke. Agree with the sandlions part, that was fun... For maybe 20 minutes. After that i got tired of waiting for them to kill everything untill i can move out safely. The part where there were 2 flying robot was probably the most epic one. But after that it got quickly repetitive tbh. I guess that was a good game since the hl2 engine was still young ?
On June 23 2011 20:38 eluv wrote: Also, for its time the full physics engine was a pretty huge attraction.
That was what this game was all about imo. The engine. Storyline i think they could've done way better though... But to each his own.
On June 23 2011 20:49 ketomai wrote: It might have been because you tried to play through the game too fast instead of enjoying it. I thought the pacing was pretty good. For example, when you ride in the boat or the near the seacoast, there's always places you stop by to do something like shoot down rocket ships from towers or infiltrate bases. It's really hard to get bored unless you think of the game in levels and just want to reach the end. Rather than think about it like that, just think of it as (like someone else mentioned) an adventure and take each thing as it comes.
Well, i'm not the kind of guy to rush for the end really. But this game made me realize that i was losing way too mcuh time exploring every corner with the hope of finding powerful weapons. It's in the midgame, i realized that it did not have it. Maybe it's because i've played portal 1 and 2 before hl2 ? Still i've played the first half life before those portals games and it was exactly the same > couldn't finish it really.
On June 23 2011 21:02 Bunn wrote: I suggest you to try playing through episode 2. I tried playing original HL2, but it just was plain boring. Then a friend suggested to try out HL2:ep2, and I was not dissapointed. It was alot shorter, but also it felt faster, more action packed. So try out episode 2, it's way better than HL2/Ep1.
Will do. Not now, probably in the future when i'm feeling really bored !
On June 23 2011 21:04 Qzy wrote: Sounds like a console-player reviewing a good pc game.
Not sure what do you mean by that. My very first fps ever was doom or wolfenstein. Loved them. Console wise, i like only goldneye just because we had so much fun in multiplayer when we were youngs but didn't manage to finish it solo. After that, i couldn't for the love of god understand why they wanted to release more fps games in consoles... I mean aiming with pad what ? Yeah you got it right, i hated every fps in console since Halo.
Try modify your game with this, it'll make you laugh and up the fun factor.. well it did for me anyway
Can't sorry, i'm deaf hope you enjoyed it more than i did though !
On June 23 2011 21:19 simme123 wrote: Half life isn't that story focused, it's valve's platform to display their new engine and for a game that's main purpose was that to play it 7 years later isn't doing it much justice. It was amazing at the release. However I must say that halflife always has been a bit disturbing to me. Because there's so much more room for story but it's never used ./
Couldn't agree more, this is exactly what i'm feeling right now i think.
On June 23 2011 22:37 garbanzo wrote: That's why there are no cut scenes and levels. If you want to find out what you're supposed to do you have to stop moving and listen to the person talking to you.
Like others have said, it's all about immersion. You have to feel like you've actually just been dropped in the world, like Gordon. You find out what's going on with him.
I promise you, like i said before, i'm not the kind of guy to walk throught the story. I do listen (Not really listen but read captions (aka subtitles)) and still i didn't get any "chills" dunno if you understand what i mean, but i wasn't even remotely thrilled about what would happen next.
On June 23 2011 23:08 potatomash3r wrote: And how can you deny the gravity gun! At the time of its release the gravity gun was one of the best damned things that happened in video games and even now no game (that I've played) has had that kinda innovation.
Agreed, that was indeed a blast. especially when this game came out. I remember i was pretty amazed at this engine for being capable of such things.
But godamnit, the story sucks. Whatever, thank you for your constructive feedbacks though ! Now time to play some zerglings rush 게게게 ♥
On June 23 2011 19:58 QibingZero wrote: Haha, what?
It sounds like you don't get yourself immersed very much, which is a huge mistake when playing a seamless FPS like HL2. To me, all your gripes sound absolutely crazy, and I don't think you would have had them if you allowed yourself to just become Gordon Freeman.
You must channel the mute killing machine!
Go watch the original HL1 speedrun in like 30 minutes. Imagine Gordon pulling those moves off IRL. BECOME THAT MAN IN HL2
If you also werent able to play HL1, I think theyre just not the type of games for you. Really, half life games are more adventure games that happen to be in first person view rather than the typical single player FPS game. Now if only Valve would get around to making episode 3 without pulling a Duke nukem forever on us
I got half way through HL1 and then just didn't finish it, I didn't even play HL2. It just wasn't that interesting to me, I did however enjoy the multi player mods like CS 1.6 and DoD though, thats some good shit.
when half life 1 came out,I thought the ai was one of the cooler bits of game, me and my buddy were like "Oh my god, they are actually talking about us, they're flanking, throwing grendes back at us(was that in this game,maybe mistaken?). Half life 2 was good, but the original half life was an incredible experience..though the ending was kinda weird, it was just awesome.
And the demos they relseased were actually very very good levels, but they never made it in the real game..? dont know why...
Half life 2 episode 2 was my favorite just because the final battle was soo stressful yet felt so rewarding. Episode 1 felt very linear and repetitive and original HL2 had a lot of that as well.
At this point I feel like I can say.... just due to the fact that HL2 wasn't an utter disappointment compared to its predecessor made it worth the money and a good game for me. Many many games have failed on this mission. The fact that I literally completed a single player game is also a testament to how un-boring this game is. If you're playing it now I'd imagine you lose out on a lot of what made it epic at the time because it basically set the standard for modern shooters in terms of physics and the engine. For someone who grew up watching triangle shaped monsters made of pixels disappear in incredibly awkward ways, it was awesome just to play around in what seemed like a real environment at the time.
I can understand why someone would find the game boring now, but if you consider the time it came out and the genre it is, it's basically awesome and shouldn't be reviewed too harshly imo. If you're a game and you set a standard for an entire genre of games, you're not boring or bad, you're as good as it gets. Completely unrelated and maybe naive and ignorant, but It looks to me like BF3 may set a new standard for the genre real soon.
Like others, I found Half Life awesome, with the open spaces contributing to that. I guess it's just how immersed you got in the game. For me, for instance, I got tired of Half-Life 1 having you constantly be in that enclosed facility and nothing else. It felt like the Level 1 that never-ended for me. XD
On June 23 2011 21:47 Enki wrote: I played it last year and got to Ravenholm, got kinda bored so I stopped. Don't know what it is about HL2 but it just gave me bad motion sickness (especially the motorboat parts). Thought Ravenholm was pretty well done, every other enviornment was just really generic and boring though t.t
So I am not the only one who got motion sickness while playing this. I stuck out until the fight against a big antlion in some cellar. Then I had to choose between puking over my keyboard or just quitting the game. -_-
never completed 1 or played the other(s?) , now im watching this lets play of half life 1
bringing back such memories! spent 90% of that game with less than 10 health, glitching out the terrain and having rediculous save states that i couldnt progress from
On June 23 2011 20:17 FataLe wrote: Played HL 2 last year and was blown away. Loved the story, and the game is beautiful, even today. Damn it's deep. Guess we all have differing opinions.
Can I get an Amen? After finishing the game I could see why some called it the BEST GAME EVER.
EPT
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