to answer simply yes this is what I wanted when I made this threadHentMas said:the original Half Life was a success because it introduced several interesting mechanics into gameplay, for instance, a story where you are always in control of your movements, and triggered events that only happened if you were in the right place at the right time, the exploration of the whole facility was amazing because it did looked as thought you were in a ruined facility, and it invited you to explore it without consequence except maybe getting killed because of your oun stupidity, it had one of the most interactive puzzles ever seen in a FPS game and you could breeze past it without noticing anything weird, but it encouraged exploration, for example, you could have passed the whole ordeal without even noticing G-Man around, but if you played it over and over you always discovered new things, that´s what made it shine, the first time i played it i got into the room where you get the suite, and was thrilled by the fact that you could make the MW oven explode and your co-worker would get angry because you ruined his lunch XD, something you could have missed if you wanted, but things like that are what make it a great game, not just your average FPS, it was really amazing to see people around reacting to what you were doing, not just standing there as if you were acting OK when you are jumping up and down in their coffe table and turning off their lightsHamish Durie said:
it was new, it was interesting, it had an intriguing story and a really great delivery, and the new games HL2 and EP1 and 2 had more of the things we all liked in the first one, except now with better graphics and gameplay
that answer enough for you?
Can somebody please explain Why half-life is good
- Thread starter Hamish Durie
- Start date
Not every game is for every person. You just don't find it interesting and that's fine. I wouldn't put too much thought into it.
I believe what most people like about the Half Life games is their stories, in particular the way that they leave you in complete control the whole time. Even while a supporting character is picking the lock on a door, providing exposition or both, you're free to either look at them, run around bunny-hopping or have fun with the physics. Other games that do the same thing well (with good gameplay to boot) include Bioshock and the Call of Duty games, although I can only confirm that Modern Warfare 1's story was good to begin with.
Aside from that, all I can do is agree with the guy above. Not everyone in existence likes every game in existence, or at least, every game they pick up. I don't really like WRPGs in general, but I can see why some people like Dragon Age over Dragon Warrior.
Aside from that, all I can do is agree with the guy above. Not everyone in existence likes every game in existence, or at least, every game they pick up. I don't really like WRPGs in general, but I can see why some people like Dragon Age over Dragon Warrior.
Amen. Sure, the AI and physics from the first one is dated, and there's some suspiciously convenient air ducts here and there, but the game wouldn't be fun if you got stuck unavoidably.sergnb said:
That said, the actual combat in both games is somewhat lacking when you're put up against human enemies with guns. Zombies, Antlions, Striders, whatever are great to fight, but the human enemies sort of seem like a letdown in comparison.
I liked the story, the puzzles and the headcrabs. And I only just started and finished it and Episode 1 and 2 in the last month.
Besides, I don't really care whether you liked it or not. Good for you.
Besides, I don't really care whether you liked it or not. Good for you.
It's just not your type of game then. People who like it (me) enjoyed it because of the great story, atmosphere and characters. Not the gameplay.
IMO, it WAS good, back in 2006 or whenever HL2 was released. since then, games like bioshock, fallout 3, even (can't believe im saying this COD) have come along and bettered it in every way. half life 3 has a lot to prove.
daemon37 said:
Please would people stop using this as an excuse. There are plenty of games as old or older than Half-life 2 and even Half-life that I loved then and love now. I would gladly replay Deus Ex, KOTOR, early Final Fantasies, hell even Duckhunt. I was there for the release of Half-life. I was there for the release of Half-life 2. I don't like Half-life. some people just don't like some games, end.Baby Tea said:
This. I play it often now and I still think it's awesome.daemon37 said:
HOWEVER, daemon37, I buy 7 year old games all the time, usually older. It's only games that old that run on my netbook. I just bought Civ 3 for it on Steam, released in 1999.
halo was better. seriously, i dont care about that ai in that video, it never felt like the ai was that good. Prehaps they were simply restricted by the enviroments. After the fluid movement of halo half life 2 felt stiff and unwieldy.
I have this exact problem with the original Deus Ex. For some reason it passed my by and I just never got around to it. When I decided to finally give it a look with the new game coming out, I could barely stand playing it for 10 minutes! It just seemed old and outdated, and I do not mean graphics-wise. People who are on their tenth playthrough will tell you that it still stands up even today, and they probably do see it like that, but I had no nostalgia value going in and felt nothing even though I tried to like it.
On the other hand I have played through the original half-life maybe a dozen times, and each new playthough seems as fresh as the first, heady experience over a decade ago.
This is of course by no means a universal rule. I myself am far more forgiving when it comes to trying old 2D games, and some games just don't hold up over time no matter how good you thought they were when they were released.
On the other hand I have played through the original half-life maybe a dozen times, and each new playthough seems as fresh as the first, heady experience over a decade ago.
This is of course by no means a universal rule. I myself am far more forgiving when it comes to trying old 2D games, and some games just don't hold up over time no matter how good you thought they were when they were released.
i only played both games this year around january (because fuck are valve fanboys anoying) but both games were excellent.
i think it was because it showed me there are people out there who put thought into their games, alot of thought. i'd just had the last shreds of my halo love severely beat out of me and was seriously thinking of turning my back on a medium i saw content to stagnate in complacency. So Half life convinced me people who create games care about what they do, and the comentary made me want to make games which eventually led me here.
i think wether you like it or not you can't deny a great deal of technical and artistic thought was put into these games.
i think it was because it showed me there are people out there who put thought into their games, alot of thought. i'd just had the last shreds of my halo love severely beat out of me and was seriously thinking of turning my back on a medium i saw content to stagnate in complacency. So Half life convinced me people who create games care about what they do, and the comentary made me want to make games which eventually led me here.
i think wether you like it or not you can't deny a great deal of technical and artistic thought was put into these games.
It really isn't all that, and in my opinion it hasn't aged well. Most shooters don't, because games that age well are those that are very story-centric. You can cling to the Half-Life story, and get something out of it, but you'll be wanting something more halfway through, and probably end up playing something far more engaging, or current.
As someone who didn't play HL2 until well after EP2 was out: it's pretty decent.
I remember the original being put in with the rest of the "Old Single Player FPS" category, just before the onslaught of Multiplayer titles completely took over (later to be replaced by Halo an its clones).
I liked the little caches of goodies stashed away in some odd places, and the combat scenarios range from "meh, aim for the head" to amusing (dragging hacked turrets around a level for instance).
The story and characters had a bit more depth to them than your prototypical "I'm badass with a curious resistance to bullets" character. I still find them to be over-glorified, but not bad in their own right.
The industry had so many shallow, terrible and/or unrelatable characters in most shooters at the time that anyone who put the slightest bit of effort into making them real was going to look amazing in comparison. The runners up at the time were Samus Aran (Metroid Prime's "text-backstory") and Master Chief (a character who completely defined "Generic Shooter Badass").
Which isn't to say Gordon Freeman was any better than them, but the company he kept sure was.
I remember the original being put in with the rest of the "Old Single Player FPS" category, just before the onslaught of Multiplayer titles completely took over (later to be replaced by Halo an its clones).
I liked the little caches of goodies stashed away in some odd places, and the combat scenarios range from "meh, aim for the head" to amusing (dragging hacked turrets around a level for instance).
The story and characters had a bit more depth to them than your prototypical "I'm badass with a curious resistance to bullets" character. I still find them to be over-glorified, but not bad in their own right.
The industry had so many shallow, terrible and/or unrelatable characters in most shooters at the time that anyone who put the slightest bit of effort into making them real was going to look amazing in comparison. The runners up at the time were Samus Aran (Metroid Prime's "text-backstory") and Master Chief (a character who completely defined "Generic Shooter Badass").
Which isn't to say Gordon Freeman was any better than them, but the company he kept sure was.
Half life 1 or 2? The first one is somewhat generic of the time period and pretty much consists of killing shit and jumping around as to reach the next level. Half life 2 was better because of the amount of character they put into it. There are also puzzles but most of them were easy. The story is a little bit drawn out and hard to grasp.
Confession time for me. I loved the original. When I finally did get around to play HL2 a few years back, I wasn't that impressed.
Graphically I couldn't fault it. I've played worse.
But the story, and the way Valve tells that story in their non-cutscene cutscenes really drew me out a bit.
I think somewhere between HL1 and playing HL2 I got tired of the silent protagonist. Its a design decision where "the player" can sort of impress themselves onto the main character. I never felt like Gordon was a character. I just felt like he was a hovering camera with an arm attachment. I think it was for this reason that my enjoyment suffered. Simply, I couldn't "relate" to Gordon, and subsequently, anything in the game had less emotional impact.
Graphically I couldn't fault it. I've played worse.
But the story, and the way Valve tells that story in their non-cutscene cutscenes really drew me out a bit.
I think somewhere between HL1 and playing HL2 I got tired of the silent protagonist. Its a design decision where "the player" can sort of impress themselves onto the main character. I never felt like Gordon was a character. I just felt like he was a hovering camera with an arm attachment. I think it was for this reason that my enjoyment suffered. Simply, I couldn't "relate" to Gordon, and subsequently, anything in the game had less emotional impact.
TF2 is the best game on Orange Box IMO (Provided you play it on PC where it gets support)
I never really liked half life. I didn't even find the story all that impressive, honestly. Oh well. I didn't really like KotoR that much either. Or Shadow of the Colossus. Or Portal. So apparently I'm not even a gamer.
(In Order: KotoR had a fantastic story but it was too slow and combat was too repetitive,
The exploration in Shadow was too empty. There was a big huge world and all I wanted to do was get to the next giant monster fight. The fights were, however, quite fantastic.
Portal was just too short, honestly. Love Portal two, because it fixed that, but honestly Portal 1 never really got challenging.)
I never really liked half life. I didn't even find the story all that impressive, honestly. Oh well. I didn't really like KotoR that much either. Or Shadow of the Colossus. Or Portal. So apparently I'm not even a gamer.
(In Order: KotoR had a fantastic story but it was too slow and combat was too repetitive,
The exploration in Shadow was too empty. There was a big huge world and all I wanted to do was get to the next giant monster fight. The fights were, however, quite fantastic.
Portal was just too short, honestly. Love Portal two, because it fixed that, but honestly Portal 1 never really got challenging.)