Can someone please tell me why Half-Life 2 has such appeal?

[Corpse XxX]

I had my first play and run through of Half life 2, just a week ago.

Even considering todays grahpics and such, i really enjoyed it.. enemies are varied, some fast and scary, some slow and funny.

The gravity gun made for many fun times, getting creative in manners of killing enemies.

Luring enemies into killing each other was also very funny..

Matching up to many of todays shooter, this kept my interest better than most of em.

 

[Undercover]

Half Life's graphics seem "dated"? Um, you DO realize that HL is 13 years old, right? Talk about asinine...

Why are we talking about this again?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Fun, engaging, well-paced, good effects, well-written. I don't think there's anything else I can say?

I'm sure there's some people who'll want to crucify Valve, but they'll do that anyway. If you like it, play it. If you don't, don't. If you haven't tried it, I'd suggest at least trying it.

 

[The Bucket]

I am not a big fan of the Half-Life series and I think this is mostly because I played Half-Life 1 way too late. I also hate jumping puzzles in FPSs. The fact that Half-Life 1 had jumping puzzles and was dated looking made me uninterested. However, I did play Half-Life 2 fairly close to its release day and want to ask this question: What's the lasting appeal of this game? As a shooter it's alright, but to me the dicking around while not shooting ruins it. Not that I need guns blazing 24/7, I really enjoyed Amnesia for example, but I just don't get why people are so excited for Episode 3 when Episode 0 left me no reason to keep following the story.

If anyone can tell me what they liked about it that made it different from other games of the genre, then please let me know. Likewise, if you just love Valve that's a fair answer too.

i agree with you. its overhyped to the max. i love the characters but the gameplay... well after killing the same enemy in the same way for the thousandth time after doing the same physics puzzle with the seesaw and boxes id had enough.

I've really never liked the term "overhyped", it implies that a bunch of people are confused about how much they like something. You kill most things in shooters in similar ways, and a lot of people think the box puzzles break things up nicely. Isnt it more likely that people like different things, instead of its popularity being the work of some Valva Fanboy Shadow Group.

 

[oplinger]

I liked it for various already mentioned reasons.

But mostly, I liked it because of the story. It may not have been the deepest story ever, but it was told well for a game. It would have made a terrible movie, an even worse book. But as a game? It had great build-up, multiple plot shifts, and most of all, the problems faced were somewhat reasonable (I know you people take reasonable to mean "it can happen irl" but that's definitely not what it means.)

Combined, it made for a great gaming experience.

 

[Xanadu84]

For its time, it was absolutely outstanding, but the question is likely what makes it hold up. This is harder to nail down. Essentially, what it is is polished. Everything that it does, everything that it tries to do, is done just right. You may not like the dicking around, but it is developing pacing and atmosphere. Perhaps that kind of pacing and atmosphere is not your cup of tea, but Half Life is doing it near perfectly. If you hate Liver, and the best chef in the world cooks you liver, you're still not going to like it just because it is well prepared.

Also, name a game that gives you more free games in the form of Mods. Don't look too hard, cause you probably won't find it.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Oh, go away. This thread does not deserve to be made again. If you don't like it, that's your prerogative. People liked it so much because implementing a physics engine was a revolutionary idea at the time and the gameplay was functional. It has definitely aged, but for the love of god, find a new outlet for your scorn.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

For the same reason Halo has such appeal. Because they're both carefully crafted FPS games, and they both give very compelling single player experiences. Good pacing, good design, good set pieces. People think that all you have to do to make a game good is throw some creativity in and hope for the best. There's more to a game being good than whether you can immediately find some point that significantly differentiates it from its rivals.

I say this while exploring the developer commentary in Episode 1. People seem determined to ignore good craftsmanship so that they can sneer about things being generic.

TL, DR:

Fun, engaging, well-paced, good effects, well-written. I don't think there's anything else I can say?

I basically agree with this guy.

 

[superbatranger]

I don't find it to be the Holy Grail, but it's still fun.

 

[meece]

I had major issues with some of the puzzle sections first time round. But after the initial learning curve and needing a walkthrough I ended up really liking the game and not needing them.

It's not stupidly over the top like a lot of FPS games out there. It's subtle as opposed to in your face. I can't stand the single player in games like Halo but HL.... that got to me.

 

[warm slurm]

It's pretty good, and Valve are gods among men to a lot of PC gamers, so I guess that helps.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

These types of threads show up a lot it seems.

Half-Life 2 has a very deep story, and one that's not simply laid out in front of you. You want to know what's going on, you have to look around and listen. You ask why people love it. If you have to ask, you will never understand. I ask you a question: How can you not want to find out what happens after the way Half-Life 2--and its following episodes--ended? Just as you don't understand why it's so popular, I cannot fathom how anyone can simply walk away from a cliff hanger like that. Does not compute.

 

[The Red Spy]

I didn't play Half Life, but still found Half Life 2 to be one of the better experiences I've had with this medium. Its fascinating story was made whole by great characters, interesting settings, a fascinating story and not to mention a great community.
Not that other games on the market don't do any of these equally as good, if not better, but overall it ticked so many boxes and left me wanting more of the same, which was answered with sequels that somehow suprized me with how they continued to improve time after time.
My only qualms were sections I felt went on for too long (Those of you who remember the boating section near the beginning might testify to this), but alone were not enough to make me question the overall appeal of the game.
Don't forget that this game (and it's engine more importantly), was open to modding as it was with its predecessor, which the community soon capitalised on this new toolset with things like Gary's Mod. With the release of the Orange Box, you may find people linking TF2 and Portal back to Half Life.

 

[Bludge]

Its strange, i really didnt like half-life 2 when i first played it. i i got it years back purely for CSS, and when i played half-life 2, i found it intensely boring. i finished it, but really didnt enjoy it.

Then i went back a year or so later and played it again, and for some reason absolutely loved every second of it. I cant really explain why, but to this day i think it and the expansions are some of the best games that have ever been made.

I think its more to do with the charactarisation and the storytelling rather then the gameplay.

 

[Netrigan]

Thing that HL2 does extremely well is mix up the action. Don't think I've encountered a FPS that varied things up as well. It was also the first game that really nailed in-game facial expressions, something a lot of games today completely fail to do. Inventive, diverse, good characters... all of which disguises that there's no real plot, just a collection of plot complications.

 

[Chased]

It's made by Valve so any argument get's ripped to fucking shreds by their fanboys. I personally played Half-Life 2, didn't finish it and I really didn't want to. I really couldn't give a rats-ass if Half-Life 3 comes out.

Pretty much this, I stopped at Follow Freeman. I liked the gravity gun but found the game to be not enjoyable. Except for Metroid Prime 1 I haven't found an FPS game with puzzels I actually wanted to do.

 

[dakorok]

Half Life's graphics seem "dated"? Um, you DO realize that HL is 13 years old, right? Talk about asinine...

Why are we talking about this again?

I agree with this. This discussion comes around at least twice a month, and the result is basically this: The people who like it will like it, and those who hate it hate it. It's just that simple.

Also, a lot of people have said that the "Fanboys" of the game ignore any criticism of the game. However, they fail to realize that they, as "Haters" (for lack of a better term), ignore any praise for the game.
Seriously, people. If you're going to debate, you need to be a bit more open minded.

 

[stefman]

I am not a big fan of the Half-Life series and I think this is mostly because I played Half-Life 1 way too late. I also hate jumping puzzles in FPSs. The fact that Half-Life 1 had jumping puzzles and was dated looking made me uninterested. However, I did play Half-Life 2 fairly close to its release day and want to ask this question: What's the lasting appeal of this game? As a shooter it's alright, but to me the dicking around while not shooting ruins it. Not that I need guns blazing 24/7, I really enjoyed Amnesia for example, but I just don't get why people are so excited for Episode 3 when Episode 0 left me no reason to keep following the story.

If anyone can tell me what they liked about it that made it different from other games of the genre, then please let me know. Likewise, if you just love Valve that's a fair answer too.

i agree with you. its overhyped to the max. i love the characters but the gameplay... well after killing the same enemy in the same way for the thousandth time after doing the same physics puzzle with the seesaw and boxes id had enough.

I've really never liked the term "overhyped", it implies that a bunch of people are confused about how much they like something. You kill most things in shooters in similar ways, and a lot of people think the box puzzles break things up nicely. Isnt it more likely that people like different things, instead of its popularity being the work of some Valva Fanboy Shadow Group.

allow me to rebuttle your point with "apparently they're yugi-licious"

 

[deathbydeath]

the guns are fun to use, the design is great, the juxtaposition of platforming/combat/driving/enviromental puzzle ensures that you won't get bored quickly, and the character motions are very lifelike (even though it nails the uncanny valley occasionally)

 

[Manchubot]

I never really understood any of valves games. I bought half life 2 back when it came with that, half life 1, counter strike, and a free download of day of defeat source when it came out almost a year later. Then again half life 1 and 2 (and later portal) gave me seisures which is odd since no other game has done that to me so I generally just stay away from Valve games period.