Half-Life 2 love

[Furioso]

What's the deal with the degree of love directed towards half life 2?

Ahem...

1. Story
Utterly immersive world, with an emotionally engaging story told throught he environment rather than cutscenes.

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

2. Physics

It was a pioneer in the physics department, something it is easyto take for granted in today's world of environmental destruction and big bada booms.

3. Journey

The game took the player on a fantastic, long, satisfying journey that kept changing and making things interesting with new mechanics.

4. Context

You really feel a part of the world in HL2. It was the first game I played where I cared about the characters, even my AI squadmates. I wanted to save the world for them, not just shoot stuff.

5. Alyx

Still the best friendly AI in any game, ever. Sheva can go suck a zombie tongue.

6. The interactive nature of everything

You were never taken out of first person view. Total immersion.

The trip up the citadel in the pod remains a stunning piece of interactive art.

That enough for you?

While all of that is true and concise the replies to this thread have been rather pointless for you see, sting is glowing.

Thats why I felt the thread needed some actual input that made sense.

'Sting is glowing?'

Not to be rude, but in the name of Glados are you on about?

I too would like to know what the sting is glowing thing meant

 

[Fists]

What's the deal with the degree of love directed towards half life 2?

Ahem...

1. Story
Utterly immersive world, with an emotionally engaging story told throught he environment rather than cutscenes.

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

2. Physics

It was a pioneer in the physics department, something it is easyto take for granted in today's world of environmental destruction and big bada booms.

3. Journey

The game took the player on a fantastic, long, satisfying journey that kept changing and making things interesting with new mechanics.

4. Context

You really feel a part of the world in HL2. It was the first game I played where I cared about the characters, even my AI squadmates. I wanted to save the world for them, not just shoot stuff.

5. Alyx

Still the best friendly AI in any game, ever. Sheva can go suck a zombie tongue.

6. The interactive nature of everything

You were never taken out of first person view. Total immersion.

The trip up the citadel in the pod remains a stunning piece of interactive art.

That enough for you?

While all of that is true and concise the replies to this thread have been rather pointless for you see, sting is glowing.

Thats why I felt the thread needed some actual input that made sense.

'Sting is glowing?'

Not to be rude, but in the name of Glados are you on about?

I too would like to know what the sting is glowing thing meant

It was a refference to lord of the rings, admittedly a contrived one. to put it shortly I was calling troll. The longer version, Frodo's sword, Sting, glows when orcs are near, orcs use cave trolls.

 

[e2density]

Play the first game. Then play all it's expansions. Then play the second game. And play all of it's expansions. It has a VERY deep storyline. It is one of those things you need to play the whole series to understand.

It's also one of those games where it's like your playing a legacy. If not for Half Life, we probably wouldn't have many games like Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike, Portal, etc.

It's like Doom, every FPS player has to pay his respects to it. And today's little kiddies playing MW2 have never even heard of Quake It's sad really.

 

[Good morning blues]

The reason people like Half-Life 2 so much is because it's such a fantastically crafted experience. It's perfectly paced, and keeps you excited and interested the whole time. It does everything very, very well, and pretty much flawlessly ensures that you're having a good time for every second that you're playing.

Oh, but wait. You can't see your feet. You're right, it must be shit.

 

[ribonuge]

It's because it did everything right.

 

[Reep]

Perfect, this saves me making a new thread about it.

People of the grand nation of The Escapist, ive been thikning about getting Half Life and im wondering, which parts should i get to have general grasp of the story while still not getting everything attached to Half Life. Theres a deal on Steam which has everything and if i get it, i can guarantee i wont play all of it, Eg; Tf Classic, Half Life deathmatch.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[PumpkinSeeds]

Perfect, this saves me making a new thread about it.

People of the grand nation of The Escapist, ive been thikning about getting Half Life and im wondering, which parts should i get to have general grasp of the story while still not getting everything attached to Half Life. Theres a deal on Steam which has everything and if i get it, i can guarantee i wont play all of it, Eg; Tf Classic, Half Life deathmatch.

Any help would be appreciated

I don't think you really need much more than The Orange Box, as Half Life and Half Life: Opposing Force are getting remade as mods using the current Source engine.

However this is just my opinion.

 

[Darktau]

Half life 2 is just... fun. I play crysis, far cry 2, call of duty etc. But half life just has characters I like, a useful AI companion, nice scenery and a good story, It just sort of gripped me. (I got it not long back, and found it to by far exceed some of the current gen games.)

 

[atol]

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

I don't care how you put it, the story is vague. It's meant to be vague, as Gordon has little idea of what's going on and is generally too distracted with saving everyone, but it's still vague.

 

[AlphaOmega]

Half Life (2) is more than a sum of its parts, Its a landmark in FPS gaming and if it clicks with you its an amazing experience.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

I don't care how you put it, the story is vague. It's meant to be vague, as Gordon has little idea of what's going on and is generally too distracted with saving everyone, but it's still vague.

It's really not.

Gordon was working in a science institute called Black Mesa. They fucked up and opened a portal through space, allowing hostile species- the combine, onto Earth.

He travels to Xen, the alien world, and rips shit up. At the end he is taken by G-Man, who is admittedly (intentionally) a vague character. G-man puts gordon into stasis, taking him off Xen in return he makes Gordon his 'employee'.

Gordon wakes up on a train to city 17, G-man tells him it's time to get to work, and events unfold from there.

 

[HTID Raver]

i think it has a pretty good stoy in comparison to all of these new FPSs flooding our market.

 

[Zing]

I recently played it through and episode 1, story-wise it lacks I think, its pretty thin and the game got boring in parts, but the engine and graphics were and still are pretty amazing, I think that's where most of it's praise is from, messing with the physics to solve puzzles is so much fun.

I anxiously await Episode 3 and one day hopefully Half-Life 3.

 

[TelHybrid]

You're asking us why you should change your opinion.

If you don't like it that's your prerogative. I personally loved it but I don't work for Valve so I'm not exactly going to make any money from marketing the game to you.

 

[Coaxill]

What's the deal with the degree of love directed towards half life 2?

Ahem...

1. Story
Utterly immersive world, with an emotionally engaging story told throught he environment rather than cutscenes.

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

2. Physics

It was a pioneer in the physics department, something it is easyto take for granted in today's world of environmental destruction and big bada booms.

3. Journey

The game took the player on a fantastic, long, satisfying journey that kept changing and making things interesting with new mechanics.

4. Context

You really feel a part of the world in HL2. It was the first game I played where I cared about the characters, even my AI squadmates. I wanted to save the world for them, not just shoot stuff.

5. Alyx

Still the best friendly AI in any game, ever. Sheva can go suck a zombie tongue.

6. The interactive nature of everything

You were never taken out of first person view. Total immersion.

The trip up the citadel in the pod remains a stunning piece of interactive art.

That enough for you?

While all of that is true and concise the replies to this thread have been rather pointless for you see, sting is glowing.

Good enough for me. I have to admit, messing with the physics was allot of fun. Also there weren't any game braking glitches.

 

[Coaxill]

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

I don't care how you put it, the story is vague. It's meant to be vague, as Gordon has little idea of what's going on and is generally too distracted with saving everyone, but it's still vague.

It's really not.

Gordon was working in a science institute called Black Mesa. They fucked up and opened a portal through space, allowing hostile species- the combine, onto Earth.

He travels to Xen, the alien world, and rips shit up. At the end he is taken by G-Man, who is admittedly (intentionally) a vague character. G-man puts gordon into stasis, taking him off Xen in return he makes Gordon his 'employee'.

Gordon wakes up on a train to city 17, G-man tells him it's time to get to work, and events unfold from there.

The combine are suppose to be mysterious and all, but they don't even really talk about the basic things like when they came and why they didn't just destroy everything we had and rebuild it in alien fashion.
EDIT: This may be ignorant as I sound like I expect a game to tell me all about itself but no one really tells you anything throughout the entire game. I liked it, but I cant help but wonder if anyone HATES it. I don't think such a creature can exist. I'm harsh on every game I ever played and I still enjoyed myself.

 

[dommyuk]

What's the deal with the degree of love directed towards half life 2?

Ahem...

1. Story
Utterly immersive world, with an emotionally engaging story told throught he environment rather than cutscenes.

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

2. Physics

It was a pioneer in the physics department, something it is easyto take for granted in today's world of environmental destruction and big bada booms.

3. Journey

The game took the player on a fantastic, long, satisfying journey that kept changing and making things interesting with new mechanics.

4. Context

You really feel a part of the world in HL2. It was the first game I played where I cared about the characters, even my AI squadmates. I wanted to save the world for them, not just shoot stuff.

5. Alyx

Still the best friendly AI in any game, ever. Sheva can go suck a zombie tongue.

6. The interactive nature of everything

You were never taken out of first person view. Total immersion.

The trip up the citadel in the pod remains a stunning piece of interactive art.

That enough for you?

I agree with all of that, but you failed to mention the immersive and emotional soundtrack, which I feel was one of the best parts of it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

The combine are suppose to be mysterious and all, but they don't even really talk about the basic things like when they came and why they didn't just destroy everything we had and rebuild it in alien fashion.
EDIT: This may be ignorant as I sound like I expect a game to tell me all about itself but no one really tells you anything throughout the entire game. I liked it, but I cant help but wonder if anyone HATES it. I don't think such a creature can exist. I'm harsh on every game I ever played and I still enjoyed myself.

OK I see where you're coming from but for me it was all there in the details...

DR Breen's speeches over the televisions and airwaves, the newspaper clippings in the science lab, Eli's little monologues, the citizens of city 17 and thier banter...

That's what I mean about the story, to understand it you gotta not rush through like a normal shooter but stop and explore, take eveything in.

 

[Coaxill]

The combine are suppose to be mysterious and all, but they don't even really talk about the basic things like when they came and why they didn't just destroy everything we had and rebuild it in alien fashion.
EDIT: This may be ignorant as I sound like I expect a game to tell me all about itself but no one really tells you anything throughout the entire game. I liked it, but I cant help but wonder if anyone HATES it. I don't think such a creature can exist. I'm harsh on every game I ever played and I still enjoyed myself.

OK I see where you're coming from but for me it was all there in the details...

DR Breen's speeches over the televisions and airwaves, the newspaper clippings in the science lab, Eli's little monologues, the citizens of city 17 and thier banter...

That's what I mean about the story, to understand it you gotta not rush through like a normal shooter but stop and explore, take eveything in.

I remember I listened to Breen for over an hour before the tv turned off.

 

[atol]

If you found the story vague, you either weren't paying enough attention to your surroundings, or you're just a bit slow.

I don't care how you put it, the story is vague. It's meant to be vague, as Gordon has little idea of what's going on and is generally too distracted with saving everyone, but it's still vague.

It's really not.

Gordon was working in a science institute called Black Mesa. They fucked up and opened a portal through space, allowing hostile species- the combine, onto Earth.

He travels to Xen, the alien world, and rips shit up. At the end he is taken by G-Man, who is admittedly (intentionally) a vague character. G-man puts gordon into stasis, taking him off Xen in return he makes Gordon his 'employee'.

Gordon wakes up on a train to city 17, G-man tells him it's time to get to work, and events unfold from there.

Yeah, figured you'd bite. I know all about HL's story, and thus all about what it isn't. You can narrate the events of the games to me and say it's not vague, but I can ask hundreds of major plot related questions that couldn't be answered (at least not without out-of-game sources). For instance, do you even know why Gordon went to Xen to "rip shit up?"
There's definitely a story unraveling, but it's never at any point clearly expressed. Wait, I think there's a word for that. Oh yeah, vague. You have to put the pieces together, but it far from completes the puzzle.