Half Life 2, why?

[GoddyofAus]

Do not pin the blame for your ADD and general lack of intelligence on a perfectly good game. What sort of a moron plays a sequel without having played the first game? It's old, fine, but if you're wanting to find out what all the fuss is about, suck it up and look past the shitty graphics, and you'll find one of the most comprehensive and fascinating stories left in the gaming industry, ESPECIALLY for a shooter.

 

[Coldster]

Played it for the first time last year on the Orange Box on Xbox 360. I thought it was awesome, even better than most (if not all) the other games that came out in 2010. I also liked episode 1 and 2 just as much.

 

[Grospoliner]

Troll is as troll does

 

[kasperbbs]

So you didn`t like a game, get over it. I personally loved it when it first came out and my friend is playing it for the 10th time probably, he still enjoys throwing cans at that douche of a guard at the beginning. I wonder if i should make a thread because i didn`t like 'Darksiders'..

 

[Radoh]

Hooray another Half Life 2 thread. I suppose what with the virulent pony threads subsiding we needed to replace it with something, but why oh why is there never anyone who knows how to use the Search bar?

 

[xPixelatedx]

Yeah as someone who enjoyed Half Life 1 quite a bit, I can say I didn't like #2 much either. Aside form the first meeting with the black head craps, there wasn't a single intense moment in that game for me. I think one of the things that made it so boring is half the game is just driving (insert vehicle here) over long stretches of nothingness. Also, instead of cool aliens most the time you are just fighting guys in masks. Yawn.

Episode 1 and 2 were much better though.

 

[Beryl77]

The only thing that threads like this achieve are flame wars. Alright, Half-Life 2 is quite popular on this site but I don't understand why people have to make a thread about it and tell everyone that they don't like it. There are several games that are considered good and I don't like them but I don't see the point in telling everyone that.

Anyway, I'll still contribute to the topic but I'll only quote myself from a different thread, that is only on the second page on the forum.

Spoiler

You just stripped the story and the characters down to the raw frame, I could do that to any game out there and then it would sound boring or stupid as well.
Part of why many people don't often get the story, is because in most games, they just tell you everything and you don't have to think about the story but in hl2 you have to draw your own conclusions. There happens something and the game doesn't exactly tell you what/why/how etc. You have to think about it yourself and then come up with an answer that makes sense.

The narrative is just different than in most other games. A big part of the story is told through the environment. Let's take for example, the chapter "Highway 17". You drive along the coast and look at the "beautiful" scenery but what you see there is strange, a lot of stranded ships and landing stages far above the sea level. It shows that the sea level has sunk quite a lot in a very short amount of time. Thanks to that you can come to the conclusion that the Combine destroy our environment and need a lot of water, for whatever it is that they're doing (some even say that it's a warning from Valve, to look more after our environment or something like this will happen). Many don't really think about it or barely even notice it and just drive past it.
Another example from "Highway 17". A house is standing beside the road. The game lets you choose, you can just drive and leave it behind you, or you stop the car and go inside it. The house looks deserted, the windows are boarded and the front door doesn't open. On the wall there is a skull sprayed. This shows that the people try to tell others that the house is dangerous and no one should go inside, it's "infested". Upon entering, you get attacked by zombies and after getting rid of them, you look around. You see beds, cupboards, pans and other thing. Now you start to wonder, who lived here, what happened to them? Was it a family, or an outpost of the resistance? It's a perfect example of the cruel way, the Combine use to get rid of people from places, where they don't want them to be. They just shoot the headcrabs inside and then leave the rest to them. Now you're left to wonder, how many people made it out in time, if any at all.

Let's take something much more subtle and insignificant but something that I really like about the narrative. Right before you encounter the Manhacks for the first time in the sewers, you meet a man in an outpost from the resistance and then you two get attacked by the Manhacks. After fending them off, you go on and that man stays back. Shortly after that, you meet again some Manhacks. Now, after destroying every single one of them, most people move on because there is no reason to turn back. But if you do head back to that room with the rebel, a Manhack attacks you, even though you destroyed them all. It must have come through the way which you first entered the room from. Now again after blowing up the Manhack, when you look down, you see the poor guy lying dead on the ground. Most people easily overlook this and who could blame them, the game doesn't give any reason to go back to this room. But just because of that I love this scene. It just shows that you and your immediate surroundings aren't the only thing in the world, things continue to happen even if you don't witness them, they happen almost simultaneously with your actions and the game doesn't tell you at all that this occurred. It just goes unnoticed unless someone tells you about it, or you go back for no reason.

All this, combined with the personality of Gordon Freeman (won't talk about that now), leads to something else that's really good about Half-Life 2. The game is very personal. Everything that happens there, everything that you experience, is your own experience. No one else has it. Only you played the game that way and thought and looked at things that certain way.

I could now go on and on, about the atmosphere, the immersion, the characters, I could write another post with this length about the G-Man alone but I won't. I don't want to force you to like the game. I just tried to show you why I love it so much and why it got so much praise.
I think part of the problem is, that it has been praised so much, that a lot of people expect something entirely different, something like Mass Effect (not that I wish to imply that Mass Effect's Story isn't good) but then they play it for the first time and get disappointed because it wasn't what they had thought it would be.
Of course it's entirely possible that Half-Life 2's style is just not your cup of tea. There doesn't exist something that everyone likes.

 

[Harmondale2]

You can't complain about not understanding some things in a sequel if you didn't play the first one, I have a friend who played portal 2 but wasn't bothered to play portal 1 first, now hes bitching to me about not understanding the ending, and companion cube and blah blah blah, I just told him to shut up and play the first one if he really wants to know. its not complicated

 

[hyker]

There is no talking, no story, it keeps swapping between dull shooting and a zombie game.

umm, actually yes there is a story and quite a tedious amount of blabbing

why Gordon is doing all this stuff?

you weren't paying attention, everything he does is said beforehand

looking at it, I still don't understand why I played it so much (completed it 3 times on normal and 2 times on hard),maybe it's how it elevated from being searched for in the streets to battling giant striders in the main citadel, but I see your point, it's nearly not as great as its reputation and what people say about it, it's pretty utdated and it's nearly not as new as it was back then

 

[WorldCritic]

If you liked it, congratulations, you're part of a large group.
If you didn't like it, congratulations, you're part of another large, but somewhat less large group.

You can like or dislike a game and people will be ok with that, I'm just a little curious though as to why a thread has to come up about it.

 

[coheedswicked]

So the question is, did you like it? And why?

So in response to the actual question being asked, yes I liked it. In fact, it is by far my favorite series. I played the original when it first came out and loved it; it had a flow to it, it told the story through the player's eyes, the mystery unfolded for the character as well as the player. Half-Life 2 (which I also played when it first came out) continued this feel to stay true to the series (and also its just valve's thing, notice there aren't really any cutscenes in portal either, valve feels it detracts from the story by not letting the player experience it for themselves).TBH everyone was confused by the story of HL2, the only things that you would know from playing the first is that the aliens are there from the aftermath of your experiment, and the characters (except alyx) vaguely resemble the scientists and security guards you encountered in the first game. But this was part of the experience of the game getting to actually know the characters you had seen in the first game.

As far as should you continue... if you really don't like the combat at all... I would say no. But I think that the game drastically improves immediately after nova prospekt as the action and tension build to an incredible climax... and while some questions will be answered about the story, more won't be. But thats why people like it. The mystery, seeing what little bits of information they can peice into the big picture with each installment of the series.

 

[Trogdor1138]

Christ, the forum has gone way fucking downhill recently, this thread has popped up several times recently and offers nothing the other ones did. Did we get a sudden influx of idiots register recently?

Maybe people liked the game? I know it's hard to believe, but really, this is the reason.

 

[Kyle Roberts]

I really enjoyed it they didn't attemp to sell out like Hmm i don't know bioshock, call of duty ect...
Its different to most other games since it doesn't jump into the action right away its a while before you get a gun anyway while on games like call of duty your blowing up buildings right away and it stays that way.
It requires the right approach to the game if your a hard-core Gamer who can't go 18 seconds without ending a young promising life then its not your style if your NOT a deranged moron and enjoy games where you get straight to it then again its not your game if you allow immersion,pacing and great story telling then its your game.
ive lost my train of thought and went into a review and can't be bothered edit it to a normal post You get what i mean.

Plus you could always play portal.

 

[Littaly]

Why do we have to go through this discussion every week? Somebody buys Half Life 2, is either underwhelmed by it or hates it, goes on the Internet and sees all the praise it's getting, instantly thinks they're special and creates a thread to call for attention. No offense mate, I understand where you're coming from, I feel the same way about a lot of games, but this is a really worn out topic.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I didn't really care for Half-Life 1 and I never finished it. Half-Life 2 was the bomb, though. Loved that game, riding around on the hovercraft, shooting headcrabs. I didn't fully understand what was going on, but I sure thought it was neato. Then again, I was playing Half-Life 1 on the 3/4 finished and buggy Dreamcast version. Could really use an HD remake.

 

[Zantos]

I was told Half-Life 2 was amazing because it was a classic FPS game that had managed to use plot and characterization to far remove itself for the rest of the genre (word for word quote).

It was a decent game, but I'm not quite sure how a silent protagonist running around in a suit of power armour and going around from place to place shooting aliens, humans and zombies with a selection of fairly common weapons is really that far from the FPS I usually play.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

There's two important things to keep in mind about Half-Life 2 (and often Valve games in general):

1. HL2 is dated in many regards and while it has been a pioneer, now many things have been copied and formed a new standard, but we can still look back at a classic that paved the way, just like classic literature. There are still a lot of things HL2 does "right" for many people that contemporary games fail to achieve, but you still have to keep in mind what it means to be a very influential series.

2. Story is told by the world and you have to actively explore, interpret and think, not read text or listen to dialogue. It's one of Valve's most characteristic game recipes and a major reason why many people enjoy playing their SP games.
If my describing of this storytelling technique is too vague, try diving into the Developer's Commentary. I remember Left 4 Dead had a commentary node giving a pretty direct example, somewhere in the first third of No Mercy if I'm not mistaken.

Also, people love the Gravity Gun and the characters, but that's even more subjective than the points I've made already, so I won't hold them up as central arguments. But the Gravity Gun is certainly able of mixing up the combat a bit, there's even an achievement for Half-Life 2: Episode 1 for only firing a single shot, so you'll have to rely on grenades and mainly the Gravity Gun for the entire game.

HL2 is not only capable of holding a giant fanbase over a long time without recent sequels or DLC, it also still generates new interpretations and debates about the game. If a game can keep a big community this busy and interested over such a long course of time, it most definitely did *something* right.

.

P.S.
If you're in Prospekt Nova, you should've already been through a fair amount of story. You know your enemy, your allies, your goal and the world in general. The short-term plot is to rescue the leader of the Resistance, your sidekick's dad and your former colleague, the long-term plot is to fight alongside the Resistance to overthrow the oppressive alien government and - most likely - get to their leader in the Citadel, Dr. Breen.
That's a lot of plot actually (without mentioning what Gordon already went through) and most of it was conveyed directly via dialogue from members of the resistance.
I haven't played the first HL either, but HL2 shaped the world pretty much on its own and does a fairly decent job at filling you in if you explore a bit.
I bought the Orange Box at low price mainly for TF2, but I was also a bit interested in Portal, however HL2 and its episodes didn't catch my interest from the sound of it, despite hearing a lot of good in general on the net. I only tried them after I got bored with other games and thought "Eh, you bought em, might at least try em". It was the sort of attitude that usually ensures you won't enjoy the medium because of prejudice and you'll be looking for every mistake to verify your statement (and I'm fairly good at that I believe), but, well, here I am, to my own surprise.

 

[Redingold]

I didn't really care for Half-Life 1 and I never finished it. Half-Life 2 was the bomb, though. Loved that game, riding around on the hovercraft, shooting headcrabs. I didn't fully understand what was going on, but I sure thought it was neato. Then again, I was playing Half-Life 1 on the 3/4 finished and buggy Dreamcast version. Could really use an HD remake.

There's a team of modders who are doing that.

http://www.blackmesasource.com/

 

[Numachuka]

So I´ll start by saying I have never played the first Half Life game.

I was bored with the games I had and noticed I could pick up this highly praised gem for just 8 euro, awsome.
You start out in a creepy city with lots of guards you for some reason have to dodge, you meet the girl from "Beyond good and Evil" and someone who really wishes he was Morgan Freeman.

And then you have to go somewhere else (for some reason), this fails because of a pet...
Then the running starts, you run, stop solve puzzle, sail, stop solve puzzle, drive, stop solve puzzle.

There is no talking, no story, it keeps swapping between dull shooting and a zombie game.
Now, I am only at the prison level thing, and am so bored I doubt I´ll be finishing this. But does it get better? Is it ever explained why Gordon is doing all this stuff?

I disliked just about everything about this game, and to be honest have a hard time seeing why anyone would enjoy it.

So the question is, did you like it? And why?

(FYI, loved portal/L4D/team fortress - not hating on valve)

So you didn't play the first game and your complaining about not understanding the story?
Right.

Also why did you feel the need to make a thread about it? I have plenty of games I dislike, I don't make threads saying "NOBODY WOULD LIKE THIS IT'S SHIT NOW TELL ME WHY YOU LIKE IT SO I CAN DISAGREE WITH YOU".

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Well, first of all, this:

And second of all, there IS a story, you just have to actually pay some attention to the dialog, which you apparently didn't do.


And thirdly, I don't think Half Life 2 is all that great either, but I dislike it because (A) Gordon Freeman is a horrible character, and (B) the pacing is terrible. Seriously, you go through a good 3/4 hours of mindless traveling in between actually important plot developments. It's fucking boring. I mean sure, crawling across the underside of bridge fighting off soldiers is COOL, but it doesn't have anything to do with the over-arching story, which is what I'm actually interested in.

DISCLAIMER/TLDR: I have beaten Half Life 2. It was OK.