Half Life 2, why?

[cookyy2k]

I really don't get where some of you people get off calling people unintelligent for not liking a game. I agree with the OP, it's terrible and I've never understood the hype.

Call me unintelligent if you like but I'm a menber of mensa and have a masters degree in physics so I must have something going on up there...

 

[i7omahawki]

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?

I really liked it, despite not playing it until wayyy after it was released. It is a very deep game, in that the environments are immersive and the story is almost in the background. The story is fantastic, but mainly because it isn't in your face. You're fighting for survival, that seems quite clear throughout the game for me, and it's a state that is rarely achieved so well in other games. Every corner or crevice could hold a monster who will kill you, that to me builds good tension.

It's quite simply a fantastic game, which of course you're free to not like.

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Terminal Blue]

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.

I'm actually old enough to have been of shooter playing age (which was a little higher back then) when the original half-life came out, and first person shooters were not the ubiquitous dominant genre they are today. We had doom, quake, unreal and goldeneye. That was pretty much it until 1998.

Half life is not similar to the other shooters on the market. It set the formula which other shooters have followed. Before that point, just about every FPS was copying Doom. After that, they started copying Half Life. Every game since, without fail, especially any kind of concept of realism or story in shooters, has felt the touch of Half Life either as a direct influence or very occasionally as something to rail against.

Half Life does not have a story in the sense that Halo has a story, it doesn't pull you out every few minutes for an exposition-laden cut scene. Still, it is one of the best examples ever of integrating storytelling and gameplay. Sure, the story itself is relatively simple if you ignore the fact that it's about a dimension-travelling lab technician being manipulated through events by a shadowy puppet master with seemingly complete mastery over time and space, but the proof is in the execution. Listen to doctor Breen's speeches, listen to the bizarre newspeak Overwatch dispaches, look around for the hidden clues as to what's actually going on.

Because seriously, I had to play the game a couple of times to even feel like I'd gotten the full story.

 

[cookyy2k]

Oh and beofre I get flames for stating my opinion let me just say I can't stand CoD either so don't just dismiss me as one of those who you somehow view as below you.

 

[sergnb]

1. This thread again. These damn hipsters have the urge to hate on everything considered good by the game media.

2. It's a sequel. DERPHERP, I DON'T GET THE STORY. Sigh

 

[Yoh3333]

It's funny for me because i am in the EXACT same scenario. I've not played the first one, got it off of the Orangebox though... But i got to the prison level like you.
I agree completely, i stopped there and didn't go back because it was kind of boring, i have yet to notice the amazingness of the series.
I might get around to finishing it. The shooting is actually preety good and the Gravity gun is fun when you find the occasional disembodied sawblade lying around.
1 thing i thought was that the change of environments was very rushed. Start of in a weird transit station which i get. It's understandable. It then goes to some wastelands, i understand this aswell, it's great enviromental story telling of how these badguys are actual bad guys and not just generic. i like that. What i don't like is this: Suddenly we get cut off from our friend and have to go to Ravenholm which just so happens to be a zombie infested town. yay... It felt like some of the combat atleast up till the point i played (prison) was all VERY VERY heavy on the combat. I slew tons of enemies and it got kinda meaningless. Then the occasional boss-like helicopter appeared and i quickly looked for some RPGs and shot it down no problem.

It felt combat heavy, rushed and sometimes rather boring for a game of such praise. I can see myself loveing this game 5 years back but not now. Somewhere i kind of hope Valve leaves HF2 episode 3. They cannot live up to the hype that game will have. It will also ruin their fame of the series so far. That's my prediction atleast.

 

[Jjkaybomb]

I was thinking the same thing. This thing is as shallow as a puddle on a sunny day when it comes to story and motivation and plot. But what it does better than most games that I've played is drop you into a setting and let you play.
You feel for Gordan Freeman because you are Gordan Freeman. The game does not, at any point, take control away from you and say "that is Gordan Freeman, this is the kindve guy he is." You soak into Gordan's skin and never leave. The settings shift smoothly from one to another, and theres hardly a moment where a set peice feels contrived enough to yank you out of it. Well, a couple times. When things drag on for too long. But most of the time the game just sits back and lets you play. Dispite being crazy-go-linear, it feels so much more open and rich than Fallout ever was. for me, at least.

 

[JET1971]

One of the players that cannot find a story unless it shoved down there throat via cutscenes. Suffice it to say if you cant see the story then its not the game for you. the game is loved because of the way the story is done, loved by people that can actualy pay atention to whats going on and can live with something more than cutscene story mode/mindless action kill mode/story mode cutscene/jump maze/another cutscene telling the story/more mindless kill with jump maze/oooh cutscene. some people like having games that do not tell the story in cutscenes with the "game" being filler between that does nothing to flesh out the story.

 

[WanderingFool]

This thread appears to be less about Half-Life 2 and more complaining about the hundreds of other threads about this same damn subject.

This thread is now about commenting on the people complaining that this thread has been made many times before.

Then the thread can be about complaining about the people commenting on the people complaining that there are hundreds of threads on the same topic.

If we keep this up, we can break the Internet.

Awesome...

 

[cookyy2k]

It's funny for me because i am in the EXACT same scenario.

Same. Bought orange box for portal and thought I'd give it a go with all the hype and such, pushed through 4 and a half hours of it thinking for the hype it's got to get good eventually. Then just gave up because those 4 and a bit hours were so boring, I was pushing and hoping for it to get good but I resigned to the fact it wouldn't and started to wonder where all the hype came from.

 

[bombadilillo]

We've just [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.280978-Storytelling-in-Half-Life-2?page=2] had a thread like this.

My main reason for liking, loving, in fact, the series is because of the mystery. G-man I view as one of the best villains ever to be depicted in a video-game.

Sorry, I've heard this G-Man is an Awesome villain thing a lot, how is G-Man a villain? I see him as a "the ends justify the means" kinda guy, sure he gives Gordan the shaft, but because of this, he saves humanity. He's creepy and mysterious, but that doesn't make him evil. I just want some clarification, or at least a good bit of reasoning.

Complex motivations, mysterious goals, tenuous ally? Enemy of my emeny?

Sounds pretty awesome to me. Hes not Killzones boring Hitler clone villains if thats what your into. I guess.

 

[00slash00]

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)

as someone who posted pretty much the same thread, except about kotor, i can tell you that you will probably be labeled a troll and you probably will get very few, if any, straight answers.

i loved half life 2 but i would almost consider it as much an adventure game as it is a first person shooter. it does pull you out of the game by having cutscenes and thats either a love it or hate it sort of thing, i guess. point is that if you are expecting an action packed shooter like the ones being churned out constantly these days, you may want to look elsewhere. and yes, you do need to play the first one in order to understand the story and characters

 

[Juk3n]

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 ga..blah blah

"No Talking" you mean Gordon doesn't talk, there's lots of dialogue in the game. And it does it's very best to set a mood of isolation, so that you feel genuinly happy to bump into an npc and get caught up on off-panel (screen) events. You missed this.

"No Story" It's invasion 101 dude, like seriously, don't take this the wrong way, but the NUMBER 1 reason i love VALVe is that they make games for the fans - primarily - for the fans. You're not a fan of the franchise as a whole, you didn't play any of the first games and you don't know anything about the 'verse it's set in. To bad for you , you're missing out on a great experience in gaming here. So, don't continue the game, it's a waste of your time, you didnt get what all the fuss was about, im not gonna hate on you for that..i'll just..ya know, point and laugh from a safe distance.

"Dull shooting" you mean there's no ADS and auto lock-on eh? go play more Halo and CoD kthx. Half-Life series are games for the [geek=true], you know they're not "for you" if you A) are under 21 and have hardly heard of the franchise B) Played any shooter with Aim Down Sights BEFORE playing HF2 - thus are turned away by the lack of assists. And finally C) Bought HL2 EXPECTING a frag-fest and attempted to play the game with people in the room talking to you and not isolated in your room where you could follow the story and get imnmersed. This is one of the games that really requires some alone time, unlike say CoD.

 

[ghiacciato]

You know you're starting to get old when people criticize a game you were awed by as a teenager for lack of innovation, story, narrative and even gameplay.

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

(FYI, not hating on valve)

Hardly.

The game WAS made in 2004, though. That's seven, SEVEN years ago. You'll hardly get the story if you haven't played the first game. I'm surprised you didn't find it atmospheric, though.

 

[bob1052]

Story wise, Half Life just throws around fake science like a chimpanzee with its hand up its ass and idiots like to go "oooh thats such a cool story".

Gameplay wise, it has horrible gunplay, the physics engine is treated like the end all be all of video gaming since there is a physics based puzzle every ten feet, vehicles sections are unbearably bad, and the "interactive" cutscenes are nothing more than dropping you into a play pen while people talk at you regardless of if you are listening or throwing boxes around 20 feet away.

 

[ManOwaRrior]

As a question to those that didn't like HL2 when it was new, what fps'es that existed up untill that point did you like, and why?

Here's what i liked about HL2:
It had very good pacing, it had great diversity in it's environments without pulling you out of the action via cutscenes every 20 minutes, the gravity gun, the ant-lion section, the integration of physics into puzzles, the incredibly realistic faces (for that time), the upgraded gravity gun and the way the story was told through the world.

I didn't like the ending (gameplay wise, i want my final boss, those gunships don't count), and i would've liked maybe one more sci/fi/alien weapon.

 

[LasseZ]

Seriously, did you not pay any attention to what kind of a world was being presented to you?

I thought and still think that HL2 had easily one of the best introduction sequences I've ever seen in a game! It shows you in quite a lot of detail what the world is like in this game and introduces you to the characters from the first part pretty much from scratch, since the HL1 characters were not really THAT recognizable (except for Dr. Kleiner, if it weren't the case that half the Black Mesa staff looked exactly like him!)

You did notice that a species from another dimension has taken over earth and have formed a highly-controlled, oppressive regime and are degrading and slowly wiping out the human race, though, did you? I'll leave figuring out what it is in this world that Gordon Freeman is fighting against to you...

OT: The part when humanity starts to rise up against the combine and you fight the Striders and all was pretty awesome! And at the time it was literally awe-inspiring! The action sequences were revolutionary (the Striders blew buildings to shreds! I had never seen anything like that in a game before that!), although today they of course do pale in comparison with games like CoD or Crysis, but especially CoD doesn't even know the word pacing. Especially the newer parts are just a constant adrenaline-fest, which have not a single moment for you to catch your breath, except for the moments when you hide out behind some barricades to regenerate your health!

 

[cookyy2k]

As a question to those that didn't like HL2 when it was new, what fps'es that existed up untill that point did you like, and why?

Perfect dark; great graphics for it's time, well thought out and varied game play, a nice mix of stelth and action.

Also a great multiplayer, with sims which you don't see much nowendays. Brilliant pre-setup challenges. Target range with a variety of goals for each gun as you unlocked them in single player mode. Each level having it's own set of goals depending on difficulty.

I thought this may have been a rose tinted youth experience so I downloaded it on XBLA, still amazing. I know there have been a ton of advances since it came out in 2000 but it still stands up on it's own merits, even against a lot of modern FPSs.

 

[LasseZ]

Since we're now talking about Shooters we loved before HL2, I'm thinking of the first Hitman game, which also happens to have a pretty great introduction sequence and puts you right in the story. It was also very thrilling, sneaking up to a guard and strangling him with a piano string still works for me today! (But psst: I hear the graphics totally suck by today's standards!)