Half Life 2, why?

Mar 5, 2011
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lunncal said:
shameduser said:
lunncal said:
Wait until you get to the boat section: longest, most incredibly boring time I have ever spent with a game. I just kept telling myself that this MUST be the end, but no, it just carried on. Then you get a SECOND boat level, this time with a gun on the boat.

I forced myself through it, and was eventually awarded with a brief moment of controlling some cool sand creatures with a weird goo ball, the one fun moment I had with the game.

To be followed by the boat level all over again, except with a car.

DO NOT try to force yourself through the game because of all the hype. It DOES NOT get better.
I loved the hell out off the boat level. In fact, I loved the every moment of Half-Life 1, it's expansions, Half-Life 2 and the episodes.
Ok, now I'm intrigued. I do not understand what you could possibly enjoy about that boat level. This isn't an insult, it's just that I honestly found nothing enjoyable within that level, and I really want to know what you, and presumably others did enjoy about it. I understand why people enjoyed the game as a whole, though I definitely did not. I just hated that boat level with a passion.

So, please tell me, what was good about the Boat level(s)?
I found the look and feel landscape, the lighting and the chopper battle to be right up my alley. I think trying to explain why I liked it so much would be like trying to explain Minecraft's appeal to a Renaissance painter.
 

Netrigan

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Treblaine said:
Ara69 said:
There is no talking, no story, it keeps swapping between dull shooting and a zombie game.
WTFamireading.jpg

Seriously, jsut because a game doesn't have cinematic cutscenes, that doesn't mean there is no story. FUUUUUU...

The story is easy to follow if you actually listen to the TALKING!

Also it would help to play the previous games but basic synopsis:

-Gordon Freeman works at Black Mesa research facility
-They conduct experiment into teleportation but portal opens into parallel dimension that aliens invade through
-Freeman fights to save scientists, also meets mysterious "G Man" several times, always observing.
-US Marines arrive to start fighting aliens also killing all scientists, including Freeman who is however able to fight back.
-Freeman succeeds in opening a portal to alien dimension that he travels through to Xen, the alien world.
-Progresses through Xen and kills the leader of the alien race.
-G-man abducts Freeman and holds him in stasis revealing himself as a chief manipulator supposedly on side of humans.
-G Man is the person tellign you to "wake up" at beginning of Half Life 2
Or...

Do you remember Doom's plot? Pretty much exactly that, but substitute aliens for demons :)

I joke, but the two plots are very similar, right down to having to shoot a rocket launcher into an enemy's brain during a jump puzzle, while enemies endlessly teleport in around you. Just need John Romaro's head on a stick.

Half-Life's story is fleshed-out, but the plot is extremely simple.
 

Treblaine

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Netrigan said:
Do you remember Doom's plot? Pretty much exactly that, but substitute aliens for demons :)

I joke, but the two plots are very similar, right down to having to shoot a rocket launcher into an enemy's brain during a jump puzzle, while enemies endlessly teleport in around you. Just need John Romaro's head on a stick.

Half-Life's story is fleshed-out, but the plot is extremely simple.
Such a sweeping generalisation in the same sense that Citizen Kane's plot essentially the same as Jurassic Park if you just change a few elements.

The devil is in the detail, you can dismiss that if you like. Extra easy if you've only seen Half Life in Youtube Long-plays.
 

Netrigan

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Treblaine said:
Netrigan said:
Do you remember Doom's plot? Pretty much exactly that, but substitute aliens for demons :)

I joke, but the two plots are very similar, right down to having to shoot a rocket launcher into an enemy's brain during a jump puzzle, while enemies endlessly teleport in around you. Just need John Romaro's head on a stick.

Half-Life's story is fleshed-out, but the plot is extremely simple.
Such a sweeping generalisation in the same sense that Citizen Kane's plot essentially the same as Jurassic Park if you just change a few elements.

The devil is in the detail, you can dismiss that if you like. Extra easy if you've only seen Half Life in Youtube Long-plays.
No, that would be Westworld and Jurassic Park. Substitute robots for dinosaurs, Yul Brenner for Raptors :)

Both games feature a portal being opened unleashing aliens/demons to wreck havoc upon your co-workers. Caught with your pants down, you set off with a horribly under-powered weapon as you do battle with zombified versions of your co-workers. You battle your way to their home-world/dimension and eventually do battle with aforementioned brain-wielding jump puzzle boss.

The difference is really story telling, not plot. Doom is essentially a premise-based map pack with a few text-based info-dumps to forward the plot. Half-Life explores a much more dynamic and varied facility. Different plot complications, but both hit the same basic plot beats.
 

Netrigan

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And in case you haven't realized, I'm taking the piss a bit.

I enjoyed Half-Life, but I do think it falls under the heading "Simple Story, Good Execution".

to a certain degree, the same can be said of Citizen Kane, whose plot is simply the exploration of a man's life. (and, man, this is really feeling like that Halo thread). The story isn't plot-centric and snap-shot of the plot yields very little of its underlying story. The story is in the exploration of his life, not in the plot mechanics.
 

BioHazardMan

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Boxinatorizore said:
No story? My my Mr.Un-Observant. valve has done something brilliant with this game. They tell you the story almost completely through your surroundings and in doing so create an incredibly immersive environment. If you want story out of it, just pay attention.
I can't disagree more with this. Even while paying attention, I still feel I don't know why I'm doing anything, the story pulls on REALLY thin straws.
 

Treblaine

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Netrigan said:
Treblaine said:
Netrigan said:
Do you remember Doom's plot? Pretty much exactly that, but substitute aliens for demons :)

I joke, but the two plots are very similar, right down to having to shoot a rocket launcher into an enemy's brain during a jump puzzle, while enemies endlessly teleport in around you. Just need John Romaro's head on a stick.

Half-Life's story is fleshed-out, but the plot is extremely simple.
Such a sweeping generalisation in the same sense that Citizen Kane's plot essentially the same as Jurassic Park if you just change a few elements.

The devil is in the detail, you can dismiss that if you like. Extra easy if you've only seen Half Life in Youtube Long-plays.
No, that would be Westworld and Jurassic Park. Substitute robots for dinosaurs, Yul Brenner for Raptors :)

Both games feature a portal being opened unleashing aliens/demons to wreck havoc upon your co-workers. Caught with your pants down, you set off with a horribly under-powered weapon as you do battle with zombified versions of your co-workers. You battle your way to their home-world/dimension and eventually do battle with aforementioned brain-wielding jump puzzle boss.

The difference is really story telling, not plot. Doom is essentially a premise-based map pack with a few text-based info-dumps to forward the plot. Half-Life explores a much more dynamic and varied facility. Different plot complications, but both hit the same basic plot beats.
Yes, it's the way you tell them.

Sorry I've dealt with too many people who can't tell the difference between plot and story and I thought you were one of them. But you seem to know what you're talking about (if mildly taking the piss). Half Life I think was such an acclaimed game as it took such familiar elements and approached them in such a different and exciting way.

Half Life just got all the little things right and did enough of them to keep you engaged with the variety right through the adventure.
 

Treblaine

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BioHazardMan said:
Boxinatorizore said:
No story? My my Mr.Un-Observant. valve has done something brilliant with this game. They tell you the story almost completely through your surroundings and in doing so create an incredibly immersive environment. If you want story out of it, just pay attention.
I can't disagree more with this. Even while paying attention, I still feel I don't know why I'm doing anything, the story pulls on REALLY thin straws.
Well you didn't play the prequel and you seem to have missed the most massive hints and allusions that everyone else has caught. You don't recognise any of these characters who were introduced in the prequel (though not very formally and with different voice actors).

Alyx is Ms Exposition the entire time you are talking with her, but to make sense you have to be clever and deduce what happened from what they say and imply.

Also don't get frustrated that it is not all immediately explained, that will just make it harder to follow later on. Calm and collect your thoughts. Then just go with the flow and listen carefully.

For example, did you ask Dr Kleiner till he revealed about the 17 hour war? Most of this stuff you can figure out for yourself, the combine are humans working the the aliens who are plundering the earth's resources.

Imagine you are a mute person literally in Dr Freeman's shoes, what would yu do to inquire about what has happened. Look at the newspaper clippings on the poster board maybe?
 

BioHazardMan

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Treblaine said:
BioHazardMan said:
Boxinatorizore said:
No story? My my Mr.Un-Observant. valve has done something brilliant with this game. They tell you the story almost completely through your surroundings and in doing so create an incredibly immersive environment. If you want story out of it, just pay attention.
I can't disagree more with this. Even while paying attention, I still feel I don't know why I'm doing anything, the story pulls on REALLY thin straws.
Well you didn't play the prequel and you seem to have missed the most massive hints and allusions that everyone else has caught. You don't recognise any of these characters who were introduced in the prequel (though not very formally and with different voice actors).

Alyx is Ms Exposition the entire time you are talking with her, but to make sense you have to be clever and deduce what happened from what they say and imply.

Also don't get frustrated that it is not all immediately explained, that will just make it harder to follow later on. Calm and collect your thoughts. Then just go with the flow and listen carefully.

For example, did you ask Dr Kleiner till he revealed about the 17 hour war? Most of this stuff you can figure out for yourself, the combine are humans working the the aliens who are plundering the earth's resources.

Imagine you are a mute person literally in Dr Freeman's shoes, what would yu do to inquire about what has happened. Look at the newspaper clippings on the poster board maybe?
1. You're over analyzing it, the plot just isn't all that coherent.

2. I played and enjoyed the prequel, story was almost non-existent here as well.
 

Treblaine

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lunncal said:
shameduser said:
lunncal said:
Wait until you get to the boat section: longest, most incredibly boring time I have ever spent with a game. I just kept telling myself that this MUST be the end, but no, it just carried on. Then you get a SECOND boat level, this time with a gun on the boat.

I forced myself through it, and was eventually awarded with a brief moment of controlling some cool sand creatures with a weird goo ball, the one fun moment I had with the game.

To be followed by the boat level all over again, except with a car.

DO NOT try to force yourself through the game because of all the hype. It DOES NOT get better.
I loved the hell out off the boat level. In fact, I loved the every moment of Half-Life 1, it's expansions, Half-Life 2 and the episodes.
Ok, now I'm intrigued. I do not understand what you could possibly enjoy about that boat level. This isn't an insult, it's just that I honestly found nothing enjoyable within that level, and I really want to know what you, and presumably others did enjoy about it. I understand why people enjoyed the game as a whole, though I definitely did not. I just hated that boat level with a passion.

So, please tell me, what was good about the Boat level(s)?
You have to realise the way you sound, it's like someone who watches the Original Star Wars trilogy going "what's the big deal?"

What WOULD you have found enjoyable?

It is so relieving to have been on the run on foot for so long to finally get some faster travel, yet the pursuit jsut seems to heat up. I mean it's a fucking attack helicopter chasing you through a canal of toxic waste as combine soldiers fire rockets at you from all sides, all you can do is evade as fast as you can.

That bastard helicopter. But you kill it in the end, weaken it first turning a mounted gun on it, then finally getting a cannon for your own boat you turn the tables in a showdown, where you have to weave around the bombs and still keep up to shoot it down. Health is limited and hard to scavenge, no rebounding shield, I crawled out with just 15hp.

The pace then cools down after the excitement of the helicopter battle and for all your efforts you are rewarded with finding Black Mesa East just as the sun sets, the shadows long and sky red, you get a sense of achievement and you go in to be re-united with Alyx.

All seems good and you're having fun with DOG and get introduced to the kick ass gravity gun. But it gets interrupted by the Combine attack, and you have to escape by Ravenholm. Now the action game has turned into a horror game and also the lack of firearm wielding enemies (plus shortage of ammo) you et a change to learn to use the gravity gun.

I mean are you appreciating this pacing and variety? Only Valve games have pacing like this, any other game would have the same type of enemy and gameplay with only subtle variations in an entire 8+ hour length.

What about the entirely in-game transitions and storytelling, from such drastically different environments the transitions work so well to spite you progressing them by your own free will.
 

Treblaine

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BioHazardMan said:
1. You're over analyzing it, the plot just isn't all that coherent.
I think you are UNDER-analysing it if you can't see coherence in the plot.

Everyone else has figured this out, why haven't you?

May I ask what kind of games you DO like? Can I take a guess; JRPGs or Modern Warfare 2?
 

DEAD34345

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Treblaine said:
lunncal said:
shameduser said:
lunncal said:
Wait until you get to the boat section: longest, most incredibly boring time I have ever spent with a game. I just kept telling myself that this MUST be the end, but no, it just carried on. Then you get a SECOND boat level, this time with a gun on the boat.

I forced myself through it, and was eventually awarded with a brief moment of controlling some cool sand creatures with a weird goo ball, the one fun moment I had with the game.

To be followed by the boat level all over again, except with a car.

DO NOT try to force yourself through the game because of all the hype. It DOES NOT get better.
I loved the hell out off the boat level. In fact, I loved the every moment of Half-Life 1, it's expansions, Half-Life 2 and the episodes.
Ok, now I'm intrigued. I do not understand what you could possibly enjoy about that boat level. This isn't an insult, it's just that I honestly found nothing enjoyable within that level, and I really want to know what you, and presumably others did enjoy about it. I understand why people enjoyed the game as a whole, though I definitely did not. I just hated that boat level with a passion.

So, please tell me, what was good about the Boat level(s)?
You have to realise the way you sound, it's like someone who watches the Original Star Wars trilogy going "what's the big deal?"

What WOULD you have found enjoyable?

It is so relieving to have been on the run on foot for so long to finally get some faster travel, yet the pursuit jsut seems to heat up. I mean it's a fucking attack helicopter chasing you through a canal of toxic waste as combine soldiers fire rockets at you from all sides, all you can do is evade as fast as you can.

That bastard helicopter. But you kill it in the end, weaken it first turning a mounted gun on it, then finally getting a cannon for your own boat you turn the tables in a showdown, where you have to weave around the bombs and still keep up to shoot it down. Health is limited and hard to scavenge, no rebounding shield, I crawled out with just 15hp.

The pace then cools down after the excitement of the helicopter battle and for all your efforts you are rewarded with finding Black Mesa East just as the sun sets, the shadows long and sky red, you get a sense of achievement and you go in to be re-united with Alyx.

All seems good and you're having fun with DOG and get introduced to the kick ass gravity gun. But it gets interrupted by the Combine attack, and you have to escape by Ravenholm. Now the action game has turned into a horror game and also the lack of firearm wielding enemies (plus shortage of ammo) you et a change to learn to use the gravity gun.

I mean are you appreciating this pacing and variety? Only Valve games have pacing like this, any other game would have the same type of enemy and gameplay with only subtle variations in an entire 8+ hour length.

What about the entirely in-game transitions and storytelling, from such drastically different environments the transitions work so well to spite you progressing them by your own free will.
Ok, I get you, even if I still disagree. After about 5 minutes, the novelty of the change of pace to that of driving a boat wore off, when I realised I didn't want to drive a boat any-more. It was boring. I drove past lots and lots of the same environment, periodically stopping to go into some random place, to push some random button, guarded by the same identical clone soldiers I had been fighting all throughout the game, so that I would be allowed to carry on moving forward again. This felt to me like it was just padding out the level, for no good reason, and the same can be said about all of the pointless see-saw "puzzles".

When I was actually in the boat, all I had to do was drive past all of my enemies. There was no dodging or chasing or evading involved, as they simply couldn't hit me unless I outright stopped, which I never had any reason to do, except when I had to push one of those buttons I mentioned earlier. When the helicopter arrived I didn't actually care, as it also couldn't hit you as long as you kept going forwards. Then I got to shoot at it from a turret, so I shot at it from a turret, like I have done in a million other games, and no, it still wasn't particularly fun.

When the cannon was added to the boat there was rarely a reason to use it, because the AI couldn't hit you anyway. Having the helicopter start dropping bombs was interesting, but didn't last for very long at all. Then when it came back for the boss fight I got to have all the fun of driving in a circle to avoid the bombs, stopping every now and again to change direction if I had to, and constantly firing at the helicopter until it died.

As for storytelling there was none in that boat level. None that I noticed, or cared about, anyways. I got no satisfaction with re-uniting with Alyx because I didn't care about Alyx, or any of her friends, or even Gordan himself. None of them had given me any particular reason to like them.

I enjoyed the first Half Life partly because the motivations of the player were clear, and easily relate-able. Gordan had been caught up in a massive accident, and wanted to get out alive. He didn't have great character depth, and he didn't really need it. He was just a scientist, in way over his head, trying to get out of the mess he was caught in.

In Half Life 2 Gordan Freeman is some kind of god, looked up to and praised by all (except bad guy aliens). For some reason he is expected to pretty much single-handedly destroy the combine, and he just goes along with this and does what people say. I can't relate to that, mainly because it is stupid. I can understand people wanting to do good things, and help others, but I can't understand one man deciding to take on an alien army. Especially considering as far as I know, this man is an ordinary scientist, albeit one who has been caught up in a large event in has past.

As for the interactive storytelling, for the most part this was just cut-scenes where you got to crowbar things in the scenery if you were bored. Not really a great improvement. A few times however it did this well, the meeting with Alyx and Dog being one of them, and the entire first level being another (all the time before you get weapons). I enjoyed these parts immensely, but they were too few and too far between, and they do not make up for the amount of boredom I put myself through during the normal gameplay.
 

Treblaine

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lunncal said:
Ok, I get you, even if I still disagree. After about 5 minutes, the novelty of the change of pace to that of driving a boat wore off, when I realised I didn't want to drive a boat any-more. It was boring.

When I was actually in the boat, all I had to do was drive past all of my enemies. There was no dodging or chasing or evading involved, as they simply couldn't hit me unless I outright stopped, which I never had any reason to do, except when I had to push one of those buttons I mentioned earlier. When the helicopter arrived I didn't actually care, as it also couldn't hit you as long as you kept going forwards. Then I got to shoot at it from a turret, so I shot at it from a turret, like I have done in a million other games, and no, it still wasn't particularly fun.

When the cannon was added to the boat there was rarely a reason to use it, because the AI couldn't hit you anyway. Having the helicopter start dropping bombs was interesting, but didn't last for very long at all. Then when it came back for the boss fight I got to have all the fun of driving in a circle to avoid the bombs, stopping every now and again to change direction if I had to, and constantly firing at the helicopter until it died.
Sounds like you are playing Half Life 2 on WAYY too low a difficulty setting. I understand console version tone it down so much compared to PC, but I don't know what platform you played on anyway.

I mean when I last played HL2 on Normal or Hard I remember the slightest lapse in concentration and a Combine soldier would slash half my HP away with a burst of fire and I'd be vulnerable and hunting for health packs for the next half and hour.

Turning up the difficulty makes the enemies more accurate, more aggressive and more mobile.

I remember having to weave around like a sonovabitch to dodge the helicopter last time I played Half Life 2. Remember, easy more is literally for little kids who are to incompetent to drive in a straight line without crashing.

You really have to think strategically, CoD you really can coast through at a steady pace just ducking away time the screen gets splashed red (BLOODY SCREEN - So REAL!) then moving on as the enemy patiently waits behind cover.

You ***** a bit about "the same old clone soldier" when what does CoD do but have you face the identical clone enemy over and over and over again. Lets look at the enemy variety of Half Life 2:

-Civil Protection: sub guns and stun-sticks, nice introduction
-Combine troopers: oh those shotgun wielding fuckers will kill you in one hit
-Mounted turrets: on hard you MUST think outside the box to defeat them, no
-Snipers: can only be killed in the novel way that requires finding a way to get close and lobbing a grenade in, rather than the usual "find sniper rifle, shoot sniper" routine
-Barnacles: an environmental hazard that needs you to use the environment or waste too much ammo
-Zombies: such bullet sponges and numerous too but slow, to conserve ammo you pretty much must use the gravity gun
-headcrab: a risk to the reward of searching in dark spaces for secret items
-Fast headcrab: deadly in numbers especially on high difficulty require smarts to deal with
-Poison headcrab: interesting gambit, it temporarily reduces your health down to 1hp with poison, you are left extremely vulnerable for a few seconds
-Poison zombie: OH HOLY SHIT, meeting one of these in a deserted corner while foraging for supplies, these scare the shit out of me, so silent till "uuughhghhhh!" HOLY SHIT IT'S RIGHT THERE!
-Fast Zombie: shit, you've got to be quick with your aim to kill these things, remmebr, don't shoot with your shotgun till the last possible moment or the blast won't be concentrated enough to kill.
-Antlion: your worst enemy then you ally, very nice inversion
-Antlion Guard: the way these attack you really have to be quick onyour feet, dodging out of the way at the last possible moment and making best use of environmental weapons
-Manhack: flying lawnmower grenades! Too numerous and fast to shoot, gotta get your your crowbar and knock em out of the air
-Strider: 30 foot tall killer robot. What would you rather another guy with an AK47?
-Combine gunship: take more than just a single rocket and you can't just fire and forget, you have to lead around the with the laser pointer to walk the rocket onto the target all while avoiding so much fire.


I really don't think you are giving Half Life 2 a chance.
-You know the enemy variety yet to gloss over this.
-You say the game is too easy but never adjust the difficulty settings.
-You don't seem to be able to follow characters when they exposit which explains the whole plot
 

Bags159

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Do we really need another thread about Half Life 2? When it came out it was amazingly fresh, revolutionary, and all that other jazz. Since then companies have been copying aspects so it doesn't seem as amazing by comaprison.

I played in late 2008 and I wasn't blown away by it, BUT I can see why it was amazing in its hay-day.
 

DEAD34345

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Treblaine said:
Sounds like you are playing Half Life 2 on WAYY too low a difficulty setting. I understand console version tone it down so much compared to PC, but I don't know what platform you played on anyway.

I mean when I last played HL2 on Normal or Hard I remember the slightest lapse in concentration and a Combine soldier would slash half my HP away with a burst of fire and I'd be vulnerable and hunting for health packs for the next half and hour.

Turning up the difficulty makes the enemies more accurate, more aggressive and more mobile.

I remember having to weave around like a sonovabitch to dodge the helicopter last time I played Half Life 2. Remember, easy more is literally for little kids who are to incompetent to drive in a straight line without crashing.

You really have to think strategically, CoD you really can coast through at a steady pace just ducking away time the screen gets splashed red (BLOODY SCREEN - So REAL!) then moving on as the enemy patiently waits behind cover.

You ***** a bit about "the same old clone soldier" when what does CoD do but have you face the identical clone enemy over and over and over again. Lets look at the enemy variety of Half Life 2:

-Civil Protection: sub guns and stun-sticks, nice introduction
-Combine troopers: oh those shotgun wielding fuckers will kill you in one hit
-Mounted turrets: on hard you MUST think outside the box to defeat them, no
-Snipers: can only be killed in the novel way that requires finding a way to get close and lobbing a grenade in, rather than the usual "find sniper rifle, shoot sniper" routine
-Barnacles: an environmental hazard that needs you to use the environment or waste too much ammo
-Zombies: such bullet sponges and numerous too but slow, to conserve ammo you pretty much must use the gravity gun
-headcrab: a risk to the reward of searching in dark spaces for secret items
-Fast headcrab: deadly in numbers especially on high difficulty require smarts to deal with
-Poison headcrab: interesting gambit, it temporarily reduces your health down to 1hp with poison, you are left extremely vulnerable for a few seconds
-Poison zombie: OH HOLY SHIT, meeting one of these in a deserted corner while foraging for supplies, these scare the shit out of me, so silent till "uuughhghhhh!" HOLY SHIT IT'S RIGHT THERE!
-Fast Zombie: shit, you've got to be quick with your aim to kill these things, remmebr, don't shoot with your shotgun till the last possible moment or the blast won't be concentrated enough to kill.
-Antlion: your worst enemy then you ally, very nice inversion
-Antlion Guard: the way these attack you really have to be quick onyour feet, dodging out of the way at the last possible moment and making best use of environmental weapons
-Manhack: flying lawnmower grenades! Too numerous and fast to shoot, gotta get your your crowbar and knock em out of the air
-Strider: 30 foot tall killer robot. What would you rather another guy with an AK47?
-Combine gunship: take more than just a single rocket and you can't just fire and forget, you have to lead around the with the laser pointer to walk the rocket onto the target all while avoiding so much fire.


I really don't think you are giving Half Life 2 a chance.
-You know the enemy variety yet to gloss over this.
-You say the game is too easy but never adjust the difficulty settings.
-You don't seem to be able to follow characters when they exposit which explains the whole plot
I played the game on normal difficulty (originally on the classic Xbox, if that really does make a difference, and then with the Orange Box on the 360), and the problem wasn't that it was too easy, it was that it was too dull. I don't know why you compare the game to COD so much, as I don't like those games either, and indeed, never mentioned them.

While the game does have an impressive variety of enemies when taken as a whole, the boat level, which is what I was originally talking about, does not. In fact that is one of the many problems I have with the game, it tends to switch game-play elements, but then stay exactly the same for hours before switching game-play up again. In the end it feels almost as repetitive as games like COD do with one enemy, since you only tend to fight one group of enemies for about as long as a COD campaign any-ways.

As for being unable to follow characters, that became true after I realised they didn't really have anything interesting to say. I don't want to have the story read out to me by people taking turns to dump a bunch of exposition on my mute character, especially since that story was rarely interesting to begin with. When the story was told through game-play, like the first level, or the mad vicar in Ravenholm, it became interesting and enjoyable. Unfortunately as I said, times like that were few and far between.

Being told I haven't given the game a chance is pretty annoying, since I must have tried to play through the damn game about 10 times now, mainly due to the way almost everyone on the net seems to love it. On the attempt I got furthest through the game with (second attempt I think), I got all the way to trying to rescue a woman from a big combine prison, and then something happened to do with a big teleporter I was supposed to go through (again) before I stopped playing. I would be pretty surprised if the game suddenly became better after that, as I'm pretty sure I have experienced enough of the game to know that I just do not like it. It is not what I consider a good game, and although it does some things well, I just do not get any enjoyment from playing it.
 

RobCoxxy

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Because it was fun and engrossing. There's nothing wrong with FPS games, puzzles, or zombies.

Go back to CoD, kid.
 

Treblaine

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lunncal said:
Treblaine said:
Sounds like you are playing Half Life 2 on WAYY too low a difficulty setting. I understand console version tone it down so much compared to PC, but I don't know what platform you played on anyway.

I mean when I last played HL2 on Normal or Hard I remember the slightest lapse in concentration and a Combine soldier would slash half my HP away with a burst of fire and I'd be vulnerable and hunting for health packs for the next half and hour.

Turning up the difficulty makes the enemies more accurate, more aggressive and more mobile.

I remember having to weave around like a sonovabitch to dodge the helicopter last time I played Half Life 2. Remember, easy more is literally for little kids who are to incompetent to drive in a straight line without crashing.

You really have to think strategically, CoD you really can coast through at a steady pace just ducking away time the screen gets splashed red (BLOODY SCREEN - So REAL!) then moving on as the enemy patiently waits behind cover.

You ***** a bit about "the same old clone soldier" when what does CoD do but have you face the identical clone enemy over and over and over again. Lets look at the enemy variety of Half Life 2:

-Civil Protection: sub guns and stun-sticks, nice introduction
-Combine troopers: oh those shotgun wielding fuckers will kill you in one hit
-Mounted turrets: on hard you MUST think outside the box to defeat them, no
-Snipers: can only be killed in the novel way that requires finding a way to get close and lobbing a grenade in, rather than the usual "find sniper rifle, shoot sniper" routine
-Barnacles: an environmental hazard that needs you to use the environment or waste too much ammo
-Zombies: such bullet sponges and numerous too but slow, to conserve ammo you pretty much must use the gravity gun
-headcrab: a risk to the reward of searching in dark spaces for secret items
-Fast headcrab: deadly in numbers especially on high difficulty require smarts to deal with
-Poison headcrab: interesting gambit, it temporarily reduces your health down to 1hp with poison, you are left extremely vulnerable for a few seconds
-Poison zombie: OH HOLY SHIT, meeting one of these in a deserted corner while foraging for supplies, these scare the shit out of me, so silent till "uuughhghhhh!" HOLY SHIT IT'S RIGHT THERE!
-Fast Zombie: shit, you've got to be quick with your aim to kill these things, remmebr, don't shoot with your shotgun till the last possible moment or the blast won't be concentrated enough to kill.
-Antlion: your worst enemy then you ally, very nice inversion
-Antlion Guard: the way these attack you really have to be quick onyour feet, dodging out of the way at the last possible moment and making best use of environmental weapons
-Manhack: flying lawnmower grenades! Too numerous and fast to shoot, gotta get your your crowbar and knock em out of the air
-Strider: 30 foot tall killer robot. What would you rather another guy with an AK47?
-Combine gunship: take more than just a single rocket and you can't just fire and forget, you have to lead around the with the laser pointer to walk the rocket onto the target all while avoiding so much fire.


I really don't think you are giving Half Life 2 a chance.
-You know the enemy variety yet to gloss over this.
-You say the game is too easy but never adjust the difficulty settings.
-You don't seem to be able to follow characters when they exposit which explains the whole plot
I played the game on normal difficulty (originally on the classic Xbox, if that really does make a difference, and then with the Orange Box on the 360), and the problem wasn't that it was too easy, it was that it was too dull. I don't know why you compare the game to COD so much, as I don't like those games either, and indeed, never mentioned them.

While the game does have an impressive variety of enemies when taken as a whole, the boat level, which is what I was originally talking about, does not. In fact that is one of the many problems I have with the game, it tends to switch game-play elements, but then stay exactly the same for hours before switching game-play up again. In the end it feels almost as repetitive as games like COD do with one enemy, since you only tend to fight one group of enemies for about as long as a COD campaign any-ways.

As for being unable to follow characters, that became true after I realised they didn't really have anything interesting to say. I don't want to have the story read out to me by people taking turns to dump a bunch of exposition on my mute character, especially since that story was rarely interesting to begin with. When the story was told through game-play, like the first level, or the mad vicar in Ravenholm, it became interesting and enjoyable. Unfortunately as I said, times like that were few and far between.

Being told I haven't given the game a chance is pretty annoying, since I must have tried to play through the damn game about 10 times now, mainly due to the way almost everyone on the net seems to love it. On the attempt I got furthest through the game with (second attempt I think), I got all the way to trying to rescue a woman from a big combine prison, and then something happened to do with a big teleporter I was supposed to go through (again) before I stopped playing. I would be pretty surprised if the game suddenly became better after that, as I'm pretty sure I have experienced enough of the game to know that I just do not like it. It is not what I consider a good game, and although it does some things well, I just do not get any enjoyment from playing it.
OK, you don't like Half Life 2, don't like CoD... what DO you like?!?

There is always the possibility that you plain just don't like the genre of either the playstyle (First person shooter) or the Sci-fi apocalypse setting.

I mean if you listed something like Final Fantasy X as your favourite game I suggest you don't EVER bother with something like Half Life nor any Valve game.

Why don't you just list your favourite games and most disliked games as it really does seem to be you plain don't like.

That could explain your apparent arbitrary dislike of almost every element that has made Half Life so revolutionary and exemplary even today so few other games live up to its standards.(though why am I not surprised the people who are disappointed by HL2 played the console versions).
 

yoshiru

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Mar 7, 2011
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When I go back and play Half-Life I'm like "awesome" but there are some parts in the middle I almost always skip because they drag a bit. Half-Life 2 has the Water Hazard and Nova Prospekt chapters that I feel go wayy too slowly. But the game is still good.

One tip: Play VALVe games when they first come out, that way you can enjoy it for what it is without listening to fanboys telling you it's AWESOMEEEEEE.

Last thought: My wife grew up in a family that didn't watch Steven Spielburg movies, and now when I get her to watch them, she really doesn't think his directing is anything special AT ALL. And you know why? Because Spielburg did so many things right that noone else had before him, that those techniques have become standard in the industry for most people. I feel that VALVe games are the same, they take what's good, add new stuff that's good, everyone praises them, everyone copies them.
 

DEAD34345

New member
Aug 18, 2010
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Treblaine said:
OK, you don't like Half Life 2, don't like CoD... what DO you like?!?

There is always the possibility that you plain just don't like the genre of either the playstyle (First person shooter) or the Sci-fi apocalypse setting.

I mean if you listed something like Final Fantasy X as your favourite game I suggest you don't EVER bother with something like Half Life nor any Valve game.

Why don't you just list your favourite games and most disliked games as it really does seem to be you plain don't like.

That could explain your apparent arbitrary dislike of almost every element that has made Half Life so revolutionary and exemplary even today so few other games live up to its standards.(though why am I not surprised the people who are disappointed by HL2 played the console versions).
This is just getting ridiculous. Can you really not believe that someone doesn't find Half Life 2 fun? I have said I understand why other people enjoy the game, and I have pointed out valid criticisms that annoy me, personally, enough to make me not enjoy the game. In your last comment you suddenly launch into COD criticisms for some reason, and now I suddenly must be a JRPG fan, or don't like FPSs, or I don't like the setting?

My favourite type of game is WRPGs (both Bethesda style and Bioware, classics and new ones). I like turn based strategies, I like roguelikes, I like 4X games, I like a few RTSs and although I have never found a JRPG I have actually enjoyed, I have nothing against that Genre either (Persona looks good, but i don't have the means to play it). Finally, yes, I enjoy FPSs too. I like Halo (though it has definitely gotten stale), I like Bioshock, I like Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, I like a bunch of the old unreal tournaments, I even liked the original Half Life.

I just do not enjoy Half Life 2. As for my "apparent arbitrary dislike of almost every element that has made Half Life so revolutionary and exemplary", will you go back and actually read my posts? I specifically said I could understand those who did like the game, and I told you there were aspects I enjoyed. Unfortunately, for me, the flaws I have talked about made the game un-fun, to the extent that I had to force myself to play through to where I got to. I wasn't having fun while playing it, and so I stopped.