Half Life 2

[retro himself]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.112206?page=1
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.108787?page=1
Two threads about the exact same topic in ten seconds. I can find 50 others if you give me a while.
Stop
making
these
threads
please
it's
annoying.

HL2 never had quite the hype, you guys invented it. The invention of the hype around HL2 was around the time when other people who were around three to four years late to its release (xbob release of HL2, Orange Box) actually played it because they were bored with newer, fancier, flashier games and came to the conclusion that they have just played an old game. Except instead of wording it like that, they changed it to "MAN WHAT A LETDOWN THIS GAME SUCKS I THOUGHT I REMEMBER PEOPLE SAYING THIS GAME WAS GOOD I DONT EVEN KNOW WATS GOIN ON OMG IM GONA GO PLAY GENERIC FANCY GRAPHICS ENGINE: THE SEQUEL"

 

[murphy7801]

I have completed the first one and the second and the additional chapters tbh yes the criticism above is warranted and on note of the story its nothing new or original.

 

[rockingnic]

HL2 gets stale after a while, even before you beat it. Every weapon is used the same, you aim, you shoot and hope to god the enemy dies, with the exception of the gravity gun, where you add in a couple of steps (pick up objects and run around finding more objects before you die. Not to mention the guns seem underpowered for the most part.

Is this not true with most games, considering that they are GUNS.

As people here have already justified, Half Life 2 was brilliant back in its heyday, but only above average now. It paved the way for more modern games, and added some newer ideas, and as far as the story goes, I enjoyed having to investigate it and find little clues in order to get it, for once, you weren't fed the story directly.

Also, the modding community for source based games is HUGE, and on top of that, if you want something new and interesting to do, go and try garry's mod, if you enjoy it, you'll play it forever and just scratch the surface. You have to give HL2 some credit for those games, it's engine is still being used now, (well, an updated version due to the episodes) in a large variety of cheap, fun and underrated games.

Hl2 has suffered the same harsh justice as Halo, fan boy over-hype. If you try to revisit space invaders now, you aren't exactly going to agree with an older generation when THEY say it was groundbreaking, so don't try. Just accept that it was good in it's day, and probably deserved the hype at the time, just don't try to pick apart a game when you have a new set of standards to the ones it was built to.

EDIT: As for me, I only loved HL2 as much as the fan-boys did because at the time I hadn't heard anything about it, and just assumed it to be a generic game.
GOGO GADGET PESSIMISM.

What I meant about the guns is that you use them all the same. In Halo, at least the plasma pistol was primarily used to take out the shields of the enemies then switch to another weapon to finish it off, saving ammo, being one VERY basic example. I'm not saying HL2 was bad, it was great but I have played it back when it first came out and I got bored before I have beaten it. I'm not picking HL2 apart with today's standards, Halo: CE had more "fun" combat and a story that you could get into deeper, at least I found it did, than HL2. Besides the HL engine, there wasn't anything really "new" from HL2, that's all I'm saying.

 

[Dys]

A lot of points here are true, but really, what FPS doesn't have terrible AI?
And let me also bring up that at least it isn't as overrated as Halo.

It's far more overrated than halo. In terms of story, halo is almost on par with half life, in terms of gameplay halo is about equal (you trade of decent puzzles for outstanding vehicle controls, almost usable AI and co-op), the graphics in halo are not too far behind those of half life 2 (given it's a console game that was released 3 years beforehand this is nothign short of amazing). Given that half life 2 has a meta score of 96 where halo has 97 I'd say they are at the very least equally overrated. Half life 2 far moreso than halo on these forums.

 

[Goldeneye103X2]

I still enjoyed half life 2, back when my steam account wasn't hijcacked, but the source engine did spawn lots of mods and left 4 dead as well.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

What makes it overrated?

It was a majorly innovative game both by itself and its mods. In 2004 it pushed the boundaries of in game graphics, made ground breaking animation technology, evolved the meaning of three dimensional characters, created one of the most creative modding and sandbox storytelling communities, and made physics an important part of gaming.

The fact that your reviewing this game five years after the fact when it should have gotten stale by default and people argue this fact is testament alone.

The first Half-Life's greatness can be seen because it doesn't hold up well to today's standards. Nearly every single shooter that followed it copied or took cues from it in one way or another.

The second Half-Life's greatness can be seen because five years later, it is measured up with state of the art games such as Killzone 2, Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 & 5.

 

[Tryzon]

Interestingly enough, despite being judged by today's standards, Half-Life 2 can still hold up as an above average game. So people need to imagine how good it was 5 years ago.

Indeed, but Timesplitters 2 reigns supreme 7 years on, and almost nothing has even come close to beating it since. What does that tell you about its quality?

 

[Internet Kraken]

Interestingly enough, despite being judged by today's standards, Half-Life 2 can still hold up as an above average game. So people need to imagine how good it was 5 years ago.

Indeed, but Timesplitters 2 reigns supreme 7 years on, and almost nothing has even come close to beating it since. What does that tell you about its quality?

Absolutely nothing, since I've never even heard of this game.

 

[Boxpopper]

I find it annoying when people openly hate on well liked things just to appear intelligent and unique. I've seen it happening way too much, and I hope I'm wrong about people's reasons for doing so. Now, I understand Half Life 2 doesn't tell you much on its own about whats going on, but that's one of the magics of the game. Figuring out what is going on by observing. Once the first level is done, the npc's reveal the story anyway.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Okay, I could not agree more. I thought Half Life was not as good as everyone said it was, it was actually pretty generic and I just expected more from the so called "best fps ever"

Tell me something: when did you play it first? If it was recently, keep in mind that it's "generic" because other games copied it. It was groundbreaking at the time it came out.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[BigT65]

Okay, I could not agree more. I thought Half Life was not as good as everyone said it was, it was actually pretty generic and I just expected more from the so called "best fps ever"

Tell me something: when did you play it first? If it was recently, keep in mind that it's "generic" because other games copied it. It was groundbreaking at the time it came out.

I actually did play it when it not too long afterit came out, and everyone I knew was saying it's the greatest game ever, but when I started playing, it just wasn't that exciting, I'm not saying it was bad, it was fun and had great graphics and physics, but the gameplay wasn't something I haven't played before

 

[WrongSprite]

no plot? what are you talking about? HL's story is probably the deepest story ive ever heard
squadmates AI, i have to agree with you there they are dumbasses XD
weapons, are fun, for me at least.

i love this game and every other game in the series

How the devil is it deep?

Aliens invade earth.
You kill the aliens.
You are stalked by an odd chap with a briefcase.

 

[mjhhiv]

no plot? what are you talking about? HL's story is probably the deepest story ive ever heard
squadmates AI, i have to agree with you there they are dumbasses XD
weapons, are fun, for me at least.

i love this game and every other game in the series

How the devil is it deep?

Aliens invade earth.
You kill the aliens.
You are stalked by an odd chap with a briefcase.

It is a good story, though perhaps not very deep. All of the characters are interesting, and it's told in a superb way.

 

[xXGeckoXx]

I agree on a lot of points, but I still say that it's a good game, if somewhat overrated.

t is not overated

it is old

 

[hopeneverdies]

If you ask me the Magnum is a really good sniper substitute, with a lot less subtlety than the crossbow. Just go into suit zoom, line up your target, zoom out and fire off your well placed headshot.

 

[danosaurus]

Because it bears repeating: You're taking a five year old game and expecting it to stand toe to toe with modern day FPS's. HL2 was ground breaking in story telling, facial features, weapons, AI, physics engine, and distribution. Of course it feels same-y now; that's because everyone copied it's exceptionally well done forumla to the point of it being a dead horse.

Exactly, this review is the definition of beating a dead horse - Half-Life 2 was 5 years ago people, play it//appreciate it//stop whining.

/thread

 

[danosaurus]

no plot? what are you talking about? HL's story is probably the deepest story ive ever heard
squadmates AI, i have to agree with you there they are dumbasses XD
weapons, are fun, for me at least.

i love this game and every other game in the series

How the devil is it deep?

Aliens invade earth.
You kill the aliens.
You are stalked by an odd chap with a briefcase.

Wow, way to generalise the storyline.

Star Wars;
Evil Empire take over galaxy.
Jedi Destroy Empire.
Little bit of incest on the side.

LOTR;
Evil Man wants ring.
Frodo simply walks into Mordor.
Earth Saved.

Donnie Darko;
Kid dreams his own death.
Kid spazzes out.
Kid dies like in his dream.

Half-Life may not have the deepest storyline but its execution is what makes it so original and revered.
When the Half Life series is played in context of its relevant eras they're groundbreaking and compelling.