Poll: Half-Life 2

[Lem0nade Inlay]

OP: HL2 is myfavourite game of all time. The story (which I don't think you have any right to complain about, as you haven't played the first one so obviously you're not going to understand it) is fantastic. It's not just some generic alien shooter, because it focus' a lot more on character development and interaction, whereas other games lack in this sense. Also I can't think of a game which has a better level design than half life (in terms of holding your hand and showing you where to go)

I don't understand how you can find the enemies frustrating, you know that the "pimples from the ceiling" (barnacles) can be distracted with basically any prop so you can walk past. The poison zombies? I can think of one situation in which you're forced to fight one, otherwise if they're such a pain for you, you can always walk past.
Striders? For a game with no boss battles (really) you have to expect some sort of challenging enemy, if they didn't make the striders as strong as they are then people would always be complaining that the game had no challenge aspects etc.
Escort missions? There's like two of them in the whole game, and they're in the same level. Unless you count the rebels that follow you, but nothing happens when they die so there's no reason you have to sacrifice your life for them.

Yeah sure I might be a bit of a fanboy (judging from my avatar here) but I can still know what was innovative for it's time and what wasn't. By the way I played HL2 before I played HL1 as well, and I still got the story, maybe you shouldn't spend so much time jerking around during the cutscenes. Phew, I think that was my first rant (flame?) on this site so far...

 

[Juan Regular]

I played through it 7 times now and I guess I can call it my absolute favourite game. I even went so far as to play the whole series in one weekend, meaning Half Life, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, Decay, Half Life 2, Episode 1 and Episode 2. This game was basically made for me.

That being said, I get some of the arguments here, especially considering the sometimes dragging gameplay and the way the story is told. I like it just the way it is. It uses the medium videogames in ways that other developers wouldn´t dare to and always pulls it off.

 

[ThePirateMan]

Why do I feel I was the only person who enjoyed the vehicle sections in HL2?

You're not alone.

 

[thom_cat_]

You're complaining about being hit by the enemies that broadcast their attacks and are easily dodged? I haven't heard very many people complain about the game being too hard, and in fact the specific instances you mentioned are fairly straightforward enemies. I don't see why the engineering of the striders has anything to do with his health limit; would you be less frustrated if it was just shaped differently? It's the time of the game where you get into boss fights, so a challenge is sort of expected.

The plot doesn't ever need to be "explained" because what you need to know is very apparent. Aliens have taken over from another world and turned the place into a 1984-esque dystopia. People have high expectations of you being able to help, and your antagonist is Dr. Breen. You can read a bit more into EXACTLY what's happening if you like by paying a bit more attention during "plot sequences" like Kleiner's lab, but no BS story about experiments and portals is stuffed down your throat because they realize, not everyone really cares. Instead there's more a focus on the individual characters, and what's important right now. (ie, finding Eli, helping the rebels, etc)

I would also like to note to you that headcrabs were in fact invented BEFORE the Flood. Thus, you can only call the Flood "headcrabs on prozac"

I really don't see how a waypoint system would help. I in fact absolutely hate it when a game grants me a very obvious pattern of "Go Here Then Here"; it's much more interesting when they guide you into where to go using subtle hints, so you more or less "figure it out" on your own. Otherwise you're just going through the motions as it instructs you. I worry that you're perhaps just a bit too used to games that focus on the linear sequences of enemies rather than the exploration/problemsolving systems.

Obviously, I can't affect your opinion as you play; if it's not your kind of game, that's fine. Games have certainly changed more than we realize since 2004, so that could be part of it.

I couldn't agree more with you.
and as for the OP getting lost? HOW!? It's a linear game! There is no way you can get lost!
The story is clear, and you can gather anything from talking to civilians and just looking around you! They tell you where to go, there are no obscure routes and it's bloody obvious where you go. Please can I get a screenshot/map name and location to tell me of just one of the places where you got lost?
Escort missions? I've played through HL2 many many many times and only a few times have my ally characters died, and it was because I totally ignored them with 50 zombies coming at them.
As for enemies? You do realise the striders aren't made out of papier-mâché? A butter knife? It's a reinforced metal leg!
Yes, the poison zombies do take an unnatural amount of damage, that's why they are a feared enemy. Just get over it.

 

[Jekken6]

The only problems I had with Half Life 2 is the fact that when you climb a ladder, you can still fire a .44 Magnum with both hands and when you're turning a wheel, you can still hold a rocket launcher and when you drive a vehicle, your hands don't move the wheel.

And that fucking gnome in Episode 2.

Just those things annoyed me. Otherwise, it was awesome.

 

[StBishop]

I really liked it when I did my first play through, but you can never play it a second time, it has absolutely no replay value, and that's why I think it's not deserving of the ridiculous amounts of praise it gets.

A game doesn't have to change itself every time you play it in order for you to want to play it again. Sure, it helps, but it doesn't set the replay value.
Movies never change after you see them, yet there are many movies I will have no problem and even be glad to watch again.

Whereas I will rarely, if ever, watch a movie more than once.

Some people, do require a new experience to find any value in a second playthrough.

Just because someones opinion is different to yours doesn't mean it's wrong.

I will almost never play a game a second time unless I have other options to explore. So for me, a game changing it's self does set the replay value.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I made a thread like this way back and the 2 things people kept saying where "IT HAZ A PHYSICS GUN" and "THE STORY IZ GOOD" the former of which I found completely useless barring shoehorned-in puzzles and the latter of which I disagree with completely. So yeah, not a fan.

 

[Jestere]

you might want to try turning the difficulty down mate. 8 rockets for a strider sounds like you're playing on hard, which might not be a good idea for the first run through.

In regards to the level design? wow, you really have a problem with it? perhaps in 2004 people weren't as used to relying on crutches like objective markers or something... I dunno man, there were a few bits where i got confused, but mostly it's pretty easy to figure out where to go! take it as a puzzle or something

 

[Uberjoe19]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Half-Life 2. It is my favorite shooter, with Doom 3 a very close second.

Doom 3 DOES have pretty generic gameplay, but the atmosphere can be cut with a knife. I actually flinched at noises around me in the house while I was playing it.

 

[Uberjoe19]

The only problems I had with Half Life 2 is the fact that when you climb a ladder, you can still fire a .44 Magnum with both hands and when you're turning a wheel, you can still hold a rocket launcher and when you drive a vehicle, your hands don't move the wheel.

And that fucking gnome in Episode 2.

Just those things annoyed me. Otherwise, it was awesome.

Yeah, it owuld have been nice to be able to see your feet when you look down as well. That would have made Portal just a tiny bit easier as well.

 

[blankedboy]

I've only played the Episodes and HL1, they were all great games. HL2DM was terrible, though.
I wouldn't know, but I assume it's pretty good.

 

[DSK-]

It's a very fun and ejoyable game. I love Dog

 

[vivalahelvig]

I also appreciate this game for giving me garrysmod, one of the single best things in the universe.

unless it crashes....and crashes....and crashes...and the people. (gmod10 obviously)

 

[Primee133]

Dude, I played that game when I was 10 years old and I knew what to do.
Sure, there was one time when I didn't know where to go but that was me being retarded.

Also, i'm sick and tired of people that can't get the plot unless it's spoon fed to them.
God dammit, just listen to what people say for 5 fucking seconds!

Agreed. Reminds me when my friend was playing Metroid Prime 2 and was skipping through the text dialogue, and complained that he didn't know what was going on.

 

[mechanixis]

The thing about Half Life 2's story is that it's very sublime in its delivery. It's 100% show-don't-tell, so you have to pay attention to the things you see in the environment and what the characters say to one another. For me, the world the game is set in is definitely the strongest aspect, because it's so well realized and believable thanks to the spectacular digital acting and level of immersion. It's wonderful if you like sinking your teeth into that kind of hard science fiction.

And while the shooting mechanics themselves aren't the greatest, they're still competent; it does suck when you're running around with the pistol and every cop takes three headshots to kill. You also have to remember that HL2 is fondly remembered for being a piece of gaming history, too, because it pretty much invented physics engines as we know them today.

 

[Mcface]

The most over rated game series ever.
It's not a fun game. I had to force myself to play through the last few levels. This site is loaded with valve fan boys, though so this is not surprising.

 

[Bob Saget]

The Half Life series are definitely my favorite games of all time, followed by (and maybe even tied with) Mass Effect. But yeah, take a look at the date of publish: 2004. Name one game that had extremely responsive AI, fully interactive physics, and extremely detailed textures like the ones illustrated in HL2. The atmosphere was immersive, and the story was great. However, I believe that you had to play HL1 to appreciate (but not understand) most of it... After all, it is a sequel, (which is what the 2 stands for) so why anyone would play the sequel without playing the first one is way beyond me. But I digress. The story is not some story-in-your-face type game that a lot of games tend to do. You actually have to pay attention to things. Even the smallest things like newspaper clippings on a bulletin board. And finally, the characters had more characterization than any other game I've ever played, especially around that time period. Enough said.

 

[Grey_Focks]

I didn't like it. The story was good, but everything else about it just....blech. The actual combat and the vehicle sections were just god awful. Gravity gun was kinda cool at first...but it got old quick.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Ah, so we've come full circle. On the Escapist, we've gone from thinking we're bold for hating games everyone else loves, to thinking we're bold for hating games that we love.

 

[imaloony]

Half Life 1 came out years before Halo, so if anything, Halo ripped off Half Life

And Marathon came out almost a decade before Half Life 2. We can go on like this all day.

Strong alien armor is strong

Large plot holes are large.

Its called realism

I think Valve dropped the whole "Realism" thing from this series right around GMan. And the Aliens. And the zombies. And the Gravity Gun. So, the point is, I don't think it would kill Valve to make it so these guys can't die.