Worst Valve game?

[Owyn_Merrilin]

You know, the fact that I own a large number of the valve games, and don't like the majority of them is strange.... I didn't like L4D or L4D2, because they're horrible without at least one other human player, I didn't like Team Fortress/TF2 because of a similar lack of ability to play with other people in a fixed-class shooter similar to battlefield 2 etc.. I haven't yet played counter strike (no flames plz), but I loved Portal, Half Life and sequels, HL2 and it's sequels and portal 2.

It's probably pretty obvious where that line is drawn for me. These are mostly computer games, and most people I know either don't have a good enough internet connection to play or the powerful hardware to run the game in the first place. playing on a console has it's own problems of either spit screening or multiple copies of the game.

I don't get it, what's so great about multiplayer games? yeah, sure, DDR, Guitar Hero and Deff Jamz Rapstar are awesome multiplayer games, but they don't require the entire screen and can switch between drunken friends very easily. But, none of those are *online* multiplayer. perhaps there's something bound to that.

I think Valve is missing the mark by putting out these online-based multiplayer games, I don't even know a person IRL that spends more then a single hour a week playing one.

Well, that's the whole point of online multiplayer; it's not who you know in real life, but who is willing to play on a server with you that counts. If you're going into it looking to play with people you already know, you're going in with the wrong idea. It's like joining an amateur soccer league and complaining that none of your friends play; you make friends while playing.

I didn't really like Team Fortress 2. I got it very shortly after release and it was still already too late to even try and get into it. It's the sort of game where, if you're not one of the first in, you're doomed to get beat down by everyone you come across and therefore get nowhere.

Maybe I'm just really bad at it, I don't know, but either way I'm not a big fan.

It sounds like you're just bad at the game. TF2 is about as easy to pick up as any game that involves skill can be; part of playing online in any game is getting your butt kicked for at least the first couple of hours of play. However, if you stick with it, you eventually get better. Heck, the whole point of team based games is to let players who aren't the best on the server still contribute to and have a chance of winning. In the early days of online multiplayer, it was every man for himself, and there was only one winner on any server. As for how TF2 has changed over the years, even the drops don't give that big of an advantage. A lot of the best players use the vanilla loadouts, because they're the general purpose loadouts, while the other ones are situational, and will get you killed if you're using them except at exactly the right time, where they deliver a slight advantage over the standard loudout -- but there's usually another class that counters the same thing with the vanilla loadout, making the drops completely optional.

OT: I was going to say Alien Swarm, not because it was bad so much as because it was the worst of a very good lot, but after seeing the video of Ricochet, I think we have a winner. Space maps with jump pads generally make for bad maps; and entire game built around it must be awful, especially when you realize just how small the landing areas are. I have a feeling people are more likely to kill themselves than get killed by someone else.

 

[Aphex Demon]

The worst one for me would have to be Left 4 Dead 2. It felt more rushed and definitely more unfinished than the first. What do you think?

Please explain your logic. It was a sequel game. And much was added while maintaining the basics of gameplay.

And I can honestly say I have not played a Valve game I didn't enjoy. Half-Life? Obvious masterpiece. L4D series? original and surprisingly time consuming (I have played over 400 hours of it according to Steam). Counter-Strike? Potentially the best multiplayer game ever. Team Fortress? Right up there with CS.

There's also the more minor games like Day of Defeat, Zombie Panic, Deathmatch, etc. All very entertaining.

This, over 9000 times.

 

[Judgement101]

Alien Swarm. Also, the people hating Half-Life 2, I notice how you guys are basically using the "We hate it because its popular" tactic. The only points you guys make are "Forgetable character, plot holes, and a bad story" 2 of which are opinions and the other (plot hoes) is practically in every game.

 

[Judgement101]

not a fan of valve at all and to me their worst is Team Fortress 2. No excuse for the lack of bots and I hate the aesthetic of it.

Lack of bots? In almost ever sever they have bots.

 

[CleverNickname]

TF2 since roughly the Scout update. That update itself was maybe not terrible (though certainly not the best on either), but it's gotten worse and worse since then. More stupid weapons, more stupid ways to randomly insta-kill, more survivability for arguably-OP classes, and a shocking decrease in map quality.

I don't like CS and never really played it, but it's not a bad game. I've played enough TF2 to confidently say it sucks.

The much-bemoaned L4D2 only had bad press (because of internet whiners) and the flaws that are really only most apparent in Versus are just being heavily exaggerated by whiners on the Steam forums. The actual game itself works as smoothly as a baby's bottom. Much unlike bloated broken TF2.

 

[Arafiro]

Not a huge fan of L4D2, but to be honest I would have to go with TF2 at this point, mainly for the reasons the poster above described. It started out pretty well, but I came back to it after a year or so and it's so bloody bloated that they just ruined it.

And TFC was such an incredible game. Shame.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Half Life 2: Episode 1 undoubtly.

After Half Life 2 it really was a let down. The scale of everything was brought down, there was very little story beyond "We need to get out of here" and I was just a little bored by it. There's a couple of moments that stood out to me, like the hospital sequence but there was also a lot of crap, like the escort mission for the final and the boss fight with the strider which just highlighted how scaled down the whole thing was, and not in a good intimate way.

It was still a decent game which tells you something about Valve. And they definitly made up for it with Episode 2 which I personally think is the best game in the series.

I'm not sure I completely understand the hate for Left 4 Dead 2. For me with the changes they made completely changed the game in general and made it so much better. I could never go back to Left 4 Dead 1 after picking up a melee weapon or meeting the new infected, who balanced the game emensly. My only problem with the game was the more goofy atmosphere and Rochelle, but it was still a massive improvement over the original.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I haven't played a Valve game that wasn't objectively a good game, but I never got into the L4D series. Maybe I was too busy with grad school at the time, I dunno, but it just never grabbed my attention.

Of those I've fully played, HL2:Ep.1 was nice but a bit short.

 

[synobal]

Half Life 2 Episode 3? Why's it the worst? Because it's not out yet. Damn you Gabe!

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I'm going with Counter-Strike: Source, in the fact that it's the same exact game that the mod was so many years ago: Same guns, same official maps, same models, same official gamemodes. I got bored with it fast.

 

[BeerTent]

Hear me out... Both Counter-Strike games.

Broken beyond repair. I've seen totaled NASCAR racers that are more salvageable. They went with the formula of a few shots means your dead, but the problem is that this applies to a few weapons. On an unarmored target, weapons like the USP and Glock take roughly 5 or so shots SMG's, roughly the same. Now, we have weapons like the AI and the M4A1, which, in my opinion are not balanced in any way, shape or form. The AK47 will be dead-pinpoint accurate if your standing still for the first shot. Include this with the fact that it is more powerful than the M4A1, and you have the terrorists at an advantage. The Counter-terrorists need to be more sneaky, or more dodgy in order to kill a terrorist.

Keep in mind now, this is a game where twitch reflexes are everything. If you can't twitch faster than the other guy, your out. Game over. Another problem, that they tried to fix mind you, was that there are 4 primary weapons. The Desert Eagle, the AK, the M4A1, and the AWM. These 4 guns trump everything else. You use them, or you had damn well get absolutely amazing with something else or it just won't matter. The only reason why someone can win with a TMP or with a Famas is because they're fucking amazing and nobody sees it coming. "Oh, he'll switch up to one of the four next round." You think. It never happens, and it'll always catch you with your pants down like a suicide bomber. I salute those people.

The maps are over simplified. The community blows, and while it is good that they toned the graphics so anyone can run it, they will not allow you to run with custom anything in any scrims or league play. So it'll look like ass when your machine can handle pretty.

Aand the objectives. With the maps how they are designed... the objectives in a map are a "last resort" option. Can't find the last guy? Grab the hostages or plant the bomb. That'll flush him out. Otherwise, it's just a free-for-all deathmatch. Incredibly boring. At least with Neotokyo the Objective helped you and your team a LOT when you picked her up.

 

[ezeroast]

TF2, i used to love it but then went overkill with class updates and god damn... soo many hats

Edit: as soon as i posted this comment.. steam crashed. (I think they are onto me)

Oh how i love hats, hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats hats

 

[ruben6f]

Half-life 2, it bored me and I didn't like the fighting or the story

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Well I never play Team Fortress 2 but I know its pretty good even though its not my cup of tea. I guess I'd have to vote Left 4 Dead 2 also. Many aspects of it don't feel as good as the original. The main two being the characters and the loose control. (Trust me, Play L4D2 and then go play L4D, you'll see the difference)

 

[sooperman]

Another vote for TF2. Vanilla on the 360 is enjoyable, but no one plays that anymore. Shame, though, because it did a good job of capturing a pure, teamwork-based formula.

The PC version got way too many little add-ons and extras, but it feels so stiff and lifeless that success is meaningless. But hey, maybe the Uber Update will add a few more hats. That'll fix it.

 

[scorptatious]

Team Fortress 2 on the Xbox 360. I mean TF is great, but they give the computer users everything and Xbox gets nothing!

THIS! Totally this! Except for me, it was the PS3.

OT: I haven't played all of Valve's games, but from what I have played, I'd have to go with Half Life 2. Not that it was a bad game by any means, I just happened to enjoy Valve's other games more then that one.

 

[Katana314]

I think it could go to either L4D1 or 2. L4D1 had a million balance issues for Versus, many aspects of the game running contrary to what made itself fun, and got boring quickly. L4D2 sacrificed the cool character set they had in favor of random ethnic minorities and the most annoying reporter on earth.
It would help my point so much if I could find a black guy who liked L4D1 more.

 

[repeating integers]

Half Life 2: Episode 1 undoubtly.

After Half Life 2 it really was a let down. The scale of everything was brought down, there was very little story beyond "We need to get out of here" and I was just a little bored by it. There's a couple of moments that stood out to me, like the hospital sequence but there was also a lot of crap, like the escort mission for the final and the boss fight with the strider which just highlighted how scaled down the whole thing was, and not in a good intimate way.

To be fair, though, that was kinda the plot of the first half of Half-Life 2 as well. After that, it was "we need to get TO here".

Still wasn't a bad game, though.

 

[Ascarona]

The entire Half Life series, there I said it. I fail to see why people like it so much, maybe its because I wasn't around back then to enjoy the full experience and now I'm left with game technology from 2004.

Also, TF2. You die waaay too fast, it's on par with CoD games and I don't particulary like those either. The only mode thats a bit enjoyable for me in TF2 is that medieval game.

 

[Scabadus]

I guess I'd go with Team Fortress 2: I just don't like multiplayer-only games. I know it now has bots for all of 3 maps or so and saying that it's the worse Valve game is a bit like calling it the least valuable uncut, fist-sized diamond, but it's the one I enjoyed least.