Aaaand... that's it?

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ChocoTaco

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I don't mean to be rude to Valve, but I was pretty disappointed with the length of both Ep 1 and Ep 2. Not that there's anything wrong with a short episode, but considering the price of each of them I felt pretty ripped off after completing each one in probably under 6 hours of gameplay. Maybe if I hadn't bought Ep 1 and THEN paid 50 bucks for Orange Box it wouldn't be so bad. But as of now I've probably invested over 100 bucks in HL2.

Just sayin'. Oh well; it's still pretty much the best game ever. I guess that makes it worth it.
 
Oh, Portal was pretty short too. Like under 2 hours. Haven't tried TF2 yet; hopefully it kicks a lot of ass :P
 
Well, if you want a full-length game like HL2, there's a LOT more planning and execution to be done, so you'd probably get it like over 2 years from now.
They're doing shorter episodic installments to avoid that.
 
What? Portal took me a good 7 hours.

Ep 2 took me almost 18 hours total
 
The game was a perfect length for an episode. What defines a game? It's length or it's quality.

Half Life 1 to Half Life 2 wait time = 6 years. I don't want to wait that long again. And advances in graphics/technology make development even longer.

I'm freaking glad Episode 1 + 2 were 6-7 hours average length, means I've already played them, instead of still waiting for a full monolithic game to come out in like 2-3 years. Episode 1 came out only a year and a half after Half Life 2. Episode 2 came out 14 months after episode 1. Both were packed with awesome scenes and great pacing. (plus Portal and TF2 in this case)

Movies are 2-3 hours long. Awesome. A game is a different experience, and a totally different process to make. But 6 hours for a great story execution/action, not to mention breaking new ground with emotional response from the audience, is great to me.

I hope Valve continue to make these episodes and the length is just fine. The Orange Box/Episode II should win game of the year awards.
 
If you take Episode 1, 2 and 3 together, they make a game of about 20 hours(assuming each is 6-7 hours to beat) which is pretty decent.
 
I don't see how you guys think this game is so short? Am I the only one who really explores things? Or does everyone except me rush through games like these?
 
I recently discovered that all my crazy time-consuming explorations were detracting from the pacing and immersion of the game. So I kind of stopped over-exploring a month or so before Episode 2 came out.

Anyway, I beat it in about 7 hours I think, and it was pure gaming bliss. I enjoyed it more than any previous game in the HL series.
 
I wonder that if you explored enough the Combine would beat you to White Forest? :D You'd just arrive at a disaster area full of dead humans and striders and a toppled rocket...
 
Ridge said:
I wonder that if you explored enough the Combine would beat you to White Forest? :D You'd just arrive at a disaster area full of dead humans and striders and a toppled rocket...
Click to expand...

Thats like saying what happens if you idle a day or two in ep1.
 
It took me 9 hours.
I did explore a bit.. but I couldn't find the fourth cache.. I looked all over.
And that one physics cache where you have to
throw the grenade under and propel yourself
took me forever to figure out.
 
Stigmata said:
I recently discovered that all my crazy time-consuming explorations were detracting from the pacing and immersion of the game. So I kind of stopped over-exploring a month or so before Episode 2 came out.

Anyway, I beat it in about 7 hours I think, and it was pure gaming bliss. I enjoyed it more than any previous game in the HL series.
Click to expand...

Same, I played hl2 and ep1 so slowly/thoroughly it kind of brought the fun level down. So I just went with the flow a bit more in ep2. I'll do more exploring the second time through :D
 
I think the fourth
is in a hole alongside the road, hidden behind several stones, use the g gun to get rid of that stuff. I remember having to crouch, sneak in a bit and pull the stuff out (almost hit Alyx with some of the stones, whoops.) The fifth is hanging from a tree (hit myself with the stones I shot up.) The third underneath the floor of a small house. The second is the self-propellant and the first is in a damaged car.

I need to play it through again.
 
I loved that tree-hanging one. My thought process at the time:

1. Oh! Another supply cache! Better stop the car. Yes Alyx, stay there.

2. Aha! its behind those rocks.

3. There's the lambda but no supplies, just an arrow pointing up.

(Look up)

4. Aha! There they are! Very funny! Now how to get them...

5. Out of gravity gun pull range...

6. But not big heavy rock range!
 
It's funny. I wasn't too fond of the G gun in Half Life. Found it annoying and usually in the way. Then, with Half Life 2, they gave us the supercharged G gun, woooo! And now, in Half LIfe 2 EII, well, I love the G gun.
 
That tree hanging one was gay. I kept trying to shoot the rope it was hanging from, and then started thrwing rocks at it (to no avail,) so eventually I threw a nade at it, blew up one crate, and got the achievment counter.
I need to get the fourth one, though..
 
ChocoTaco said:
I don't mean to be rude to Valve, but I was pretty disappointed with the length of both Ep 1 and Ep 2. Not that there's anything wrong with a short episode, but considering the price of each of them I felt pretty ripped off after completing each one in probably under 6 hours of gameplay. Maybe if I hadn't bought Ep 1 and THEN paid 50 bucks for Orange Box it wouldn't be so bad. But as of now I've probably invested over 100 bucks in HL2.

Just sayin'. Oh well; it's still pretty much the best game ever. I guess that makes it worth it.
Click to expand...

Dont even try and use the phrase "ripped off" anywhere near the orange box. You are getting an episode which is better than most games, a GREAT online game (TF2), PORTAL, Episode 1, and Half Life 2. They should be charging over 100 bucks, but they arent.
 
That happens when you haven't played Half Life for ages and start turning senile. Don't remember what it really was, so...
 
Tyguy said:
Dont even try and use the phrase "ripped off" anywhere near the orange box. You are getting an episode which is better than most games, a GREAT online game (TF2), PORTAL, Episode 1, and Half Life 2. They should be charging over 100 bucks, but they arent.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. Of course, it's a brilliant marketing plan, just like Steam is. Get people to pay $50 for 5 games, two of which most of the purchasers already have. The ones who don't have the first two games (because they've been living under a rock) will buy it because it's such a good deal. The ones who already have the first two will give them away to others, which will convince those gift-receivers to buy the rest of the series for a higher price (or get the Orange Box themselves and then continue the gift giving).

It's smart business tactics! Everyone is happy. But I guess it all depends on if the games stand on their own as good games. The fact that they are the best games ever made helps a little.
 
The Portal took me 10 hours and Episode 2 took me around 8.
You people who race through everything never get to fully appreciate it. Some people like to find little easter eggs and hidden things that hint to the next episode or clarify something from a previous installment.
 
Takekaze said:
I think the fourth
is in a hole alongside the road, hidden behind several stones, use the g gun to get rid of that stuff. I remember having to crouch, sneak in a bit and pull the stuff out (almost hit Alyx with some of the stones, whoops.) The fifth is hanging from a tree (hit myself with the stones I shot up.) The third underneath the floor of a small house. The second is the self-propellant and the first is in a damaged car.

I need to play it through again.
Click to expand...

I remember that fifth one... I wasted more ammo trying to get it down than it was worth. :(

Jeese... I thought all the caches, even the web caches were easy to find... Some people need to get glasses? or do we just need to be a bit more observant?
 
Acepilotf14 said:
It took me 9 hours.
I did explore a bit.. but I couldn't find the fourth cache.. I looked all over.
And that one physics cache where you have to
throw the grenade under and propel yourself
took me forever to figure out.
Click to expand...

I looked at the achievment name and I figured it out. I mean, could they spoil the puzzle more?
 
That fifth cache, I didn't even see the arrow or the rocks the first time. I looked around, didn't see it immediately, so I looked up and there it was. I tried shooting at the rope, and when that didn't work I said, "Screw it," and shot at the box with a crossbow bolt. My intent was to break it, but to my surprise it fell down.
 
Episode 2 took me about 5 hours and portal about 3. And I did plenty of exploration, frankly I am suprised my steam stats page told me it took 5 hours to complete Episode 2. It felt like ten, and time usually goes quickly when you have fun!
 
Planetary said:
I loved that tree-hanging one. My thought process at the time:

1. Oh! Another supply cache! Better stop the car. Yes Alyx, stay there.

2. Aha! its behind those rocks.

3. There's the lambda but no supplies, just an arrow pointing up.

(Look up)

4. Aha! There they are! Very funny! Now how to get them...

5. Out of gravity gun pull range...

6. But not big heavy rock range!
Click to expand...

I wish that's how it happened for me. It would have been alot cooler. I saw it hanging from way back, before alyx even mentions there is a cache, so there wasn't any "oh" moment when I saw the arrow pointing upward.
 
For some reason the game says I'm missing one of the caches, even though I'm pretty sure I got them all. There's the one in the van at the beginning, the rocket cache where you have to propel yourself, the one under the shack in the junkyard(which appeared as 2 on my radar for some reason), the one in the cave by the side of the road as you approach White Forest Inn, and the hanging tree one. Am I missing anything?
 
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