Favourite Chapter

Favourite Chapter

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Asknoone

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For me it would have to be Riding Shotgun; I think on the whole it's the most consistent, well-paced and wonderful chapter in the series so far, up there with greats such as Undue Alarm, Nova Prospekt and Follow Freeman.

It's not overly long and hasn't a single, unwanted set piece or tedious bit of gameplay. The introduction of the Hunters at the Radio Tower is superb, and works well as a gameplay scenario, and along the same lines is the Chopper showdown in the freight yard, which is highly entertaining and rewarding.

Stand out moment would be the Advisor Barn, because it's just a bit of brilliance that Valve need to be applauded for. Abandoned, derelict barn in the middle of nowhere; a malevolent, highly capable alien intelligence takes up a corner in an an effect not too dissimilar to a spider. The contrast is brilliant, eerie and awesome.
 
I actually prefer Under The Radar, for the autogun sequence (at least I believe it's part of this chapter...) as well as the later cache hunting and the final sequence of arriving at the White Forest.
 
For me its a difficult choice between Riding Shotgun and Our Mutual Fiend. Our mutual fiend revealed a bunch of stuff and had two stunning battles, along with incredible scenes of human interaction.
But Riding Shotgun was just awesome. Though it was only three "sections" long these sections were superb.
 
Freeman Pontifex, Riding Shotgun and Under The Radar are my favorite, I keep replaying them. Riding Shotgun is the best of the three, so I voted for that.
 
While the driving chapters are great, the first one has a special place in my heart. Everything from the beginning in the train to the descent into the tunnels are simply fantastic and incredibly atmospheric.
 
I did like Our Mutual Friend, although for some reason I tend to like the chapters where you arn't fighting, e.g start of HL1, white forest etc.
 
Mikael Grizzly said:
I actually prefer Under The Radar, for the autogun sequence (at least I believe it's part of this chapter...) as well as the later cache hunting and the final sequence of arriving at the White Forest.
Click to expand...

Autogun sequence was during Under the Radar.
 
The mutual friend chapter had great varied action between the different enemies, such as, hunters, striders, and use of car
 
Our Mutual Fiend, simply because of the variation during the chapter. If i remember right it was the chapter in which you had to clear out the missile silos? That was probably one of my favourite parts of ep2.
 
This vortal coil - because of Vortal combat (song 22), the vorts, and G-mans great re-apperance.
 
Favorite Chapters (Spoiler)

The Hunter/Strider battle in the White Forrest is absolutely epic. Magnusson Bombs were a stroke of Genius. Next is the battle at the Inn with the Combine and Hunters, intense, incredible. Valve is so good at making each battle unique, what a great job by Valve.

By the way, if you folks haven't figured it out yet, you can load up on ammo crates and health before each battle, placing them in strategic positions before each battle. At the battle in the Forrest, you can grab ammo, health, and Magnusson's off the shelves in the buildings with the Magnusson Delivery Devices on your way to the Saw Mill and stash it nearby for yourself later. Never seems to be enough around when you are in the heat of battle.
 
Riding Shotgun... but Under the Radar complements it brilliantly. Riding Shotgun has you face the worst that the Combine has to offer, one tense encounter after the other. Hunters, Advisor, Helicopter. Under the Radar then lulls you into a sense of security: the Advisor has buggered off, the Helicopter got what was coming to it. You drive leisurely towards White Forest, getting the chance to take in scenery and explore derelicts that Riding Shotgun didn't always allow. Then Wham! You fall into the trap at the White Forest Inn, and are rewarded with the best infantry battle in the game. Dog versus Strider is a nice bonus after that.

Our Mutual Fiend was awesome as well, and possibly better than any other isolated chapter in the game... I just can't separate Riding Shotgun and Under the Radar though.
 
After my second playthrough I believe that Riding Shotgun was probably the most fun chapter I had, especially with the damnable Hunters. But Our Mutual Fiend gives it a great run for its money.
 
Riding shotgun or Mutual Fiend. They are just two of the best HL2 levels yet, as well as 'Direct Intervention, Urban Flight' in ep1 and well cant be bothered naming loads in HL2
 
Riding shotgun or Mutual Fiend. The latter takes the cake purely due to Magnusson aweshomness.

From the votes it seems that nobody likes Freeman Pontifex... and I agree that it is the worst chapter. Run of the mill zombie Shooting/burning , while continually taunting us with the sniper rifle just doesn't cut it anymore. In fact if not for the guard/guardian battle I would say that is the weakest chapter in the whole damn franchise. Right next to Residue processing.
 
Never much liked the Zombie toxic waste levels very much.. So Riding shotgun for me.. I loved the first time that you got to fight the hunters one on one.. Great fun.
 
I didn't particularly dislike any chapter, but Riding Shotgun was pretty fun. I thoroughly enjoy zombie shooting of all types, and ant lions too. Even the Antlion Queen scenario was fun. There's never been a moment in HL2 or any of the episodes where I sat there and said "Ugh, should I keep going or go to bed?".

It's just a fantastic ride.
 
I was a bit dissapointed by "Riding Shotgun". Drive, get out of car, shoot generic zombies, get in, drive, get out, shoot generic zombies, ...

Sorry, it just didn't feel much different from the car sequence in HL2.

Last bit was brilliant though. I remember shouting "oh **** !" out loud when the barn splintered away :)
 
Bulletbrain said:
Riding shotgun or Mutual Fiend. The latter takes the cake purely due to Magnusson aweshomness.

From the votes it seems that nobody likes Freeman Pontifex... and I agree that it is the worst chapter. Run of the mill zombie Shooting/burning , while continually taunting us with the sniper rifle just doesn't cut it anymore. In fact if not for the guard/guardian battle I would say that is the weakest chapter in the whole damn franchise. Right next to Residue processing.
Click to expand...

Really? I enjoyed Freeman Pontifex, just not as much as everything else. If nothing else, the chance to put away my shotgun and just concentrate on flinging buzzsaws, or luring zombies into traps, was a welcome relief from all the god-damned Antlions.
 
Jintor said:
Really? I enjoyed Freeman Pontifex, just not as much as everything else. If nothing else, the chance to put away my shotgun and just concentrate on flinging buzzsaws, or luring zombies into traps, was a welcome relief from all the god-damned Antlions.
Click to expand...

I liked The Vortal Coil. I liked dodging those huge spitballs from Antlion workers, I liked fighting with the Vort, I loved the atmosphere of the whole place. It was... something new, something fresh. But in Pontifex..... I constantly felt like... retreading my own steps through HL2 and EP1... it was too samey.
 
Forceflow said:
I was a bit dissapointed by "Riding Shotgun". Drive, get out of car, shoot generic zombies, get in, drive, get out, shoot generic zombies, ...

Sorry, it just didn't feel much different from the car sequence in HL2.

Last bit was brilliant though. I remember shouting "oh **** !" out loud when the barn splintered away :)
Click to expand...
There are three maps in Riding Shotgun. The two halves of a map you meet 'generic zombies' in are spent driving as fast as possible from a helicopter. You're thinking of Under the Radar.

And the Advisor rips the roof off the barn about Half-way through Riding Shotgun, not at the end.
 
Gotta be riding shotgun. Fighting the hunters for the first time was great, and I just loved the environments. Haven't gotten a chance to play through it again yet, though (went straight back to HL2, gonna go all the way through).
 
I loved This Vortal Coil, probably because I'm a sucker for abandoned mines, vortigaunts and teh G-mans (not to be confused with the G-man). It also contained the best music track in the episode.

Our Mutual Fiend comes in second, because of plot development and the silo battle. While the penultimate battle was fun, I really liked the desperation and urgency of the silo clearance, as I felt those two atmospheres were better illustrated than the strider battle.
 
Bulletbrain said:
I liked The Vortal Coil. I liked dodging those huge spitballs from Antlion workers, I liked fighting with the Vort, I loved the atmosphere of the whole place. It was... something new, something fresh. But in Pontifex..... I constantly felt like... retreading my own steps through HL2 and EP1... it was too samey.
Click to expand...

I guess that's part of why I liked Freeman Pontifex. I didn't have to think in verticle terms as Antlions jumped above or below me, I didn't have to avoid projectiles - all i had to do was sprint out of the reach of zombies, and ignite traps or fling buzzsaws. Easy, non-thinking gameplay. It was relaxing, non-intensive.
 
Riding Shotgun, but Our Mutual Friend and T-Minus one was also great. Freeman Pontifex also had some great zombie slaying.
 
Still trying to decide between Riding Shotgun and Under the Radar.
I love Riding Shotgun, but
the White Forest Inn ambush in Under the Radar is making it so hard to choose. Best ambush scene ever. Extremely fun.
 
Well, I cant decide.
Freeman Pontifex (epic antlion guard battle and even better zombie-filled gameplay through acid and toxins),
Riding Shotgun(action-packed hunter battle and exploration type gameplay),
Under The Radar (cool siege at White Forest Inn and exploration type gameplay),
Our Mutual Fiend(great indoor battle and good space invader-ish end battle).
 
I'll have to choose Under The Radar...
Really good fight scenes. (The ambush was awesome! :thumbs: )
 
I remember the first Advisor scene in the barn, one half of me was in Gordon style, looking it right in the face, the other side was "Aghh!!! S**t! S**t! S**t! Alyx! Vorts! Dog! Someone save me!!!

That has to give some point to RS.
 
Hard to pick. Is the guardian fight in This Vortal Coil or Freeman Pontifex?
 
All scenes are lovely.

But what is unique are the caves in "Vortal Coil". The interaction between the reflected light on the wet cave wall and dynamics shadow casted on the environment is simply gorgeous. And I quite like the jokes made by Sheckley and Griggs.
 
I'm oddly surprised noone voted on Freeman Pointifex yet...
 
Under the Radar since there were quite a few zombies to cut in half:imu:
 
Freeman Pontifex 0 0%

The two Antlion mamas, the zombies and the seesaw bridge feels so unloved. :p
 
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