final battle

[MJ12]

Was anyone else a little dissapointed in the final battle?

It was neat for the first 5 minutes, but then it got sooooo repetative.

I was hoping for gunships, combine, striders, hunters, all mixed in, with many rebel forces all running around fighting in one large battle.


But instead it was just the same thing over and over again, more striders with more hunters, kill hunters, blow up striders with m device, repeat.

It could have been more diverse. It didn't feel like a battle at all.

 

[Cuthbert]

Agree.

 

[Planetary]

And the trailer was wrong, but trailers for video games always are, so that's not a surprise.

Not a single soldier anywhere.

Maybe its a deliberate choice on Valve's part. I think they'd explain it as the Advisors being completely fed up with Overwatch's incompetence in combat. Look at them. Defeated by rebels, antlions, headcrabs, it's pathetic.

I do like the new "Forest" Overwatch voice. Sort of a cross between the big Nova Prospekt/city apartments type announcer and CP individual radio.

Gets her own subtitles too. But they always disappear in one second, so no time to read them.

 

[Xendance]

It was ok for me. I also liked it when you defeat all (or so you think) striders, and you slowly return to base in your car to get a good cheer, then you suddenly see not one, not two, but three red dots on your radar telling you striders were coming.

I thought to myself, "My god, how am I going to do this?"

All fine for me.

 

[Tyguy]

Trailers are usually made months before the finished product is released, and before they finish the game. If they feel something doesn't fit with the story, it gets cut. That doesnt mean the trailer gets changed, especially if it does a good job in hyping the game.

Valve does a good job having their games make sense.

 

[Dr0ndeh]

they shouldve put some advisors in there somehow. theyve been building those grubs since hl2, when you fight them in ep3 it had better be absolutely ****ing spectacular.

 

[bbson john]

It is impossible to survive for five seconds in a battle with all the striders, hunters, soldiers and gunships.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I agree, I wanted something more massive. More rebels, combine soldiers, I wanted a massive ****ing battlefield!

 

[Max_Fall]

I agree with AJ Rimmer,having dozens of rebels,striders,soldiers,explosion and all that going on for like half an hour would be AWESOME!!!!

 

[Nitre]

they shouldve put some advisors in there somehow. theyve been building those grubs since hl2, when you fight them in ep3 it had better be absolutely ****ing spectacular.

I'm sure that whatever way we fight advisors in ep3 will be pretty damn good.

 

[[Matt]]

I had a LOT of fun during that last very tense battle, but yes mixing the fight up a little with combine gunshiops and other different attacks would have been neat.

 

[Mesz]

Well I loved the way Dog handled the adviser about to kill Alyx at the end. I was hoping that Dog would've killed the adviser...would've been nice to see. But it was still cool watching him beat the shit out of it and hearing it squeal in pain and then scampering away like a dog with it's tail between it's legs...

 

[Kadayi]

Personally I enjoyed the finale, the second wave was a neat touch and I won't lie and say I didn't find the fight tough. As the last strider blew I had 4 health left and a hunter barely feet away from me (thank god for a fully loaded shotgun). Sure I agree it's disappointing that the finale didn't quite look and play exactly like the trailers showed, but it was a tense affair and the hunters proved to be more than challenging ground opponents. A few dozen combine thrown in as well would of probably tipped it from challenging to frustrating in terms of scale.

What was impressive was the cinematic physics, it's one thing to see a building get totaled in a trailer, it's another thing to literally have it get blown into firewood when your right next to it. Kudos to anyone who managed the achievement for that particular section.

 

[Dynasty]

The 'how am i gonna do THIS?!' adrenaline i got when i saw 3 striders coming was quite cool, i was pretty scared at that point. But yeah, couldve been a little more going on, BUT if you keep missing with the bombs then it gets hard. The hunters are more of a mild annoyance though. Especially when they charge you or stand in your way or blow up the bomb youre holding..

 

[dogboy73]

It was neat for the first 5 minutes, but then it got sooooo repetative.

It was very repetative because it was exactly the same procedure over & over again until all the striders were dealt with. It was good but it could have been so much better.

Given that the Combine where desperate to stop the launch & keep the portal open you would have thought they'd throw everything at you! We saw all those vehucels & gunships heading over the bridge along with the striders. Where were they all going? on holiday?!

This should have been the ultimate HL battle so far. It should have been Empire Strikes back, rebel defence of the Hoth base but with Striders instead of AT-AT's & White forest instead of White Barren snow lands! There should have been turrets & maybe even mortar type devices with a similar system to the one used in the original HL. That would have been cool.

 

[Shift]

They did throw everything at you, the Strider is the greatest weapon in the Overwatch's arsenal, so I would I think throwing a dozen Striders each supported by Hunters would be enough to breakthrough.

If you play it with commentary, they state it would have been a more larger scale with more variety of enemies, like Combine Elites rushing foward too, but they had to keep it with Striders and Hunters because it was getting far too difficult for play testers. They wanted a balance of challenge but do-ability, they didn't want gamers tearing their hair out with frustration as they manage to take out the final Hunters are a Strider then for a lone Elite Combine to stand behind and you and kill you.

I thought the final was perfect how it was, the outer bases being destroyed was an amazing feast for the eyes, and the final push by the Striders, forcing you to make a final stand at the base get VERY intense for, especially since it was on hard mode and my health start to get severely on the low side. Remember yelling as drove my car, rampaging through two hunters, right under a Striders legs before turning and blowing it apart ending the battle, with like 8 health left and incredibly satisfying, and the cheers at the end made me smile.

 

[Dynasty]

Might play through today with commentary on.

 

[gpbrown]

I think that the end battle was a challenging one.

I really enjoyed the modifications to the car, and the radio was a neat gadget too.

It did get a little bit repetative, and when the second wave of Striders came along... I was more '..oh I have to kill another 3 now', rather than '...wehey! Another 3 Striders - bring it!'.

My problem with Episode Two is the length I think. I'm not sure it was value for money to be honest. But having played the entire Half-Life series... I have to see the ending.

I played Episode 1 with developer's comentary on after completion - it is well worth doing, and I will be doing it with Half-Life 2: Episode 2.

G.

 

[Kadayi]

My problem with Episode Two is the length I think. I'm not sure it was value for money to be honest.

What is it with you people? In all seriousness you'll be hard pressed to find any other form of medium out there that delivers as much bang for your buck as TOB in terms of hours of flat out entertainment, save self abuse. I've probably sunk 90 hours into TF2 alone since the beta began and that's given more than my moneys worth in terms of lol entertainment. Do I feel gimped that I already own HL2 and EP1? Shit no.

 

[Sparta]

I think that the end battle was a challenging one.

I really enjoyed the modifications to the car, and the radio was a neat gadget too.

It did get a little bit repetative, and when the second wave of Striders came along... I was more '..oh I have to kill another 3 now', rather than '...wehey! Another 3 Striders - bring it!'.

My problem with Episode Two is the length I think. I'm not sure it was value for money to be honest. But having played the entire Half-Life series... I have to see the ending.

I played Episode 1 with developer's comentary on after completion - it is well worth doing, and I will be doing it with Half-Life 2: Episode 2.

G.

I take it you haven't played any of the Halo games? Because the first Halo is about the same length as Episode 2. Maybe an hour longer.

 

[Narvi]

Half Life 2 seems shorter than it is because it's so fun. It's the difference between walking home with a hot chick and walking home alone.

 

[dogboy73]

They did throw everything at you, the Strider is the greatest weapon in the Overwatch's arsenal, so I would I think throwing a dozen Striders each supported by Hunters would be enough to breakthrough.

Except that it wasn't! Not nearly enough. I completed it first go without much trouble at all. The hunters were dead easy to deal with - just run them over! Then your free to take out the strider very easily. This is what I did ...... 12 times!! It was getting a bit tedious after about the 4th time! I think the strider buster made it far to easy. It was a cool idea & I'm glad they put it in just so we could here Magnusson going on about it Just made the final battle an absolute cake walk (although offering a significant challenge has never been one of HL2's strong points has it).

 

[jonnyfilmboy]

I tell ya, when I'd grab a Magnusson and then 15 green vibrating slugs from the striders would pop onto it, holy crap was I impressed with the AI of the game. But it did get to be a bit frustrating. Of course, seeing the buildings being blown up was pretty impressive. Usually you don't see that much randomness unless you supposedly have a physX accellerator.

 

[leib10]

I thought it could've used Combine soldiers. It would've made a lot more sense tactically, as Striders/Hunters (armor) would've been vulnerable to Gordon/Rebels (infantry) waiting in ambush. Even though the Hunters can go anywhere Gordon can, there weren't nearly enough to check every nook and cranny. The inclusion of Combine soldiers would've made for a much tougher fight.

 

[Para]

I tell ya, when I'd grab a Magnusson and then 15 green vibrating slugs from the striders would pop onto it, holy crap was I impressed with the AI of the game. But it did get to be a bit frustrating. Of course, seeing the buildings being blown up was pretty impressive. Usually you don't see that much randomness unless you supposedly have a physX accellerator.

PhysX PPU is actually slower than latest iteration of software based physics solvers

 

[Asknoone]

Soldiers went because of gameplay problems. I thought the fight was great fun, but too easy, and probably needed mixing up. I'd have added some more layers inbetween the Strider onslaught; a big, free for all battle would have been retarded, but I'd have still shaken things up.

 

[nimby]

It needed more rebels defending. It's their final hope, and they send 6 guys with regular guns, not even rocket launchers/AR2s. We even heard a little lesson regarding AR2's alternate fire mode killing hunters. Why didn't we see rebels putting that info to good use?

I found the emphasis on Gordon being the super-hero that stops everything too much. In the final levels of the original Half Life, the big fights in city 17 made you feel part of the battle, instead of being the battle.

 

[MJ12]

I found the emphasis on Gordon being the super-hero that stops everything too much. In the final levels of the original Half Life, the big fights in city 17 made you feel part of the battle, instead of being the battle.

agreed, that aspect is getting a bit old. I am sick of being the guy to do everything; in ep.2 I felt like I was everyone's bitch "gordon can do it" "gordon can fix it" "gordon can...". Hardly anyone really helped except the vort.

 

[Planetary]

I found the emphasis on Gordon being the super-hero that stops everything too much. In the final levels of the original Half Life, the big fights in city 17 made you feel part of the battle, instead of being the battle.

You mean Half-life 2, don't you? I don't think City 17 is on Xen.

 

[Cube]

agreed, that aspect is getting a bit old. I am sick of being the guy to do everything; in ep.2 I felt like I was everyone's bitch "gordon can do it" "gordon can fix it" "gordon can...". Hardly anyone really helped except the vort.

And the Vort helped too much.

They said "Let Gordan handle the striders"

Well.....he would do a better job if they could do something about the hunters. Surely they could have killed at least two in the final section?

 

[Hellrider]

I wish they will add an option of some sort (a harder difficulty level maybe) that adds combine soldiers and gunships to that battle (with them a bunch of resistance soldiers too of course)..

 

[Shift]

If you look at the battle from a tactical point of view, the entire force to attack White Forest was mustered remnants of the battle of city 17 and outskirt bases. From what we know on the bridge scene, they saved around a dozen Striders, a obviously a bunch of Hunters, two or three hunter choppers, a few Advisors, and maybe a battalion or two of men and a squad Elite Combine. Now thats pretty impressive, considering that there are no Citadels in the area for a major resupply and, since the Overwatch were severely beaten in City 17, not to mention the amount of damage Gordon had caused beforehand with major outposts such as Nova Prospect being destroyed.

On your way to White Forest, large amounts of resources are dedicated to intercept you as they know Alyx carries the data packet, they obviously have the logic that if they can get that, then the launch of the rocket will not work. You are intercepted by a hunter chopper, and ambushed by Hunters quite a few times, not to mention the massive force they sent to ambush you before you get to White Forest, many Hunters, a huge amount of men including a squad of Elites.

They obviously kept the Stiders, bunch of Hunters and a few Hunter Choppers for transport back in reserve, should the other half of the force fail in intercepting the data packet before it could reach White Forest. When it does, they let rip with their powerfully large group of Stiders they have left and to which they think there are so many that not even Freeman can stop them, what they dont realise is that they have the Strider Busters aplenty.

The force they managed to re-route impressively was used over time in journey to White Forest, the force that attacked White Forest itself was what they had left basically.

 

[Black Op]

Still, the final battle could have had more variation in what enemies you fought. At least appearences by Gunships would do in some lulls between Strider attacks, with a couple of them showing up at the final battle to escort the last Strider batch. The Gunships would have made tactical sense in this battle. Aside from Gunships though, no other enemies were really needed or made tactical sense (like Combine soldiers, since the Strider attack was essentially an armour assault which required a long and speedy advance where Hunters would have preformed a far superior escort job).

 

[Asknoone]

Gunships would make no sense, considering you'd then have an infinite supply of rockets. You also have to remember, when considering the gameplay, that it's all about stopping the Striders. Many of the enemies were taken out because it was too costly for the player to defend; other forms of enemies became more of a problem than the Striders. Not that I'm defending the final battle. I mean, it was fun, but way too easy, and I think they needed to add more layers inbetween the Strider assaults.

Black Op needs to post here more.

 

[xantir]

I found the final battle epic and very fun. Wouldn't have been much fun without the car though!

 

[Kadayi]

Except that it wasn't! Not nearly enough. I completed it first go without much trouble at all. The hunters were dead easy to deal with - just run them over! Then your free to take out the strider very easily. This is what I did ...... 12 times!! It was getting a bit tedious after about the 4th time! I think the strider buster made it far to easy. It was a cool idea & I'm glad they put it in just so we could here Magnusson going on about it Just made the final battle an absolute cake walk (although offering a significant challenge has never been one of HL2's strong points has it).

Did you play on easy or with the commentary mode on, because I've not met a person yet who thought it was either easy or strolled through it without dying a few times, whether on normal or hard. Also given that you claim the hunters and Striders wrre easy to dispatch what then any great purpose in adding the infinitely easier to kill combine?

 

[Laivasse]

I started to dread the final section when the first Strider-hunter pack killed me 3 times (on Hard) D:

I got into the swing of it after that and enjoyed it a lot. I recently completed it for a second time and was really pounding their arses, with some great cinematic moments.

 

[Crash Happy]

I didn't find it too easy, but then when I was turbo'ing to get to a Strider and aimed my car at a Hunter to take it out I stopped like I'd hit a brick wall. After that I didn't bother trying again. I also managed to lose the first outpost really quickly because I was tooling about and the loss of the supplies so quickly was something I really felt later on.

 

[Laivasse]

I didn't find it too easy, but then when I was turbo'ing to get to a Strider and aimed my car at a Hunter to take it out I stopped like I'd hit a brick wall. After that I didn't bother trying again. I also managed to lose the first outpost really quickly because I was tooling about and the loss of the supplies so quickly was something I really felt later on.

I don't know what happened to you with that Hunter, but hit them with enough momentum in the car (which isn't much) and they go down easy. Maybe you clipped a tree trunk or strider leg, or it glitched?

I had the same problem with supplies the first time around. If you can keep most of the buildings intact through the first half of the fight it stays much easier.

 

[Crash Happy]

Yeah now that I've seen everyone else using the car I figure it was a glitch. Funnily enough I did think at the time it might have been using the turbo that did it, there's been a couple of games where that sort of thing has happened to me. I didn't bother trying again though and instead did it hardcore with just me and my arsenal.
I knew that losing those supplies was bad and was sorely tempted to start over, after they went I always felt like I was on a knife edge and survived the battle in pretty beat up shape. I'm playing through on commentary now though so I'll try ramming the car down the Hunters throats again.