Half-life 2, .....a little disappointing

[lambdana]

Its seems I am one of the few people that was actually disappointed with HalfLife 2. Now don't get me wrong. HL2 is perhaps one of the most beautifully realistic games ever made, BUT , where it comes up short is in the variety department.

It was obvious after I had finished the game that Valve decided to dedicate the whole game to all the legions of CounterStrike fans. 95% of the whole game is gun battles with armored soldiers in various abandoned buildings with a few aliens thrown in here and there and a tiny bit of storyline. Now thats great for the first quarter of the game, but not the whole game.

What made the first Half-Life legendary was the abundance of variety in every facet of the game. You had all kinds of bizarre aliens and a crapload of weapon choices as well as more interesting environments and rooms with traps. Hell, you use to be able to set your own traps.

Another huge element thats missing from HL2 is the intermittent big boss alien encounters which where abundant in the first half-life. I mean how can you not have bosses ? (I don't think a few gun battles with a helicopter and a alien gunship really count as boss battles) Although there are a couple battles with some striders which was very cool , but there just wasn't enough of that sort of thing to keep me really interested.

If valve were to redo the first Half-Life with the new physics and graphics, THAT would be the best game ever created hands down.

You can't tell me I'm wrong just because you fell in love with HL2. Yes its a great game, but anyone who played and loved the first one should know the difference.

Variety is what keeps you interested in playing, not graphics.

I'm submitting this point of view so that perhaps somehow enough people will speakup and say "hey, you know what? If your gonna work five years on a game, a little more variety would be nice !" Thats all.

 

[Rapstah]

Did you play the game or not? Since the game you played apparently isn't the one i played.

I mean how can you not have bosses

A sentence later you say the game HAS bosses, but that you don't count them as such. Bullshit. They are.

95% of the whole game is gun battles with armored soldiers in various abandoned buildings

Hell?

with a few aliens thrown in here

HELL?!

and a tiny bit of storyline

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD?!

 

[kacation_man]

he played the flash version! ha! i dont know. he sure as hell wasnt play'n hl2.

 

[lambdana]

Yes I've just finished beating HL2, and these are my conclusions and observations.

you can't tell me HL1 doesn't have more variety than the second one. Because if you do then you couldn't have played the first one.

 

[Rapstah]

I've played every single Valve game so far, and I swear to god HL2 has more variety than HL1.

I have, however, not said that HL2 is better than HL1.

 

[MiccyNarc]

HL1 has alot more enemy variety, that is for certain. I could have used more aliens but that would bugger the storyline.

 

[scotland1]

95% of the whole game is gun battles with armored soldiers in various abandoned buildings with a few aliens thrown in here and there and a tiny bit of storyline.

Isn't that what a first person shooter is :hmph:

 

[lambdana]

LOL . If your a huge Counterstrike fan then I suppose HL2 if the perfect FPS, but if your like me and you like blowing up aliens and all things vile and inhuman you would find HL a little more interesting.

I mean, the best part of HL for me was teleporting to the combine dimension where there were a ton of interesting aliens to fight and no military in sight.
Thats my personal taste though , but HL mixes it up real well compaired to the sequel.

Ofcourse storywise they can't make it like the first one . I understand that. I thought for sure there would be some interesting baddies in the citadel, but I was wrong. Not even a boss at the end, and for me that is sacralege.

 

[Rapstah]

The boss at the end was breen.

Valve made Counter-Strike, so i don't see the point in making HL2 for Counter-Strike fans, as they would literally be fighting themselves.

Xen wasn't the Combine Dimension.

 

[$kelet0r]

valve didn't make counterstrike

ontopic: The op seems to be of the old skool FPS mindset - exotic and random locations, weapons and enemies by the billion, simple plot, boss fights. HL2 is the future of FPS gaming in that it has a coherent setting, it strives to make weapons and enemies add to the immersion in that setting and the intricate yet subtle plot is the game rather than an after thought. Not to mention that HL2 and game physics have revolutionised gaming.

Some prefer the old - I know I don't. It might help to set aside your preconceived notions about how an FPS in your opinion should be and appreciate the genius in the game.

 

[Rapstah]

Valve made Counter-Strike: Source.

 

[Slug Advisor]

I lol at this thread.

I can see your point, but honestly, whut awr u tucking abut? Actual boss fights and tons of aliens are really hard to believe. Sure, a big alien thing-o-majic coming out of the portal at the end would be kinda cool, but I realy hate it when at the end teh hero kilz teh big bozz and teh game endz becuz of dat. HL2 had even more storyline than HL.
Also, what the hell is "95% of the whole game is gun battles with armored soldiers in various abandoned buildings" suppose to mean? There were tons of unique, unforgetable experiences. Antlions, Ravenholm, etc...

 

[Shift]

Not to mention the brilliant characters that revolutionised character interaction

 

[Acepilotf14]

...k.

Well.. I don't like Lost Planet!

 

[Asknoone]

I think HL2 is the most varied and scene-shifting FPS out there. It tromples over HL1 IMO, but I think Skeletor explains it best.

 

[Dog--]

95% of the whole game is gun battles with armored soldiers in various abandoned buildings with a few aliens thrown in here and there and a tiny bit of storyline.

You basically can't even take 5 steps without seeing some sort of storyline, making you ask questions, but if your retarded you won't notice things like graffiti, and the posters, as well as Breens messages, plus a ton of other things.. And 95%? I think thats kind of stupid, I'd say maybe 30% is that, but every moment of it is satisfying.

What made the first Half-Life legendary was the abundance of variety in every facet of the game.

It seems like HL2 has little variety, but it's a game you've got to be a little more observant with than others, take for example Doom 3, everything is basically the same, nothing really "new" in any different levels, think about HL2, think how almost every level is different from each other. In fact, I don't even think there are 2 that are the same, maybe just 2 at the end like Follow Freeman and the one before (after?) it, and they aren't even THAT similar.

You had all kinds of bizarre aliens and a crapload of weapon choices as well as more interesting environments and rooms with traps.

The storyline limits what you encounter, in HL1 everything was just getting warped around from place to place, in HL2 that is all over, and it's all controlled, I think its good the way they didn't just add a bunch of different enemies, and kept with the storyline. Think about it, why would there be snarks in HL2? They would've mostly been eliminated by the combine for different reasons.

Hell, you use to be able to set your own traps.

Use your imagination, you've got a gun that can move around objects, and you've got physics. If your smart enough it isn't hard to create some kick-ass traps.

Another huge element thats missing from HL2 is the intermittent big boss alien encounters which where abundant in the first half-life.

Again, in HL1 everything was being warped around, it's mostly controlled now, so why would you be encountering these huge bosses everywhere? I think there are enough "boss" fights in HL2, even if you fight the same boss a few times over. Every time you encounter a new enemy it's like a mini-boss fight, anyways, and those are fun (especially the poison zombie, loved the first time I saw it!).

You can't tell me I'm wrong just because you fell in love with HL2.

You're wrong.

Variety is what keeps you interested in playing, not graphics.

That's true, but from what I just said I think there is enough variety if your not retarded.


EDIT: There it's fixed, happy now, Rabarber?

 

[Rapstah]

Your wrong.

My wrong? No, your wrong.



Sorry, will never ever do it again.

 

[lambdana]

Skeletors absolutely right in that I'm of the old school mindset requiring a game to have a satisfying ending and a few bosses, (blowing up Breen felt great but I require alittle more of a fight, especially at the end of the game) what alot of newbies fail to understand is old is not always bad. (with the exception of graphics)lol

To say that well gee the games story is alot more realistic with less crazy aliens and all is crap. ITS A GAME , THE STORYS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE REAL. Yeah why don't we make the game really real and have no aliens or teleportation or gravity guns. Ya that would make the story even more believible ! hey wait a minute wouldn't that be something like counterstrike. C'mon guys , do you not see my point?

 

[Dog--]

what alot of newbies fail to understand is old is not always bad. (with the exception of graphics)lol

Deus Ex better then Deus Ex: Invisible War
Morrowind better then Oblivion.

I agree older isn't always worse!

To say that well gee the games story is alot more realistic with less crazy aliens and all is crap. ITS A GAME , THE STORYS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE REAL.

It isn't supposed to be real, but it's supposed to be good, just like HL2, to be honest I think HL2 story is better then HL1, it's just "told" better and is more immersive, HL1 story was limited by the technology of the day, if it were remade it'd probably own every game ever made.

 

[lambdana]

Yes the attention to detail in HL2 is mindblowing but fighting through a thousand and one SWAT team scenarios doesn't really do it for me.

They could have atliest thrown in a few big baddies in the citadel . That wouldn't have messed with the story at all.

Non of you can look me in the eye and tell me honest to god that by the time you finally got inside the citadel you weren't excpecting to take on something huge and menacing only to find more soldiers a strider, and more soldiers.

 

[Asknoone]

No I don't see your point.

 

[Dog--]

A Strider seems pretty huge and menacing to me..

 

[lambdana]

Thanks for a bit of understanding "cave" , a strider is big n tough, but it would have been nice to fight something else in the citadel.

posting something critical about HL2 on a site devoted to all things good about HL2 is asking for trouble lol, but I think some of you can see my point, even though you don't want to admit it because you love all things HL2.

Hopfully Valve will address my alien bloodlust in future episodes.

 

[Dog--]

When HL2 came out, and I saw some vids for it, I thought the same as you, it didn't look like anything special except physics, but when you play it, and not just powergame through it, and actually take time to think, and explore, it's really an amazing game.

I'll admit about the boss in the end, Breens too much of a bitch to be a boss, but that's all I'll admit to!

 

[$kelet0r]

Thanks for a bit of understanding "cave" , a strider is big n tough, but it would have been nice to fight something else in the citadel.

posting something critical about HL2 on a site devoted to all things good about HL2 is asking for trouble lol, but I think some of you can see my point, even though you don't want to admit it because you love all things HL2.

Hopfully Valve will address my alien bloodlust in future episodes.

Criticism does tend to bring out the passion in people. There are many things that I would criticise Halflife 2 for but your criticism while valid are barely a blip on the overwhelmingly positive response to the game. The limited and unimpressive AI, the incredibly linear map design, the engine issues such as regular, excessive load times and lack of a satisfying challenge are big issues. Appeasing those who don't get the depth of narrative because they are used to the sledge hammer method of story telling or having convoluted boss fights for the sake of FPS tradition is not going to take precedence over the holy grail of a great finished product.

Actually you would love Smod (a mod for HL2). Download it.

 

[A True Canadian]

Non of you can look me in the eye and tell me honest to god that by the time you finally got inside the citadel you weren't excpecting to take on something huge and menacing only to find more soldiers a strider, and more soldiers.

I was anticipating something going wrong inside, resulting in a teleportation to an alien world like in the original Half-Life. Looking back on that now, I'm glad that didn't happen.

Breen was set up as the boss from the moment the game started. To take on anything else as the final boss wouldn't have had the same effect.

Also, a huge menacing monster inside the Citadel isn't really necessary. There's no need for an alien "guard dog" because the chasm surrounding the Citadel as well as the expanding fences function well enough to keep people out. Granted it wasn't perfect, but Breen felt it was.

Instead of a boss fight with a "huge and menacing" alien monster, Valve decided instead to give us a gameplay mechanic that hasn't been done before. Personally, I think the super Gravity Gun was more refreshing and satisfying than any giant boss they could have come up with. In fact, that's probably why many felt the final confrontation with Breen was underwhelming.

 

[Dog--]

Wow, $kelet0r, I was just about to suggest SMOD, I'm replaying HL2 with it right now!

In SMOD it can look like F.E.A.R; with the slow motion, and the trails left by the bullets and stuff..

Plus there is Gordon's Magic Stick.. And a shovel!

 

[kupocake]

I strongly disagree that Half-Life 2 lacks variety. Certainly in the first two thirds of the game, each chapter is significantly different from the last. Exploration. Dialogue. Straight-forward Combat. Driving Under Fire. Physics Gameplay. Horror Setting. Explorative Driving. Command of allied AI in WW2 Beach Assault piss-take. Advanced Combat. Base-building.

That isn't really sustained for the City 17 warzone levels, but the game gives another burst of variety by the end with the super gravity gun. By comparison, Half-Life 1 had a greater variety of enemies, but not nearly the range of objectives and scenarios. Plus, there are horridly unsuitable gameplay throwbacks that destroy the flow of the game, such as 'Residue Processing', that are always there to bring the better parts of HL1 down by association.

Bosses are rubbish. The only game to ever have had worthwhile bosses in the history of gaming was Yoshi's Island, and I'm still happy that Kamek didn't arrive, sprinkle stardust on Breen and transform him into a forty foot tall Mecha-Breen.

 

[Operational]

Yay! It is time for
Mecha-Breen!

 

[kupocake]

Those images are pulled straight from the fecund drinking hole of the 14 year old fanfiction writer. Mark my words: someone shall see these pictures, and the fanfic epic 'Half-Life: Geiger's Counterattack' shall be born. Get to it boys!

 

[lambdana]

lol a MechaBreen . Oh god yes ! Now that puts wood in my pants.

$1,000,000 to the first person to create'em

Hey, what can I say. I'm too oldschool I guess. For me theres gotta be bosses period. Just gotta be. I'm just gonna have to adjust to valves new way of doing things, but I will always prefer MechaBreen over pussnboots breen.

Bring it :sniper:

 

[bbson john]

There are a bunch of games 'bout fighting aliens, like Doom 3, Prey... Engagement with aliens is sure not a selling point of HL2. If you wish to fulfil your alien-bloodlust, just get 'em. There are nice fight scenes in HL2, but not necessarily fights with alien. HL2 has a great stroyline, this depends on how much you understand the dialogue between characters.


I still want to see a big old-style boss in EP2 or EP3...

 

[lambdana]

Actually I don't like doom3 or just shoot -em up run n gun games because of exactly that point of story.

I love the story in halflife 2, for me it just didn't seem like enough. I wanted more dialog, more aliens , more bosses and more guns. Perhaps I was expecting too much. I do have that tendency lol

Then again thats probably what Valve wanted. Leave the reader always wanting more.

 

[Remus]

I love the story in halflife 2, for me it just didn't seem like enough. I wanted more dialog, more aliens , more bosses and more guns. Perhaps I was expecting too much. I do have that tendency lol.

I'm probably one of the few people over here that understands what you mean. When I played the first Half Life there hadn't been a game that Impressed me so much on a first play through, and I have to admit there hasn't been one ever since.

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't very disappointed when I first played Half Life 2. Maybe like you I expected too much, but still.

Then again thats probably what Valve wanted. Leave the reader always wanting more.

You're probably right. If they didn't do that what would be the point of the "episodes".

When I reached the citadel and fought my way up to Breen's HQ I knew it was leading up to his demise, but I still hoped that somehow he manages to escape through the portal and you have to go after him to a strange alien world. Also I thought I would be encountering those hulking 4 legged synths you see from a distance.

So, all in all I felt the game ended just when it was getting interesting. To me Half Life 2 felt like the pilot episode to a long series (which ironically it is), ending abruptly IMO and leaving you wanting more.

 

[Jintor]

Actually I don't like doom3 or just shoot -em up run n gun games because of exactly that point of story.

I love the story in halflife 2, for me it just didn't seem like enough. I wanted more dialog, more aliens , more bosses and more guns. Perhaps I was expecting too much. I do have that tendency lol

Then again thats probably what Valve wanted. Leave the reader always wanting more.

It sounds like you wanted action Deus Ex, but with boss fights for some odd reason.

 

[Absinthe]

Non of you can look me in the eye and tell me honest to god that by the time you finally got inside the citadel you weren't excpecting to take on something huge and menacing only to find more soldiers a strider, and more soldiers.

I do have to concede this, especially when during the coffin ride you were transported over a giant room of conveyor belts with awesome-looking enemies.

Don't get me wrong, because I thought the final segment was sexual. But I was expecting something new in terms of enemy variety. I know the crab/mortar synths are something we will eventually fight in future games, if not future episodes. But it was disappointing not to fight them in that title.

Also, let's make some distinctions on boss fights. There's nothing "old school" about them. They just require a different approach to keep with the evolving genre. The original Half-Life managed to include them without some cheesy health bar popping up and requiring you to launch a billion rockets at them (exception being Nihilanth). The tentacle, for instance, was a boss that worked seamlessly. The gargantua appearances also required other, more thoughtful approaches than simply shooting them to death. That's why they worked so well. Surely something like this could have been squeezed into Half-Life 2? Of course, I do believe that's what the hydra was all about, and it had to removed for known reasons.

I do believe that HL2 was the better game overall, but there were still some parts that the original did better.

 

[soulslicer]

dont worry scanner, i faced the same wrath from some holes in this forum with my 1st few posts. anyway, i kind of agree with you in this but look at it this way. i personally think it is a fantastic game for it to be built in 2003 with such a tight deadline..i guess if they had more time..they would have had more bosses and stuff ect.

however, you must realize that most ppl would prefer 30 intelligent enemies to 100 (walk shoot die) enemies like doom 3..also bosses would spoil the real life feel of the game..

 

[Narvi]

Bosses are rubbish. The only game to ever have had worthwhile bosses in the history of gaming was Yoshi's Island, and I'm still happy that Kamek didn't arrive, sprinkle stardust on Breen and transform him into a forty foot tall Mecha-Breen.

Eh? Metal Gear Solid?

 

[Remus]

Eh? Metal Gear Solid?

*cough*Shadow of the colossus *cough*

 

[kupocake]

Eh? Metal Gear Solid?

ESPECIALLY Metal Gear Solid.