Half life 2 is overrated

[Asknoone]

There's no shooter out there that quite matches the varied, ever-changing gameplay of HL2 and its clever narrative. Far from overrated, really.

I tried to play HL1 recently, and it bored me to tears.

 

[Sheepo]

Find the number of gamers in the world and compare it to the number of them that have heard of Valve, any Valve game, or Steam and you will know precisely what underrated means

 

[vanillacrazycake]

There's no shooter out there that quite matches the varied, ever-changing gameplay of HL2 and its clever narrative. Far from overrated, really.

I tried to play HL1 recently, and it bored me to tears.

What you said sounds uncannily like what most mainstream review sites feel so obliged to point out every chance they get. Well, the ever changing gameplay and environment is also something I have a few gripes with. One moment you are in a ant-lion spawning desert, the next a trainyard, zombie-infested town, alien citadel etc. While many laud it as a strong point, I think that it makes the experience seem a bit fake and tacked on, and bring towards the feeling that developers are trying to add variety just for the sake of it, rather than it having it grounded within the narrative and script.

HL1?s surroundings felt far more atmospheric because you were inside fighting out of the same research facility for most of the game, and you begin to really feel the threat and significance the facility has, and this worked extremely well with the script as well.

Anyways, to each their own.

 

[Citrus]

HL2 is a great game, but I didn't enjoy it half as much as the press 'said I would'. When I think about it, I can't really complain about much, but I didn't find more than 1 moment where I was having fun.

 

[Shift]

What you said sounds uncannily like what most mainstream review sites feel so obliged to point out every chance they get. Well, the ever changing gameplay and environment is also something I have a few gripes with. One moment you are in a ant-lion spawning desert, the next a trainyard, zombie-infested town, alien citadel etc. While many laud it as a strong point, I think that it makes the experience seem a bit fake and tacked on, and bring towards the feeling that developers are trying to add variety just for the sake of it, rather than it having it grounded within the narrative and script.

HL1?s surroundings felt far more atmospheric because you were inside fighting out of the same research facility for most of the game, and you begin to really feel the threat and significance the facility has, and this worked extremely well with the script as well.

Anyways, to each their own.

To be quite honest, I think you are just be stupidly harsh on it for absultely no reason, trying to muliply tiny flaws into huge flaws. No game is perfect, but I could do what you are doing to Half-Life 2 to ANY game that has got 95% or above in reviews, any game I have played and thought was amazing.

Pick the slightest thing wrong with it and argue it into a huge flaw, thats where you draw a line. You tried writing a review on Half-Life 2 from your perspective, I can bet my left nut that absultely no one will take your opinion seriously from that point onwards, because you are being FARRRR too critical of it. I mean some of your arguments against it are just downright ridiculous, the large change in envoiroments makes it fake, the love interest is to only enhance the cinematic experiance, Alyx helps you too much, I mean for that to happen you must either not no how to fire a weapon, or you were sitting at the back watching here kill things. I mean where on earth are you getting this crap from.

The only flaws of the game I found, and this is as unbiased as I can come, from the heart, is the lack of a lean function, and the AI aint as good as other games I have played, but even with that, Half-Life 2 still got full points from me, because everything else just threw those flaws out of the window.

If you are going to critisise the game, at least critisise the points that actually make sense.

 

[LandStander]

Half-Life has had NPCs aiding the main character through out the whole of the series. In Half-Life and Blue Shift it was scientists and guards. In Opposing force it was scientists, guards, and marines. In Half-Life 2 they paired you with an NPC that could fight, open doors, and had a fleshed out personality. I fail to see the problem.

 

[vanillacrazycake]

To be quite honest, I think you are just be stupidly harsh on it for absultely no reason, trying to muliply tiny flaws into huge flaws. No game is perfect, but I could do what you are doing to Half-Life 2 to ANY game that has got 95% or above in reviews, any game I have played and thought was amazing.

Pick the slightest thing wrong with it and argue it into a huge flaw, thats where you draw a line. You tried writing a review on Half-Life 2 from your perspective, I can bet my left nut that absultely no one will take your opinion seriously from that point onwards, because you are being FARRRR too critical of it. I mean some of your arguments against it are just downright ridiculous, the large change in envoiroments makes it fake, the love interest is to only enhance the cinematic experiance, Alyx helps you too much, I mean for that to happen you must either not no how to fire a weapon, or you were sitting at the back watching here kill things. I mean where on earth are you getting this crap from.

The only flaws of the game I found, and this is as unbiased as I can come, from the heart, is the lack of a lean function, and the AI aint as good as other games I have played, but even with that, Half-Life 2 still got full points from me, because everything else just threw those flaws out of the window.

If you are going to critisise the game, at least critisise the points that actually make sense.

You're just choosing to use the few lesser flaws that I saw within the game, and not addressing what I said in my early posts, to belittle my arguement. And your crying over the game lacking a "lean" function, which clearly shows that you are seeing the game through an entirely different perspective, so it would be useless arguing or reasoning with you at all.Some of the quirks that the game has like not being able to speak, lean, or see your hands while driving are not flaws but are essential traditions that have been carried over from the original intended to provide the unique "half-life experience" no matter how cheesy that sounds.

I have already stated previously that the reason I am criticizing HL2 is not because I hate it, but because I think it could have been a lot better, and all the rave reviews it gets are just knee-jerk reactions to the gloss it has all over it, be it the voice-acting, cinematic physics, or whatever, even though the core game isn't that good or fun at all.

 

[Rapstah]

and all the rave reviews it gets are just knee-jerk reactions to the gloss it has all over it, be it the voice-acting, cinematic physics, or whatever, even though the core game isn't that good or fun at all.

And you said Halo came close to the HL1 experience?

 

[vanillacrazycake]

Halo: combat evolved's combat was the only thing that came close to the HL1 experience, funnily enough, otherwise i agree that it is a very mediocre-bad game in every other department.

 

[99.vikram]

I have already stated previously that the reason I am criticizing HL2 is not because I hate it, but because I think it could have been a lot better, and all the rave reviews it gets are just knee-jerk reactions to the gloss it has all over it, be it the voice-acting, cinematic physics, or whatever, even though the core game isn't that good or fun at all.

What you call gloss - "voice-acting, cinematic physics, or whatever" - is what I think is central to the enjoyment of a game. I stopped playing shooters for the shooting part around 2005. Nowadays, I only play shooters for the peripherals, so to speak. So I play games like Bioshock and HL2 which are more focussed on atmosphere, story and cinematic setpieces than the firefights.

 

[kineaesth]

Maybe he's playing a different Half Life 2 than we are... I see very few of the problems you've described in my version. (Written on a palm treo)

 

[Asknoone]

Even though the core game isn't that good or fun at all.

In your opinion.

Anyways, to each their own.

Halo: combat evolved's combat was the only thing that came close to the HL1 experience, funnily enough, otherwise i agree that it is a very mediocre-bad game in every other department.

Yes, the combat in Halo is quite good. But HL2 has moved away from the idea of the mundane shooting gallery experience; all you did in Halo was shoot enemies and nothing more. HL2+Episodes have varied, ever-changing gameplay that doesn't walk you through a shooting gallery which is why it's so highly rated. It's an experience. You're playing the wrong game.

 

[vanillacrazycake]

You may have a different taste in games than I do, but anyhow finding out that one of the strongest selling points of the original, the ai and the combat, actually managed to become less engaging over a course of 6 years in development of the sequel, and that was very disappointing, not just to me, but many others as well.

 

[Asknoone]

You may have a different taste in games than I do, but anyhow finding out that one of the strongest selling points of the original, the ai and the combat, actually managed to become less engaging over a course of 6 years in development of the sequel, and that was very disappointing, not just to me, but many others as well.

Well, argument validated. Move along everyone else. We're all wrong.

 

[vanillacrazycake]

That statement was just to show that if there are people who find nothing wrong with HL2, there are also a few that think a lot of improvement could be made. I am just trying to be constructive and hoping for a better sequel.

 

[Asknoone]

I'm not one of the people who find nothing wrong with HL2.

 

[vanillacrazycake]

Well, it is hard to find nothing wrong about any game no matter how great it is, but I probably think that most here feel that there is nothing majorly flawed about HL2 that is in a dire need to be fixed.

I am one of those that disagree, and believe that the type gameplay and combat that has emerged after the example of the original, is nothing short of a travesty. I have stated that I find HL2's method of immersion, by delving into cinematic believability, was also a flawed choice, but it is a highly subjective matter, and the game has come so far on that, so it can be probably be left alone on that subject.

On the gameplay side however, Valve has the opportunity to continually improve the challenge, and variety of the gameplay, and they have been doing so through the episodes, but the improvements still have not been very satisfactory, and hopefully EP3 won't leave the same taste.

 

[hool10]

Correct me if I'm wrong, Bioshock is the best game I have played since HL1. Yes?

 

[Shift]

I actually thought Bioshock was rubbish and shouldn't even be compared to Half-Life 2, just for the record lol.

At the end of the day, vanilla, it plainly obvious to me that you just do not like the style of gameplay that Half-Life 2 had adopted. Half-Life was in the era when FPSs were JUST shooters, nothing more, throw you in a room and spawn enemies at you.

Half-Life 2 changed all that by instead of giving loads of shiny weapons and throwing enemies at you, they gave you a storyline, they gave you believable characters, they gave immersion, they gave you puzzles to solve. They put you in an envoiroment where you actually had to listen to what was being said, you had explore yourself to make sense of where you were, what your objective was, how all this happened, you had think your way out of situations with the physics puzzles.

And still with all that, the action parts were hugely entertaining from my point of view, yeah the AI wasn't flawless, but the Gravity Gun which I believe is the most genious weapon ever created for a game, more than enough makes up for that. Ravenholm was more than just shooting zombies, its main aspect was the incredible atmosphere, Father Grigori, the light at the end of the tunnel when in the mines. FEAR would NO WHERE NEAR as good as it was without its incredible atmosphere, I only played that for its atmosphere, not for its shooting galleries.

Valve will not fix the things you want in EP3, it will be the same style because that is there is style, and it keeps god knows how many gamers, happy. You are part of minority im afraid, especially on this forum, so if you do not like the way Valve do their games now, then DONT PLAY THEIR GAMES.

 

[vanillacrazycake]

Jeez, chill out with the DONT PLAY IT crap already, because I will definitely do so, and criticize it as well if I feel like it, and, frankly, if my topic is causing such turmoil to your conscience, I would suggest turning your attention elsewhere.

 

[Shift]

So you play games just to criticize them? I think its you who should be turning their attention elsewhere.

 

[vanillacrazycake]

No, you.

 

[jondy]

Valve will not fix the things you want in EP3, it will be the same style because that is there is style, and it keeps god knows how many gamers, happy. You are part of minority im afraid, especially on this forum, so if you do not like the way Valve do their games now, then DONT PLAY THEIR GAMES.

What? He can play their games as much as he gorram wants to, and have fun, too, still happily harbouring grievances to vent on fansites the world over. His 'minority' views don't affect the validity of his arguments, and the only one dismissing them on the authority fallacy is you.

Gaming changes, people's expectations change. The HL series has certainly changed. It's not a monolithic set of gaming paradigms to be reverently followed, and constructive criticism, which can be established through debates like this one, is a great way to make a better gaming experiences.

 

[Shift]

Im sorry, but some of his arguments were just not valid in any way as far as im concerned, so yes I was damn well dismissing them, he can have his opinions, but I can have mine also, and when you criticize a game, you have to be fair about it, I mean the ever changing of the gaming envoiroment makes it fake? What is fair about that argument pray tell me, taking into pretty much every FPS out at the moment.

 

[z0mbin3]

I've rented Bioshock and I own Orange Box and the funny thing is HL2 is more replayable for me then Bioshock. Even thoght Bioshock should have some replay values cause of the plasmids and such. I love the HL world it's much more realistic then Halo, Bioshock ect. Theres nothing wrong with it imo (exept in Nova were those frekin antlions block your way alot) Half-Life is not overrated the TC is

 

[Darkside55]

I have stated before that I enjoy playing Half-Life 1 much more than I enjoy playing Half-Life 2, and one of the reasons for that is the combat aspect. Fighting marines versus fighting Combine is the difference between fighting a coordinated, heavily trained military unit and fighting what amounts to wooden posts with pistols. Lob a grenade at a group of marines and you get, "SHIT!" and they move. Lob a grenade at a Combine soldier and you get, "GRENADE!" and they stand there and let it kill them. They'll stand there while they're being shot, they don't take steps to find cover or retreat like the marines do. They just charge up to you and stand there.

I have even seen people try to justify this flaw in the AI as, "The Combine probably removed their fear when they modified them, so they don't run."

But the problem is that the AI of the Combine was meant for much bigger areas. If you load up that default Garrys Mod map and set up a group of Combine on one side and rebels on the other, the Combine will break up into squads and flank and do all sorts of neat maneuvers. It's when they get close that things fall apart.

And to be honest I found the same problem in Halo. Much as I actually LIKE Halo, all of them (and find peoples' rampant hate of the series unjustified), Halo's combat had similar problems. Enemies WILL just stand there and take your fire. Sometimes they're smart enough to backtrack, though; I was fighting a group of brutes in Halo 3 and at one point they abandoned their position and headed to higher ground to try and get the drop on me. That was smart. When I got up there, however, instead of running through the cave opening and trying to block me, they just stood there while I cracked their heads open with my rifle.

As for Alyx, I have always enjoyed her character and never felt that she was "generic;" she behaves in the same way a human would. In fact, all those times she's like, "Good shot, Gordon," that's a very natural reaction. If you play FPS games online or in the company of friends you know that's a natural reaction.

Now I will say that the prospect of having her along with me initially worried me in Episode One, having to worry about her. I hate escort missions. She proved herself capable though, and in Episode Two I didn't worry about her as much. I do enjoy time alone from her, though--time alone from everyone is something Gordon could use more of. You really don't get that sense of tension when you have Alyx, or vortigaunts, or rebels backing you up.

But the narrative in Half-Life 2 and its episodes have been far and away better than those in Half-Life 1. I enjoy playing Half-Life; I enjoy watching Half-Life 2. In fact in playing the game and its episodes I have felt like the story parts are something of a reward I get for sloughing through the gameplay, which I have to say is something I should not be feeling. Half-Life didn't feel that way. Despite the fact that the story parts weren't as great as Half-Life 2's, the gameplay between said parts never felt like a chore. It all blended seamlessly--when I got to a part where I could rest and listen to some exposition, that just felt like a natural thing. With HL2 it feels more like I'm a rat running a maze for cheese. I don't enjoy the maze, I just want the cheese.

 

[Asknoone]

I actually went and played HL1 an hour ago. It's quite average and boring. ^^

 

[cheesepie]

Every time I see a topic like this, no matter how much the poster tries to sugar coat things, I just think *sigh* "Someone's just committed internet suicide AGAIN....." :dozey:

 

[Darkside55]

I feel the same way about HL2. Except for the 'average' part. It isn't average, it does take steps to be innovative, but it's boring. It's rinse and repeat run-and-gun Combine, and then you're on a boat for ten hours, and you fight an annoying boss and get some story. Cheese after the maze.

And then you fight some zombies in a place I never found scary, just CONFUSING, head back out into the daylight, and you get some more story cheese. And then there's a car ride for like a million hours, peppered by constant stops and starts and little obstacles you have to get past that involve houses full of "I'm going to stand here and shoot you!" Combine and a highway tunnel full of shambling zombies.

Then you get more story cheese.

And then you have to deal with Follow Freeman and Anticitizen One, and you know how I feel about those, Samon. It is the one time in the game when I wish you could murder friendly NPCs.

And the only real part of the game I love is in the citadel. It always reminds me of Lambda Core, for some reason. The pacing of it, the feel of it. It's the only time the gameplay doesn't feel like a chore.

And I could go on about the episodes. EpTwo was noticeably better than HL2 or EpOne, though. I actually had FUN playing that one.

 

[Acepilotf14]

I got bored in HL1 about the time of the headcrab elevatory lifty thingy at the beginning.

 

[Asknoone]

Well that's an awful bit of gameplay. But then you have the likes of On a Rail, Residue Processing, Forget about Freeman, Xen, Gonarch, Interloper and Nihilanth to deal with. The very definition of awful.

 

[Darkside55]

Xen, Gonarch, Interloper and Nihilanth to deal with. The very definition of awful.

You're baiting me, aren't you? You're trying to trigger Darkside's intrinsic nerd rage, so that I start shouting and screaming and typing in big, bold, red text with lots of angry smilies, aren't you?

WELL IT WORKED!!!
:frown: :frown: :frown: :frown: :frown:



The factory in Interloper was pretty bad, though. But still. STILL! It's Xen; how can you hate on Xen? I can't hate anything on Xen.

 

[cheesepie]

OMG THE FACTORY! I ****ing hated that. Somehow, the day I first tried it, I was just sucking at videogames in general, and that sequence just made me mad. Later, I got through it ok, but that place really freaks me out.....

[SIZE=-3]I cheated that first time......[/SIZE]

 

[Darkside55]

See, the thing about the factory though, I've played it so often I think it's started to grow on me. I no longer dread it, and in fact I've come to LIKE it.

I'll tell you what part of Xen I can never like though, merely tolerate: the manta ship bay at the beginning of Interloper. Man, that area...bah.

 

[hool10]

I got a kind of dirty secret on the HL series. I have never beaten Nihilanth without the use of noclip and god mode. He zaps you, you can't fly high enough, he teleports you to crappy mazes, there is vorts at the bottom. It's incredibly tough. So yeah, I have never completed HL without using those 2 cheats at the end.

 

[Acepilotf14]

I have a dirty secret. I have never even played most of HL1.

 

[FriedchikenCamo]

I got a kind of dirty secret on the HL series. I have never beaten Nihilanth without the use of noclip and god mode. He zaps you, you can't fly high enough, he teleports you to crappy mazes, there is vorts at the bottom. It's incredibly tough. So yeah, I have never completed HL without using those 2 cheats at the end.

I don't blame you.

The end game of Half-Life 1 was very difficult, and I cheated in the same way.

But when I recently played it, I was able to get through medium difficulty, but it definitely wasn't easy. Trick is that there are two jump pads and one of them shoots higher than the other. You can easily screw yourself at that part.

 

[LandStander]

You guys realize that you never need to use the launch pads right? You can fire at the cracks in his head when his dome opens up. Just hide behind the wider stalagmites(or whatever they are) while he's firing at you.

 

[Saturos]

Well, you're wrong. Harrumph. I have not the slightest problem with playing the part of the dickhead brickwall HL fanboy here.

Although I am not going to ban you for disagreeing, especially because you're not a moron (which is really a lot more than I can say about 99.9% of the internet and 95% of this site). I do find it a bit odd that you registered just to post a thread about how you think the game is overrated though

Wow Ennui...:O The more I post here the more it seems like even the moderators dislike the regulars here! I never realized you had a cynical side too. The internet is a place where people can state their minds without fear of retribution. In this case though...well, let's just say having Half-Life and Halo fanbois in one thread is dangerous.:naughty:

 

[AciD]

I have a dirty secret. I have never even played most of HL1.

shhh quiet or you'll be banned