Half-Life 2, Overated?

[diegomarino]

Deus Ex gets boring and tedious

Halo is pure fun, its hard to compare it to something which is trying to be revolutionary.

Farcry, well... Farcry just sucks imo. The story is really badly told and the whole game doesn't flow very well.

Call of Duty is very atmospherical and u think your there, kinda like dod. But its nothing really special.

Men, you are not satisfied with anything, I believe that you must be a little less rigid and enjoy more your games. you are really missing a lot!!!.

 

[PvtRyan]

I don't get it, it does everything that made HL great, minus many of its bad points, plus some great new stuff. Can it get any better?

And define groundbreaking, was HL groundbreaking? It just did everything way better than all the other FPS, and introduced a few new concepts like HL2 does. HL leaned heavily on immersion, pacing, leveldesign and its philosophy of storytelling, HL2 still does that and better too but adds character emotions and physics and greatly expands on variety.

It does everything the movies promised, but I guess some people just expected some kind of surprise like a clown on a mini-tricycle riding out of the box when you opened it...
It shows FPS of the future how to build a great game, and raised the bar higher, but if you thought it would make the same impact HL1 did, which came out of nowhere compared to HL2, you've been fooling yourself all along.

As for storytelling, it's true that I haven't encountered much this far, but compared to HL1, it's already way more, and wasn't that famed for its story(telling)? I guess people expected answers, but Valve never said they would give them, if I recall correctly, they said something like "HL2 is gonna answer some questions, but raise a lot of others". And I agree with the person in an other thread that it's more of a book than a movie, you have to imagine most of the story yourself, like it was in HL. Like in Eli's lab

Spoiler

with the newspaper frontpage of "Earth surrenders after 7 hour war"

which certainly made me think.

Some people have said that HL didn't have much of a story, but it's about how much story you see. NPC's didn't tell you much, but from events and small details you picked up, you formed the story yourself. And in that aspect, it's much like a book.

 

[Netherworld]

I don't get it, it does everything that made HL great, minus many of its bad points, plus some great new stuff. Can it get any better?

And define groundbreaking, was HL groundbreaking? It just did everything way better than all the other FPS, and introduced a few new concepts like HL2 does. HL leaned heavily on immersion, pacing, leveldesign and its philosophy of storytelling, HL2 still does that and better too but adds character emotions and physics and greatly expands on variety.

It does everything the movies promised, but I guess some people just expected some kind of surprise like a clown on a mini-tricycle riding out of the box when you opened it...
It shows FPS of the future how to build a great game, and raised the bar higher, but if you thought it would make the same impact HL1 did, which came out of nowhere compared to HL2, you've been fooling yourself all along.

As for storytelling, it's true that I haven't encountered much this far, but compared to HL1, it's already way more, and wasn't that famed for its story(telling)? I guess people expected answers, but Valve never said they would give them, if I recall correctly, they said something like "HL2 is gonna answer some questions, but raise a lot of others". And I agree with the person in an other thread that it's more of a book than a movie, you have to imagine most of the story yourself, like it was in HL. Like in Eli's lab

Spoiler

with the newspaper frontpage of "Earth surrenders after 7 hour war"

which certainly made me think.

Some people have said that HL didn't have much of a story, but it's about how much story you see. NPC's didn't tell you much, but from events and small details you picked up, you formed the story yourself. And in that aspect, it's much like a book.

hl1 was ground breaking as it was all new and at the time was something no-one had seen anything like before, other then doom of course. It was imersive and just brilliant, judging hl1 by todays standards isnt fair becuase without hl1 we wouldnt have the games and technology we have today. It took games and interaction to the next level aswell as creating a fully engrossing story, one which lives with us all today. HL2 isnt any of these things as we are now judging hl2 by todays standerds

 

[Nex321]

I don't get it, it does everything that made HL great, minus many of its bad points, plus some great new stuff. Can it get any better?

And define groundbreaking, was HL groundbreaking? It just did everything way better than all the other FPS, and introduced a few new concepts like HL2 does. HL leaned heavily on immersion, pacing, leveldesign and its philosophy of storytelling, HL2 still does that and better too but adds character emotions and physics and greatly expands on variety.

It does everything the movies promised, but I guess some people just expected some kind of surprise like a clown on a mini-tricycle riding out of the box when you opened it...
It shows FPS of the future how to build a great game, and raised the bar higher, but if you thought it would make the same impact HL1 did, which came out of nowhere compared to HL2, you've been fooling yourself all along.

As for storytelling, it's true that I haven't encountered much this far, but compared to HL1, it's already way more, and wasn't that famed for its story(telling)? I guess people expected answers, but Valve never said they would give them, if I recall correctly, they said something like "HL2 is gonna answer some questions, but raise a lot of others". And I agree with the person in an other thread that it's more of a book than a movie, you have to imagine most of the story yourself, like it was in HL. Like in Eli's lab

Spoiler

with the newspaper frontpage of "Earth surrenders after 7 hour war"

which certainly made me think.

Some people have said that HL didn't have much of a story, but it's about how much story you see. NPC's didn't tell you much, but from events and small details you picked up, you formed the story yourself. And in that aspect, it's much like a book.

There will be allways someone thats not statisfied with a game. Even if someone makes the perfect game there will be some that thinks its an "avarange game".

 

[AntiAnto]

You're right. Half-Life 2 is a linear game, but it is really good.

 

[VodkA-HLC-]

Hey, I have been playing Half-Life 2 (Obviasly) and In My Opinion! its very overated. I'm only 1/2 way through the game so its a little judgmental to say. But I was wondering if anyone else felt the same? What flaws and gameplay issues do you think Half-Life 2 has? Here are my thoughts.
.

It is cause your a mindless zombie who can't think for himself so you need others to tell you thier opinions and you need a game to spoon feed you answers. I will admit that the first time I played it I ran through it like my ass was on fire. I didn't listen to anyone or anything, when breen would talk I would pick up the tv screens and blast them across the room and I did no investigation what so ever. Now I started it up for a second time except I am looking at all the pictures and floors and walls and boxes and I have to say that I have found some interesting stuff concerning the storyline. Don't be a spoon fed zombie and explore the game. This isn't halo, this is soo much more, this is like a book. If you run through a chapter withough paying attention then you will miss a ton of story explanation. I love how instead of a cut scene explaining where combine came from, there is a newspaper clipping stuck on the wall that explains it all. Now that is god dam good gameplay.

 

[t0v3]

But what FPS could be made that is as revolutionary and inotive as HL1 was back then? I can't even think up ideas to make a revolutionary game today that is actually possible to do, let alone do well. So comparing it to what HL1 done is just unfair. Compared with all the other FPS games out there today on the PC, HL2 is easily the the most technically advanced, best looking, most entertaining and overall most fun by a mile, thats if you forget about stupid hype and all this "ground breaking" nonsense which some of you seem so obsessed about, and just enjoy HL2 for what it is.

 

[Kazuki_Fuse]

It was everything I'd hoped it would be and more.

likewise.

 

[Parrot of doom]

There isn't really another game to surpass it. I think we're in danger of becoming complacent about the technical achievements Valve have made. Look at the realism of the environments. The expressions and body movement of the NPCs. The lipsync. The ease with which it runs on low-mid spec systems. And don't forget how simple the interface is, and how much fun it is to play. Farcry may have looked good, but I soon got bored, and haven't even bothered completing it. Doom3 I just played with a diet coke and some peanuts. HL2? I was engrossed for 5 hours last night, without even realising it.

Look at it this way - HL1 played out much the same way, and if you play it now, its actually pretty boring in some parts. What made HL1 a legend was the ease with which people could make mods for the game (including cs). I see nothing stopping HL2 from following the same path.

Also, I think its highly likely (I haven't finished the game yet) that they will release other missions, like they did with Op Force and Blueshift, to keep us interested.

 

[AmishSlayer]

I think Hl2 is a mixed bag. Some parts are absolutely fantastic, and others are simply good to average.

It definately lulls in the middle a little, and then picks up again.

Overall HL2 is a top game, and definately one of the best i've played in a while. Not the greatest title ever made, but a worthy sequal

Agreed.

I just got bored with the buggy after using it for hours. The physics are good..but they certainly don't make the game. I could've used better AI/harder game, more story/better story, less buggy, more guns and more ammo in the fun guns (xbow, revolver, pulse rifle).

I had a great time playing through on normal still..but I just don't think it deserves all biased praise it gets. People kind of forget to look at the faults of a game when they first play it...that's forgivable..but give it some time and you'll start feeling them.

EDIT: Parrot...everyone agrees the gfx animations and characters are awesome...most complaints center around two things (one technical and one not) - AI and story.

 

[pingu]

i know what you mean i felt exactly the same feeling when i was on the hoverboat and buggy, i just wanted it to end as it was just awful and so tedius, jump one ramp, jump another ramp, jump a third ramp etc..etc.. the only 1 good momment in those bits other then the end was when the gunship dropped all those bombs, that was quality

whereas i loved the hoverboat and i didnt want it to end, it was pure fun and I was always excite to see whats coming next, while gawping at the graphics all the way. HL2 deserved all the top marks it got, best FPS ever imo.

 

[pingu]

hl1 was ground breaking as it was all new and at the time was something no-one had seen anything like before, other then doom of course.

wtf half life is NOTHING like doom

 

[Parrot of doom]

I think he meant Quake.

 

[Kazuki_Fuse]

I agree that it's not the greatest game of all time. Mainly because you can't say the one game of a particular genre is the best out of everything, it's as stupid as comparing sports or styles of music and saying "out of all the paintings in the world the Mona Lisa is the best" which would of course be a croc of shiaat.

For me it's my favourite game, and the most entertaining that I've ever played, and I strongly believe that for it's time, compared to other shooters it's the best shooter ever made. Some people say StarCraft is the best RTS ever made, you could hardly say it was revolutionary for it's time but it has many things in common with Hl2. In that it is has a highly refined gameplay formula, AND HL2 is made up of a combination of the highest in quality components that make up a game, graphics, sound, gameplay etc. It's really the complete package.

And fukken kudos to the guy in the thread that said the story for a shooter is the experience of playing the game. It's different to an RPG story. I think people would be hard pressed finding a shooter that's more emmersive than HL2. And as everyone knows from HL1, it's not the story but how you tell it that counts.

 

[IchI]

It is cause your a mindless zombie who can't think for himself so you need others to tell you thier opinions and you need a game to spoon feed you answers. I will admit that the first time I played it I ran through it like my ass was on fire. I didn't listen to anyone or anything, when breen would talk I would pick up the tv screens and blast them across the room and I did no investigation what so ever. Now I started it up for a second time except I am looking at all the pictures and floors and walls and boxes and I have to say that I have found some interesting stuff concerning the storyline. Don't be a spoon fed zombie and explore the game. This isn't halo, this is soo much more, this is like a book. If you run through a chapter withough paying attention then you will miss a ton of story explanation. I love how instead of a cut scene explaining where combine came from, there is a newspaper clipping stuck on the wall that explains it all. Now that is god dam good gameplay.

Let me guess... You have never read a book in your life and your favorite film is the matrix. No offense, but shutup.

 

[TheProgrammer]

Halo 2 is overrated, but not HL2

 

[IchI]

I had a great time playing through on normal still..but I just don't think it deserves all biased praise it gets. People kind of forget to look at the faults of a game when they first play it...that's forgivable..but give it some time and you'll start feeling them.

Well said.

 

[Steve]

Golden Eye of course

Pffft.

 

[CrewXp]

Those of your who say it is overrated must not find a real world physics engine in the game as a something to marvel. The physics alone could constitute this game as revolutionary. Who cares about the story. It's all about the experience, the enjoyment of solving a puzzle and feeling like you've accomplished something. Personally, I like some linear gameplay, unlike Far Cry which was just too massive for it's own good.

Stop complaining about the little nuances because it's all about the gameplay. Not the graphics, not the story, not the music, but the gameplay.

I care about the story. They said it'd answer some questions.... Yea... they were right about that. Like what... three? And it raised like twenty? The Next hl3 in six or seven years (since technology is getting greater) better be all about answers and goin in time to explain things. Half-These posts were about things other than the story. The topic-starter focused his hatred towards hl2 based on the lack-of-story. Then everyone started rambling on about hl2 is great!! Look at the grav gun!!

Ok, I will be flamed for this. But how the **** has Half-Life 2 got a good storyline? WTF! I am so confused how people seem to rate it as been good. Your basic storyline consists of someone telling you to get somewhere for a reason, then you go... Thats all I have seemed to do throughout the whole game. Don't get me wrong the storyline is alright compared to most. But its definatly not good enough to be nearly perfect.

see?

 

[sublidieminal]

Hey, I have been playing Half-Life 2 (Obviasly) and In My Opinion! its very overated. I'm only 1/2 way through the game so its a little judgmental to say. But I was wondering if anyone else felt the same? What flaws and gameplay issues do you think Half-Life 2 has? Here are my thoughts.

First of all, don't get me wrong. The game is pritty good. Its one of the best games I have played in a long time (thats not very hard though). But if I had to critise the game it would be the fact that its beyond linear. I mean, I do not mind linear games. But Half-Life 2 is a little over the top. You have one line straight line that you must follow. Its impossible to even come off that line for a second and jump back onto it. A good example (Not spoiler) would be if a person needed to gain access to an underground passage. They could do it in 2 ways, use a ladder or a lift. Half-Life 2 fails to do this kind of thing which is somewhat boring.

Some of the music is miss timed and used in completely the wrong situation, its also chesse at times (when someone dies). But I think its made up by the fact that the music is very nice.

Ok, I will be flamed for this. But how the **** has Half-Life 2 got a good storyline? WTF! I am so confused how people seem to rate it as been good. Your basic storyline consists of someone telling you to get somewhere for a reason, then you go... Thats all I have seemed to do throughout the whole game. Don't get me wrong the storyline is alright compared to most. But its definatly not good enough to be nearly perfect.

Before you start criting me remember, Half-Life 2 has been rated a 10/10 game. I just fail to see why. I am not saying the game sucks, so make sure you remember that. I just don't think its good enough to get 92/98%. You make your own choice.

The only reason I believe people think Half Life 2 was over rated was because it had too much exposure. I notice playing through parts, and already knowing what to do because of the god damn binks. It takes away the game's charming suprises if you tracked down every detail for the year the game had been in the spotlight. You might have disregarded something that was totally innovative because of exposure. If you never visited this website, read an article, watched gameplay movies, how would you feel when you first weilded the Manipulator?

I know I would have shit my pants.

Half Life 2, in my opinion, would have recieved an as high, if not higher rating than the original. Half Life came out of nowhere, and took us all by surprise. Imagine if Half Life 2 would have done the same? Damn hype... don't let it get to you.

 

[junco]

But if I had to critise the game it would be the fact that its beyond linear. I mean, I do not mind linear games. But Half-Life 2 is a little over the top. You have one line straight line that you must follow. Its impossible to even come off that line for a second and jump back onto it. A good example (Not spoiler) would be if a person needed to gain access to an underground passage. They could do it in 2 ways, use a ladder or a lift. Half-Life 2 fails to do this kind of thing which is somewhat boring.

I think you're wrong on that... yes the path you take through the game is linear, but the way in which you accomplish things varies a ton... mostly because of the interaction with the environment and the phyics engine. See this
thread on hlfallout as an example... so many ways to accomplish the same thing.

How you feel is like how I felt when D3 came out... I was totally excited and hyped for it. And while it was a great game, I was disappointed. Played it once through and haven't touched it since. So far HL2 has lived up to my expectations... I can't stop playing it.

 

[fez]

ive had enough of ppl saying how crap HL2 is. if u dont like it, sucks to be u. i love it to pieces and hate having to go to work everyday instead of playing it

 

[fantasiser]

I was scared the hype would make me excpect too much, but it is MORE than what i wanted, its almost perfect. When something hypes you all you have to do to stop from getting too hyped is remind yourself that its still a game, and its still FPS. The ONLY reason id give it slightly less than 10/10 is because of the bugs i have encountered

 

[boomyak]

But it also only has i think 6 guns in total (including nades etc..) and seeing as its a fps id rather have great guns then great water effects.

i've got 3 words for you:

up your arsenal

 

[boomyak]

The only reason I believe people think Half Life 2 was over rated was because it had too much exposure. I notice playing through parts, and already knowing what to do because of the god damn binks. It takes away the game's charming suprises if you tracked down every detail for the year the game had been in the spotlight. You might have disregarded something that was totally innovative because of exposure. If you never visited this website, read an article, watched gameplay movies, how would you feel when you first weilded the Manipulator?

I know I would have shit my pants.

Half Life 2, in my opinion, would have recieved an as high, if not higher rating than the original. Half Life came out of nowhere, and took us all by surprise. Imagine if Half Life 2 would have done the same? Damn hype... don't let it get to you.

****ING DEAD ON :thumbs:

 

[Vormulac]

i've got 3 words for you:

up your arsenal

...and come on you Chelsea!


:afro:

Seems linear at times but I'm enjoying every moment. Best fps I've played in a long, long time.

I do get the feeling that the player seems to be rushed through certain scenes but no complaints here!

 

[CR0M]

take away my girlfriend's 2 best features (t&a) and she would be average too.... I think you get my drift...

She must feel so lucky to have you.

Ichi is right imo, HL2 is an overly linear, over hyped (but pretty) fps. I was expecting great replay value due to the non scripted, superior AI enemies but I know now after playing it that it just isn't what the 2003 E3 presentation said it would be, and I will never play it again any more than I will play D3 again.

Having said that, I am enjoying it and I think the water effects, character detail and physics are absolutely stunning. But... that's all. I hate linear games full stop and this is THE most linear game I have probably ever played, it's the gaming equivalent of Join the dots.

Nice ass though.

 

[Falcon(Nate)]

HL2 has an amazing story. You just have to put all the pieces together by yourself. They don't spoonfeed the story to you. You actually have to think about it all to figure it out. There are little pieces everywhere. Just LOOK for them.

Oh my gosh, you mean this isn't Doom? Where they tell you exactly what's going on and you don't have to think and you just shoot everything that moves? Wow...imagine that.

HL2 is revolutionary. I'm going to expect a lot more from FPS's from now on. It's going to spoil me.

Characters have emotions. Their faces...their voices...you get more attached to them this time around. You look at Alyx when you're about to go off somewhere and you can SEE the concern in her FACE.

Physics are awesome. The entire world is now your toy. The gravity gun was one of the best ideas ever. No, HL2 wouldn't be the same without physics. It wouldn't be HL2... That's like saying Doom wouldn't be the same without the demons. That's just stupid.

The gun balance was great. Why do you need more guns when you actually use all the ones you have? This is one of the few FPS's where I actually used ALL the guns almost equally. And why the heck would you need to carry more ammo? Yea, I ran low sometimes, but I was never out... Just made you use all your weapons... Cuz that's a bad thing, you know.

This is exactly why you shouldn't hype yourself up for something. HL2 is the best FPS made so far. You can connect to the characters in the story, they were by far the most believable human characters yet in a game. Physics were used as an INTEGRAL part of gameplay and not just for eye candy or ragdoll. The voice acting was superb and not just thrown in to be there. Story that feels like a novel...you actually have to use your imagination and it's not fed to you. The sound is probably the best 5.1 to date. And this isn't revolutionary? *Shakes head* Some people will never be happy.

EDIT: How the heck do you tell a story without having a game be somewhat linear? You invent it, I'll buy the game.

Unless there are stories, such as MMORPGs, that are designed to let the users DEVELOP the story, of course a game is going to be linear. Otherwise, there's no story. You want 500 paths that lead nowhere? That doesn't sound fun. Yeesh.

 

[Spartan]

HL2 has an amazing story. You just have to put all the pieces together by yourself. They don't spoonfeed the story to you. You actually have to think about it all to figure it out. There are little pieces everywhere. Just LOOK for them.

Yawn. That has been disproven already.

Oh my gosh, you mean this isn't Doom? Where they tell you exactly what's going on and you don't have to think and you just shoot everything that moves? Wow...imagine that.

No, this is HL2 where they don't tell you what's going on but you have to shoot everything that moves, anyway.

Characters have emotions. Their faces...their voices...you get more attached to them this time around. You look at Alyx when you're about to go off somewhere and you can SEE the concern in her FACE.

I've been able to identify with characters before, even with simple animations and text only speeches. HL2 doesn't give its characters any time, so getting attached to them is pretty hard.

 

[Maxi]

EDIT

Yawn. That has been disproven already.

NO, read below.

From the info from Valve thread:
EDIT2: Probably should include this too:

Me to Marc:
Title: Congratulations on the story
I've just played HL2 through, and its just struck me that its the
first FPS I can really think of that really follows the story writing
rule of "Show, don't tell". _Nothing_ is ever really explained about
the Combine, but an explanation of sorts emerges out of the
environment and little dialogue-less scenes like [Spoiler removed].


Marc to me:
Thanks for your mail, Nathan. We're getting a bit of flak for sticking
to that golden rule, which is certainly not the norm in games, but I
know we did the right thing. Trying to push the narrative technique as
much as we push the technology! Hopefully it's like a good record,
though...doesn't quite make sense the first time you hear it, then you
discover that you can't get it out of your head, then you just have to
play it again, and you start to notice things you didn't catch the first
time, and after awhile you accept it for what it is.

 

[PvtRyan]

From the info from Valve thread:



Marc to me:
Thanks for your mail, Nathan. We're getting a bit of flak for sticking
to that golden rule, which is certainly not the norm in games, but I
know we did the right thing. Trying to push the narrative technique as
much as we push the technology! Hopefully it's like a good record,
though...doesn't quite make sense the first time you hear it, then you
discover that you can't get it out of your head, then you just have to
play it again, and you start to notice things you didn't catch the first
time, and after awhile you accept it for what it is.

I was about to post that, already had it in my clipboard

But it's true so far for me, I can pick up a lot of stuff from the environment, or when in Eli's lab Mossman tells you about that

Spoiler

the combine don't have the technology to transport locally, while they do transport here from their universe

which tells you a great deal. It's the trivial things that matter.
And Gabe said that the player must feel clueless while all the characters think you know what they're talking about. It's not a flaw, it's meant to be this way. I guess you either like it or not. But I don't want spoonfed story.

 

[Falcon(Nate)]

I've read your supposed disproving that HL2 has a "story" and come to the conclusion that you just don't "get" the story elements that are there.

No, not everything from HL is explained. But a lot is if you look.

Why are the citizens in awe of you? Because you made it out of Black Mesa alive. The survivors had plenty of time to talk to each other and figure out just how much you had to go through to get out of Black Mesa. Stuff that would be amazing for a single human to accomplish. THAT'S why they talk about you the way they do. You've become a legend. Most legends don't deserve the status they get. They're just ordinary humans like everyone else. But it's exactly the way it happens in the real world. Quite the social commentary. =)

Gman is still mysterious. But you begin to see more of his character. In the first HL he seemed evil...and very ominous. But now...it seems like he might not be such a bad guy after all. He sent you in to save the human civilization from being turned in to something not-so-human. For some reason, he cares about humans. We just don't know what that reason is yet.

And Dr. Breen was trying to turn the humans into some hybrid, some type of creature that would live forever... But almost machine-like, and slaves to the Combine. He was a scientist on a mission. The resistance is trying to keep that from happening.

It's okay if you don't LIKE the story that's there. But it IS there. If you can't find it or see it, look again...slow down...don't treat this like just another shooter and think. Treat it as more of a book. If you don't like the story that's fine. I can't make you like it, and I'll enjoy it for what it is. But to just say that there's no story is wrong. If you're not patient enough to look for it, fine. Play something else.

 

[boomyak]

you know what? I don't think i've ever played a game that actually still has me thinking and connecting the dots AFTER i've finished it.

most FPS shooters feel like your typical hollywood blockbuster movie where the good guy wins, he gets the girl, the day is saved, and all the loose ends tie up.

Halflife2 is clearly on it's own here

somone please give me an example of another FPS that does this? i know there has to be one, but when i think of doom3, farcry, or any other FPS i've played in the past couple years, they all have very finite endings, very concrete ideas, very stock traditional characters, and very predictible gameplay.

 

[DigiQ8]

It was everything I'd hoped it would be and more.

^^

6chr

 

[HunterSeeker]

HL2 is not perfect, but is without a doubt the best FPS I have played. Good AI (I am one of those who are not so good that I kill enemys before they can do anything), Great Graphics, Amazing Animations, Good variety in weapons (Not like Far Cry who had something like 3 assault rifles), Intresting (For a FPS) characters, Story that makes you think!

The only downsides is that I would like to know immidletly a bit more about the combine so I knew why I am fighting them, as well as I think the airboat scene was a bit too long.

IMO it is a 9.8/10 game.

 

[eiric]

In my opinion, this is... ok. its not the best singleplayergame even, altough it's really good and with some tips it will be the best. But yes, the game is overrated. But it's still great!

 

[Quickfingers]

I will say it now. Ive been playing FPS games since I was 10 or 11 years old.. Im now at the age of 22 and I have played pretty much every FPS game since Doom1. And I will admit Half Life 2 is simply the best single player FPS experience Ive ever had.. No doubts about it. The story as Vodka-HLC- said is there if you look for it - this is not a movie it's a interactive game. The posters the NPC dialogue and the atmosphere is where the story is at.. In all honesty this is a stepping stone from the boring cut scenes which have been plagueing so many other games recently. And the gameplay? It's great. The Havok physics are perfected.. And everything plays smooth and it's just a complete joy to play the game.

Ichi Im not sure what FPS games youve played in the past but you sound a bit ignorant. There isn't a better single player FPS out there - no way. And of course in a years time the multiplayer will be good also. If you feel let down by HL2 then I honestly recommend you stop playing FPS games - Because I can't see another game besting it untill HL3 comes around. So far Ive seen Doom3 which I liked but suffered from repititiveness and not enough strong gameplay elements. And Farcry which had little to no imagination put into it in terms of gameplay and story. And now Im playing Half Life 2.. So far Im on chapter 12 on hard and It feels like Ive just played 4 games in one. Every stage is different and every stage has a wow factor to it.. Yes alot of it is scripted but then again alot of my favourite gameplay moments have come from the physics which been implemented so well. I really don't know what some people were expecting from HL2.. I mean how else could Valve of made this game better? It has stunning graphics and great gameplay.. What could of made it better honestly? Because for a FPS I can't think of anything with the current technology that is avalible. For me this game met my expectations 100% and surpassed them.

 

[boomyak]

I've been able to identify with characters before, even with simple animations and text only speeches. HL2 doesn't give its characters any time, so getting attached to them is pretty hard.

oh i guess you haven't gotten to level 14 yet, where gordon, alyx, and eli sit around the smoking den sipping brandy discussing the volitility of the emerging pacific market

So i hear you're a theoretical physicist, how's that working out for you? what's that you say gordon? why i do believe the world is indeed ending outside our very window, but i don't care for that, i care to find out the true gordon freeman, what's your favourite colour gordon? ok me, alyx, and mossman are trapped in a burning building, who do you save? oh wait our building is burning.

give me hours of terribly written dia err monologue and i'll be FEELIN dem characters yo!

 

[Spartan]

I really don't know what some people were expecting from HL2..

A story?

 

[Spartan]

EDIT
NO, read below.

That e-mail proves Jack and shit. And Jack left town.

The best anyone has been able to do (including, it seems, the writer) is proclaim that HL2 has an incredible story that's completely hidden. That's it. At this point, there's nothing more.

No, not everything from HL is explained. But a lot is if you look.

Well, what's explained, then?

Why are the citizens in awe of you? Because you made it out of Black Mesa alive.

So did Eli, Kleiner, Judith and Barney.

The survivors had plenty of time to talk to each other and figure out just how much you had to go through to get out of Black Mesa. Stuff that would be amazing for a single human to accomplish. THAT'S why they talk about you the way they do. You've become a legend. Most legends don't deserve the status they get. They're just ordinary humans like everyone else. But it's exactly the way it happens in the real world. Quite the social commentary. =)

Gordon is being referred to as "The One" and so on. It's like they've been expecting him. Why? Where's the explanation to that? Why doesn't Gordon ask? It makes no sense. I can speculate a lot, but that's all I can do.

Gman is still mysterious. But you begin to see more of his character. In the first HL he seemed evil...and very ominous.

Personal opinion. I never viewed him as evil.

For some reason, he cares about humans. We just don't know what that reason is yet.

More opinion. It can also be argued that this was just some assignment that Gordon was "hired" to do. He said that many are interested in Gordon's services.

It's okay if you don't LIKE the story that's there. But it IS there. If you can't find it or see it, look again...slow down...don't treat this like just another shooter and think.

Bla bla bla bla. You can keep repeating that shit until you're blue in the face, it doesn't prove anything.