Half-Life 2 Scores Best Ever PC Zone (UK) Review

Alyx looks a lot older in these shots than previous ones, Barney too (compared to the BINK videos), whether it was just further detail development or whether a decision was made late on - the skin tone is just amazing - though Eli seems to be suffering from the extra long finger syndrome too, maybe that was the purpose of the Cascade, to lengthen everybodys fingers, the aliens were just a clever diversion. :LOL:
 
pretty astonoshing

if you read pc zone you will know that they are pretty harsh markers and i can happily say that if pczone are giving this gave 97% then it is going to be absolutely amazing, if not the best gave to date.
 
Chris_D said:
Nothing major. I e-mailed PC Zone last week and they replied from a "futurenet" domain name. I asked and Dennis have just been bought out by Future. I believe they've moved into their new offices last week so the next issue will be published by Future.

I haven't seen it myself yet, but I believe the HL2 issue is still published by Dennis.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks 4 the heads up ... sorry if I seemed angry and confused :) Well, anyways, this is some interesting news - so future publishing / future games / whatever new subsection they've created owns nearly everything now! Yay, at least they make quality stuff :)
 
Yeah, the also publish Edge and Gamesmaster magazine too, along with a lot of other PC magazines. They've definitely got the monopoly.
 
spinkitten said:
Alyx looks a lot older in these shots than previous ones, Barney too (compared to the BINK videos), whether it was just further detail development or whether a decision was made late on - the skin tone is just amazing - though Eli seems to be suffering from the extra long finger syndrome too, maybe that was the purpose of the Cascade, to lengthen everybodys fingers, the aliens were just a clever diversion. :LOL:
Click to expand...

http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/492/492830/img_2386600.html?fromint=1
 
Nutz already

I'm verging on bying my 3rd PhVx|n graphics card for HL2,

and I haven't even seen the game!!!

The anticipation is killing me...

... i do have a life. Really.
 
PC Zone is the only PC magazine I trust. If they say 97% I t will be good. Lets hope we get a release date soon.

Any time this year would be good.
 
I've downloaded the huge 1.4Gb fileplanet HL2 SuperPack containing every officially released video and stress test video available.

All in their high-resolution BINK format. Very well worth it if you have a fileplanet subscription.

www.fileplanet.com

/me faints.
 
wow nice score but i am not surprised hl2 deserved that score 97% is a fair score for hl2 not 90% i cant wait to read the pc gamer review
 
kurly said:
I'm verging on bying my 3rd PhVx|n graphics card for HL2,

and I haven't even seen the game!!!

The anticipation is killing me...

... i do have a life. Really.
Click to expand...

Im on my fourth PC, forget vid card.
 
Nice, because it's the first magazine who give's HL2 a better score than HL. And because Valve said they wanted to make HL2 even better than HL they finally made their promise true (according to PC Zone)
 
Am I ever going to get to read these reviews?knowing south african magazines, i probably would have finished the game before reading it.
 
Sharasment panda said:
Am I ever going to get to read these reviews?knowing south african magazines, i probably would have finished the game before reading it.
Click to expand...
don't be silly, knowing South African magazines you might hear there is a Hl2 coming out soon... when Hl3 is on the shelf.

Yeah South Africans get screwed hardcore, on everything from magazines to software and movies. :(
however I now live in the US of A, so yeah I might get nuked now but at least I am on the cutting edge!


btw, welcome to the hl2 boards, always good to see a fellow South African. (I was born and raised in East London moved to the states when I was around 16)
 
Vinnie_NL said:
Nice, because it's the first magazine who give's HL2 a better score than HL. And because Valve said they wanted to make HL2 even better than HL they finally made their promise true (according to PC Zone)
Click to expand...

what's about pc gamer? did they scored hl with 96%, too?
 
i live in kuwait so u guys will read the review before i do so someone tell me is the pc gamer us review good or not ofcourse when the pc gamer comes to shops and to supscripers. 97% is cool u want something cooler 98%
 
http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/492/492830/img_2386600.html?fromint=1 Oops, posted the link wrong, trying again...

Grub posted this link above regarding a post on Alyx and Eli, but that's the first time I noticed Alyx's jacket was help together at the shoulder with duct tape, and that she has a black mesa shirt on!

Oh man, I totally am the kind of guy who sweats the details, so seeing all these extras are gonna drive me nuts! Just that one screenshot of her coat and shirt is FULL of untold back story... time to go screenshot browsing again :)
 
A True Canadian said:
It looks like you can finally fix your sig Mr. Redundant. :)
Click to expand...
hey yeah you are right, thanks.

however they don't quite yet have the pic I was refering to (the one I link to now will suffice)
 
Whoa, Father Gregori looks waaaay different! :D

And w00t, 97% score, YES!
 
If Edge gives HL2 9/10...I'll know that this game truly rocks.
 
PCZONE is the best PC games magazine, including PC game webistes, imo and they have some of the toughest scores out there - 97% means alot to me - just the score I was hoping for. This game is almost definitely going to be the best ever game...ever...

"Games may never get this good again." -PCZONE on Half-life2... and you know what? Apart from Vampire:Bloodlines I think they're right, we will have to wait possibly years for the next best thing to be released. Which is excellent in terms of HL2 being the best ever game.
 
"PCZone are always over the top with their scores."

Incorrect, PCGamer do this infact. PCZONE has a new tough scoring system (and has always been tougher overall) specifically for the new shooters. Call Of Duty would have got 89% under this new system. HL2 is just EXCELLENT. Infact I say PCGamer messed up - 97% is probably more accurate for HL2 (no doubt giving 96% because of no mulitplayer or something.)

DUX what did PCGamer UK give Doom3? More than 90% (PCZONE's score)? I think so, that's going over the top. I fully disagree with you about PCZONE.

"You do realise this review is published by the same parent corporation as the PC Gamer review?"

Means nothing, plus they probably reviewed the game as they were being bought. PCZONE ha stheir own reviews with their own thoughts and a very tought scoring system, next toughest to gamespot.com (out of the best PC sites/magazines.)

Alig That's just it - PCZONE are NOT over the top with their scores yet they're giving this game 97% - it's most likely just an accurate score, because the game is so good - it's excellent. Their next highest shooter, Far Cry, scored 93%. HL" is just going to be THAT good imo.
 
iainmoo knows what he's talking about - PCZONE has one of the most harsh scoring systems out there and imo is the best magazine out there.

cod56 - exactly PCZONE have the most accurate and reliable scores in the world imo. Although when I play HL2 I'll be putting my personal score of doom3 down to 70% and Far cry down to 80%. :)
 
well... Newest GAME SYSTEM ALWAY IS COMUPTER KILLER AND HARDWARE KILLER TOO!
 
Would this be the same harsh PC Zone scoring system that gave Unreal 2, 94%?
 
Yes Martynium? It was arguably worth that at the time. Unreal 2 isn't even in their top ten shooters and they gave no shooter 94% since then. Far cry got 93% and is the top shooter, besides HL2. (Half -Life 2 won't be put in the top ten number 1 spot until the next, January, issue.)

OK they may have originally slipped up on that one, but usually. They gave some shooters (10 shooters in fact) less yet rate them higher than unreal 2 which doesn't score that anymore anyway (not in top ten even.) ;)

Doom3 got higher in PCGamer enough said (90% was admittedly a high score for doom3 from PCZONE, the reviewer said he was a bias doom3 fan I believe.)

Burning fish I tried but it kept locking me out after 15mins :p

All ready for Half-life 2

Athlon FX-51, 2Gbs 3200 Corsair RAM, 22" monitor, RADEON X800XT PE, 2048x, 2xAA, 16xAF, Full detail on the VST and CSS playable frame-rates always. :)
 
/me looks at last screenie

/me goes off to change pants
 
Blad3 said:
Yes Martynium? It was arguably worth that at the time. Unreal 2 isn't even in their top ten shooters and they gave no shooter 94% since then. Far cry got 93% and is the top shooter, besides HL2. (Half -Life 2 won't be put in the top ten number 1 spot until the next, January, issue.)

OK they may have originally slipped up on that one, but usually. They gave some shooters (10 shooters in fact) less yet rate them higher than unreal 2 which doesn't score that anymore anyway (not in top ten even.) ;)

Doom3 got higher in PCGamer enough said (90% was admittedly a high score for doom3 from PCZONE, the reviewer said he was a bias doom3 fan I believe.
Click to expand...

Worth that at the time? Oh come on now, sticking up for that score is scraping a little to deep. I enjoyed Unreal II yes, but it in no way deserved a score of 94%. The reviewer was rating it purely on it's graphical prowess, nothing else. Far Cry as well in my opinion got treated almost exactly in the same. Rated to highly again, was far to shallow for a score that high. But again as with Unreal II, I enjoyed it but felt it didn't deserve a score that large.

I think the only reason that Doom 3 wasn't in the high 90's was because Far Cry had already wetted their appetites for lush graphics.

But, each to his own.
 
martynium said:
Would this be the same harsh PC Zone scoring system that gave Unreal 2, 94%?
Click to expand...

Unreal 2 deserved 94% at the time. It's still a good game (shame about the loading times).

Doom 3 on the other hand, visually stunnig, gameplay average. I hope HL2 does not fall into the same problems.

Far Cry IMO is still the best shooter out at present. I hope HL2 knocks it off that top spot.

Graphics are not the most important aspect of a game its "playability", a word rarley used in any discription of recent games or recent reviews. I have not seen any of the reviews of HL2 yet, but lets hope it has the same quality of gameplay as HL.
 
in all fairness, far cry was fun.... plot wasnt original, but neither is half life's (ok ok..... lets see here.... your in a base, and ALIENS come in.... and you SHOOT the ALIENS! OOOOooooOOOO!O!!)


far cry was worth the money i paid for it, which is more then i can say for doom 3....
 
cod56 said:
Unreal 2 deserved 94% at the time. It's still a good game (shame about the loading times).

Doom 3 on the other hand, visually stunnig, gameplay average. I hope HL2 does not fall into the same problems.


Far Cry IMO is still the best shooter out at present. I hope HL2 knocks it off that top spot.

Graphics are not the most important aspect of a game its "playability", a word rarley used in any discription of recent games or recent reviews. I have not seen any of the reviews of HL2 yet, but lets hope it has the same quality of gameplay as HL.
Click to expand...

It was exactly the same with Unreal 2; great looks, but dated gameplay (the occasional defense missions were a nice twist, but once you got the defenses up, all you did was run around and shoot everything moving, which is what you did the rest of the time). Compared to other shooters e,g, Medal of Honour and even Half-Life, it just wasn't enough to have fancy graphics. It hardly deserved 94%, especially when it puts it in competition with superior games like Far Cry.
 
I don't put any stock into some arbitrary score a magazine gives a game, especially when it's varied as much as 90%-97%... I'll play it and give you all a good review on it.

Blad3, nice quadruple post buddy, well done!
 
KagePrototype said:
It was exactly the same with Unreal 2; great looks, but dated gameplay (the occasional defense missions were a nice twist, but once you got the defenses up, all you did was run around and shoot everything moving, which is what you did the rest of the time). Compared to other shooters e,g, Medal of Honour and even Half-Life, it just wasn't enough to have fancy graphics. It hardly deserved 94%, especially when it puts it in competition with superior games like Far Cry.
Click to expand...

You will get no argument from me. Far Cry and MOH are better than Unreal 2. But I cant remeber what they scored in PC Zone.

I think I might have a soft spot for Unreal 2.
 
I now thinl far cry and doom3 are terrible games. not when I played them only now. HL2 is going to make them look awful, assuming it will be released by Nov 2010.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
From Warren Spector to Arkane Studios: Half-Life 2's cancelled Ravenholm episode
Replies
2
Views
10K
Clan Wolf 2
Clan Wolf 2
B
Early Half-Life 2 screenshots from Retro Gamer's article
Replies
1
Views
23K
Gerzowktz
Gerzowktz
B
Marc Laidlaw talks more about his Half-Life 2: Episode Three ideas
Replies
3
Views
21K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
B
Half-Life 2: Episode Two - Cyril, Fred, and friends
Replies
0
Views
5K
Barnz
B
B
The other cancelled ports of Half-Life
Replies
3
Views
7K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
Back
Top