Here is the Edge review.

[Warbie]

[Removed]

pm me if you want to 'chat about it'

\o/

 

[KagePrototype]

Nice one, though I don't know if the mods will share my enthusiasm.

 

[Axyon]

Sorry, can't allow full-text translations. If you want to edit your post and make a summary, that would be fine, but we can't allow word for word.

 

[Frank]

Give us the score, the positive and negative things, and a short summary...

 

[Hectic Glenn]

awww he spent all that time typing it as well, evil mods

 

[Xrenity]

Damn, should've been a bit earlier

 

[Warbie]

*scratch this*

 

[Axyon]

And no requesting by PM, either.

 

[KagePrototype]

I'll post a summary, give me a few minutes.

 

[subtlesnake]

And no requesting by PM, either.

Can you tell if people do this?

 

[Axyon]

Can you tell if people do this?

I mean requesting that the information is given through a PM. We can't actually read PMs, no.

 

[Warbie]

They see all, know all.

/o\

 

[Peqkx]

Can we request to have it sent to email through a pm?

 

[Hectic Glenn]

mwahahahahaha, 'aint no stopping us nowwwww'

Okay ill shut up and go sit in the corner *awaits kage's summary*

 

[Homer]

I dont think they can stop you.

 

[Dagobert]

There is a couple of spoilers in the review

Severe

Spoiler

Something about 'see friends die'

Not Severe

Spoiler

and a sequence at the start where a combine guard tells you to pick up a can and put it in the bin, as a way on introducing the picking up mechanic

 

[Axyon]

Can we request to have it sent to email through a pm?

If you must, but I don't want people requesting that it be sent to them by PM or email in this thread.

 

[Warbie]

Those aren't big spoilers

Small, slightly minor at best.

 

[kush]

I think the Edge score is really the most impressive of the lot. Edge's rating system goes from 5 as an average, 6 as good, 7 as very good, 8 and excellent, 9 as outstanding and 10 as revolutionary. The only games Edge have given 10 are Halo, Gran Turismo, Super Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This is the first review score to really shock me, but i'm overjoyed that they think of HL2 so highly.

 

[rumblefish]

to look at spoiler, or to not look at spoiler, that is the question..., btw, do edge give out stars/%/out of 10 etc? and if so, can you tell us that on this thread??

rf

 

[Wraith]

im sure the

Spoiler

friends dying

thing is referring to the generic resitence fighters

 

[Wraith]

rumble, they give a number out of 10. apparently half life 2 is one of only 6 or so games to be rated 10/10 from them ever, in 7 years of being published or something like that

 

[iamaelephant]

Those aren't even spoilers. We know about the

Spoiler

"picking up the can"

because one of the dudes who visited Valve told us about it, and also what happens when

Spoiler

you throw it at a combine guard.

As for

Spoiler

"friends dieing," they are most likely talking about those random NPC dudes that you fight with, "The Resistance."

 

[Warbie]

^ I totally agree kush.

They are normally mean buggers when it comes to reviews - but i've never read anything in their pages as positive as this.

My favourite line being:

'This is possibly the most exquisitely crafted action game of all time'

 

[Wraith]

If you must, but I don't want people requesting that it be sent to them by PM or email in this thread.

EDIT: "no "

 

[rumblefish]

cheers, good to know i got a great game, btw what did the original hl get in edge? cheers

rf

 

[KagePrototype]

OK, I've tried to pick out the best points from the review without actually writing the thing out. There are tiny, mild spoilers, but nothing to do with the plot. It's hard to properly summarise an EDGE review, because they effectively repeat their point over and over, using more and more examples, so I've tried to summarise the basic jist of each paragraph without typing it word for word, but also without straying too far to sound altogether different (and thus misleading). This is NOT the review, just a basic paragraph by paragraph summary.

Half-Life 2 is effectively the best fps since Half-Life, with everything in-between little more than just a footnote. Half-Life 2 is the first fps since the original to really advance the genre by any real margin. Half-Life 2 takes every idea the fps genre has been toying with for the past 6 years, and brings it all together into one cohesive whole, that's greater than it's individual parts. This isn't about doing things differently, but doing it better than everyone else.

Thanks to the sheer amount of things to do and see in this game, repetiton and monotony are virtually non-existant. Everything from scripted sequences (striders bursting through buildings, zombies breaking down walls, a fight with a helicopter), to conversations with the realistic NPCs (everything from their movements, to the voice acting, their facial expressions, look utterly real and disturbingly lifelike) comes barelling in with pin-point timing and delivery. Few games have achieved the level of drama HL2 offers.

The Source engine, while not as technically advanced as Doom 3's, nevertheless renders the game in astonishing beauty. Death occurs simply from staring in awe at the sheer magnificence of it all, from the foreboding and fear-inducing City 17, to the huge lush backdrops of the coastline. There are a few examples of stretched and bland textures, but these are easily overlooked.

Finally, a game where physics means more than just an excuse to use ragdolls. Near the beginning of the game, a metrocop throws a can on the floor and demands you pick it up. Later on, you'll be finding yourself turning over an upside down buggy, or using filing cabinets as shields. "This is possibly the most exquisitely crafted action game of all time."

"Half-Life 2 is a first person shooter. But in action, storytelling, technical achievement, atmosphere and intensity it has far out done it's peers. Valve just hit the top note no other PC game developer could reach."

10/10

EDGE doesn't use a pros/cons table.

If you want a shorter, more concise summary, you don't need much more than that last quote. The only thing they didn't seem to like was the occasional bland and stretched texture.

 

[Murray_H]

Ace!

 

[Warbie]

n1

It's worth noting that that isn't quoted from the magasine - but in Kage's own fine words. So no need to any mods to get their feathers ruffled

 

[Murray_H]

So it's in UK shops right now?

I may have to purchase a copy tomorrow if that's the case

 

[KagePrototype]

It's not in shops yet AFAIK (I think it's thursday for that), but subscribers are getting it.

 

[Peqkx]

The streched out and blan outdoor textures are the most negative thing ive read about this game so far. I wonder if game devs hire reviewers to pre-review their games and then fixes whatever they list as cons.

 

[Concept]

Just read the review.

The game sounds mightly impressive.

Especially in terms of narrative, atmosphere and immersion - Which are my main concerns.

Murray, Edge is officially released in the shops on October 28th. A day before San Andreas.

 

[Crushenator 500]

Yes, a 10/10!

That puts it up there with Mario64 and Zelda: oot

"This is possibly the most exquisitely crafted action game of all time."

''Thanks to the sheer amount of things to do and see in this game, repetiton and monotony are virtually non-existant.''

Thanks for the right up, kage

..and Warbie, but i never got to see yours

 

[Concept]

I think Warbie and Kage deserve props for the information they've provided. Cheers guys.

The review makes the game sound something very special indeed.

 

[lans]

Awesome.

Keep the info coming.

Anything they were heavily impressed by?

 

[iamaelephant]

Awesome.

Keep the info coming.

Anything they were heavily impressed by?

They gave it a 10/10. They were probably impressed by most things.

 

[Dagobert]

thing is referring to the generic resitence fighters

Spoiler

It is worded in a way that suggests that is not the case, and that they are talking about a significant character.

 

[Dagobert]

Review synopsis (from memory)

FPS’s have been at a standstill since ’98. HL1 was amazing, lots of games have tried to beat it, but none have. Now HL2 has come along and beaten it.

The games action is dense, non-stop and amazing. The striders are fantastic; the coast section is very entertaining. The characters are beautifully human and the game deals with Gordon's lack of speech with humour.

Physics is finally used as gameplay, not just eye-candy. Explains how the gravity gun works. Talks about

Spoiler

Seeing friends die.

Says it is possibly the best action game of all time.

Nothing really in this review that we haven't read in others. I think there was a strict set of rules about what reviewers could talk about.

 

[KagePrototype]

Awesome.

Keep the info coming.

Anything they were heavily impressed by?

Pretty much everything.