HL1 vs. HL2

[Banana_Bob]

Disregarding the expansion packs / episodes, which of the two games did you enjoy more?

I prefer Half life 1 becuase it was more difficult, had better pacing, better ai, killable npcs, no demi-god companions like alex and barney, no shitty vehicle sequences, xen, better weapons(debatable) and more tactical game play.

I was far more immersed with HL1 game play. Knowing that the scientists and security guards were able to be damaged by you made protecting them and working together actually mean something. Also, the unrealistic blood & gore in HL2 makes me immediately realize that I'm playing a game, as when i unload all my weapons on Alex's head and she makes a jibe about getting to work while she stands by a terminal opening doors.

I find that HL1 is still fun to play while i cant get past route canal anymore in HL2. I still get caught in death loops and am killed often in HL1. HL2 i can beat blindfolded without pants and without hands on the hardest difficulty.

I love both and have beat them each thirty plus times now, but HL1 just takes it.

What do you guys think and why?

 

[EWLTM]

''HL2 i can beat blindfolded without pants and without hands on the hardest difficulty.'' - Yuo're legend!

 

[EWLTM]

Probably i like HL2 more , cause of better story telling(mostly through the npcs like alyx and barney) , and probably cause of that gameplay in hl2 suffered they chose story not the gameplay(which in hl1 was the most important).And about difficulty , well : hl1 on hard was i think too damn hard , and hl2 on hard was too damn easy(maybe i just improved over the years)

P.S. Like both but for different things

 

[Ennui]

Both are excellent games, and HL2 is certainly a better game, but in the context of their times and my first impressions, I would say I like the first Half-Life better. That shit just blew me away. As good as HL2 is, I still can't compare it to HL1. The first time I played through Half-Life was incredible, like nothing I had ever seen before. The world was so interactive and realistic - so many moments, from the microwave in the lounge before the resonance cascade, to the resonance cascade itself, to scientists falling in the elevator, to the first time I walked out in the blast pit and saw the 4 story high tentacles whipping around... it just was so much more immersive and real than any other game I had played to that point.

 

[Banana_Bob]

Looks like hl1 is winning oh so slightly.

Both are excellent games, and HL2 is certainly a better game, but in the context of their times and my first impressions, I would say I like the first Half-Life better. That shit just blew me away. As good as HL2 is, I still can't compare it to HL1. The first time I played through Half-Life was incredible, like nothing I had ever seen before. The world was so interactive and realistic - so many moments, from the microwave in the lounge before the resonance cascade, to the resonance cascade itself, to scientists falling in the elevator, to the first time I walked out in the blast pit and saw the 4 story high tentacles whipping around... it just was so much more immersive and real than any other game I had played to that point.

I am curious of what aspects of half-life 2 make it better then half life 1 for you, as a game.

 

[Ennui]

It's a lot more immersive, realistic and believable. All the scripted and cinematic elements of the first game are back in spades and done with a level of detail and immersion that wasn't possible in the technology of HL1's time. What I meant is that today if playing both HL and HL2 for the first time you'd probably prefer HL2.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Comparing Granny Smiths to Red Delicious' here. They're both good in their own ways. One's a little more sour than the other, but hey, some people like that.

 

[Gman]

''HL2 i can beat blindfolded without pants and without hands on the hardest difficulty.'' - Yuo're legend!

I lol'd.

Anyway,i voted they are both good in their same way.HL1 was good and was great.HL2 has fantastic water and very immersive gameplay.You can't say that HL1 was superior and you can't say it with the second one as well i rest my case.

 

[Solaris]

Halflife2 was a piece of shit.

 

[GeniusX]

I have a thing for the source engine, so I voted HL2

 

[Wanted Bob]

I voted for both, because they each were really good at doing different things. If I tried to explain in depth I would probably be writing for an hour so I'll leave it at that.

 

[giant384]

Halflife 2 to me has to take the cake, i really felt like i was apart of the story. If you take your time to look throughout the level and every area you can; you find so much background story about what is happening that isnt said directly through npcs. Also i enjoyed the more realistic feel of the game in hl2 over hl1, hl1 felt more like a game to me then playing through a story. If any of you have watched the 'Freemans Mind' series, some of the flaws are pointed out.

 

[EversorAssassin]

I couldn't get into HL1 at all and it took ages to finally get myself to finish it. HL2 was great, but a couple chunks of it were more annoying than fun, and I felt really disconnected from the characters. EP1 was alright, and EP2 was excellent.

 

[Kyzr]

When I first played half life 1, I was 10 years old. In the first half an hour of play, I went through every emotion, every feeling that a person can experience. I can only describe it as getting shot in the foot while getting sexual satisfaction. I mean that in a good way.

I just didnt get the same feeling from half life 2.

hl1 > hl2

 

[funlover1700]

Disregarding the expansion packs / episodes, which of the two games did you enjoy more?

I prefer Half life 1 becuase it was more difficult, had better pacing, better ai, killable npcs, no demi-god companions like alex and barney, no shitty vehicle sequences, xen, better weapons(debatable) and more tactical game play.

I was far more immersed with HL1 game play. Knowing that the scientists and security guards were able to be damaged by you made protecting them and working together actually mean something. Also, the unrealistic blood & gore in HL2 makes me immediately realize that I'm playing a game, as when i unload all my weapons on Alex's head and she makes a jibe about getting to work while she stands by a terminal opening doors.

I find that HL1 is still fun to play while i cant get past route canal anymore in HL2. I still get caught in death loops and am killed often in HL1. HL2 i can beat blindfolded without pants and without hands on the hardest difficulty.

I love both and have beat them each thirty plus times now, but HL1 just takes it.

What do you guys think and why?

I like Half-Life 2 more because of the GRAPHICS, and vehicles and a lot of cool terrain stuff you can play with the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator (otherwise known as the Gravity Gun) like tires, guns, barrels, traffic cones, street signs, etc.
At first, let me tell you my experience in Half-Life 1, at first, when i first played it, things started to scare the **** out of me, then later on, i thought it was a good game, until i finished the game, then i was bored and decided to get Half-Life 2, I was prepared to meet Half-Life 2 and play it, and well what do ya know? HALF-LIFE 2 is better than Half-Life 1.

 

[Tunnelsnake]

I think Half-Life was much better. I'm more of a fan of the older games, but I love the newer ones just much. Half-Life had a great feel to it. It told the story very well and was just a great concept overall. Half-Life 2 was just as great if not better in story telling. Half-Life 2 introduced more characters, made characters out of the basic scientists around Black Mesa, and progressed the story. I think the Half-Life story is by far the best out of any game.

Also I loved how in Half-Life 1 it was actually scary (Not saying Half-life 2 wasn't with Ravenholm and all) It had a sense that you were all alone and had to survive.

All in all Half-Life 1 is greater than or equal to Half-Life 2

 

[Warbie]

The original, by a country mile.

In HL I was Gordon, the first and only fps protagonist I've been able to relate to, doing everything I could to survive. In HL2 I was generic action hero x, being told to go places and do stuff. This is the difference - the cascade, xen, g-man, were all secondary to the very simple and personal drive behind HL. Get out, survive. In HL2 these elements take center stage and you're thrust into a sci-fi movie. The motivation is no longer personal - i'm going places because i'm told to, to progress a story someone else has crafted. It's not my story, though - my story was getting a tram to work on a seemingly normal day, putting on an hev suit and entering the test chamber ....

 

[Darkside55]

Half-Life 2 is garbage. It's a pseudo-1984 with your generic technologically-advanced oppressive alien civilization that's subjugated the world and is turning people into mindless drones and sucking up the Earth's resources. It's a hodgepodge of sci-fi cliches mashed together and layered on top of gameplay that can best be described as "Go here, do that." It took one of the defining aspects of Half-Life--having very little information, and being sort of pigeonholed in the path you could take--and went completely overboard. Whereas in Half-Life your meager knowledge about the situation came from how suddenly the cascade happened, and the sprawling, sparsely-populated areas of Black Mesa, in Half-Life 2 you get "HEY GORDON WE AREN'T GONNA TELL YOU SHIT PULL THAT LEVER PULL THAT LEVER PICK THAT UP WITH THE GRAVITY GUN YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON OH SHIT WE'RE UNDER ATTACK OKAY GOODBYE GORDON."

In Half-Life there was this ever-present feeling of claustrophobia and tension that built up until you reached the climax in a hostile-yet-beautiful alien world. In Half-Life 2, you drive a boat through the countryside for twelve hours.

Half-Life had a diverse range of enemies, many of which felt alive; these creatures had behaviors and interactions with each other that went on completely independent of your involvement. And when they did notice you, all but the braindead zombies had interesting attack patterns and required different strategies to dispatch. Marines would set traps and try to flank you, you'd be foolish to bumrush an alien grunt, and the best way to handle the ichthyosaur was a cat-and-mouse game played with the crossbow. In Half-Life 2 you've got dumbass metrocops, overwatch, and supersoldiers who all rush straight at you begging for bullets. And the "bosses" in the game? SHOOT A RAWKET AT IT.

Half-Life was a wonderful story encapsulated in a single game, with the expansions only providing other points of view. They weren't necessary to the core story, and one might say that, in a way, they even somewhat detract from the brilliance that is Half-Life. Half-Life 2 requires 3 expansions to complete and one will never get done, so you will never know how the hell that story's supposed to wrap up.

 

[JUL3]

Half-Life 2 is the clear winner. How could it not be? Half-Life 2 is what got me interested in the series in the first place. Half-Life is still an amazing game, but HL2 is just ahead of it.

 

[UJKA]

Both games are good. But half-life 1 is better that 2. 2 is bettr for graphichs, but all other things is not good like in HL 1. But i voted for bot games, beacuse i like hl 1 and hl2.

 

[Duracell]

Both are awesome games in their own rights, they're also pretty different in terms of gameplay. Half-Life was more fun than Half-life 2 at the time of it's release, though; because the story telling was pretty unique.

 

[TheFreeman]

Half-Life 2 is garbage. It's a pseudo-1984 with your generic technologically-advanced oppressive alien civilization that's subjugated the world and is turning people into mindless drones and sucking up the Earth's resources. It's a hodgepodge of sci-fi cliches mashed together and layered on top of gameplay that can best be described as "Go here, do that." It took one of the defining aspects of Half-Life--having very little information, and being sort of pigeonholed in the path you could take--and went completely overboard. Whereas in Half-Life your meager knowledge about the situation came from how suddenly the cascade happened, and the sprawling, sparsely-populated areas of Black Mesa, in Half-Life 2 you get "HEY GORDON WE AREN'T GONNA TELL YOU SHIT PULL THAT LEVER PULL THAT LEVER PICK THAT UP WITH THE GRAVITY GUN YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON OH SHIT WE'RE UNDER ATTACK OKAY GOODBYE GORDON."

In Half-Life there was this ever-present feeling of claustrophobia and tension that built up until you reached the climax in a hostile-yet-beautiful alien world. In Half-Life 2, you drive a boat through the countryside for twelve hours.

Half-Life had a diverse range of enemies, many of which felt alive; these creatures had behaviors and interactions with each other that went on completely independent of your involvement. And when they did notice you, all but the braindead zombies had interesting attack patterns and required different strategies to dispatch. Marines would set traps and try to flank you, you'd be foolish to bumrush an alien grunt, and the best way to handle the ichthyosaur was a cat-and-mouse game played with the crossbow. In Half-Life 2 you've got dumbass metrocops, overwatch, and supersoldiers who all rush straight at you begging for bullets. And the "bosses" in the game? SHOOT A RAWKET AT IT.

Half-Life was a wonderful story encapsulated in a single game, with the expansions only providing other points of view. They weren't necessary to the core story, and one might say that, in a way, they even somewhat detract from the brilliance that is Half-Life. Half-Life 2 requires 3 expansions to complete and one will never get done, so you will never know how the hell that story's supposed to wrap up.

 

[ríomhaire]

The points about story and feel of HL1 are valid, but still HL2 is just a more polished and has all its shit together. HL1 has a bunch of things without a real place. Things like the trip mines. People use them more for climbing on than as an actual weapon. HL2 is trimmed down and polished to a T. Everything knows what it's doing and serves a purpose and there is no chapter equivalent to Residue Processing and no random doesn't really know what it's doing here things like the Xen laser gun that appears in a corridor with no introduction and no warning or clear reason why its there and not anywhere else in the whole game (also, the Snark tripmines, which appear all over one corridor in the whole game and then don't show up again). HL1 is a diamond in the rough and while HL2 is a smaller jewel, it's perfectly cut.

 

[haz0r]

For me, HL2 was a different experience; a different game all together. It didn't have the atmosphere I loved whilst playing HL1 (and the expansions), if that makes any sense. Obviously that's not to say it was a let down in anyway, it was amazing, it just wasn't the Half-Life I grew up playing.

This isn't a nostalgia thing because I still play/mod HL1 to this very day.

The points about story and feel of HL1 are valid, but still HL2 is just a more polished and has all its shit together. HL1 has a bunch of things without a real place. Things like the trip mines. People use them more for climbing on than as an actual weapon. HL2 is trimmed down and polished to a T. Everything knows what it's doing and serves a purpose and there is no chapter equivalent to Residue Processing and no random doesn't really know what it's doing here things like the Xen laser gun that appears in a corridor with no introduction and no warning or clear reason why its there and not anywhere else in the whole game (also, the Snark tripmines, which appear all over one corridor in the whole game and then don't show up again). HL1 is a diamond in the rough and while HL2 is a smaller jewel, it's perfectly cut.

To sum up your post; HL1 had done what HL2 did, 6 years earlier, without the cosmetics. Everything story-line wise was dynamic, something that hadn't been accomplished before in FPS. Maps were conjoined, NPCs spoke/followed you and scripted sequences ruled out the use of shitty cutscenes. You never left the game.

I can't really remember any weapons having "random/quake introductions", I'm not being a dick but can you give some examples?

Also @thefreeman, go back to 4chan you dickhead.

 

[ríomhaire]

The laser gun I was referring to was an enemy, not a weapon. It just shows up in a corridor in one place with no introduction.

 

[TheFreeman]

Also @thefreeman, go back to 4chan you dickhead.

I don't have a dick for a head, and I'm not from a chan.


Also, I have to say that I like Half Life 2 the best.

 

[Darkside55]

I don't understand the complaints regarding the Xen laser. How are you supposed to "properly" introduce an enemy weapon? The Xenian grunts have a laser. How are you supposed to introduce it or give a warning? Furthermore, what do you mean by "no clear reason why it's there?" IT'S A LASER. IT SHOOTS SHIT. If I remember correctly about that area, the laser is near a marine emplacement with APCs and the like. The grunts were using it to handle business.

I must also disagree with your assessment that certain chapters of HL "don't know what they're doing," especially compared to Half-Life 2. Residue Processing was a necessary evil. It most certainly has a reason for being there, just as do any of the inane and/or boring segments in Half-Life 2. Half-Life 1 has you going through the bowels of Black Mesa on a dizzying conveyor-belt extravaganza. Half-Life 2 has you driving along a coastline for seventy-two hours.

As for the tripmines if you couldn't find a clever way to utilize them, you're doing it wrong. Setting up tripmine traps for grunts and marines was a lark. Half-Life 2 eschewed all the clever weapon ideas so as not to detract from their prize showhorse the gravity gun--which was an interesting and clever gimmick in 2004, but when HL3 is released in 2075 and I'm still throwing things around like a glorified mobile slingshot, I'd rather take the tripmines.

 

[haz0r]

sidenote: the brush-based gun was originally supposed to be another tank (ironically would've made more sense, although kinda dumb). I think the alien grunts were added later in development, thus adding the Xen equivalent of a tank. http://img576.imageshack.us/i/88220179.jpg/