HL2:Aftermath Sneak Peak

[f1r3b4ll]

Just got this on steam

 

[MarcoPollo]

w00t! you get to fight stalkers? They have a weapon btw.

 

[Sufferin-rebel]

Damn u i was just about to post this thread. is it just me or do the combine eyes look different?

 

[MarcoPollo]

Haha 2nd AND 4th post, both spame ye olde spame alote

 

[DigiQ8]

is it me or the graphics looks weaker than HL2 ?

EDIT : when will VALVe learn to use AA while taking Screen Shots ?

 

[ríomhaire]

I smell a hoax, and it would be depressing to fight stalkers.

 

[MarcoPollo]

no ^^ just funny cause you could beat them down.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

is it me or the graphics looks weaker than HL2 ?

EDIT : when will VALVe learn to use AA while taking Screen Shots ?

no. and they do (although at that resolution who'd notice!?), but when the size is shrunk it messes the edges up again

 

[Mechagodzilla]

is it just me or do the combine eyes look different?

Yeah, they are. Up until now they were blue, yellow or chrome.

It's a strange co-incidence that these orange eyes look very similar to those of the Elite Metrocop model they show in RTB.

 

[MarcoPollo]

Omg if theres a hydra Im gonna faint!

 

[Sufferin-rebel]

if theres a Hydra im gonna have to get my brain working , Wait i could get Developer Console working?..

 

[Edcrab]

I'm more interested in the mysterious new NPC than that token Stalker (though I bet it'll be fun to encounter). We all know that Valve are very accommodating when it comes to the demands of their rabid fanbase (just look at HL2DM)... anyone whinged about the lack of Combine Commandos* recently?

*And yes, I'm aware this isn't their official name but I think it's a good term for some of the "other" elite infantry units not present in the game. Sue me!

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

It's a strange co-incidence that these orange eyes look very similar to those of the Elite Metrocop model they show in RTB.

It's late so forgive me...but RTB?

 

[Edcrab]

RTB is Raising the Bar, the official "behind the scenes" book released with Valve's backing. Includes some interesting insights into the game's creation process and history, such as dropped or reconsidered portions.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

Oh yeah, of course!

I've been planning on buying it every payday for the past 3 months...

 

[knut]

So, this is the pic we were told to be a sneak peak of Aftermath a couple of days back?

mmmfh. I was expecting a better picture other than a Combine's eyes and a stalker. I was expecting... I dunno, a big picture with Gordon in and BOOM explosions and rawr AFTERMATH pow more explosions, big Citadel... etc. ):

 

[ríomhaire]

The eyes look like that of the Hellgast from that "Halo killer", yeah right!

 

[Loke]

The eyes look like that of the Hellgast from that "Halo killer", yeah right!

Please stop calling it a "Halo-Killer", it got a freaking name and it's KILLZONE. Learn to call it that.

 

[special-ed]

are those new combines or something?

 

[ríomhaire]

Please stop calling it a "Halo-Killer", it got a freaking name and it's KILLZONE. Learn to call it that.

My point is it isn't hence the "yeah right!". But Halo 2 is a Halo-killer as it is crap.

 

[hi_ted]

I wonder if there is a secret message behind the picture...

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Does anyone have a program that can amp up the brightness? I can just barely make out a circular symbol on the guy's arm

 

[Firefox]

I love how the image tells us absolutely nothing about the upcoming expansion, nor show us anyting new really.

Any one of us could have made that photo ingame. Truely depressing.

 

[Shadow][]

brightness higher

 

[SFLUFAN]

I love how the image tells us absolutely nothing about the upcoming expansion, nor show us anyting new really.

Any one of us could have made that photo ingame. Truely depressing.

Oh please stop whining for heaven's sake. Good God, you didn't know anything about this until about a week or so ago so what's the big deal? Wouldn't you rather the surprised once you get it?

 

[MikeL15]

Oh please stop whining for heaven's sake. Good God, you didn't know anything about this until about a week or so ago so what's the big deal? Wouldn't you rather the surprised once you get it?

We wanna be surprised now! And you can go in the normal HL2 game and take that exact picture... exept the combines eyes are yellow... but that part is in the game already... you just need to look around...

 

[Mechagodzilla]

The picture actually tells us several things we didn't know earlier.

-There will be more playable levels in the citadel.
-The stalkers will be encountered for real this time. (This also means that it is extremely likely that we will see all the other enemies shown but not encountered, like the cremator, crab/mortar synths and icthyosaur.)
-There is a new type of overwatch soldier. (I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this type will be able to use the SMG secondary-fire grenade launcher.)

Also, the circular symbol on his arm is the "city 17" logo, as seen on the sides of the turrets and other combine paraphenalia. I'm pretty sure none of the other overwatch have that mark, so this guy is pretty much confirmed new.

 

[SFLUFAN]

Somehow I don't think we'll be fighting the stalkers, but that doesn't mean they won't be interacting with us.

 

[eatbugs]

How much is that book?

 

[fenner]

Looks like the soldier is wearing a black verson of the combine elite's armor.
Must be a super-elite!

 

[Marx! II]

The fella still retaining his hands and feet looks all leatherbound, lacking the city-type camo the others have. So new. Horjay.
And on another note, supposing we run across stalkers, and they cower or something?
I certainly would, in that state, and it offers a kind of mini philisophical debate.
Do I kill this creepy thing for fun, spare it, put it out of it's misery, grav gun it off the ledge here?

 

[MikeL15]

Screw the debate... just do all that at once!

Spare one of them... and just put the rest of them out of their misery, by grav gunning them off the ledge, which would kill them... see?

 

[Kitfox]

Anybody else dissapointed after reading the words "the continuation of Gordon Freeman’s adventures".

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Anybody else dissapointed after reading the words "the continuation of Gordon Freeman’s adventures".

Not at all. Matter of fact, I couldn't be more overjoyed. This means they can make several episodes of the various assignments the Gman hands out to Gordon and then when HL3 rolls around, they can once again radically change the dynamic between Gordon and the Gman.

I most certainly would not want HL3 to just be "Gordon's next job," but neither do I want HL2 be the only assignment Gordon gets.

 

[eatbugs]

Whatever ha[ppens, it is gonna be big to be able to shed light on so many questions

 

[Kitfox]

I want to see a Citizen persective that fight is the 7 hour war gets captured and is convertide to a combine. That would be unquestionably awesome. that.. or Adrian Shepard.

 

[Spoonoop]

Yeah the only thing making me think about this screenshot are the Combine Soldiers eyes, it's almost the first thing you notice when you look at it. But why would Valve want to make them look different is the question? Or maybe they don't look different it could just be a different kind of Combine.

 

[eatbugs]

Maybe you've spent a little to much time in crazy town.

 

[Asknoone]

Anybody else dissapointed after reading the words "the continuation of Gordon Freeman’s adventures".

Nope. Over the moon that i am playing as gordon.

 

[kupocake]

The picture actually tells us several things we didn't know earlier.

-There will be more playable levels in the citadel.
-The stalkers will be encountered for real this time. (This also means that it is extremely likely that we will see all the other enemies shown but not encountered, like the cremator, crab/mortar synths and icthyosaur.)

Nah, anyone who has read the PC Gamer article knew that already. Stalkers were captioned and it was said that you'd meet them when descending the Citadel

-There is a new type of overwatch soldier. (I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this type will be able to use the SMG secondary-fire grenade launcher.)

Also, the circular symbol on his arm is the "city 17" logo, as seen on the sides of the turrets and other combine paraphenalia. I'm pretty sure none of the other overwatch have that mark, so this guy is pretty much confirmed new.

I'd say he is as well. Just had a glance into RtB, and the two existing Combines: the normal soldier and the Nova Prospekt soldier have blue and yellow eyes respectively. Neither has those symbols on their uniforms either.

Anyway, this is hardly revelatory stuff. Most of the little this image confirms was confirmed in the PC Gamer article, and all we now know is that Valve have reskined the Soldier model, probably to give us a stealthy enemy- perhaps the power gets cut in the citadel at some point and these guys are dispatched to take you down?