How does HL rank with you?

HL ranks:

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jet_porkins

jet_porkins

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EDIT:REFERRING TO THE SERIES AS A WHOLE

Just finished the (incomplete) Half Life 2 series for the 4th time straight through on the 360. I decided it's my favorite FPS given:

-The overall gameplay (physics/action/level of game-hindering bugs)

-Story and Dialogue/Voice Acting (no other FPS has gotten me so immersed into its story - I'm looking at you too, Halo)

and as a result,

-Personal replay value to experience the epic adventure all over again (only without the surprises of the first play-through).

I'm no heavy gamer these days but I've played a ton of first person shooters, and I have been consistently impressed the most with HL2, given the above factors.

I was wondering, how does the HL series rank to you?
 
I chose #1. Although I haven't played many singleplayer fps games outside of the half life series really.
 
half life 2 easily beats just about every other game I've ever played.. cant think of a better FPS single player game to date.
 
i wasn't sure so i picked a close second or third :|
 
Can't fault Half Life as being the best FPS ever made.

A game that ranks 1# FPS or 2# FPS or any of those all time games are actually boring to the majority of the people who play it now (and for obvious reasons).

However, this isn't what makes games considered "best of all time". It's how much it impacts the gaming industry as a whole, more than that, a complete revamp/upgrade to the genre of which it is in.

Take Doom for example. Of course 2D, but nevertheless original, new, different.

Now you have Half Life. Probably the first game to have an actualy story line. Not only that, the storyline is beyond amazing. I played half life around 2001-2002 if I remember correctly, that was when I took a break off my 4 hours straight of Counter-Strike. I played a lot of other newer games by then, but the storyline of Half Life is just something else. Even to this date, I have yet to play a game that creates such dramtical features in a game. Hell, the creation of Alyx Vance > Gameplay.

So basically, Half Life did what was necessary to land inself as the greatest of all time. It took ideas from it's predecessors, refined it and topped to another level with more ideas. What made Half Life different, what made the Whole series different, is how engaging the game is to the player. No wonder Valve regret creating Gordon Freeman (although I actually like Freeman alot, even though it's "me").

To Sum it up, I rank it at least a #2 of all time. I would place it as #1, but I have yet to play the really really old shooters that were considered revolutionzing. But if we are talking about the whole series on the other hand. Hands Down #1.
 
I would defintely say #1 FPS of all time.
Half Life 2 just always feels right, is great fun to play and just never gets tiring.
Also, Porkins I think you should get it on PC, it's always better on the PC.
 
Sp00nFaCe said:
I would defintely say #1 FPS of all time.
Half Life 2 just always feels right, is great fun to play and just never gets tiring.
Also, Porkins I think you should get it on PC, it's always better on the PC.
Click to expand...

In 2004 I originally owned it on PC, when I experienced it the first time. My reaction at the very end when Gman walks through the train door was exactly: :O

Unfortunately, for some reason my CD key all of a sudden was in use every time I tried to play and I wasn't able to play it ever again. In retrospect I should have called valve to solve the problem (emailing didn't seem to coerce any solution). So I went in a "stasis" away from HL2 for 3-4 years, until I finally resigned and bought the 360 orange box. Besides, I'm in college now and my laptop won't run HL2 without a complete graphics hardware revamp.

Also, Flamingdts, very well stated. I couldn't agree more with your thoughts on the story of the series.
 
The HL series is the only FPS I've actually played so it had to be first! It is a mazing, though, so even if I'd played some other series it'd still be first.
 
It's really tough to say.. It requires of thinking Half-Life as a phenomena, instead of just the 2 games and their expansions : The mod scene, the effect on Fps industry as whole(the late 1998's shift away from Quake-ish monsters and Counter-Strike's influence on the emergence of semi-realistic shooters)(mods and commercial)). And the great physics system in HL2.. And the editing/modding potential brought by SDK(easy to use).

Half-Life 1 was my favourite game back in the day.. With an unprecedented atmosphere, great level design. The fact that Black Mesa felt "realistic" in a way that it didn't feel like "shooter environment x", but a place where people worked and lived made the game so awesome in my books. Now, I enjoyed Quake 1 and Doom like every real man does, but when Half-Life debuted, I was stunned by the A.I(which is still imo better than HL2's..) and the scripted sequences which were pretty new back then(Though I don't really like them today in games when they're heavily relied upon) and great graphics.

Hl as a whole ranks to the upper tier of my game experiences, but the late change in videogame tastes and the greediness of video game companies have made me lose a little faith in videogaming as a whole and thus Half-Life franchise as well. Therefore I can't allow all of Half-Life to enter the hallowed halls of my top 5 videogame favourites.

But HL remains one of the greatest favourites mine, despite recent disappointments.
 
#1 favorite fps, easily. Honestly i don't really like fps that much, i think most of them are boring and repetitive, so its pretty easy for HL1/2 to be in the top of my list.
 
most fps 's are repetitive. play CSS with the same clan for 3 years you get repetitive.. but its all in the sport and all for fun :D
 
Who voted for:
I only registered on HL2.net for the politics section ?
:LOL:
 
Oh and before i forget, I've voted for #1 favorite FPS, because i like the game.
Every time when i play it, i enjoy.
 
I dont like to think of it as having 'Hl1 and hl2'. I think of them as one awesome entity. And awesome is an understatement, because they are the most amazing things ive experienced besides sex. They are equally tied for me, so Half life as a whole IS NUMBER 1!!! wooo
 
Fiberawptic said:
I dont like to think of it as having 'Hl1 and hl2'. I think of them as one awesome entity. And awesome is an understatement, because they are the most amazing things ive experienced besides sex. They are equally tied for me, so Half life as a whole IS NUMBER 1!!! wooo
Click to expand...

Are you serious?
 
Half-Life is the best series out there, but many other games have it trumped in its constituent areas. The biggest problem is the gunplay, which is a pretty poor show in a shooter. Other games are just generally more tense and challenging, and Valve's cotton-wool approach to game difficulty through excessive-playtesting is a farce that renders the three settings homogeneously easy. Still, no other game series tells a first person story quite as well as Half-Life. Sure, the story is practically vaporous up until Episode Two, but it pushes you through the levels in such a way that, even though it's piss easy to deal with the daft enemies, it's exciting to see where it's all leading too.

Also the Episodes are pretty lazy enterprises. Episode Two was an improvement, but there's still too many recycled props, generic characters and ideas in it to make it anything beyond a good expansion pack. So the best series, but definite room for improvement.
 
i did pick first, but this poll doesn't seem to be fair considering this is a forum for Valve and the Half-Life series is pretty much there main game
 
kupocake said:
Half-Life is the best series out there, but many other games have it trumped in its constituent areas. The biggest problem is the gunplay, which is a pretty poor show in a shooter. Other games are just generally more tense and challenging, and Valve's cotton-wool approach to game difficulty through excessive-playtesting is a farce that renders the three settings homogeneously easy. Still, no other game series tells a first person story quite as well as Half-Life. Sure, the story is practically vaporous up until Episode Two, but it pushes you through the levels in such a way that, even though it's piss easy to deal with the daft enemies, it's exciting to see where it's all leading too.

Also the Episodes are pretty lazy enterprises. Episode Two was an improvement, but there's still too many recycled props, generic characters and ideas in it to make it anything beyond a good expansion pack. So the best series, but definite room for improvement.
Click to expand...

So you want half life to be more cliche and gun-driven, where your given large lazor cannons and ray-guns, or different kinds of bazookas, and a gun that shoots nuclear bombs? im quite proud of the fact that half life doesn't rely on its guns to show off how well-made the game is, like doom 3 with its BFG. plus, the gravity gun and ar2 orb attacks dont do it for you?

If you dont like the episodes thats fine. But i think your wrong in the assumption that Episode 2 still lacked new content. Im quite the opposite, episode 2 had huge graphical improvements, the settings were unique, different and awesome. They redid many things like the vorts and developed the story much more than before. They threw in new characters as well. its still the source engine, so sorry bud, but guess what, if they reuse the same crate model, or zombie model, SORRY. Thats the way it is, and many new props were still made anyway, so your post seems hardly valid. I respect your opinion, *sigh* incase you feel this was inflammatory.
 
Fiberawptic said:
So your post seems hardly valid.
Click to expand...
The feeling is mutual. Where you're getting "I WANTS LASAR CANNANS AND NUKES!" from a post that says "Other games are just generally more tense and challenging" is a mystery only eclipsed by my utter ignorance of who you are, and why you've turned the heat beyond 451 degrees because I've dared to criticise your beloved episodes.

Ignoring the fact that you seem to think the degrees of appreciation run from 'I HATE THIS SHIT' to 'I SMEAR THIS SHIT ALL OVER ME', I like your style. Most fanboys preach to the choir. You run at the choir with a knife and give them a good slashing when they point out that they have to sing 'Hallelujah' rather relentlessly.
Fiberawptic said:
the settings were unique, different and awesome
Click to expand...
Can someone get this kid some good adjectives?
 
I don't think I've ever even seen Lefty in Politics (ok, granted, I actually try to stay away from that place myself so that's the reason why I'd never have seen him).
 
Fiberawptic said:
So you want half life to be more cliche and gun-driven, where your given large lazor cannons and ray-guns, or different kinds of bazookas, and a gun that shoots nuclear bombs? im quite proud of the fact that half life doesn't rely on its guns to show off how well-made the game is, like doom 3 with its BFG. plus, the gravity gun and ar2 orb attacks dont do it for you?

If you dont like the episodes thats fine. But i think your wrong in the assumption that Episode 2 still lacked new content. Im quite the opposite, episode 2 had huge graphical improvements, the settings were unique, different and awesome. They redid many things like the vorts and developed the story much more than before. They threw in new characters as well. its still the source engine, so sorry bud, but guess what, if they reuse the same crate model, or zombie model, SORRY. Thats the way it is, and many new props were still made anyway, so your post seems hardly valid. I respect your opinion, *sigh* incase you feel this was inflammatory.
Click to expand...

Kupocake has a point. The episodes offer a lot of the same generic instances: fighting hordes of zombies while waiting for a slow elevator, shifting physical platforms with the gravity gun to walk yourself across dangerous footing/toxic chemicals, and I think we've seen the see-saw puzzle in all three HL2 games.

I do sympathize with your point that HL2 doesn't need largely exaggerated gunplay to make it a fun action game... but a large lazer canon would be badass. HL1 had the tau canon, gluon gun, and the bolts on the crossbow even exploded. As far as weapon distinction goes, the HL2 series has taken a step backward. EDIT: The alt-fire on the AR-2 is quite lovable, I'll say that much

Still, as with the case of HL2, the episodes (largely Ep2) brought marvelous level design. So while the series may lack (if only slightly) in one area, it's made up in just about everything else, which is why it's my favorite series.

EDIT #2:
the cow says moo said:
i did pick first, but this poll doesn't seem to be fair considering this is a forum for Valve and the Half-Life series is pretty much there main game
Click to expand...

Sure, this forum is a bit biased toward the HL series, but primarily it's for discussion on why it's our favorite series. And you never know when someone might say "well I prefer ______ to what Half Life has to offer in this category, because..."
 
kupocake said:
The feeling is mutual. Where you're getting "I WANTS LASAR CANNANS AND NUKES!" from a post that says "Other games are just generally more tense and challenging" is a mystery only eclipsed by my utter ignorance of who you are, and why you've turned the heat beyond 451 degrees because I've dared to criticise your beloved episodes.

Ignoring the fact that you seem to think the degrees of appreciation run from 'I HATE THIS SHIT' to 'I SMEAR THIS SHIT ALL OVER ME', I like your style. Most fanboys preach to the choir. You run at the choir with a knife and give them a good slashing when they point out that they have to sing 'Hallelujah' rather relentlessly.

Can someone get this kid some good adjectives?
Click to expand...

I thought i was presenting a rather fair side of the argument. I did note at the end it wasn't attacking you, just challenging your views. So now your attacking me, being a little self-contradictory there? In any event, i'm not being the fanboy you're depicting me as. I could easily depict you as a ranting, annoying troll, but i don't because you are not. I can disagree with your opinion, can i not? So don't lash out when someone does so, you'll get much farther in life being able to handle it. My opinion on the arsenal was refering to your quote "the biggest problem is gunplay." Now i can understand that, as the arsenal and shooting mechanics aren't as gimmicky and showy as most shooters, like F.E.A.R where theres an excessive amount of debris that flies of the walls when you shoot it. This is, imo, a good attribute of half life, as it doesnt need 'in-your-face' gunplay to make it interesting. The gunplay isn't bad either though.

"My beloved episodes"... Ok, well, drop the cute act. I do very much enjoy the episodes. I'm not going to bitch because Valve decided to release a game every year, instead of 8 years for a half life 3. See, the thing about your complaint, was that it just wasn't very accurate. I'd understand if you said you didn't like how short the episodes were, or how too much time is spent with Alyx, but reused content? Yes, that was a major downfall of Episode 1, the game felt to much like HL2. You said Episode 2 was a little better in that respect, but still lacking with new content. I really have to disagree on that one though, valve did an excellent job presenting many new things to use. 95% of the game is new stuff i'd say. The environments are very fresh and beautiful, practically all the textures and props in the environment are new. Sure there are many of the same creatures and characters, but at least valve gave us new ones as well, no?

Being 18 years old, I don't consider myself a kid.
 
Fiberawptic said:
I thought i was presenting a rather fair side of the argument. I did note at the end it wasn't attacking you, just challenging your views.
Click to expand...
The point is, they weren't my views you WERE attacking. Do not think that you can reel out condescending bullshit like "so sorry bud, but guess what" and then disclaim it with the good old 'I respect your opinion'. Social interaction doesn't work like that.

You can't present a fair side to an argument that didn't exist in the first place. You can just rant at a straw man and get butt-sore when someone points out what you're doing. If you need this spelling out: I do not care about the lack of variety in weapons. I care that fire-fights are two seconds long, and the enemies as thick as bricks. Other games have you reeling back shouting 'shit shit shit!' whilst firing wildly at the only two enemies in range, who're going to have you dead in five seconds if you don't get to cover. Or they're hanging from ceilings and ambushing you in 'horror' sections that are actually somewhat vaguely scary. HL2 pops you in a room with three pea-shooting simpletons, and presents any of fifty ways to kill them all in one shot. Even the hunters were a HUGE disappointment. What's the use in creating smarter, tougher enemies if there's still going to be five ways to score a one shot kill on them?

I could go around taking screenshots of scenarios, props and characters reused in Episode Two, but I really don't care for the argument. Not that your side isn't simply 'No it isn't!' versus my 'Yes it is!'.
Fiberawptic said:
Sure there are many of the same creatures and characters, but at least valve gave us new ones as well, no
Click to expand...
We got one decent new enemy in Episode Two. The rest were reskins or two steps forward from old ideas. The whole cave section demonstrates exactly what is so unimpressive about the game. Mines themselves are a piece of FPS tedium that should have been banished long ago, but to populate a flashy shader-fest with nothing more than the grubs, the flying bullsquid knockoffs and the waste of time that was the Guardian was just an extremely poor show. Development time in this section was clearly spent on the visuals and the Vortiguant AI, at the expense of giving us anything interesting or challenging to shoot (If you can even be bothered to shoot anything with a companion that can rape everything on screen without provocation).

I think you've got visuals too far in mind when you exonerate Episode Two for being a little uninspired. Visually, it is impressive. But for every glistening river you coast down to crest a hill and see a ruined City 17 smouldering in the distance, there's a legion of Gordon Frohmans to greet you round the next corner to completely throw off immersion (except if you're lucky, the one voice actor has decided to put on a funny accent! haha!), or a big expanse of radioactive crap with a couple of objects arranged almost like... stepping stones! Jeez, I was just going to try swim across this time.
 
I don't think that is a particularly accurate argument, Kupo. I find the gameplay set pieces in Episode 2 to be substantially more interesting and diverse than those in, say, most other shooters - that Valve continually find ways to reinvigorate the core gameplay with constant, ever-changing set pieces is what elevates Episode 2 -- and its predecessors -- above the rest of the market. I don't believe the whole argument of "more enemies! smarter, tougher, more gunplay!" holds any real weight when you see Half-life as trying to break through that kind of mundane design. I definitely welcome better combat to complement the gameplay, but I find the idea that Episode 2 was lackluster because of this to be a far cry from the truth.

I voted the wrong option, for the record. I meant #1 favorite FPS, but somehow clicked "None of the above." Though I do not believe the Half-life games are perfect and they each have their own significant flaws and set backs.
 
Played tons of FPS over the years and I gotta say I think it HL & HL2 Episode1 Rocks, Only just got Episode two so cant say yet.

Voted #1, been playing HL since the first, mostly on PC
but I did play it on PS/2 and thought it sucked so much did not even bother completing it.
but on the PC, yeah! its awesome and my numro uno FPS
 
Samon said:
I definitely welcome better combat to complement the gameplay, but I find the idea that Episode 2 was lackluster because of this to be a far cry from the truth.
Click to expand...
As far as the shooting goes, Lacklustre is your word, not mine. I've been pulled into an argument over the quality of something I've actually clearly declared to be, when taken as the sum of its parts the best example of its type.

Frankly, I thought HL2.net was above this. Why is the idea that there are other shooters that Valve could learn from so repugnant to anyone who hasn't long ago barricaded themselves in general chat? (and no, I'm not stupid enough to specify these shooters, since I know for a fact that you've managed to dismiss them yourself). Playing Episode Two is like going to see family at Christmas time. It's fun but a little too familiar, and I'm starting to get bored by what it has to say. It was easily the weakest part of the Orange Box.
 
Iron Kat said:
I don't think I've ever even seen Lefty in Politics (ok, granted, I actually try to stay away from that place myself so that's the reason why I'd never have seen him).
Click to expand...

Ours is a secret love.
 
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