I am going crazy???

[DeViouS]

Vivendi Universal Games has put us all out of our misery and officially announced that Half-Life 2 has gone gold and November 16 will see its worldwide release.

It seems like a lifetime AGO now but just over a year has gone by since, just as gamers were polishing their WSAD buttons and cracking their wrists in anticipation, Half-life 2 was pulled away from retail shelves. Since that time, Far Cry has been and gone, Doom 3 has overtaken its rival and has proved already very successful and Painkiller has convinced us of the merits of the Havok physics engine. It is almost impossible for Half-Life 2 to have the impact it would have had a year ago.
Events such as the ongoing legal battle between developer and publisher, which almost caused further delays for H-L 2, the delay which Valve announced days before the theft, the theft of the source code itself and the long time during which the game was left without any specific release date, have taken their toll on gamers. During this time the company has drifted out of favor with some of its fan base and a lot will depend on how Valve plans to approach the gamers and how well the Steam service, expected to be used to distribute H-L 2, will deliver for the developer.

Half-Life 2 will be localized in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, traditional and simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese. The game will also feature a subtitle option for the hard of hearing.

The wait is over, let's hope it was worth it.

Reference

I wanted to get your guys feedback about the specific sentence in bold. They are saying that Half Life 2 is not going to make a big impression in the gaming community, now that we have seen Doom 3 or Far Cry. Do you think that we have been so desenitized because of the release of those two games, that we won't enjoy HL2 as much. I realize that we have not played the game yet, but from what we know about HL2, what is you deduction. I know that they are comparing it to a release that should have happened a year ago, but do you guys agree that it is not going to have the same impact.

By the way, don't flame me cause you think that this is a pointless thread, I mean what else are we going to talk about, HALF LIFE 2 IS GOLD BABY. YEAAAAHHH! :bounce:

 

[wilka91]

That's BS. Because it's going to beat anything we've ever seen!

 

[crabonhead]

yea, even though doom already came out (not good story) and farcry with its fantasmic graphics, half-life 2 is still gonna be much cooler story and from what we've seen in the gameplay vids, alot more fun can be had even when all the enemies are good and dead.

 

[Reaperman]

i actually thought far cry was pretty cool... not as good as hl2 for sure, but better then doom 3...


far cry was just cool techdemo fun

 

[L337_Assasain]

Whoever wrote that does not know what he is talking about. The engine in HL2 surpasses both Doom3, and hl2 by alot. Doom3 had great graphics, but if you have any more than 6 models on screen it lags like crazy, and i own a 9800 pro. The engine in farcry was very unstable. It amazes me that this guy would think that HL2 would not be as good as farcry or doom3...

 

[koncept]

ok... if pc gamer labels it "the best game ever made", then you know it's good. pc gamer has been around since the beginning of pc games.

 

[Warbie]

It is almost impossible for Half-Life 2 to have the impact it would have had a year ago.

I disagree.

None of the games you mentioned shock the industry (all recieving average scores in most decent gaming magasines) - and, while fun for a while, have been quickly forgotten/uninstalled by most gamers.

This 'impact' you speak of seems to be very superficial. Maybe our jaws won't hit the floor in amazement when we see HL2 running for the first time - but that kind of awe is generally short lived ..... and certainly not the sign of a great game. (visuals/ragdolls/physics alone won't bring us back in 2 years time)

I'm hoping that HL2 will combine all the elements that Far Cry and Doom 3 etc boasted into super immersive, cinematic experience. (hopefully the physics will actually impact on gameplay - and not feel tacked on like Far Cry - and there be some substance behind the visuals - unlike Doom 3 -)

Recent reviews suggest this may be the case If true, HL2 will have more imapct than any game before.

In short - other games may have introduced us to some next generation features, but none of them used them particularly well (imo) Hopefully HL2 will \o/

 

[ShadowFox]

ok... if pc gamer labels it "the best game ever made", then you know it's good. pc gamer has been around since the beginning of pc games.

Heh.. not quite, but we get the point.

 

[BetaMaster]

Whoever wrote that does not know what he is talking about. The engine in HL2 surpasses both Doom3, and hl2 by alot. Doom3 had great graphics, but if you have any more than 6 models on screen it lags like crazy, and i own a 9800 pro. The engine in farcry was very unstable. It amazes me that this guy would think that HL2 would not be as good as farcry or doom3...

In the bold, did you mean to put FarCry? If so, I agree.

 

[muka3d]

I agree with that sentence in bold from the article, to an extent. It is true that it won't have the SAME impact as it would have a year ago, but it still will have an absolutely MASSIVE impact. AFAIK, Far Cry was the first FPS to have real physics that were somewhat integral to the gameplay. Also, at its release, there was no game that had better graphics. Doom 3 came out, and showed us a bit more physics, and blew us away with its graphics, but lacked gameplay.

Regardless, Half-Life 2 will still have a MASSIVE impact on gaming as we know it today, but not quite as much as it would have a year ago, when 'REAL' physics were still something we had never truly experienced. Plus, HL2 graphics don't look dated today, and haven't really changed since last year, but imagine seeing these same graphics when the best graphics were probably found in Max Payne 2 or Unreal II. Imagine never ever seeing Far Cry or Doom 3, only seeing HL2.

Far Cry and Doom 3 were just more games that raised the bar, although HL2 will shift the bar highly. If the bar was still as low as it was in 2003, HL2 would hence, have a bigger impact. See what I mean?

 

[groovy]

With the past release of Doom III and FarCry, and the soon release of Halo 2, Half-Life 2 has lost much of its hype.

 

[dream431ca]

Actually it will have more of an impact...cause when people play half-life 2 they will see how much better than far cry or doom 3 was...EVER!! Oh ya and Half-life 2 is released 7 days after Halo 2. I like that..means more competiton...we will see on our site here why Half-life 2 is better than Halo 2 and on Halo 2 fan sites we will see threads like "why halo 2 is better than half-life 2."......until they try Half-life 2 that is

 

[Homer]

Of course it would have been better a year ago.

It would be the best looking game ever released, and the best all around game ever released when it came out if it had made its origonal date.

now its just going to be the best all around game ever released.

 

[DirtyApe]

let me put it this way with this one question...
Do you still enjoy playing half life 1?
if you said yes to this then there is no doubt in my mind that youll enjoy the every little bit of this game.

 

[alco]

"Doom 3 and FarCry are garbage compared to this. Doom 3 more so. I really wish I could tell you why, but you'll have to wait. Once the reviews start coming out you'll get a better picture."

-EGM/1up.com Editor Elliot Shawn

 

[groovy]

Actually it will have more of an impact...cause when people play half-life 2 they will see how much better than far cry or doom 3 was...EVER!! Oh ya and Half-life 2 is released 7 days after Halo 2. I like that..means more competiton...we will see on our site here why Half-life 2 is better than Halo 2 and on Halo 2 fan sites we will see threads like "why halo 2 is better than half-life 2."......until they try Half-life 2 that is

Not neccesarily. See, you think everyobody that buys games are hardcores that post on this forum. The people who are on this forum are a minority compared to the pathetic masses. The masses will buy whatever appeals to them, and this all depends on advertisement.

 

[DeViouS]

Not neccesarily. See, you think everyobody that buys games are hardcores that post on this forum. The people who are on this forum are a minority compared to the pathetic masses. The masses will buy whatever appeals to them, and this all depends on advertisement.

That is very true, also the majority will kinda go will the flow and shift every which way the wind blows. I also wanted to let you guys know that I did not write that first paragraph, that was taken from megagames.com, I put a link there, I just wanted to clarify that, because I disagree in many ways.

 

[-JeZ-]

HL2 will do better than any other PC game, whether it beats Halo 2 in sales is not certain.

Anyway : GOLDAGE!!!

 

[Dead-Inside]

That is very true, also the majority will kinda go will the flow and shift every which way the wind blows. I also wanted to let you guys know that I did not write that first paragraph, that was taken from megagames.com, I put a link there, I just wanted to clarify that, because I disagree in many ways.

While this may, all, be true in parts, it's not the whole truth.

Eventually people WILL pruchase HL2, be it for singleplayer or multiplayer. Unless Halo 2 will never sell more copies then Half-Life 2. Feel free to quote me on that one.

 

[Vinnie_NL]

I think the HL2 hype is maybe even bigger than a year ago. Now we know the review scores which are quite good and I don't think the scores would be higher if it was reviewed a year ago. Besides we have seen more content, leaving us with more questions.

But I can understand why the writer thinks the impact would be less than if it was released a year ago. One of the coolest things of HL2 was (and still is) the physics engine because there wasn't any other game with such physics at all. We already knew Far Cry had it too but that was from a rather unknown developer who hadn't developed a game before. But the time goes by, HL2 gets delayed, and Far Cry doesn't and BAM, Far Cry is the first game with physics and wonderfull DX9 effects, like the water reflections. And the first time I played it I was overwhelmed too. I could just walk against a crate and it fell in the water, I had never experienced something like that before. And the writer of the article is a bit dissapointed because HL2 had to cause that experience and, not Far Cry.

 

[OrphanBoy]

I can see how there may be less hype than last year - some of my friends were raving about it last year, but now having seen Doom3 etc they simply can't be bothered with it...

Plus last year this game was (graphically) ahead of its time - now it's a year on, and the rest of the games world has caught up with it....

(obv there's much more to a game than gfx)

 

[She]

Doom 3 and FarCry are garbage

failed at editing.

 

[SFLUFAN]

With the past release of Doom III and FarCry, and the soon release of Halo 2, Half-Life 2 has lost much of its hype.

Let me think about this for a second. In a word: NO! :smoking:

 

[DeViouS]

failed at editing.

I am curious, I apoligize if this is an old question, I haven't been around for that long, but what do you do for a living She? You seem to be knowledgable about the whole graphics side of the games.

 

[She]

I am curious, I apoligize if this is an old question, I haven't been around for that long, but what do you do for a living She? You seem to be knowledgable about the whole graphics side of the games.

I am a designer for *[edit]*.. and i work with art/graphics as well as sound and music design.

what i meant by failed at editing is that:
if you work as an editor like Elliot Shawn here, you would know
better than to state that other games, such as doom3 and farcry,
are garbage. (giving away his position as a HL2 fanboy)

One of his jobs as an editor is to change these kind of (agressive) words into something more mild.

 

[BladeTurbo]

IMO, HL2 will change the face of gaming. i cannot see another future fps released that's not using the source engine. i even think DNF will probably change to Source.

 

[Incitatus]

lol omg can you gays even read?

 

[DeViouS]

I am a designer for *[edit]*.. and i work with art/graphics as well as sound and music design.

what i meant by failed at editing is that:
if you work as an editor like Elliot Shawn here, you would know
better than to state that other games, such as doom3 and farcry,
are garbage. (giving away his position as a HL2 fanboy)

One of his jobs as an editor is to change these kind of (agressive) words into something more mild.

I see, now here is a question that has prob. been asked before, and I saw about post questioning this. Are you a Guy or a Girl???? I hope I am not being to nosey or anything. You never know these days!

 

[She]

I see, now here is a question that has prob. been asked before, and I saw about post questioning this. Are you a Guy or a Girl???? I hope I am not being to nosey or anything. You never know these days!

avatar.

 

[DeViouS]

avatar.

Hey you can't blame me for asking, and now I am really going to push my luck, how old are you?
EDIT: another question, is that you in the avatar???

 

[Plug]

If you all recall, back in the early half-life days Unreal looked much better (at least in terms of jaw dropping eye candy) and it was released sooner. It made no difference to halflife's success, as we all know.

I think the same thing will happen this time around - except halflife2, i believe, will last even longer with the clever way valve has designed the source engine - upgradable! And not to mention the modability, it will undoubtably keep the game alive for what... another 10 years?

I wouldn't be in the least surprised. I can't think of any other gaming project out there that is as ambitious as halflife2/

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

Personally now that Doom 3 and Far Cry came out (both of which I bought) I think HL2 will have LESS of an impact. That doesnt mean it WONT have an impact, nor does it mean it won't have a HUGE impact. But really, when I first saw the HL2 graphics engine in 2003, I crapped. It was amazing. The bump mapping, the physics... *drool* Now that both D3 and Far Cry have come and gone, I've seen both effects used. Still think they're pretty, but *shrug*. D3 had a great single player game IMHO. Story may have blown, but the action was pretty intense at times. The lighting blew me away. Remind you though, this is the first time I played through it. The second time I stopped after the first two levels. It was quite the yawner after the initial, "Holy crap" first time through the game.

Far Cry was also pretty fun. The graphics were bar none original and the game play was pretty exciting as well. Unfortunately the single player game lasted soooo long and threw the same thing at you over and over again that I never finished it.

Now HL2? Seems like it will have a lasting value. The physics in CS:S are amazing, better than D3 and Far Cry combined... and those in CS:S are TONED DOWN from HL2. HL2 still has all the modern doohickeys (bump mapping, specularizing, lip sync, sweet particle system, etc etc) but they aren't going to give as much of the "Holy Crap" factor as they would have a year ago. I still believe that the combination of Story, Gameplay, and Graphics will blow me out of the water though. Valve has a way with Games like Shakespeare had a way with words. I trust Valve.

 

[BlackMesaDude]

Jesus Painkiller is pure shit if you ask me, only the graphics are nice rest of game is a joke, i play this 10min and got bored of it even Serious sam was more funny at least that guy spoke time to time that made the day.

 

[Gotter]

I think the HL2 hype is maybe even bigger than a year ago. Now we know the review scores which are quite good and I don't think the scores would be higher if it was reviewed a year ago. Besides we have seen more content, leaving us with more questions.

But I can understand why the writer thinks the impact would be less than if it was released a year ago. One of the coolest things of HL2 was (and still is) the physics engine because there wasn't any other game with such physics at all. We already knew Far Cry had it too but that was from a rather unknown developer who hadn't developed a game before. But the time goes by, HL2 gets delayed, and Far Cry doesn't and BAM, Far Cry is the first game with physics and wonderfull DX9 effects, like the water reflections. And the first time I played it I was overwhelmed too. I could just walk against a crate and it fell in the water, I had never experienced something like that before. And the writer of the article is a bit dissapointed because HL2 had to cause that experience and, not Far Cry.

In my opinion, Max Payne 2 had much better physics then both Farcry and Doom3. Unfortunatly, the level designers didn't make use of it nearly as much as they could, or should have. However, the point is that I have considered the physics in MP2 the "gold standard" of physics since it came out, HL2 will surpass that and become the new standard in my mind.

That in itself will make for a wow factor that lasts throughout the entire game (and the subsequant mods that will be released, once people figure out how to best put the physics to good use) whereas the wow from Graphics always die within the first 30 minutes or so.