Small details that make this game superior

[swiss]

yeh i liked all the ways u can improvise in every situation:
When theres a load of barnacles up ahead, just chuch a box or barrel at them to gobbel on so u can go past. Or like picking up grenades with the Grav Gun to chuck back at the enemy. Or when u need cover u can pick up like a big table, and the enemy wont be able to hit u

 

[Mountain Man]

Watch Lamar on the beach right at the beginning of the teleporter accident. He attacks a crow that is trying to fly away.

 

[alehm]

I like how when I talk to other fellow HL2 players we find out we did things differently in game.

Some friends of mine were at my house and cracking up at me because I was using the gravity gun to carry around a health packet (I was at 100%) while under the bridge. They were saying "I never thought of going that" I was like "I have to do this" (because I am playing on hard).

As I continued to play the game every 5 minutes one of them was saying "I didn't know you could do that" or "You know you can do that this way..."

And that has made me want to play the game again once I finish it. Yes the game is as linear as all get out... but the gameplay is so varied it doesn't matter. That simply underscores that it is gameplay that makes a game great... great graphics, great sounds, ect are just the icing on the cake... and what a cake with lots and lots of icing HL2 is.


Actually I am know what I am going to do.. I am going to get the mod that has the manipulator gun and weld a box to the car and fill it up with health packs and HEV charges and go driving down city 17 fully stocked.

 

[MajorPayne]

MajorPayne - In fact Eli's false leg is a classic example of the subtle way that VALVe does its homework. That design is used by amputee sprinters to give them stiffness, rebound and control at high speeds.

That's awesome! I never thought about it, but I guess that he WOULD need to be able to get out at a moment's notice (not that it seems to have helped him, since the combine DID get him).

I do love this kind of attention to detail tho. Way to go VALVe!

 

[gcomeau]

I loved the way the chopper actually crashed and not just vaporized like for example the helicopters from HL1.

The first time I killed it it came down right on my skull, instant death. I was too busy thinking how unbelievably cool that was to even get pissed off.

 

[perrkele]

I really loved the attention to detail in the main characters' faces. Barney actually has a scar on his left cheek!

One great moment for me was right when you get the crowbar in the beginning and see the citadel in the distance. There were huge amounts of birds flying from the citadel... or at least that's what I thought before I realised they were scanners instead! It looks so amazingly cool!

Also, both of the times when combine troops attacked you in the dark with the help of those red flares were just incredible.

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

I've been waiting to tell a little hl2 story of my experience and this is just the right thread to do it in.

Highway 17:

I get to the road-block with all of the broken down cars where you fight the gunship. Fight and destroy gunship. Now I'm sitting there on that road, thinking "ok, just finished an awesome fight... and I have a cliff, a bunch of cars, and a gravity gun" (lightbulb in head lights up). So of course, I spend about 10 minutes flipping all of the car and debris I can find over the cliff. I call in my roomate to show him what I did... he sees it and laughs, saying he did exactly the same thing. I thought it was a pretty funny coincidence that we both tried the same exact thing on that part.... so anyways, I go back to play some more... I drive just about 30 yards up the road... and there's a little big of terrain on the other side of the railing right there, so I hop over to see if there's some extra health or something. There wasn't, but I look back towards where the roadblock was and all of the sudden I'm greeted with this perfect view of the car-graveyard I created in the ocean below... So like any good tourist, I take a bunch of screenshots. Then I also noticed that the ocean right below where the roadblock was has a much larger shallow area than most places along the cliff.

Then it hits me. The ledge I was standing on, the shallow water... it's intentional. It's there for the exact reason of letting players see the vehicle graveyard they created. Valve knew I would push those cars off of the edge and they actually designed it into the level for me to be able to view it optimally.

It might sound weird, but I think that was the defining moment in hl2 for me. That was the moment where I really realized how much better valve understands me as a player than any other game developer and how much detail and thought went into every aspect of the game.

Just so cool.

This is completely what I'm always saying to people. There are so few games out there that really concentrate on every single moment and just know what players are going to want to do and stuff. It's awesome and I'm glad there are other people out there that appreciate that this is perhaps the best thing about Half Life 2 and what makes it one of the best games in this genre.

 

[A2597]

heh, the scanners from the citidel...saw that my second time through. (First time it was like, 4am....)

 

[Ennui]

I loved all of them, there are so many things that are just purely PERFECT.

not necessarily one of the small details, but i know im not the only one that orgasms when the music comes in at the right point.

 

[TheCorps]

I don't think I will go as far as to say I orgasm at those points but they are good.

 

[frijole]

What I liked the most was that even though a large portion of the gameplay were scripted/linear events, the first time you play them, you have no idea that they are scripted.

Guiding someone down a path they think they are choosing is pure brilliance.

GOTY.

 

[shithead]

What I liked the most was that even though a large portion of the gameplay were scripted/linear events, the first time you play them, you have no idea that they are scripted.

Guiding someone down a path they think they are choosing is pure brilliance.

GOTY.

well said - and that is part of the genious of the half-life games.


it builds alot of the game play from the first game . all those moments of action, suspense, storytelling and plot twists

and down to every little interaction as u move through.

i like some of the new ideas and graphics too. and new stuff u get to do.

but i can never forget the effects and sequences in the first game Half-life. moments like turning the electric on in flooded room and frying a bunch of head crabs and lobbing 2 or three hand grenades into a room with marines or aliens and watch the guts slide accross the floor. a big chunk of alien meat. ah those were the days.......

 

[Ownzed]

I love when your in water and someone is shooting at you and the bullets whizz past you with bubbles!

 

[El Professor]

I think the game uses its own sound physics engine, on every machine ive seen this game on the sound system works the same. Hell, I dont know if it even uses EAX. (Not sure)
If thats the case, thats pretty damn awesome.

Half Life 2 uses the powerful Havok physics engine. The same one used in Max Payne II and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. The difference in Half Life 2, is that physics is actually an integral part of the game play which is something that has never been done before.

 

[Dead-Inside]

Half Life 2 uses the powerful Havok physics engine. The same one used in Max Payne II and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. The difference in Half Life 2, is that physics is actually an integral part of the game play which is something that has never been done before.

It's also rewritten and enhanced to suit the Source engine...

 

[MI77]

Wow. Just finished the game for the first time. Has to be the best game I've ever played - certainly the best since HL1

Defining moment? When I realised (somewhere in Entanglement) that you could grab Manhacks with the gravity gun. And why not, I then ask myself? They're 'man'-made objects, just like everything else you can pick up. Genius.

Or maybe Barney's expression when you put the plug back in and Kleiner makes some comment about your MIT training being so useful. Sarcastic b*stard. But you gotta love him for it.

Or maybe catching the Gman in one of the Nova Prospekt monitors after having had to switch pictures once or twice. Wouldn't have spotted that normally.

Or maybe .... I could go on all night.

+10 Valve. Awesome.

 

[polypod]

i really liked the muttering dude in the train station.. "always arriving but never departing.."
And i liked being able to blast through roadblocks where in other games they are dead ends.. it was kinda symbolic of the new level of gameplay..
I also really liked setting up defenses with the turrets and mines!

 

[El Professor]

As for my memorable moment (it may sound stupid): When Gordon puts on his HEV suit and Valve's theme song plays. That definitly put me in the world of Half Life again.

 

[FortisVir]

There are so many things I know I couldn't list them all in one post. But I do have some comments on the sound first off.

-I thought the engine sound for the buggy was fantastic. When I first got into it I was amazed at the idling sound, the engine revving, the tires screaching off rock, everything.

-The thumpers were also handled very well. When they came down and the ground shook and dust came up and you heard that deep thud, you knew why they're called "thumpers". Very atmospheric.

-The antlion flying sound. When I first heard that the antlions could fly I didn't know if it would look that good in game. But valve pulled it off perfectly. The sound their wings make flying around is great.

-luring a headcrab into a barnacle's tounge, then watching it make a huge chomp, swallowing it whole. Interesting story - I was in ravenholm, and a headcrab lunged at me. It missed, and hit a wooden beam full force, then fell to the ground. Maybe it knocked itself unconcious?

-In the trainyard, at the beginning of the game, turning around and seeing a train coming right at you. Then running like hell just to barely get out of the way in time.

-blowing up a gunship for the first time.

-Hearing Dr. Kleiner say "Oh Fiddlesticks".

-Everything DOG did.

-The death sound made by the striders. Sounds like a whale or something.

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

Originally Posted by diluted
To find the hydra, first you must find a way to follow Lamaar up into the vent in Kleiners lab. Once you make it into the vent, you will need to navigate about 2 miles of vents. Follow these directions: left, right, right, left, up, down, left, up, down, left, left, down, right, up, down, right, left, right, left, left, up, left, right. You will find yourself in a large room with Lamaar sitting on a throne. Kill Lamaar by throwing a brick at her. Grab the key that Lamaar drops, and unlock the door on the right side of the room. The hydra is in there

is that true? or is gullible written on the celing?

 

[dys4iK]

The first time I killed it it came down right on my skull, instant death. I was too busy thinking how unbelievably cool that was to even get pissed off.

Ha ha! That happened to me, as well. Except it auto-saved right as the helicopter died and was coming straight down for me...

 

[Asus]

Now this is a good thread. :thumbs:

Loved shooting enemies or pushing objects into the ocean from under the bridge, watching it fall towards the water and moments later with a silent splash.

In general I enjoyed always being on edge waiting for a new challenge, an enemy to pop out or just soaking in the atmosphere.

is that true? or is gullible written on the celing?

Look up.

 

[clarky003]

loved taking out combine with radiators, and how the pillars smashed at the end of Nova prospekt, all the different individual colour skins the antlions have. the sound that they make ,, so believable. The reloading action on the combine rifle, the way the allies heal you, apologise to you for getting in the way, and how horrid it sometimes feels to see one get taken out when they've been with you for a while.

 

[A2597]

oh...yes, my small details..the headcrab incident last page reminded me...

I killed the big ant lion in Nova Prospekt without fireing a shot, without using the grav gun.

Stand near wall, let charge, sprint to side.
rinse.
repete.

took a number of hits, but it killed itself.

 

[smsKONG]

oh...yes, my small details..the headcrab incident last page reminded me...

I killed the big ant lion in Nova Prospekt without fireing a shot, without using the grav gun.

Stand near wall, let charge, sprint to side.
rinse.
repete.

took a number of hits, but it killed itself.

HAHAHA I've gotta try that!

 

[Tim F]

oh...yes, my small details..the headcrab incident last page reminded me...

I killed the big ant lion in Nova Prospekt without fireing a shot, without using the grav gun.

Stand near wall, let charge, sprint to side.
rinse.
repete.

took a number of hits, but it killed itself.

LOL

I could never resist using the boom barrels. That makes me think of something. Has anybody managed to kill the big bug using only toilets? How many did it take?

Conversely, I'd be interested to know how many rockets it takes to bring one down. I can say that three (on Hard) is not enough. If anybody knows, post here.

From those two we can figure out how many toilets equals one RPG. Maybe not a Nobel accomplishment, but it would be cool to know.

 

[lammmbda]

As for my memorable moment (it may sound stupid): When Gordon puts on his HEV suit and Valve's theme song plays. That definitly put me in the world of Half Life again.

ohh man, thats IS the single most powerful moment for me.....

also, i liked the part when Eli says to Alyx, "there is nothing Gordan can't handle, maybe except you...." and Eli kinda hugs Alyx, Alyx goes away somewhat embarrassed, Eli looks back, and *Winks* at Gordon...... i was laught at the moment.... so nicely done.

 

[ranmafan]

For me, one of the finer points is the way bullets sound when fired from a distance. A dull pop rather than the generic rattle from any distance. I don't know about you guys, but that works for me. (I have some experience in the Army, so yeah.)

And the stay off the sand bit reminded me totally of Dune. Sandworms, anyone? (Man, the movie and the original game were pure Gold. ^_^)

 

[Asus]

Just got done playing a bit more of HL2. I just got the boat (3rd time playing through). Had to post this screen shot though.

Don't these look real? A pair of Headcrabs.

 

[Intamin]

Oh and another thing: When using the crossbow, it bounces off surfaces if hit at a very acute angle and penetrates at a larger angle--that is awesome. I enjoyed shooting it and watching it bounce everywhere then stick in the wall 100 ft down.

 

[Ownzed]

Just got done playing a bit more of HL2. I just got the boat (3rd time playing through). Had to post this screen shot though.

Don't these look real? A pair of Headcrabs.

Woah! I love HL2!!

 

[Maverick Knig]

Here are some great "holy SH!T" moments:

1. When Alyx says to Barney, "You're not an animal person!" and Barney shudders, I really could tell that he wasn't an animal person...it was the moment when I really connected with the characters. I said to myself, "holy crap, they're actual characters!"

2. When Barney says, "Way to go Gordon, throwing that switch and all. I can tell your MIT education really pays for itself." I laughed at it, but it actually felt like he was talking to you, instead of delivering a line.

3. When the Citadel was transforming, right before you get the crowbar, I stared at it and went, "WHOA, I wasn't expecting it to do THAT!" I also thought those dots were birds, and I thought that it was a really cool and realistic touch that they had been nesting in the huge plates for a long time. Showed that the Combine hadn't done this kind of thing in awhile, and heightened the tension.

4. Shooting fast zombies in midair with 2x shotgun blasts, watching them recoil with the physics and ragdoll animations and fall to the streets below. Oh yeah.

5. Nova Prospekt, when you saw the unmasked Combine on the monitor. Answered a lot of questions I had, and made me wonder if I was going to be fighting those guys any time soon.

6. In the urban warfare section, when that Strider suddenly came crawling through the misty tunnel and everybody was running from it. I said, "YES, that's how it should be done VALVe!"

7. Barney's "And if you see Dr. Breen..." line. I laughed for a minute or two before continuing down the tunnel. Once again reminded me how much these were actual characters.

8. Getting on the tiny teleporter/elevator and the end of Nova Prospekt with Alyx. A great moment, that would have been played as romantic in other circumstances, if not for the horde of Combine Elites storming the room. I could almost feel her fear as
we watched them look up at us...

9. I was a little glad to see Lamarr shortly after that scene. ("Aww...he's so cute...now get outta here before I break out the crowbar.")

10. The underwater bullet effects. Reminded me of Saving Private Ryan.

But my favorites of all:

11. Fighting the Combine in the houses and open spaces of Highway 17. Genius, simply genius. The explosions sounded amazing, and made me realize how stupid "Hollywood-ized" sound effects are in other games. The Doppler effect and echoes dropped my jaw over and over.

12. While storming the Nova Prospekt coastal gun towers with the Antlions I hid behind a rock, pinned down by a machine gun. The Antlions followed but couldn't fit behind the rock, so some of them were caught in the stream of fire. Seeing them get torn apart only feet away, the bullets splashing up sand all around on the beach, really reminded me of the opening of Saving Private Ryan. Really, really intense moment, and I loved it.

13. The Last Stand at the end of Anticitizen One (or whatever chapter it is). That was insane: constantly dodging crossfire from all angles as Combine on the rooftops all around picked off your allies, you trying to land hits on the Striders circling the ruined building... Holy crap, that was the greatest moment of the game, I think.

But the best, for me:

On Highway 17 (I love that level), when you were on the beach. With Antlions in hot pursuit I had just made it to a thumper, realizing what they were there for. I stood there next to it, clouds of sand slightly obscuring the Antlions that were watching and lunging frustratedly a meter or so away. I took a moment to reflect on my next move, and then it hit me. Everything. It all came together, in one of those moments that you really remember vividly.

I realized that I was standing on a wasteland beach in a postapocalyptic world, the weird heartbeat of the thumpers echoing off into the distance, and the bizarrely serene crashing of the waves in the background breaking the silence. The sense of a vast space and desolation was so poignant there...almost reminded me of the old-school post-nuclear holocausts of the Twilight Zone. Only from certain books have I felt atmospheres like that.

(...is that the first time the Twilight Zone has been described as "old-school?" lol...)

 

[ShinRa]

Best line in the entire game: "So about that beer I owe ya..."

That made me giddy like a little school girl. Remembering back SIX years ago making all the barney clones repeat "Catch me later...I'll buy ya a beer," and then to see him and hear him say that made me want to kiss Gabe on the lips.

Also, did anyone notice that when he takes the combine mask off, theres no twitchyness or pause, that whole part of the combine model came off perfectly and the animation was smooth as silk. VALVe owns me.

 

[ShinRa]

5. Nova Prospekt, when you saw the unmasked Combine on the monitor. Answered a lot of questions I had, and made me wonder if I was going to be fighting those guys any time soon.

can i see a picture? i didnt catch that, id love to see it.

 

[ne0_shiny]

The last time I jumped out of a plane

erm....break a few legs?
anyway, i really liked the ai :thumbs:

 

[R@mmstien]

i loved the part when ur outside the door that takes u to the elivater in Ravenholm. i was just waiting on a small patch on top of a roof and all of a sudden i hear a * CLANK CLANK CLANK* so i look around and see nothing. Then out the corner of my screen i see the drain pipe rock back and forth. So i slowly went to go investigate and then i saw it.... a crazed, very fast zombies head pop out from the edge of the roof top and right there i nailed its head with the shotgun. Time seemed to slow down as i watch it it seemlessly drop to the ground below with a satisfiying *THUMP*. that is a memorable moment.

 

[Eternity]

Watch Lamar on the beach right at the beginning of the teleporter accident. He attacks a crow that is trying to fly away.

Whaaaat? I only saw Lamar once, when he crawls in a vent. Then I'm teleported outside the secret lab. The next and last time I see Kliener in the flesh was after Alyx and I teleported back to the lab 'a week later'.

Did I somehow miss some of the game?

P.S. There were tons of great moments, but I really freaked out when that elevator in Raveholm was going up, and you see the drainpipe shaking. So the zombie comes over the edge and comes for me, I run and shut the door, I hear a thud as he rushes into it. A second later, the entire roof caves in as he busts through the ceiling.

And the last level, when you are on the cliff -- awe insipiring. The ride in the pod, too.

 

[:Rex Saw:]

God bless this game.

-Relaxing
-Bad shrooms
-Fingerfisycs

 

[Sadistic Turtle]

First off, this post makes me feel really good about being a gamer. I feel exactly the same way.

My favorite, and MOST memorable moment came early on in the game during the "tenements" part of the game in the apartment complex you first visit before hi-tailing it out onto the roof.

I was still quite awestruck by the emotions on the character models in the game. But it wasn't up until this part that it made me completely respect Valve as the new standard (as if I wasn't already convinced). OK, you all remember how you kind of walk in on the Overwatch breaking into someone's apartment and you start to walk around, talking to all the citizens freaking out over how the Combine are taking over everything? Well, the part of that that sticks out in my mind was when you come into an apartment and it has a couple sitting on the couch. A man consoling his wife/gf, holding her, telling her it's ok. I was just standing in front of them when the guy gave me this stare, this look. Like he was almost saying "look man, now is a bad time...do what you need to do". It sent shivers down my spine how real it looked. How convincing it felt. I've never 'felt' anything from a piece of software on that level (maybe aside from the fear and isolation Doom 3 presented, or a certain person passing away in FFVII).

ALso, some runner ups were:

After running through the dark and dreary Ravenholm mines, you reach the trolley that moves up and down, mowing down zombies, and if you were like me, you were expecting to keep going for a while longer, but suddenly you see that little speck of light in the distance and you realize it's the outside. That shit was awesome.

The sound that the Gunship makes. Pure aural genius.

The first time you realize what the Zero Point Energy Gun does after it's charged inside of the Citadel. I nearly creamed my pants.

THe game actually made me wonder if you could go backwards all the way to the beginning of the game through all the levels if you backtracked. I dunno why, but I felt for some reason that it would be worth it because I almost missed City 17.

God I love this game.

Thank you Valve. You've made a gamer's dream come true.

 

[Kouler]

The AI is awesome! Heres a small story that made me really realise that.

In Route Kanal, near the train area where the CP rolls an explosive barrel down the stairs at you, one time, there was a CP shooting me with a pistol and backpedalling at the same time, but little did he know that there was an explosive barrel behind him. I shot it and set it on fire, he continued backpedalling. When he got real close to it, he turned around, saw that it was on fire, then turned back and sprinted at me but it was too late for him. That made me go "Wow O_O"