Saltpeter
Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2003
- Messages
- 590
- Reaction score
- 0
Yeah, sue me for being late. I only bought it this spring (whilst being a member here for over 4 years...hmmm:upstare: ) Despite my GFX sometimes freezing it up, I still completed it.
I went into the game knowing pretty much squat about the storyline, weaponry and most of the enemies (everything that didn't appear in the E3 trailer was, well, unknown to me), to keep my OMGWTF's at a maximum. And now I'm done, I feel like summing up the good and the bad parts to bore you guys with things you already know. Ain't I just the nice guy.
Cool things:
Bad things. Yes, I'm sorry. They're not too major, but still.
I went into the game knowing pretty much squat about the storyline, weaponry and most of the enemies (everything that didn't appear in the E3 trailer was, well, unknown to me), to keep my OMGWTF's at a maximum. And now I'm done, I feel like summing up the good and the bad parts to bore you guys with things you already know. Ain't I just the nice guy.
Cool things:
- The 3D engine. I had a blast with those physics puzzles. Everything looked the bunch as well..it's just the little things, like the shattering windows and the power plugs for the force fields. What I find the most amazing feat of it however is that it can do this much on computers that don't need to be all too chunky. Hats off to Valve for that.
- The Gravity Gun. I had a blast picking up circular saws, and then slicing zombies in half. The way it was incorporated into various puzzles (making bridges and all that) was also beautifully done.
I had an even bigger blast picking up soldiers and shooting them at other soldiers with the Gravity Gun v666 though. Oh, and ripping off entire consoles and screens from walls with that thing...that really freaked me out. Every time you come across a regiment of soldiers and rip off a console that's bigger than yourself you feel like going 'BRING IT ONNNN!' - The Pheropods, coinciding with the Antlions. Man, seeing those lions fly out, entering bunkers and ripping Combine soldiers apart reminded me of Starship Troopers.
- Being able to set up turrets. A puzzle on its own on how to create a defense that's as efficient as possible.
- The city atmosphere when you enter the roof of the Suppressor Generator building. Guns firing, things being blown up, drop ships and gunships flying around the scene. You really feel like the shiat has hit the fan, and the resistance is going for it.
- The firefight in the shot-up building before you're entering the Citadel. Full-scale war, in a totally destroyed city environment. The view from the top floor while the fighting is going on totally blew me away. Like you're on the set of 'Enemy At The Gates'
- The Ravenholm level. This must've been fun to design, as all those traps were amazingly fun to put to the test. Oh, and the father is a namesake of mine. How cool.
- The Citadel ride. Very Matrix-like.
- The fast zombies. Hell yeah. (although I think they should've been more damaging. They're scary alright, but they're dogs with a bark worse than their bite)
- The poison headcrabs. Genius if you ask me. They not only drain 99% of your health, they're also black, which makes them IDEAL to lurk into dark crevices, surprising you in a far worse way than the classic crabs do.
- Dog. He's like a big walking Gravity Gun on steroids, picking up stuff bigger than himself and hurling it at rather unfortunate NPC's. (that, and the fact he's pretty much as cuddly as a young puppy. Well, if you think away the armor and...stuff)
- The Shotgun. My all-round weapon of choice (if only because it makes people fly backwards). Works a treat against pretty much everything, and everyone.
Bad things. Yes, I'm sorry. They're not too major, but still.
- The game lacked a boss. Yes, it did. Lobbing small energyballs in a big energyball isn't really that exciting for an ending, in my humble opinion.
- Where was the Hydra, the big water snake spotted in one of the infamous trailers?
- Where was the sequence in which a Strider limboes underneath a bridge? I recognized a similar bridge building across from the big gap, just after the huge city-square firefight surrounding Alyx and the generator though. Same building?
- I can't help but feeling it was a tad bit short. I guess that's where Ep 1, 2, 3 etc come into play.
