Things to do on 2nd trip through game?

[Apocalypse89]

I also thought the squad combat was pretty good, despite what many people say. I could send my people into a hallway infested with Combine and they'd clear it out without taking any casualties.

And although the AI seemed crappy the first time, I payed more attention to their behavior on my second playthrough and saw that they were quite skilled. The reason many people diss them is because, unlike most games which advertise "amazing AI", they don't make their tactics obvious, which is actually a good thing.

 

[ríomhaire]

I also thought the squad combat was pretty good, despite what many people say. I could send my people into a hallway infested with Combine and they'd clear it out without taking any casualties.

And although the AI seemed crappy the first time, I payed more attention to their behavior on my second playthrough and saw that they were quite skilled. The reason many people diss them is because, unlike most games which advertise "amazing AI", they don't make their tactics obvious, which is actually a good thing.

No people hate them because they are as annoying as hell!

 

[Jintor]

Squad (friendly) AI is annoying though. And you can't hurt allies.

They should have made friendly fire an option, instead of an eternal thingy.

 

[Apocalypse89]

You mean when they get in your way? Last time I checked they say "Sorry Freeman." and move to the side when you approach them.

 

[Plug]

I don't get what people want the friendly AI to do... read your mind?
What's moving them to the side a couple of times? Does it hurt that much?

I didn't even have to do much of that on 2 plays through... hmm

I think people love to bitch about these things

"OMG he hasn't moved perfectly, VALVE SUCKS DOWN WITH STEAM"


My only complaint with the friendly AI is that in the sniper portion of the game they weren't cautious enough... but that's it

Best squad action i've seen! That was something i always wanted more of after hl1, and they delivered in spades.

 

[ríomhaire]

"Reload Dr. Freeman"
No s**t sherlock!
"Sorry"
Stop saying sorry and get the f**k out of my way!

 

[Chris D]

I'm on my fourth way through :E

 

[dogboy73]

I'm fed up with people complaining about HL2's linearity! Have you not played HL1? That was a corridor shooter - almost 100% Yes I know that we're 6 years on and demand more from our games but people that complain about linearity would probably be the first to complain if HL2 was too different from the original!

True. Valve had to do a kind of balancing act between moving things on & keeping true to the high standards set by the original. I guess for the most part they succeeded - HL2 is really more of the same with all the bells & whistles made possible by the advancements in graphic & physics game engines.

HL1 was, as you say, mostly a corridor shooter but it was a very convincing environment. You was in Black Mesa & you didn't feel the need to wander. The Black Mesa complex was the game world & you was compelled to get through it. With HL2 you get the sense of a bigger world, More sprawling land & cityscapes but you feel quite restricted in your movement within them. The world is purely there to be observed & not explored & so the extra dimension given by the amazing settings/surroundings is a complete illusion. Some level of freedom within these environments would have made a huge difference.

First time round this is less of a problem because your moving through the game fairly swiftly & concentrating on the job in hand. Second time round the restrictiveness of the environments encroaches on your game world in exactly the same way as Doom3/HL1's corridors as you realise that your still in a corridor except these one have nice views! In short the sense of space has been created but the sense of freedom within this space has not & thats a little dissapointing for me.

 

[Chris D]

Half-Life 2 wouldn't belong in the Half-Life franchise if it was a non-linear game ala GTA or Stalker.

 

[TopSpeeD]

people here are so biased sheesh...half life is way too linear..i love a game when u can have 2 or 3 ways to get through each objective ...like deus ex or kotor...

 

[czrsink]

I'm just savouring every moment playing with my new XT800 PE

 

[SLH]

people here are so biased sheesh...half life is way too linear..i love a game when u can have 2 or 3 ways to get through each objective ...like deus ex or kotor...

Just because someone doesn't have the same opinion as you does not mean they're biased (although they may be).

 

[The Dark Elf]

people here are so biased sheesh...half life is way too linear..i love a game when u can have 2 or 3 ways to get through each objective ...like deus ex or kotor...

HL might be linear in design, but some people have fooled around with the physics and found all kinds of ways to get through area's differently. It's only really as linear as you want it to be. Yeah you can go from A to Z, or you can fool about and spend ages messing around and doing things entirely different.

 

[Pressure]

I'm waiting until I get my new computer to play through it again so I can play it in it's full glory. I'm going to save at certain parts and map out the area in my head and keep doing it different ways. I'm going to try using a lot of physics the next time around. The first time I just kinda gunned my way through.

 

[$kelet0r]

I LOVE HALFLIFE 2

Screw the bitching bitches

 

[dogboy73]

I LOVE HALFLIFE 2

Screw the bitching bitches

Me too. But it's not beyond critisism. No game is or should be. Otherwise things would never move on. It's a constant cycle of improvement & upgrade. But it certainly doesn't culminate with HL2 as some people would maintain. It's a great game but not without it's flaws & shortcomings.

 

[Laivasse]

I LOVE HALFLIFE 2

Screw the bitching bitches

amen
:smoking:

I think for some people they feel they have to search for flaws no matter what. In the history of all gaming to date, HL2 may well be one of the most flawless games...(apart from having to cope with Steam :hmph: ) While of course I'll expect HL3 to improve on it, it wont stop my praise in the meantime.

As for replayability and multiple routes: BAD idea IMO. If there had been multiple routes I would have doubled back and gone through both routes at every fork in the path. If this would have been impossible I'd have been left with a vague feeling of incompleteness. I'm sure most people would have been the same.

I don't think Valve like the idea of having many parts of the game unseen by the player either. In RtB they said in playtests they had designed Water Hazard even more so that it would be a ceaseless dash on the run from soldiers, just trying to survive and not stopping...but then they saw that people liked to double back, kill everyone and make sure they hadn't missed anything. I don't know, to me the first part of Water Hazard still seems like some crazy chase where I'm not meant to stop and I like it that way...maybe if Highway 17 had involved some chase scenes like that it would have been a little better, but I loved it all anyway.

 

[pomegranate]

Yeah the buggy sections were crying out for some chases...massive missed opportunity imo.

In terms of replayability and multiple routes/openess... I've only got round to buying Farcry a couple of weeks ago, and am kind of enjoying it a bit more than I enjoyed HL2. This is probably mostly down to Farcry being more of a challenge, but the openess is also really enjoyable...I DON'T feel like I'm missing anything, and as I go through the game I'm thinking 'well, I'll go this way this time, and try that other route next time' and expect that I will enjoy playing it through again (on an easier setting!) and choosing different routes and strategies. This sort of open-ended play is more appealing to me. But then I am one of those freaks who enjoyed Operation Flashpoint. I can understand that such an open-ended approach wouldn't fit in so well with the strongly plot-driven game style, but I think something half-way in between should have be aimed for with HL2. Just the option to explore areas to a slightly greater extent would have been good.

 

[Mike521]

I LOVE HALFLIFE 2

Screw the bitching bitches

couldn't have said it better myself

 

[Jintor]

I LOVE HALFLIFE 2

Screw the bitching bitches

Exactly.

I'll bitch anyway though.

My main problem with friendly ai was the fact that they were just so... invincible. The only real thing they had trouble with were a) striders b) gunships. That was about it.

(BTW, i think that rockets fired by allies have no effect. i saw a strider get hit by 7 rockets and not go down. Or maybe i was delusional.)

 

[Grand Architect]

(BTW, i think that rockets fired by allies have no effect. i saw a strider get hit by 7 rockets and not go down. Or maybe i was delusional.)

I think they just do alot less damage then you as they will drop one sooner or later offen never if you don't help. I've played though the game about 6 or 7 time but I do tend to skip chapters 1 and 2 or just start on coast to hunt gunships. I've done just about everything from drag all the junk in ravonholm behind me to running around like a dumbass. The only part of the game I wont replay is the final chapter because no matter how hard you try there really only one way to play that area. I really love the coast level and boarding myself up in a house and shooting at combine though windows or shooting off gas cans at them. One of my favorite places to do this is at the train bridge after knocking out the gunship. I've must have done that area 100 diffirent ways. As for the combine AI I think you all would sing a diffirent tune if they could at lest shoot strate, they arn't stupid just have really bad aim. Although they could use some better hint placement IMHO. In the end the only problem I have with the game is I didn't get to kill enough Striders or Gunships :thumbs:

 

[Apocalypse89]

Friendly AI also seems to have a lot of trouble with the Combine soldiers' grenades. They barely notice their presence!

 

[pomegranate]

My main problem with friendly ai was the fact that they were just so... invincible. The only real thing they had trouble with were a) striders b) gunships. That was about it.

Snipers too. And manhacks.

 

[NJspeed]

Can you imagine what would have happened if Valve 'did a GTA' with the Source engine? Ok, that could have been pretty cool actually....however, what they did do was keep to what made HL1 the superb game it was and improved on it ten-fold. Valve wanted to create a focused, story-led single player experience - I think they succeeded.

OMG thats actually the BEST idea I've ever heard on this forum! GTA3 style!! Everquest and World of Warcraft are similiar.. huge worlds composed of numerous different 'zones' or areas.

Imagine if they made HL the same way.. huge zones that are all interconnected and you could go a bazillion different ways through the game. That would rock! It would be fun as hell to explore other places in the world of HL2. Imagine being in Ravenholm and trying to decide if you want to follow signs for the coast road and meet the rebels or go through the mountains on foot.. Leave City 17 on foot or boat or even "hijack" a Combine ride if you so choose. DIfferent ways could be harder. They could even code it so you can be undetected from the Combine for periods of time, instead of under constant assault. However you'd still have to finish the same goals.. get to Black Mesa East... rescue Eli.. just more openness in between. And theres really no reason why they can't do it for future games. The replayability would be 10 fold!

BTW I love HL2 as well, the linearity is fine for this game. But that doesn't mean we can't suggest and talk about ways it could be better in the future. Games will improve with time, thats a given, we want that to happen, so talking about how to improve them is a good thing.