To those who finished it - how long did it take?

[Manny]

Hmm...I don't get that - some say it took them ten hours, others have played for over thirty hours and are only halfway? I know there's bound to be a lot of difference in how long everyone takes, but differences of that magnitude are striking. Ten hours is short (too short) for a game, like Call of Duty or Max Payne; 35 hours or more on the other hand is closer to games like Deus Ex, which are absolutely vast. Strange...

Would you say it's (as Gabe Newell said a while ago) at least as long as the original Half-Life?

 

[NB.]

Just a little over 10 hours on hard, not long enough imo. I wasnt rushing either, i tried to explore a little but soon found out its almost completely pointless as there's never more than one way to do anything.

edit: @ manny, no imo the game is a hell of a lot shorter than HL, HL took me quite a long time to beat iirc (something like 20 hours). I think the main thing is that this game is just so damned easy, even on hard difficulty i probably died less than 5-6 times in the whole game. Its really just too simple and too linear to encourage a slower more thorough playthrough imo. If there were multiple ways to acheive objectives, or even just generally more difficult objectives then the game could have lasted longer i think.

 

[Dead-Inside]

16, and I "rushed" (Aka, I didn't explore all areas, look down all drains, check if everything was locked, etc) through the game. I took my time to do stuff but I didn't neccesairly stand and look at a poster for 5 minutes like some of the people tend to do .

Best 16 gaming hours ever though.

Edit: As Xenome said, I'm a fast player in reality. This is one of the longest times I've ever completed (This is of those I've completed) an SP FPS game.

 

[WhyteWolfe]

It took me about 23-25 hours to beat the game on HARD. I think I added a bit of time because of the "28 Days Later" deja vu moment:

Spoiler

I ditched the buggy, in the tunnel, with all the debris and zombies. It got stuck and everything was just too intense to get the buggy free. I ran the hell out that tunnel and walked, after that.. LOL

I played only at night, with 5.1...So anything like that (closed space, suffocating(sp) areas AND Ravenholm...It took much longer. Actually, a lot of the game was like that. If you tend to play in a theater-like environment, hl2, much like hl1, makes you feel like the walls are closing in on you, through much of the game. Talk about immersive. Stressful for all the right reasons.

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EDIT: The more confining the way you play, the less confident and the more fearful you feel. With that, I think the player is less run and gun and much more judgment impaired. Thus, the game takes much longer. If I played during the day, on crappy speakers, a crappy computer (sound stuttering, etc.), on a crappy monitor, I probably would have flown through, taken more risks, etc. At the same time, those factors would have kept me realizing this isn't immersive at all...I keep getting sucked out.

Imagine you were playing Silent Hill, in the middle of the day, on a 20" TV, using the tv speakers, with friends over, and everyone is talking.

It's a very, very different experience than playing in a closed, theater-dark room, on a 52" widescreen HD, 5.1 surround AND you are all alone.

It inherently makes the game longer.
-----

I think the game would have been much, much shorter, still, on easier settings. On hard, you tend to run out of ammo, quickly, and, thanks to the physics engine, you don't have to rely on guns as much. Fortunately, being required to think of more creative ways to dispatch foes, extends the game time and really shows how Freeman can do so much because he isn't a 'trained assassin' killer, but an intelligent survivor. That greatly adds to the games story.

I honestly think it should be required to play the game on HARD.

 

[Splinter]

20 hours, maybe less. (on normal). I didnt play at hard becouse i haven't many fps so i could die fast.

 

[Logic]

normal, 14 hours, one sitting

I've gone back into the game countless times, though, this game is brilliantly replayable.

 

[krameriffic]

Im waiting for the video of the guy who manages to beat it in like an hour. That one of HL in 45 minutes on hard is crazysauce.

 

[GiaOmerta]

14-16 hours to complete.

Was good times, but
I wish the begining was longer, more time to walk around City 17 as a civilian, what not.

 

[DevgruSeal]

WOo, I dunno....I haven't really counted...

 

[$pazmatazz]

On medium about 20 hours.

Considering valve stated the game was around 30 to 40 hours, and almost everyone here seems to have finished it in under 20, that's pretty disappointing.

 

[Quixote]

I'm not sure but it felt way to short after I completed it!

 

[nexus09]

Would you say it's (as Gabe Newell said a while ago) at least as long as the original Half-Life?

Absolutely, positively, no way.

I will admit that I think it felt shorter to me than it actually was because it was so good (think Lotr movies, they dont seem 3 hours long). But it was still too short for my tastes and nowhere near as long as hl1.

 

[Kommie]

It took me 12-13 hours, Man Deus ex... That brought back some good memories THAT GAME NEVER ENDED.. well it did but i was at it for considerably longer than i was in anygame in recent memory. Its a shame DX:IW was just used as aguinea pig for the engine so they could perfect it for thief:ds

 

[Kommie]

Absolutely, positively, no way.

I will admit that I think it felt shorter to me than it actually was because it was so good (think Lotr movies, they dont seem 3 hours long). But it was still too short for my tastes and nowhere near as long as hl1.

hl1 was pretty big,.. is it just me or are games getting shorter.. sure seems so. I really liked the feel of hl1 too you were in a MASSIVE complex and you could just tell. Which is why I really like the citadel though short it was.

I really miss those games with massive sprawling compounds i.e hl1 system shock 2 (it was some space vessel in SS2)

 

[SonicTitan]

I'm not sure how many hours I took. Probably rouns about 10-12 maybe more, but I had done it the day after I got the game and it left me desperate for more. Can't wait for whatever mods\expansions that come out. I hope they don't take so long with hl3. as far as I'm concerned they could use the same game engine as it seems pretty perfect.

In response to IX00's post: You are at the final confrontation, use the Gravity gun and the crazy bouncing ball things to take out the combine gun ships and the armour plating at the top of the reactor, then fire some at Breen when he apears (although you've probably figured that out already).

 

[SenorDingDong]

22 hours, on normal. I explored a lot in the beggining - mid levels, near the end not so much when it was just the all out war with the rebels, but in the Citadel i started exploring again.

 

[Melkor]

Let's see... I've played it maybe 3 hours a day since I got it (a week ago) - that's about 21 hours.

 

[Foxtrot]

Games are getting shorter but the quality is going way up.

 

[Manny]

"Man Deus ex... That brought back some good memories"

I can imagine . It works real well under XP, you should have no problem running it. Indeed, Deus Ex is...mindblowing. And it never seemed to end - in a good way. I just couldn't believe they just kept on giving you these vast locales to explore, more characters to meet, more twists and turns to the storyline,... Unbelievable. Talk about HUGE. I think it took me like 75 hours the first time. I felt like I'd played more than a full-sized game already by the time I got to Hong Kong, and that was only about one third of the way through.

A shame about Deus Ex 2. What a way to rape a franchise

I've to agree, it does indeed seem like games are getting shorter. I'm a gamer from way back myself; it almost seemed like you could spend ages on a lot of games in the past. I remember people played Civilization or Tie Fighter or Wing Commander or Day Of The Tentacle for months on end.

Of course, there weren't as many games back then. People tend to rush from one game to another now because the quantity is way up. But still, it does seem there aren't many games left that give you dozens of hours of playtime. You're lucky to get 15 or 20 now. Thinking back of Half-Life or Unreal, those games just never seemed to end.

 

[Asuka]

If you play the game like its meant to be played it will take you 24-26 hours to beat. I beat it in 25 hours give or take. I check everything everyone and didnt die much at all. Never got stuck on a puzzle.

I played deus ex few weeks before hl2 came out for the 6th time. I play it a different way everytime and it took me 24 hours add 1 hour from me testing things out 1 ending. So Deus Ex is probably total 6 hours or so longer then hl2 doenst make hl2 a bad game or a short one. Hl2 is amazing cant believe humens made this game. Its simple insane.

My 2 fav games of all time are Half-Life 2 and Deus Ex. Both instant classics.

 

[it344x]

Manny,
Day of the Tenticle - you ol' crumbly you ! ( *ahem* me too :farmer: )
Yup - I finished this game in under 20 hours ( also on medium ) - staggeringly easy I thought.
It is the most realistic enjoyable game ever & I am sure that epic games in the style of Morrowind using this engine will be a real success

Final opinion? A tad short, totally linear ( i.e. could have several non returnable story branches in the middle ) , but still a truly magnificent game. oh, & needed more gribbly grobblies

:thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

cheers
Martin
( Elite )

 

[Philibob]

about 18 hours in sort of 1 sitting (I walked into the kitchen to get some food at one point)

A lot of that was listening to what people had to say, watching Dr Breen on the monitors etc

 

[johnnypoopoopant]

about 18 hours in sort of 1 sitting (I walked into the kitchen to get some food at one point)

A lot of that was listening to what people had to say, watching Dr Breen on the monitors etc

18 hours! you must have tooken your time looking through things in every level

 

[Sharpfish]

Im waiting for the video of the guy who manages to beat it in like an hour. That one of HL in 45 minutes on hard is crazysauce.

Impossible to do HL2 in an hour, the loading times all add up to more than six hours

Maybe the faster players have faster hardrives which loads things in half the time... (joke - but thinking about it, it all adds up)

Anyway, i have taken around 12 hours so far and am just at the tunnel/zombie ambush (after the big bridge).. As someone else above posted, playing in the right conditions (for atmosphere) you find you think about things a lot more (no distractions, more immersion) and time flies. It seems like a LONG game already to me due to the differing scenarios and gameplay types. And I do tend to soak up the atmosphere and smash everything I see, throw things around with the grav gun etc. I also spent about 30 minutes just messing with the crane on the coastal part. nice

I envisage another 10 hours at least, the way I like to play.. so put me down for 22 hours.

 

[Manny]

"you ol' crumbly you !"

I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, go outside, tip over a phone booth, get in it, and pretend I'm surfing it through Time. How's that?

Man, thinking of the good old days sure brings back memories. I mean I remember we used to play the very first adventure games from Sierra, Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest, Police Quest, King's Quest... Personally, I couldn't live without my old Pentium still there, with its HD full of old games. Not that I still use it a lot - but every once in a while I just need to fire up Dark Forces or X-Wing or play through Wing Commander 3 or Broken Sword again. Seems like all I've been playing these last few years have been shooters, what with adventure games in a near-death state and all. A shame.

 

[Zlatko]

Hmm, yesterday i played from 7pm to 1am..then after i played from 11:00am to 4:00pm So that's 11 Hours of gameplay..

It didnt feel short at ALL, i dunno, i wasnt expecting for it to be this long to be honest..

 

[Dalamari]

15 hours or so on normal

 

[[BIG]DOGMAN]

i thought the game was too short, it took me about 18 hrs in medium to finish it. i wasn't to happy with the ending...to many questions...over all the game was great. i thought the grafix were exilent.(i herd they used SOFT IMAG OR XSI), i didn't like all the loading time it takes to get going and there was a lot of (LAG) here and there.