Very disappointed in EP1

[Xorbeus]

i love both hl2 and halo. after much debate i have concluded that hl2 > halo. that immersion feeling is what did it for me.

i played ep1 the same way i played hl2, exploring, playing with the physics, listening to the dialogue and trying to figure out the story, and more or less becoming immersed in the environment. ep1 sucked, hl2 didnt.

 

[99.vikram]

No it didn't

Ep1 > HL2 both gameplay and storywise.

 

[bigburpco]

Ownt 100%.

 

[kupocake]

I'd say the 5-6 hour completion time is a myth... or perhaps they factored in the commentaries or something. I mean, It took me probably 4 and a half hours and I was listening to the Kliener cast all the way through and had a good look at all the vistas, and a good half hour of that time was spent replying bits again because my PC kept overheating I'd say that the playthrough is:

2 1/2 Hours: When you run through the game because you want to be different, not enjoy it and have a good moan later in some forum
4 Hours: Looking at everything in the game and soaking in the atmosphere
6 Hours: Doing the above whilst listening to all the Commentary.

 

[Asknoone]

I got through in 4 hours.

 

[DevgruSeal]

That's about the time it took me to get through it as well..

 

[Gergor]

...and if it isn't trying to be distinguished and Ep1 is just supposed to be a straight continuation of HL2 then I missed the point...

That's precisely what Episode is meant to be. So yeah, you missed the point.

 

[SFLUFAN]

Ep1 took me about 7.25 hours to complete on Hard. I'd say I got my money's worth.

 

[AfternoonLemon]

Ep1 took me about 7.25 hours to complete on Hard. I'd say I got my money's worth.

I took about that time aswell, and I didn't exactly take my time. Very satisfied overall.

 

[Sparta]

and Alyx is much better, but I doubt she is the first char within a game that did not require constant care, and the amount of times she sodding blocked me from retreating was as annoying as anything else I have played...

I'm really wondering if you played the same game as us and not Daikatana

 

[bigburpco]

Took me 5.5 hours on Hard.

 

[Asuka]

I purchased EP1 with a very neutral attitude, after not being overly happy with HL2 (Great engine but such a short game, very little in the way of changed weapons and no where near as atmospheric as halflife)....

How disappointed I was

**SPOILER**

After about an hour and a bit of playing (what could have well been the original HL2....If you played HL2 then left it a month, was then dropped into EP1 I would be hard pressed to tell which one of the two I was playing!) I jumped onto a train with Alyx and thought 'Cool, now it will start to improve and be different'....the tower explodes and I pause, ready to get the most out of my cash, then the frickin' credits roll?!

Valve/steam or whoever it is, when you release EP2 add something new and more of it, not just zombine and some weird bug who disappears after 2 minutes....

Example of a decent expansion? C & C Red alert 2 - Yuris revenge, Baldurs gate 2 - Throne of Bhaal, Morrowind - red moon....all these were prime examples but this reminds me of some spotty nerd doing a mod for HL....

The money I paid does not warrant thisshort lived insult to the halflife universe....

1. This isnt a expansion.
2. Its 4/half hours long if played correctly not to mention another 4+ hours with the commentary
3. Do you have any idea what your talking about?

 

[Llama]

pfft, well I think it was an awesome game (short, but awesome) and Im the only pure Llama here anyway

To me it felt like they put all the brilliant moments from HL2 inside a 5-6 hour long episode. In other words, it was brilliant from the start to the end.
Come on, how could people not like firing rockets at a gunship through a wooden roof while it splintered around you?
Or been thrown over a gaping chasm by dog, only to fall through the floor of the building?

 

[Nu Zalem]

I think it's funny that people complain about episodic content knowing that it's not going to be very long way before the game even ships (especially if one likes to rush things). Oh you can't please everyone I guess no matter what methods one take. IMO, Alehm said it best.

Well, you best not play anymore of the episodic content. Valve already stated they are going to push out shorter episodes to get game content out quicker. If you are going to buy a game knowing it is short and then complain that it is short then the fact is there is nobody on this planet that can console you and make you feel better except other people just like you.

I admit,I knew this was going to be short and it was over before I would have liked it to be over. But I am going to wait until the next episode comes out before I make a final opinion on Episodic content.

It was 6 years between HL1 and HL2. I will take 8-10 months between episodes for now over waiting another 6 years for a complete game.

 

[smwScott]

The idea of episodic gaming is bad for the consumer. The longevity to cost ratio is significantly worse than your average game, plus it allows developers to cut costs in developing technology/new gameplay formulas. Valve is able to continue developing on already established technology, therefore not significantly upgrading the basis of the game while charging more of a premium than they originally did. It's not a bad concept, but I think $20 is about twice as much as it's worth, and that's for a great game like Episode 1 ... others like Sin are complete rip-offs.

This whole digital distribution thing isn't working out as well as they promised either. The original pitch I heard was the developer gets to cut out the middle man and release games directly to the consumer for a lower price ... great! Except that the prices aren't lower and you don't receive anything tangible, therefore the new distribution method is worse for everyone but the developer.

And these cliffhanger endings are the oldest trick in the book to keep the customer wanting more. Personally, I'm far more satisfied with self contained stories rather than long drawn out epics, and also more likely to buy future titles from the developer that satisfied me more. Half-Life is an exception because it's so damn good, but if it was any other game I'd just say **** this and move on.

 

[mutant_llama]

Agreed

Yeah I agree with that, nicely put. If this had of been done with Doom3, F.E.A.R or any other FPS I would not have gone back to it, however hl2 is an exception but this time I plan to wait for EP2 and EP3 to be released and then buy them both together, this should give some variation and longer game play.

Think I am just against episode releases. Anyone watch 24 or lost? I get annoyed watching the episodes week after week so tend to watch 2 or 3 back to back, progresses the story more but means I have to wait until the third episode before I can do it =/

 

[Remus]

I personally haven't bought Ep1 yet and after reading all these threads I'm having serious doubts whether i should. I was slightly disappointed in HL2 and I was waiting for Valve to redeem themselves by adding in this episode some of the things they didn't have time to add in the full game ,but nothing:| . New enemies? I guess stalkers, but the zombines meh. I'm frankly tiered of all these zombie and head crab variations, I want something new damn it. As for the weapons issue, would it have been such a bad thing if they added one damn new weapon in there. BTW, the: "they didn't add new weapons because it's not a generic expansion and they couldn't have had time to invent new weapons or the new weapons couldn't have magically appeared" arguments seriously stupid. You are all so damn ecstatic about the improved AI on Alyx, sure good great, but I for one don't like sidekicks no matter how unbelievably awesome they are.(I hated the parts in HL2 with the resistance fighters). I knew long before Ep1's release that it was going to focus on Alyx developing as a character but that wasn't why I was interested in it. As for the story advancing, from what I've read it hasn't advanced much and what about all that hype related to new info on the G-Man and his mysterious employers. They said these things would be in Ep1, but now they just say: ups, wait until Ep2; that's just ****ing great:frown: . On the price related issue i agree with smwScott, the price/longevity ratio is significantly worse now with this episodic content. The only ones benefiting from this are the producers and I think it sucks. So I think I'll wait until they release ep2 and see if it's better. If not then I'll have to take someones advice from this thread and just end my HL ""experience" right here and now.

 

[mutant_llama]

Redneck hold on till EP2

Redneck, I would not give up just yet, this post was about my feelings towards the game but a lot of others have found it better than HL2.

My own concern is with the episode release, it did not do enough for me and all the hopes for it I inwardly built up were seriously let down.

If I knew then what I knew now I would have waited for EP2 to be released and played them back to back, at least then it would not have ended so abrubtly (in my opinion).

Look for others praising it, I agree with the Alyx issues you raised and find it hard to believe people make so much out of this but that is their opinion and cannot be classed as wrong, just different to others. I would also have liked to have seen something different done with the weapons...**teeny spoiler**when I saw the grav gun revert back to the anti grav (or whatever it was) I released a very small but meaningful sigh....It was great and novel in HL2 but going back to the same tower with the same gun again was not my cup of tea.

I am going to wait for EP2 to be released and then read the forums to see what the general feelings towards it are, if it is more the same then I will wait till episode 3 and look to get the 2 together, if it is getting global mass praise then I may order it before EP3.

 

[bliink]

I got about 4 or 5 hours out of EP1, the first time. (might play it again, and maybe the commentary tracks too).

for $19 bucks, thats good value. I'd spend $19 on coffee and a magazine, and they last maybe 45 minutes, and you cant re-use coffee.

 

[Asknoone]

I personally haven't bought Ep1 yet and after reading all these threads I'm having serious doubts whether i should. I was slightly disappointed in HL2 and I was waiting for Valve to redeem themselves by adding in this episode some of the things they didn't have time to add in the full game ,but nothing:| . New enemies? I guess stalkers, but the zombines meh. I'm frankly tiered of all these zombie and head crab variations, I want something new damn it. As for the weapons issue, would it have been such a bad thing if they added one damn new weapon in there. BTW, the: "they didn't add new weapons because it's not a generic expansion and they couldn't have had time to invent new weapons or the new weapons couldn't have magically appeared" arguments seriously stupid. You are all so damn ecstatic about the improved AI on Alyx, sure good great, but I for one don't like sidekicks no matter how unbelievably awesome they are.(I hated the parts in HL2 with the resistance fighters). I knew long before Ep1's release that it was going to focus on Alyx developing as a character but that wasn't why I was interested in it. As for the story advancing, from what I've read it hasn't advanced much and what about all that hype related to new info on the G-Man and his mysterious employers. They said these things would be in Ep1, but now they just say: ups, wait until Ep2; that's just ****ing great:frown: . On the price related issue i agree with smwScott, the price/longevity ratio is significantly worse now with this episodic content. The only ones benefiting from this are the producers and I think it sucks. So I think I'll wait until they release ep2 and see if it's better. If not then I'll have to take someones advice from this thread and just end my HL ""experience" right here and now.

Hilariously you've no idea what you are talking about. Because you haven't played.

 

[A True Canadian]

Well, I'm going to try and address Redneck's points. Here goes...

*WARNING - LONG POST ALERT!!*

I personally haven't bought Ep1 yet and after reading all these threads I'm having serious doubts whether i should.

I've only encountered about 5-6 people on the forums who didn't like the game. Whereas I've already read about 40-50 who thought that it was great. The negatives are easier to remember because there's so few and it goes against the general consensus that they tend to stick out. For everyone who says it's awsome, you look like you've read the 6 people who said it stunk, and are using that as your basis for not getting the game. Odd that you would go in favor of the clear minority.

I was slightly disappointed in HL2 and I was waiting for Valve to redeem themselves by adding in this episode some of the things they didn't have time to add in the full game ,but nothing:| . New enemies? I guess stalkers, but the zombines meh. I'm frankly tiered of all these zombie and head crab variations, I want something new damn it.

The Zombines are actually a lot more fun to play against that you would think. And every single enemy in Half-Life 2 returns in Episode 1. You're not fighting zombies for the whole game, there is a lot more variety. Enemy AI is also improved, so there's a lot more interesting things happening in your encounters (Combine especially). The enemies are used a lot better than they were in Half-Life 2.

As for the weapons issue, would it have been such a bad thing if they added one damn new weapon in there. BTW, the: "they didn't add new weapons because it's not a generic expansion and they couldn't have had time to invent new weapons or the new weapons couldn't have magically appeared" arguments seriously stupid.

The game has your standard arsenal. Grenades, a pistol, a machine gun, a shotgun, a rocket launcher, and an object to whack people with. You also have the crossbow which is essentially a more challenging sniper rifle. All the main areas are covered already. You also have fantasy weapons such as the Manipulator and the secondary fire of the Incediary Rifle that erradicates enemies. Let's not forget the Magnum which is basically a one-hit-kill weapon that's very satisfying to use.

Would a new weapon really make things that much better? Do you want something like the trip mines of the original Half-Life? You have the Hoppers which are essentially the same thing. Do you want something like the Snarks, a weapon that chases the enemy down and keeps attacking until it's destroyed? Episode 1 has something like that too. The rollermines can now be reprogrammed to aid you. They function very much in the same way as the Snarks.

Additionally, for realism and the immersion factor, would it make sense to suddenly find a new weapon lying around in City 17? Episode 1 is a direct continuation of the story starting in the exact same city that Half-Life 2 took place. A new weapon would seem out of place, would it not? Unless Kleiner gives you another experimental weapon, or we make it out of City 17, getting a new weapon wouldn't fit into the story.

And even if Alyx or Gordon were to find a new weapon lying about somewhere, what do you propose that weapon should be?

You are all so damn ecstatic about the improved AI on Alyx, sure good great, but I for one don't like sidekicks no matter how unbelievably awesome they are.(I hated the parts in HL2 with the resistance fighters). I knew long before Ep1's release that it was going to focus on Alyx developing as a character but that wasn't why I was interested in it.

Sidekicks in single-player games are universally known to be more of a hinderance than an aid. Perhaps the best thing about Episode 1 is that Alyx is more of the latter. She really is one of the most well-done sidekicks in any video game to date, hence the unanimous praise by the community.

Her AI is so good, that you tend to forget that she's around sometimes. In games like Half-Life and even Half-Life 2, you would find yourself having to backtrack to pick up your "sidekick" because they would get stuck on the geometry or simply fall too far back to calculate the correct path to catch up. Alyx is not like this at all. She NEVER gets stuck or left behind. You can even try to block her path and purposefully try and leave her behind, but she's smart enough to catch up.

Perhaps what's even more interesting is her new combat tactics. If an enemy gets too close to her proximity, she'll resort to using her body instead of her gun to ward off the enemy. A well placed kick to knock the enemy back, followed by a barrage of bullets is very effective. In other games if your AI ally gets cornered, instead of actually fighting off the threat, they'll empty their clip, try and strafe away, reload strafe and fire -but before you know it, they're dead. Alyx at least has the programming to knock the enemy back so that she can clear a path to safety.

She's not immortal either, so you will have to help her out, but it's not like you're having to fight the whole battle for her like so many other shooters. Of course it's not perfect (you can't honestly expect it to be), but its a step and a short sprint ahead of anything else in a FPS I've played.

As for the story advancing, from what I've read it hasn't advanced much and what about all that hype related to new info on the G-Man and his mysterious employers. They said these things would be in Ep1, but now they just say: ups, wait until Ep2; that's just ****ing great:frown: .

Valve stated that this information would be revealed in Aftermath. Aftermath was then broken up into 3 episodes of varying length. While it's true that there isn't much being said about the G-Man, it's actually better that way. Episode 1 is meant to be the escape from City 17 before the Citadel blows the place up. The story works better by focusing more on the escape to safety and less about the backstories of the villians.

Now that being said, they still reveal information that sets the stage for the next episode. The Vortiguants, the G-Man, Breen, and Mossman are all revealed to be working on something important. I'm not going to go that in depth as you haven't played the game yet, but it's there.

In a way Episode 1 is meant to be a transition piece. It ties up the loose ends to Half-Life 2, and paves the way for the story to enter new ground in the following episodes. The great stories tend to reveal themselves slowly, layer by layer until the end. The story arc here is doing just that and I have a feeling that when it's all said and done, all 3 episodes as a whole will be much better because of it.

On the price related issue i agree with smwScott, the price/longevity ratio is significantly worse now with this episodic content. The only ones benefiting from this are the producers and I think it sucks.

I don't see how you can complain about the $20 price tag. Episode 1 is around 4 hours or 1/3 the length of your standard game. $20 is also 1/3 the price of your standard game. Even if episodic content takes off and more than 3 episodes are released, you're still not getting ripped off.

Let's say Valve decides that they are going to do 6 episodes.
3 episodes are the equivalent to a full game.
3 episodes are $60 which is also equivalent to a full game.
6 episodes would cost you $120, but is that a lot?
6 episodes is the equivalent of 2 full games.
2 full games cost the equivalent of $120 combined.

Are you getting ripped off? Hardly. Does it benefit the producer/developer more than the customer? I would argue no.

If one episode is terrible, you're unlikely to buy the remaining games in the series, right? Let's use Sin Episode 1 as an example. While I have not played the game, the general consensus I get is that it was not as good as expected. Judging by the polls in the appropriate forum, nearly half of those who played the episode were unlikely to buy Episode 2. That's nearly half the target audience.

Let's think about this for a moment. The game wasn't that good, and a lot of people aren't thinking of buying the next. This game only cost the customer $20. The episode is shorter than that of a full game, but shouldn't that mean that it should be filled with more of the DEV's "better" gameplay ideas instead of filler?

When making a full game DEV's are saying: "we want to have this, this, and this in our game because those would be fun." But they're also saying "we'll need to add this, this, and this to stretch out the length to justify the price."

With episodic content, they don't need to include the latter half because all the better ideas already fit into the price tag, the length, and they don't need to add anything unneccesary.

So what does that mean when an episode is bad? The DEV's may have saved themselves from wasting additional time on something that is a failure, but the biggest thing is that they lost $40 because of it.

If you bought a full game and didn't like it, you're in the hole $60. If you bought an episode and didn't like it, you've only lost $20 and saved $40. You could also have saved YOUR TIME by not playing through 2/3 of a game that would have comprised Episodes 2 and 3.

Developers will now be pushed to make episodes that scream quality or else they will lose their customers, as well as 2/3 of the money they would have made if they went the traditional route. Developers have a lot more to lose, and the customer has everything to gain.

So I think I'll wait until they release ep2 and see if it's better. If not then I'll have to take someones advice from this thread and just end my HL ""experience" right here and now.

Rest assured, Episode 2 is gearing up to be the best installment of the franchise. These haven't been confirmed, but it looks like you'll get the new enemies, you'll get the new locals, you'll get vehicle combat, you'll get more answers to the G-Man-esque mysteries, you'll get a gameplaying experience that's longer than Episode 1, and above all else, you should get your monies worth.

 

[Laff]

Excellent post canadian. It's funny to me how it's from a canadian to a redneck...ANYWAYS, Valve always has mentioned how Bullsquids, Hounds, and gargs are out in the wilderness...and guess what? Judging from the teaser, you're in the wilderness. Not to mention the mini-strider adds a whole new atmosphere...here you are up against these fast, turret wielding things that will probably hunt you down as your run through the forest. Episode 2 is shaping up to be a great episode and the $20 sounds worth it.

 

[mutant_llama]

Looks to me like he has done some homework...

He has found there is little new in the way enemies and weapons, and stated that we wanted to see something new. He stated that he has found that there are improvements to Alyx but stated that this did not interest him.

He has also read the the chapter is about getting out of the citadel alive and it ends on the train journey out and looks like he wanted more than this.

His annoyance seems aimed at what is not there but to know this he researched it. Sounds like he knows what he is on about to me. He knows what he wanted and knows that they are not there.

What he does not know is if he will enjoy the game or not as it currently stands, and presumably posted for advice on this with the changes he wanted to see not implemented, not negative responses.

 

[Fishlore]

The number of fanboys in here is stomach turning but I'll give my opinion none the less.

Half Life is officially dead to me. I pretty much thought HL2 was trash. Short, linear and incredibly easy. It looked nice but that is the one single element of video games I care nothing about. I thought I'd give an episode a try and hopefully I'd start to care about HL again. LOL, well to put it nicely that simply didn't happen. Obviously much shorter, easier and equally linear. 4 hours of gameplay and that's being very generous. I learned one thing in all this. I won't ever buy an "episode" of this game or any other game ever again.

edited: So 12 hours of gameplay is considered a full game? Good god, what has the video game industry become. I don't consider a full game to be 12 hours long. I won't even consider a game unless it's well over the 20 hour mark and even that is shorter than they used to be.

 

[99.vikram]

The number of fanboys in here is stomach turning but I'll give my opinion none the less.

Half Life is officially dead to me. I pretty much thought HL2 was trash. Short, linear and incredibly easy. It looked nice but that is the one single element of video games I care nothing about. I thought I'd give an episode a try and hopefully I'd start to care about HL again. LOL, well to put it nicely that simply didn't happen. Obviously much shorter, easier and equally linear. 4 hours of gameplay and that's being very generous. I learned one thing in all this. I won't ever buy an "episode" of this game or any other game ever again.

Then why post here just to insult us, label us as "fanboys" and declare your undying hatred for HL2?

This is the Halflife2.net > Half-Life 2 Forums > HL2: Episode One "Aftermath" subforum.

edited: So 12 hours of gameplay is considered a full game? Good god, what has the video game industry become. I don't consider a full game to be 12 hours long. I won't even consider a game unless it's well over the 20 hour mark and even that is shorter than they used to be.

Those 14 hours were way better than the 20 something hours I got from Farcry or Doom 3. As for Halo 2, it lasted all of 10 hours, so I won't comment.

If you leave this thread now, you won't be missed. Your criticism isn't helping Valve to get better; and frankly they're better off without your love. That way they can cut the crap and give unique non-generic content.

 

[kupocake]

Half Life is officially dead to me.

I HAVE NO SON! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!​

 

[Remus]

First of I would like to thank you for taking my post seriously and responding in such detail .

The Zombines are actually a lot more fun to play against that you would think. And every single enemy in Half-Life 2 returns in Episode 1. You're not fighting zombies for the whole game, there is a lot more variety. Enemy AI is also improved, so there's a lot more interesting things happening in your encounters (Combine especially). The enemies are used a lot better than they were in Half-Life 2.

Maybe the old enemies are used better and have improved AI and all that, but I was exited to see those new synths like the crab and mortar. As for the zombine, I still say there were enough types of zombie there was no need to add yet another one:| .

The game has your standard arsenal. Grenades, a pistol, a machine gun, a shotgun, a rocket launcher, and an object to whack people with. You also have the crossbow which is essentially a more challenging sniper rifle. All the main areas are covered already. You also have fantasy weapons such as the Manipulator and the secondary fire of the Incediary Rifle that erradicates enemies. Let's not forget the Magnum which is basically a one-hit-kill weapon that's very satisfying to use.

Well I for one hate how extremely specialized Valve has made the weapons, for instance the RPG is pretty much less then effective against something other than striders or gunships. The Incendiary Rifle, Pule Rifle, or whatever you want to call it is useful as long as it has the secondary ammo. The primary fire on this weapon is extremely weak and inaccurate and the magazine is to small. Oh yeah and don't get me started on the grenades, they just totally suck.:hmph:

Would a new weapon really make things that much better?

Yes it would

Do you want something like the trip mines of the original Half-Life? You have the Hoppers which are essentially the same thing. Do you want something like the Snarks, a weapon that chases the enemy down and keeps attacking until it's destroyed? Episode 1 has something like that too. The rollermines can now be reprogrammed to aid you. They function very much in the same way as the Snarks.

Well I would like both trip mines and snarks to come back . IMO the hoppers were a nuisance, I usually would pick them up with the GG and smash them against the nearest wall or maybe throw them twards an enemy. If I used the hoppers as they were intended to be used they proved themselves to be ineffective at best.

And even if Alyx or Gordon were to find a new weapon lying about somewhere, what do you propose that weapon should be?

But Alyx does find a "new" weapon, the sniper rifle which she keeps to her self:frown: .
On a side note I'm not a fan of the crossbow so the sniper rifle would've been welcome.

I don't see how you can complain about the $20 price tag. Episode 1 is around 4 hours or 1/3 the length of your standard game. $20 is also 1/3 the price of your standard game. Even if episodic content takes off and more than 3 episodes are released, you're still not getting ripped off.

Let's say Valve decides that they are going to do 6 episodes.
3 episodes are the equivalent to a full game.
3 episodes are $60 which is also equivalent to a full game.
6 episodes would cost you $120, but is that a lot?
6 episodes is the equivalent of 2 full games.
2 full games cost the equivalent of $120 combined.

Are you getting ripped off? Hardly. Does it benefit the producer/developer more than the customer? I would argue no.

For one to state that a standard game lasts 12hrs is false and second I don't know how it is where you are but here the most expensive computer FPS is 45$ not 60$.
So two full games cost 90$ and the price for the episode should be 45/3=15$ not 20$.
120$ is a hole lot.

It is true that if you don't like it you have the option not to buy the rest of the episodes, but it seems to me that the producers are asking for slightly more then they should(almost half the price of a full game) preparing for the eventuality you are not going to buy the rest of the episodes.

Rest assured, Episode 2 is gearing up to be the best installment of the franchise. These haven't been confirmed, but it looks like you'll get the new enemies, you'll get the new locals, you'll get vehicle combat, you'll get more answers to the G-Man-esque mysteries, you'll get a gameplaying experience that's longer than Episode 1, and above all else, you should get your monies worth.

I sure hope you're right, if it is going to be awesome I'm going to buy Ep2 and just skip Ep1 all together .

 

[kag30]

Well, I'm going to try and address Redneck's points. Here goes...

*WARNING - LONG POST ALERT!!*



Enemy AI is also improved, so there's a lot more interesting things happening in your encounters (Combine especially). The enemies are used a lot better than they were in Half-Life 2.

Additionally, for realism and the immersion factor, would it make sense to suddenly find a new weapon lying around in City 17? Episode 1 is a direct continuation of the story starting in the exact same city that Half-Life 2 took place. A new weapon would seem out of place, would it not? Unless Kleiner gives you another experimental weapon, or we make it out of City 17, getting a new weapon wouldn't fit into the story.

And even if Alyx or Gordon were to find a new weapon lying about somewhere, what do you propose that weapon should be?



Sidekicks in single-player games are universally known to be more of a hinderance than an aid. Perhaps the best thing about Episode 1 is that Alyx is more of the latter. She really is one of the most well-done sidekicks in any video game to date, hence the unanimous praise by the community.

First off I think Episode 1 is great and comes the closest to perfection compared to other shooters.

Can you explain how the Combine ai is improved? This and the linearity are the only thing keeping the game from perfection. Shootouts with Combine dont seem very realistic or as fun as Fear or COD.

In my little neighborhood in the U.S. alone there are probably 20 or more different weapons to be found. When you keep finding the same weapons, the game loses immersion. If this were happening in real life the rebels would have been bringing whatever weapons they could find to the fight. Something like an M4 with singleshot as alt would be nice. Automatic shotgun. The xen guns.

I agree on Alyx. No other game even comes close to making you feel like you've got a real person at your side.

 

[$kelet0r]

[Deleted]

 

[Kingreaper]

Maybe the old enemies are used better and have improved AI and all that, but I was exited to see those new synths like the crab and mortar.

As was I, I feel it was very unfortunate that there wasn't a situation where good use could be made of such units. But I don't really feel there was

As for the zombine, I still say there were enough types of zombie there was no need to add yet another one:| .

Personally, I like the Zombine, because they're not "just another zombie" except in the sense of "just another melee enemy" the grenades are really well done

Well I for one hate how extremely specialized Valve has made the weapons, for instance the RPG is pretty much less then effective against something other than striders or gunships.

Untrue IMO. It's not useful if you haven't got an ammo crate, but if you have it'll take down whatever you need it to.

The Incendiary Rifle, Pule Rifle, or whatever you want to call it is useful as long as it has the secondary ammo. The primary fire on this weapon is extremely weak and inaccurate and the magazine is to small.

The primary fire isn't weak at all, it's hugely strong, though slightly more inaccurate than the normal rifle. The magazine is small to limit it's use, a technique I dislike, but it's how Valve have chosen to operate.

Oh yeah and don't get me started on the grenades, they just totally suck.:hmph:

At least you can prime them (if you don't know how, GG)

Yes it would



Well I would like both trip mines and snarks to come back . IMO the hoppers were a nuisance, I usually would pick them up with the GG and smash them against the nearest wall or maybe throw them twards an enemy. If I used the hoppers as they were intended to be used they proved themselves to be ineffective at best.

Only problem I have with Hoppers is that the Combine forces never go towards them. Which is sensible, but makes them rather useless.

For one to state that a standard game lasts 12hrs is false and second I don't know how it is where you are but here the most expensive computer FPS is 45$ not 60$.
So two full games cost 90$ and the price for the episode should be 45/3=15$ not 20$.
120$ is a hole lot.

Wow, well I live in rip-off island (AKA England) and thus consider the episode rather cheap

It is true that if you don't like it you have the option not to buy the rest of the episodes, but it seems to me that the producers are asking for slightly more then they should(almost half the price of a full game) preparing for the eventuality you are not going to buy the rest of the episodes.

It's nowhere near half a full game here. Maybe 1/3, but even that is cheap for a brand new FPS (I see shops selling them for 50 pounds [roughly $100] although those are rip-offs even by our standards)

I sure hope you're right, if it is going to be awesome I'm going to buy Ep2 and just skip Ep1 all together .

I wouldn't want to skip Ep1 personally, for the simple reason that Ep1 captures the coolest bits of the atmosphere from HL1 and HL2 for me.

 

[Ludah]

Only problem I have with Hoppers is that the Combine forces never go towards them. Which is sensible, but makes them rather useless.

Yeah, they pretty much only worked the most effectively against zombies. But there were times where a Combine troop would run around the corner, unaware of my hopper and go kablooey.

If there was one thing that nagged the hell out of me with HL1, it was watching trained, specialized US marines run straight into bright blue lines given off from my tripmines. It was forgivable, considering the time it was released. But I appreciate my enemies exhibiting more sense nowadays.

 

[holyfetzer]

What about that:

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/halflife2episodeone

Metascore of 89 %...too much or ok?

 

[Ludah]

I think that's a good average score. Gotta keep in mind that the length of such episodic games is gonna take getting used to. Personally, I've played through it twice already to soak it all up. And the developer commentary system makes it worth at least two trips through.

You also have to give a lot of credit to Valve for having the balls to embrace episodic content and trust their material to still stand so well on its own. If you ask me, it tops Half-Life 2 itself.

 

[ríomhaire]

I don't see how anyone can knock E1's atmostphere. It was the most imersive game I've ever played, I shouted at Alyx at one stage, literaly

 

[MultiVaC]

The number of fanboys in here is stomach turning but I'll give my opinion none the less.

lol, these people like the game the forum they are visiting is based on, what fanboys!!1!!1one

If you though HL2 was trash, then, uh... leave? FFS, what do you expect to find here, a bunch of bitter douchebags who hate everything HL2 and just rag on it all day? Maybe www.halo-whore.com is more what you're looking for. There is a word for people who spend time on a forum for a game they don't like, it starts with a t and ends with a r-o-l-l.

As for the pricing thing, where are you guys getting new games for $45 that last 20 hours? I'd really like to know. Last Christmas I got FEAR, which was $50 and lasted me about 8 hours. And even in those 8 hours it got repetitve, and didn't have much reason to play again. I also got Quake 4, which was pretty much the same deal. Now look at HL2:E1, 4 hours that are anything but repetitve for $20, that's less than half the price of FEAR. Plus it has commentary, which makes the game easily worth playing again. That's 8 hours of playtime for $20, as opposed $50 in FEAR or Quake 4's case.

 

[bigburpco]

New enemies? I guess stalkers, but the zombines meh.

You are fvcking kidding. The Zombine is the most awesome enemy ever.

 

[bigburpco]

Redneck, I would not give up just yet, this post was about my feelings towards the game but a lot of others have found it better than HL2.

My own concern is with the episode release, it did not do enough for me and all the hopes for it I inwardly built up were seriously let down.

If I knew then what I knew now I would have waited for EP2 to be released and played them back to back, at least then it would not have ended so abrubtly (in my opinion).

Look for others praising it, I agree with the Alyx issues you raised and find it hard to believe people make so much out of this but that is their opinion and cannot be classed as wrong, just different to others. I would also have liked to have seen something different done with the weapons...**teeny spoiler**when I saw the grav gun revert back to the anti grav (or whatever it was) I released a very small but meaningful sigh....It wa.s great and novel in HL2 but going back to the same tower with the same gun again was not my cup of tea.

I am going to wait for EP2 to be released and then read the forums to see what the general feelings towards it are, if it is more the same then I will wait till episode 3 and look to get the 2 together, if it is getting global mass praise then I may order it before EP3.

Bull. He hasn't played it yet, so he wouldn't know. You've played it horrendously, and did not enjoy. Therefore, I believe the verdict would be for you to shut up.

EDIT: Sorry for double post.

This whole digital distribution thing isn't working out as well as they promised either. The original pitch I heard was the developer gets to cut out the middle man and release games directly to the consumer for a lower price ... great! Except that the prices aren't lower and you don't receive anything tangible, therefore the new distribution method is worse for everyone but the developer.

The prices are lower. You get the game the moment it is released. Many people love it, and some don't like it. So please do not generalise if you do not know the general consensus of the consumers. Some people save money from it, so the no lower price thing may not apply to everyone.

 

[Llama]

The number of fanboys in here is stomach turning but I'll give my opinion none the less.

Half Life is officially dead to me. I pretty much thought HL2 was trash. Short, linear and incredibly easy. It looked nice but that is the one single element of video games I care nothing about. I thought I'd give an episode a try and hopefully I'd start to care about HL again. LOL, well to put it nicely that simply didn't happen. Obviously much shorter, easier and equally linear. 4 hours of gameplay and that's being very generous. I learned one thing in all this. I won't ever buy an "episode" of this game or any other game ever again.

edited: So 12 hours of gameplay is considered a full game? Good god, what has the video game industry become. I don't consider a full game to be 12 hours long. I won't even consider a game unless it's well over the 20 hour mark and even that is shorter than they used to be.

Well bugger off then

If anyone is having second thoughts about the game, please dont listen to the negative reviews. yeah, okay, only a few hours of gameplay. But that's a few hours of really good gameplay (from my perspective anyway) and yes, only a couple of new enemies...but then the HL2 formula did it all so well, more enemies arnt really needed.
Besdies, any person that cant like a game in whuch you get thrown over a bottomless pit by a robotic dog, or you fight a gunship in a building witha completly destructable roof is out of there mind.

 

[99.vikram]

If we're fanboys, what does he think of the steampowered forum?
They worship Half-life there.

 

[Remus]

yeah, okay, only a few hours of gameplay. But that's a few hours of really good gameplay (from my perspective anyway) and yes, only a couple of new enemies...but then the HL2 formula did it all so well, more enemies arnt really needed.

Are you kidding? The original HL2 formula didn't do it well! One of the things I liked in HL1 was the high variety of alien creatures there were in the game, but here?! Well let's see: head crabs, zombies (the other types don't count cause they are still freekin' headcrabs and zombies!), combine soldiers, striders, gunships, manhacks, antlions and those stupid barnicles. That's it? Well quite frankly that's not enough.

Besdies, any person that cant like a game in whuch you get thrown over a bottomless pit by a robotic dog, or you fight a gunship in a building witha completly destructable roof is out of there mind.

Completely destructible roof, eh? And in another spot with a roof made out of the exact same material it is solid like a rock. That's the most stupid thing in games and I'm sick of it and the fact that the parts of the buildings that are destructible have a different shading then the rest is just meh.