What makes the HL series so unique?

[Oppressor]

I just have a question concerning all fans of the HL-series, focusing on HL2.

I was so extremely fascinated and enthusiastic by Half-Life 2 the first minute I start playing it one year ago, and I'm still, after many play-throughs.

My question is;

What in the HL-series, especially HL2, makes it so unique in the world of gaming? What makes the world seem so realistic that I myself feel like I'm Gordon Freeman? What in the game got a hold on you and made you fascinated?

I would be very excited for some in-depth answers from all you HL-fanatics out there! I want to find out if there is an overall oppinion about HL2, the worlds greatest game ever.
Thank the genious minds at Valve Software for bringing the world to us!

Bye for now!

 

[$kelet0r]

what makes hl series unique
gordon = gman theories :dozey:
:flame:

 

[Sulkdodds]

The sheer-awesome.

Okay, seriously. Coherence.

 

[iMMuNiTy]

What in the HL-series, especially HL2, makes it so unique in the world of gaming? What makes the world seem so realistic that I myself feel like I'm Gordon Freeman? What in the game got a hold on you and made you fascinated?

Even though the first time I've played Half-Life 2 was with my shitty Geforce 2, and I couldn't adore the graphics fully, I was still heavily immersed into the game. The first thing that fascinated me was sound. Excellent voice acting, and sound effects made the game sound as if you were in a movie theatre. When I've stepped out of the train, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and my jaw nearly dropped till the floor. It's the detail of the environments, the detail of the world that Half-Life 2 offers that immerses you fully into the world of Half-Life 2.

 

[DuBbL3 U To0]

This!

Seriously, Its just the Sheer amazement at being so drawn in by the gameplay, detail, physics, graphics...everything makes you feel as though you are in a -!blam!-ed up living breathing world where the combine & its opression is breathing down your neck at every moment...

But I guess valve could do more to make its fans feel like more of a family...like Bungie does, instead of just customers...oh well thats just my opinion...

 

[Penfold]

What in the HL-series, especially HL2, makes it so unique in the world of gaming? What makes the world seem so realistic that I myself feel like I'm Gordon Freeman? What in the game got a hold on you and made you fascinated?

I know exactly what you mean. I think it's the slightly mysterious storyline, but mainly the fact that there is no video footage in either of the games.

Granted, there are scenes where you can't move etc., but you are always 'in the game' and the Half-Life/Source engine is always running, which helps to absorb you in the experience of Half-Life. I have always admired this quality of Valve, and think that other developers should pay more attention.

I get so absorbed in Half-Life compared to other games, it's just amazing.

 

[Vegeta897]

HL2 is such a great game, I really think the only drawback having to wait 30 seconds to a minute for maps to load. Really cuts the action. I expected it to be much better when I got a GB of RAM, but it's still meh.

But really, that is the ONLY bad part about the game. Everything else was absolutely superb, and the first time I played it was one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time, and it wasn't just because it was hyped a lot.

 

[epmode]

I really think the only drawback having to wait 30 seconds to a minute for maps to load.

It's so true. WTB streaming maps.

Oh well, there's always HL3.

 

[Beerdude26]

Lies. All lies. It's the fact that you can see Alyx bathe naked when you're in Black Mesa East :O

[/attempttoconstructrumour]

 

[Max35]

The fact that everything was portrayed through a first person perspective; the detail of the environments. Even the characters were massively detailed, and their facial expressions were incredibly lifelike. Also, both HL1 & 2 didn't drop you in the "middle of the action", they put you in the middle of a realisitc world and then made it all go to hell. The storyline is an on-going mystery, and is one of the best in a video game IMO.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Mainly the fact that

1984 + Quatermass = HL2

Quatermass is an underated BBC trilogy, the episode I'm referring to is the one where aliens are preparing an invasion from the safety of an fertiliser plant. They launch spores, which could be compared to the shelled headcrabs. Once the spores find a host, they protect the aliens base, wearing gas-masks (the aliens can only sustain on ammonia, which is the reason they are launching from the fertiliser plant) and carrying rifles, which could also be compared with the Metro Cops

 

[RandomX]

The fact that we're not forced to play a character with a set voice, really helped me become immersed in this game... Gordon is silent, and he seems just like me in real life! (silent...)

 

[Solver]

In-depth? Oh well...

1. Main character. Gordon Freeman is completely unique. The goal has always been to make YOU feel you're Gordon, you to be Gordon. You're not being overloaded with info on your character. Other games tend to have characters with a well-known past, etc. It detracts from immersion. You can't be immersed in a character with a detailed past, unless for some reason that past is similar to yours.

Likewise, your character is, in itself, not a mystery. In FEAR, the main character's identity is a plot element. Not in HL. Gordon is you, not some mysterious guy.

The treatment of your character... you're not treated in any special way, you're treated in a natural way. HL1 begins. You arrive at the Anomalous Materials lobby. You're treated just like everyone - normally greeted, reminded you should be where you should. If you start making trouble, like pushing buttons, people scream at you. Later in the game, scientists treat you like just another scientist, and only even later, as rumour spreads of what you're doing, you're getting extra special treatment.

So you're treated naturally... and there's the very delicate element of Gordon Freeman's speech. You never hear him speak - he says whatever you say. Other characters do behave as if you speak... but they don't. There's no real moment that would absolutely REQUIRE Gordon Freeman to speak. Maybe nod his head, not more than that. No one ever asks him "Which path are you going to take and why?". If Gordon greets other people back, it fits in with the game. If he stays silent, it fits with the game.

The HL series really make Gordon very immersive this way.

2. Lack of cutscenes. That's an absolutely awesome thing and I'd never want to play a HL game with cutscenes. You're Gordon so you don't see what is going on elsewhere, and you don't see yourself from a floating position in mid-air. You see what you would see were you there. And you have control. Moments such as Kleiner's Lab would be cutscenes in other games but not HL. HL leaves you free to wander around, at least turn your head/camera, and this goes a long way towards making a more immersive environment.

3. Realism. Uhmm, what realism? There are freaking aliens, huge shooting tripods and teleporters in this game!! Right. But it's a different kind of realism. Some Stephen King stories are like it, some X-Files episodes are like that - fantastic, yet realistic. The Xen aliens aren't real - but they're realistic. There's nothing unbelievable or too badly cliched about them. Even zombies are believable because they're controlled by a parasite creature. Remember Doom (the original game or Doom3). Flying flaming skulls with demonic screams just don't seem realistic, and neither does a big floating blob that spits aforementioned skulls out. However, a squid-like creature spitting acid seems entirely plausible!

In HL2, also, there's a healthy element of realism. The Combine, an advanced alien race... uhmm, yes, but we don't see anything unbelievable by them really. Striders are Tanks with another 300 years of technoligcal advancement. Manhacks are autonomous robots with sophisticated programming, and even the suppression device is basically a huge cannon. We don't see the Combine, I don't know, warp in from out of nowhere and revive the dead. What also helps is that you don't see a soldier surviving a rocket to the chest.

4. Environments depicted. They're amazingly believable. Forget Xen for a moment. Consider: Black Mesa looks like a very believable research facility. It has toilets, office rooms, maintenance areas, everything, and looks inhabited. HL2 is full of natural places, like the coast, and City 17 is also realistic. To Americans, Asians and Westerners: I live in Eastern Europe and know what I'm talking about. City 17 actually reminds me of my city in my places. It really looks like that in places. The setting is exotic for most gamers, but entirely believable.

Xen is pretty absurd, though, but genius in its design. The gameplay sucked, I'm talking about the design. Xen looks and feels so very weird... so alien. Strange nebulas, floating rocks, ground that resonates when you walk on it, plants that shoot bolts at you if you approach them... it's weird. It's not a cliched alien place like you see in the movies, for example, something like Earth's desert, just with strong winds. It's weird, it's really alien.

5. NPCs. Ahh... the power of HL lies in NPCs. HL1 surely had a lot of "clones", but still, it has such believable NPCs that few games to date can boast. People speak randomly. People run away from creatures. People try to save themselves. People freaking well DO something.

HL2 of course take this much, much further. The NPCs there are great. There's the graphical element - HL2 has awesome facial expressions, you can read them as you can read those of real people. And, the characters are very unique. Consider Grigori, who you only see for a bit, but he has such a strong and well-developed character! Alyx and Eli are nice characters, so is everyone else. They still react to you naturally (see point 1),but they're great themselves. The complete absent-mindedness of Kleiner, the toughness of Alyx, grandfatherly talking of Eli, Breen's tireless propaganda sprouting, etc. And even the random citizens - like the woman crying on her husband's shoulder, they're believable. This is the sort of thing you really would see if the events were real.

6. Writing and voice acting. This pertains to HL2... it has some genius writing. Breen's speeches are the best writing I have seen in a FPS game, ever. The voice acting is also great, on Breen, Barney, Kleiner and all the others.

7. Story. The story is a saga. You don't even know what's going on, and that's great! You're a regular scientist who was late to work a week ago, and now you're saving the Earth... maybe... but you've got no idea what's going on. Adds to the immersion!

Immersion aside, the story in itself simply is very good, the mystery of the G-Man, the struggle of Xenians, the poor position of Breen, the fall of humanity, great stuff.

8. Not exagerrated. I can't really imagine any place where HL or HL2 go over-the-top. You know Painkiller? You fight on 100 enemies at once, or on another occasion you fight an enemy that's maybe as big as the Empire State Building. Over the top. Doom3, you get over the top hellish imagery and gore. FEAR, you get over the top visual effects such as slow-mo. Am I saying that's a bad thing? No, no! FEAR special effects are the best I've seen, Doom3 is very high on my favorite FPS list, and fighting a 100 enemies at once is fun. But HL2 has none of that and that helps it stay more immersive.

HM. Struggling. This just adds something for me - both HL games, you're really struggling. HL, something goes wrong, you struggle to get out, to survive. HL2, you are seemingly stronger, but actually you're struggling as a part of the conquered humanity against a superior force, struggling to hurt them however you can, invade their prison or even destroy the Citadel... but what is that for an empire presumably spanning many planets and dimensions?

 

[xombine]

What he said.

Another thing is the realistic dialogue and NPCs. They blow every other game away with believable-ness.

 

[Oppressor]

What can I say? The replies to my first post on this forum was extraordinary I really liked your thoughts, and i would like to give credits to Solver in particular who managed to sum up all essential elements building up the HL-series!

I'm very satisfied knowing that I'm not the only one so enormously fascinated about this unique game storyline and how Valve Software effects it into our computers (Not that I really thought i would be the only one

If I would quote the best parts of Solvers essay, I would have to quote it all! It's all there!

Thank you all for your interesting posts, and continue replying in this most relevant HL-subject!

 

[Shasta]

Oppressor sounds like he might be a researcher working for valve to help make sure (halflife 3?) is a success. (when they get started on it)

Just an observation/rumour to start.

 

[Yogibbear]

You forgot the crowbar!!! Best melee weapon ever! :cheers:

 

[Solver]

In fact, I think that Valve really should be listening to what people like about HL games... then again, they already know. If they didn't know it, they'd have added cutscenes to HL2, but they knew it wouldn't be the HL style.

 

[Greatgat]

The first time I nailed someone to the wall with the crossbow made me giggle like a pre-buscent cheerleader.

Generally, the weapons (the sights, the sounds, oh...) rock. The little looks the characters get when they are talking to you or to each other. The environments...

Oh, the environments...

 

[Oppressor]

No Shasta, I'm no researcher for Valve I'm jsut a huge fan of the series, and I'm curious if people like the same things as me

And Solver, yeah, Valve are listening to their fans. Or they just now how to deliver to the fans. And let's hope there will never be cutscenes in HL! Seeing everything from Gordons eyes is the number one priority!

But as I said, never have doubt in Valve, they know what they are doing. Concidering the undescribeable games they've delivered so far

 

[cquinn]

Solver said it better... I was gonna go for the simple summation:

The HL series makes you feel like you are part of the movie.

 

[Oppressor]

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Jintor]

Because it works.

It works well. It flows. The storyline doesn't get in the way of the action. The action doesn't get in the way of the storyline. NPC's react like people would. Some bits are creepy. Some bits are freakishly awesome. Some bits just kick total ass.

It's just a really good game.

 

[Steven]

Solver finished the whole thread in one post.