PlayingMantis
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- Joined
- Jul 2, 2004
- Messages
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(did you really think so?)
PWNED! :cheese:
But seriously, a few hours ago I hastily got myself a copy of the Belgian magazine PC GAMEPLAY 103 to find out if Half-life 2 is the second coming mankind was waiting for...
...well it is according to these guys.
I shall paraphrase the review so all of you who have been dying for (new) information can now know what has been said (with some minor spoilers, you’ve been warned!).
And for you dumb f**ks out there: Don't even consider flaming me, because I am only reflecting what PC GAMEPLAY has written. It has little or nothing to do with my own opinion!
Ok here we go:
They first start lamenting the fact that HL2 does not have a "proper" HL2 MP deathmach. They would have liked to play MP games within the HL2 world...
That is the "bad" part about the game.
So what's good, you ask?
Well everything else really. Read on.
(start of minor spoiler)
It seems that Gordon is working for G-man, but is teaming up with the Allience. Dr Breem seems to be a former collegue of Gordon from Black Mesa. He has teamed up with Xen aliens and is now controlling the world in nazi-fashion.
(end of minor spoiler)
HL2 is THE next gen FPShooter. Believe the hype! The BINK videos have functioned as a distracting mechanism, since the actual game seems to, on occasions, differ from the content showed in the BINKS.
The strongest attribute of the game seems to be the ingenious use of technology (Source) within the leveldesign. They praise VALVE for its genious. The puzzles are very intelligently devised. BUT,
it seems that no matter how big the levels are, and there a 15 of them in the game, they are all fairly linear in nature. There is a start and there is an end. The gameplay is not as openended as, say, FAR CRY.
City 17 = total war
Ravenholm = gore fest, fear and tension (reminiscing DOOM 3 in ambience)
The hovercraft level is extremely impressive and fun and warrants a separate game!
There are headcrabs, headhunters (venom has a paralysing effect?), zombiedogs (which are fast mofos), zombies (which are very impertinent it seems).
And then there are the combine. They will try to intelligently ambush by surrounding you, always taking cover when possible, they will flush you out when necessary (a la HL 1). The enemy AI is thus great. And opposing the combine is the Alliance with which you do battle, against the combine. You can "summon" up to 4 allies (with "v") , that will follow and do battle along with you (You can summon the because Gordon seems to have a Messianic reputation among the Allies). Sometimes they tend to get in your line of fire, temporarily obstructing your offence, but they seem to be able to reposition themselves once this occurs, thank Valve (so no Daikatana flaws here). They will also run for cover if overwhelm (sometimes they will even run away, which is considered to be another downer by PC GAMEPLAY).
Many impressive enemies (awe inspiring) like tanks, gunships, dropships(!) and of course the Striders...(which ARE destructible!). All guns from HL1 seem to have returned, plus the pheropods and the GRAVITY GUN: a pulse rifle with a "thermal grenade" as secondary fire! You can now use (tripod)turrets for your own purposes too...
All gunfights are intense. And playing on HARD is a real challenge.They finished the game in 19 hours on NORMAL. But they didn't want it to end so they will play it again. There is definitely a replay value! They want HL3!!!!
Gameplay 55/60
Graphics 18/20
Sound 17/20
SCORE 90%
P.S.: There is no mention whatsoever of Half-life: Source, which is a pity really.
A few observations of my own:
(start of potential spoilers)
-D.O.G is able to pick up cars and has an anthropomorphic anatomy (and is big)!
-Sometime down the line Both Eli and Alyx seem to get kidnapped by Dr. Breem.
-Barney finally admits he is gay and has only joined the Alliance in order to be close to Gordon declaring his silent “admiration” for Gordon while in battle… …well not really, but you never know.
(end potential of spoilers)
PWNED! :cheese:
But seriously, a few hours ago I hastily got myself a copy of the Belgian magazine PC GAMEPLAY 103 to find out if Half-life 2 is the second coming mankind was waiting for...
...well it is according to these guys.
I shall paraphrase the review so all of you who have been dying for (new) information can now know what has been said (with some minor spoilers, you’ve been warned!).
And for you dumb f**ks out there: Don't even consider flaming me, because I am only reflecting what PC GAMEPLAY has written. It has little or nothing to do with my own opinion!
Ok here we go:
They first start lamenting the fact that HL2 does not have a "proper" HL2 MP deathmach. They would have liked to play MP games within the HL2 world...
That is the "bad" part about the game.
So what's good, you ask?
Well everything else really. Read on.
(start of minor spoiler)
It seems that Gordon is working for G-man, but is teaming up with the Allience. Dr Breem seems to be a former collegue of Gordon from Black Mesa. He has teamed up with Xen aliens and is now controlling the world in nazi-fashion.
(end of minor spoiler)
HL2 is THE next gen FPShooter. Believe the hype! The BINK videos have functioned as a distracting mechanism, since the actual game seems to, on occasions, differ from the content showed in the BINKS.
The strongest attribute of the game seems to be the ingenious use of technology (Source) within the leveldesign. They praise VALVE for its genious. The puzzles are very intelligently devised. BUT,
it seems that no matter how big the levels are, and there a 15 of them in the game, they are all fairly linear in nature. There is a start and there is an end. The gameplay is not as openended as, say, FAR CRY.
City 17 = total war
Ravenholm = gore fest, fear and tension (reminiscing DOOM 3 in ambience)
The hovercraft level is extremely impressive and fun and warrants a separate game!
There are headcrabs, headhunters (venom has a paralysing effect?), zombiedogs (which are fast mofos), zombies (which are very impertinent it seems).
And then there are the combine. They will try to intelligently ambush by surrounding you, always taking cover when possible, they will flush you out when necessary (a la HL 1). The enemy AI is thus great. And opposing the combine is the Alliance with which you do battle, against the combine. You can "summon" up to 4 allies (with "v") , that will follow and do battle along with you (You can summon the because Gordon seems to have a Messianic reputation among the Allies). Sometimes they tend to get in your line of fire, temporarily obstructing your offence, but they seem to be able to reposition themselves once this occurs, thank Valve (so no Daikatana flaws here). They will also run for cover if overwhelm (sometimes they will even run away, which is considered to be another downer by PC GAMEPLAY).
Many impressive enemies (awe inspiring) like tanks, gunships, dropships(!) and of course the Striders...(which ARE destructible!). All guns from HL1 seem to have returned, plus the pheropods and the GRAVITY GUN: a pulse rifle with a "thermal grenade" as secondary fire! You can now use (tripod)turrets for your own purposes too...
All gunfights are intense. And playing on HARD is a real challenge.They finished the game in 19 hours on NORMAL. But they didn't want it to end so they will play it again. There is definitely a replay value! They want HL3!!!!
Gameplay 55/60
Graphics 18/20
Sound 17/20
SCORE 90%
P.S.: There is no mention whatsoever of Half-life: Source, which is a pity really.
A few observations of my own:
(start of potential spoilers)
-D.O.G is able to pick up cars and has an anthropomorphic anatomy (and is big)!
-Sometime down the line Both Eli and Alyx seem to get kidnapped by Dr. Breem.
-Barney finally admits he is gay and has only joined the Alliance in order to be close to Gordon declaring his silent “admiration” for Gordon while in battle… …well not really, but you never know.
(end potential of spoilers)