Opinion on Half-Life 2

[Lehesu]

I have been playing the game for a while, having purchased it after rave reviews on Gamespy and Gamespot, and must say that I am thoroughly disappointed in the game. I played the entire gamut of old Half-Life games, the original up through Blue Shift, and enjoyed them all and replayed them many times. But Half-Life 2's gameplay strikes me as stale and boring. The vehicles sequences are too long. The guns, while interesting, don't give a sense of power and are rather inaccurate, almost frustratingly so. The severe ammo limits on most of the guns doesn't help either, when you have to burn half a clip to kill someone at decent range. The enemies are more annoying, especially the damn ant lions. The old-school soldiers and alien grunts were much more interesting than the current combine soldiers, and the actual setting in the old game, was more interesting.

I will give Half-Life 2 credit for it's excellent graphics, movie-like digital actors (the characters are excellently voiced and rendered), and perhaps a few points for the gravity gun. But overall, it falls short of what I thought the successor of the original Half-Life would be.

Am I crazy in this assessment/too critical? Or do others share my opinion?

[Xiahou]

In short, I'd say its good- but overrated. But, what really ruined it for me was Steam.

[lars573]

My only problem was that you needed to have an internet connection to play single player. Steam is actually the best match making service and update sevice out there. I've never had a problem with the final version. The Beta of steam however was a bug riddled unusable mess, IMO.

[doc_bean]

I played the demo and wasn't impressed, to say the least. Glad I didn't bought it when it first came out, a good side to Steam I guess (I hate that system...)

[Spino]

HL2's graphics are great and the Source engine truly impressive in its ability to render massive indoor/outdoor levels at decent framerates. However, to be brutally honest I think HL2 looks more like a DX8 game jacked up on steroids with some DX9 features thrown in than a full blown DX9 feature laden game. The Source engine's lighting and shading ability simply pales in comparison to that of Doom3 engine which looks simply spectacular. On the other hand maybe those features were intentionally toned down in HL2 in order to keep the framerate at acceptable levels for most gamers (compare how poorly Doom3 engine games run on systems that can handle Source engine games with relative ease).

Where HL2 shines is its great gameplay. Mindless fps action or not I had a blast running through the various levels of the game. The Gravity Gun was so much fun to use I hated having to switch to another weapon.

Where HL2 fails miserably is atmosphere & story; I simply wasn't sucked into the game like I was with the original. Sure, it looked good & the gameplay was fun but I didn't feel like I was Gordon Freeman again and really didn't give a damn about the world or the people I was fighting to save. This is in contrast to the original Half Life which pulled me in and kept me interested until the silliness of the final levels became apparent. Furthermore the plot and dialogue in HL2 was simply awful, as in 'made for Sci-Fi channel movie' awful. I also hated the lame female love interest and sidekick. Talk about shameless pandering to loveless geeks!

HL2 pet peeve #1: Alyx; Gordon's Halle Berry inspired sidekick.

HL2 pet peeve #2: Inability to frag npcs. Part of the charm of the original HL was being able to torture the poor npcs with your vast arsenal of weapons or by leading them to their certain doom. In HL2 you can't so much as sneeze on npcs... boooo! My friend used to come up with ingenious methods of sending those scientists from HL1 into electronic heaven...

HL2 pet favorite #1: Gravity Gun!

HL2 pet favorite #2: Dog; Alyx's clever robotic creation. I wanted more of Dog and less of Alyx. Outside of Dog's really cool introduction to the game (playing 'fetch' with players) the designers simply dropped the ball (pun intended) with this wonderful npc. Dog's abilities could have been put to use in some really ingenious levels but instead players were simply shown him doing his thing in scripted, non-interactive sequences...

[Kralizec]

Anybody who played this game (I didn't) should know about this

[discovery1]

Plot isn't that good. Ok I guess. Hate the love interest. At least Freeman never talks.

But the gameplay is great. Ravenhome, the battle into Nova Prospect, and its aftermath all standout. One perticular scene I remeber is just after holding off hoardes of Combine soldiers while a demolition team clear some rubble. We dropped down into an underground highway. And just as I was thinking 'Ok, we're safe no time for a breather' a Stalker appears out of the mist in the tunnel. That moment was perfect.

[professorspatula]

I have been playing the game for a while, having purchased it after rave reviews on Gamespy and Gamespot, and must say that I am thoroughly disappointed in the game. I played the entire gamut of old Half-Life games, the original up through Blue Shift, and enjoyed them all and replayed them many times. But Half-Life 2's gameplay strikes me as stale and boring. The vehicles sequences are too long. The guns, while interesting, don't give a sense of power and are rather inaccurate, almost frustratingly so. The severe ammo limits on most of the guns doesn't help either, when you have to burn half a clip to kill someone at decent range. The enemies are more annoying, especially the damn ant lions. The old-school soldiers and alien grunts were much more interesting than the current combine soldiers, and the actual setting in the old game, was more interesting.

I will give Half-Life 2 credit for it's excellent graphics, movie-like digital actors (the characters are excellently voiced and rendered), and perhaps a few points for the gravity gun. But overall, it falls short of what I thought the successor of the original Half-Life would be.

Am I crazy in this assessment/too critical? Or do others share my opinion?

That's exactly the same as I feel about HL2. I still haven't completed it after a year and a half because of that. It just feels samey and boring at times. It's not as bad as the Xen part of the original HL, but not a patch on HL as a whole. It doesn't seem to flow as nicely as HL1 either. Like you say, the vehicles sections are too long: once you've drove through a couple of tunnels, stopping to kill a few people along the way, you don't really need another 10 tunnels of the same. The Antlion section was tedious too. How standing on a feeble wooden palette is enough to stop them sensing your presence is nonsense, but why make the player have section after section of sub-par 'make a walkway out of a few inconspiciously placed objects puzzles'? There's not even another weapon to look forward to after the first couple of hours, and those there are are pretty feeble.

It's still better than Doom 3 though. That's another one I've yet to complete. Far Cry however, now I played that to the end and replayed it some more (except the last parts - they were crap too).

[BDC]

I liked it. The shadows needed work though, and some proper teamplay bits would be nice. Maybe, "We're the Resistance, help us take out the Combine convey on the mountainside below" or something. Silly beach sequences too.

[DukeofSerbia]

One of the most boring FPS. HL1 is drastically better. Far Cry rules.

[Geoffrey S]

Seen from a gameplay perspective, each seperate moment in Half Life 2 I loved. The gravity gun is a joy to use, pretty much each moment felt carefully designed. Only exception is Ravenholm, which lasted too long. Where it falls down is the general feel; it felt like I was playing a game, with the mechanics being too obvious. The story never dragged me in or made me want to play to find out what happened next, it was always just enjoying the moment I was playing. It always feels like one big playground for me and my gravity gun.

Episode One, I think, improves on this flaw. It's still far from perfect, but Alyx being a constant presence does create something of a narrative and adds a lot of character lacking from the original.

Graphics are good, but not great. It's not photo-realistic like Doom 3, but it's more the flexibility and range of things possible that impresses. Just looking at the myriad of mods available shows how flexible the Source engine is.

So, I really enjoyed it, as a game; as an experience there's plenty of room for improvement.

[Fragony]

Half-life 2 doesn't do it for me, I kept thinking 'hey that is pretty neat, why am I not having fun'. I was bored the entire game, except the ravenhole level which was very atmospheric. I'd say Valve has it's heart at the right place and truely wanted to make an awesome game but didn't expect the genre to evolve without their magic touch. The vehicle levels were just annoying, the combat a step back and there is no challenge to speak off. And to make it even worse, I am Gordon Freeman not Link. 'Glad you are here docter Freeman' 'Yay it's docter freeman we are saved' etc etc etc.

[Conqueror]

Overall it was ok, not great. Some of the scenes were lots of fun. I loved the vechiles but hated the way you had to constantly stop, jump out and go on foot to do stuff. Would have been better to have longer sequences of uninterrupted drivin' around. They also should have included some chase sequences, that would have been great.

The weapons suck compared to HL1. The sub-machine gun is worse as are the xbow & rpg, and I'll never forgive Valve for leaving out the Snarks (by far the greatest 'weapon' in the original). The ant lion sponge thing is no substitute. The Gravity Gun is kinda sorta nice, except for the Super Gravity Gun you get in the end levels (that one rocked)

The biggest disappointment is the lack of good MP mods. HL1 spawned some truly great mod projects that grew big and there was plenty of servers to play them. In HL2 you got Garry's Mod (not my stuff) and that's about it.

[professorspatula]

The thing with mods for these next gen FPS games is the requirements for making a decent mod is surely far greater. To get anything resembling anywhere near the professional of the original title, you need bigger teams and more skilled ones. I bought all the 3 big FPS titles of 2004 - Far Cry, Doom 3, and HL2 and there's been very few complete or interesting mods for any of them 2 years on. As games get more advanced, it's surely going to get harder for bedroom programmers to make good mods in a timely fashion. Even MTW2 is going to push the modding requirements up. People will expect new units to be as (or more) detailed and complex than those that ship with the game. And the units in MTW2 sure seem a bit more lively and more impressive than those in RTW. I suppose it's up to the developers to make it easier for the modders where possible.

[ShadesPanther]

The thing with mods for these next gen FPS games is the requirements for making a decent mod is surely far greater. To get anything resembling anywhere near the professional of the original title, you need bigger teams and more skilled ones. I bought all the 3 big FPS titles of 2004 - Far Cry, Doom 3, and HL2 and there's been very few complete or interesting mods for any of them 2 years on. As games get more advanced, it's surely going to get harder for bedroom programmers to make good mods in a timely fashion. Even MTW2 is going to push the modding requirements up. People will expect new units to be as (or more) detailed and complex than those that ship with the game. And the units in MTW2 sure seem a bit more lively and more impressive than those in RTW. I suppose it's up to the developers to make it easier for the modders where possible.

I agree with that.
Counter strike, by beta 7 wasn't really looking great. It's graphics improved by retail but even 1.6 is poor in comparasson to Source.
It's just the way it is now. The new mods for HL2 are made almost by gaming studios making a new game except using the basic code.

[Soulforged]

Not to contradict everyone here, but it was the best FPS of all time. Then again I haven't played a lot of FPS or a lot of video games, but this game has everything. From the lack of ammo to the history and ambiance, it was perfect. If I've some complain it's about the last part of the game into the Citadel, it felt extremely easy to win it with the Gravity Gun manging hordes of enemies, even two RPGs at the time. But the most outstanding aspect of the game, besides the engine and gameplay, was the history, a wonderful idea diplayed almost perfectly the script followed closely to it.

[Lehesu]

The history? You have played the original Half-Life, I wager? The fact that there is no significant linkages between the games (that I am aware of) just adds to flakiness. They were going for the "keep them in the dark to capture that same sense of mystery in the original series" but ended up with "I don't really care about any of these people because I don't know what in heck is going on". They even lopped on some character background that didn't exist. Barney was a good friend of Freeman? Since when? And it still irritates me that Adrian Shephard has yet to get his due.
Reducing ammo is only cool if it rewards accuracy and judicial use of firepower. IE, if you husband your shots, you should be fine. In Half-Life 2, seeing as how the weapons tend to be lukewarm and innaccurate at best (the shotgun comes to mind), the lack of ammo is just annoying.

The engine is nice, though.

[Soulforged]

The history? You have played the original Half-Life, I wager? The fact that there is no significant linkages between the games (that I am aware of) just adds to flakiness. They were going for the "keep them in the dark to capture that same sense of mystery in the original series" but ended up with "I don't really care about any of these people because I don't know what in heck is going on". They even lopped on some character background that didn't exist. Barney was a good friend of Freeman? Since when? And it still irritates me that Adrian Shephard has yet to get his due.
Reducing ammo is only cool if it rewards accuracy and judicial use of firepower. IE, if you husband your shots, you should be fine. In Half-Life 2, seeing as how the weapons tend to be lukewarm and innaccurate at best (the shotgun comes to mind), the lack of ammo is just annoying.

I didn't played the first one because I got my hands on it before the second one and it seemed plain boring (poor graphics in comparission, poor animation effects, etc.) The history of Freeman seems more complicated than just a lined stream wich flows in one direction in time. You'll notice that the G-Man (who adds a lot of mistery to the history by the way) takes Freeman out of the nothing (the ether perhaps), he can manipulate his life as he wants. So that rough change in the history, that loss of connection is justified IMO. The idea was simple and compelling too, nature vs technology. It gave the feeling of a crumbling world, from the sad envioraments at the begining to the chaos of revolution at the end. I frankly couldn't wait until Episode I was out. And now that I passed Epidose I, I cannot wait for Episode II, I particualry like to escape from a dying place it brings a sign of relief and relaxation to me. I always cared about the people that I was trying to save, of course I had the advantage of having played only this secon part, but I generally do the same with every game, to take an example I don't want to have any casualties in RTW, so I replay the battle if necessary. What surprises me is that you found ammo too hard to manage? It wasn't that hard. Keep your shotgun at head height shoot or double shoot depending on the enemy, constantly move pointing always at the same spot, remember changing guns to fit the situation (the crossbow is particulary useful), or simply shoot to the chest mass with your shot gun. The same rules apply and it was really easy for me, even on hard difficulty, most part of the game you don't even have to aim, you've explosive barrels, the gravity gun, companions, mines, the RPG, contact and timed granades (wich have he advantage of not exploding while you hold it vs the first half life). I always had plenty of ammo to waste, except in two cases: the Shotgun was always near being empty but I always killed someone who helped me recharging it and Ravenholm, but Ravenholm was an scenary specially designed to make fun use of the newly introduced gun and engine (not to say that it was scary as hell ). There's a lot of guides out there that can help you with those problems.

[Lehesu]

Not to be harsh or anything, but Half-Life was loads better because of its gameplay, not the visual gimmickry that most people confuse with "good gameplay". Also, as a veteran player of many an FPS, including Counter-Strike, Rogue Spear, and other less forgiving FPS, I can handle a digital gun fairly well (I beat HL 2 with little to no difficulty). The problem in Half-Life 2 is that the guns in and of themselves are inherently innaccurate at range and underpowered. The worst example is the SMG, that takes almost a half clip to kill one guy, barring a lucky spray, which is all that it can do. I never ran out of ammo completely, but it did handicap my weapon selection. When the gaming conceit becomes "limit ammo to force him to use different weapons that would otherwise be worthless" than I get annoyed. The overwatch gun is better than the smg, but at times I get forced to revert back when I run out of ammo. In HL 1, each gun (perhaps barring the pistol) was useful in some situation.

The G-Man is interesting, and I do like the way they portray him in this new outing. However, most of the fun in the original Half-Life was trying to figure out what the heck happened, and being able to explore a massive research station populated by interesting allies and enemies. We have substituted all of that with a dubious romance thread, and a "Gordon is the hero of the world" plot. When I played Blue Shift, I felt like a bored security guard whose day had suddenly turned into a fight for survival. When I played HL 1, I felt like a scientist thrust into danger and suddenly the target of hit squads just for bumbling along and trying to survive. When I play HL 2, I don't feel the relationships between Barney or Kleiner or Halle Berry (Alyx, whatever) because they never really existed and I subsequently don't care. HL 2 has substituted the "ordinary schmo on the job trying to survive" deal to a "VIP person who needs to save the world and get the girl".

[professorspatula]

I'm all for limiting ammo for weapons in games, but I don't think they got it right either. I never feel I can use the better guns because I'll run out of ammo in 10 seconds, but then I stumble upon ammo for them anyway but I can't pick up the ammo because I never used the guns for lack of it in the first place.

The guns can be inaccurate, and really they should be as Gordon isn't a trained soldier, he's just a geek in some hi-tech suit who prior to the Black Mesa incident probably still lived at home with his mum and was a regular goer to Star Trek conventions. It's just the guns feel weedy and small. I want a bit more 'chunkiness' to them. I eject vomit at a more deadly velocity and loudness after a heavy night of drinking than the sub-machine spits out bullets or peanuts, whatever it uses. Even the robot security guns are laughably weak. Heck they fall over if you just happen to walk swifty past them, the sudden gust of air enough to send them flailing to the floor and to do that 70-80s Hollywood style malfunctioning robot routine.

[Lehesu]

I would hope Gordon gets better aim after that long Black Mesa thing. A man can't kill that many baddies and not pick up some tips on aiming.

[Soulforged]

Not to be harsh or anything, but Half-Life was loads better because of its gameplay, not the visual gimmickry that most people confuse with "good gameplay". Also, as a veteran player of many an FPS, including Counter-Strike, Rogue Spear, and other less forgiving FPS, I can handle a digital gun fairly well (I beat HL 2 with little to no difficulty). The problem in Half-Life 2 is that the guns in and of themselves are inherently innaccurate at range and underpowered. The worst example is the SMG, that takes almost a half clip to kill one guy, barring a lucky spray, which is all that it can do. I never ran out of ammo completely, but it did handicap my weapon selection. When the gaming conceit becomes "limit ammo to force him to use different weapons that would otherwise be worthless" than I get annoyed. The overwatch gun is better than the smg, but at times I get forced to revert back when I run out of ammo. In HL 1, each gun (perhaps barring the pistol) was useful in some situation.

Well you beat me there mate, I'm no veteran. But I didn't felt the guns as innacurate, however I could agree with you in the part of "it takes too much" to kill a guy. That's true, if it was for me I'd reduce everything to one or two shots to make it more realistic, but that will handicap gameplay.

The G-Man is interesting, and I do like the way they portray him in this new outing. However, most of the fun in the original Half-Life was trying to figure out what the heck happened, and being able to explore a massive research station populated by interesting allies and enemies. We have substituted all of that with a dubious romance thread, and a "Gordon is the hero of the world" plot. When I played Blue Shift, I felt like a bored security guard whose day had suddenly turned into a fight for survival. When I played HL 1, I felt like a scientist thrust into danger and suddenly the target of hit squads just for bumbling along and trying to survive. When I play HL 2, I don't feel the relationships between Barney or Kleiner or Halle Berry (Alyx, whatever) because they never really existed and I subsequently don't care. HL 2 has substituted the "ordinary schmo on the job trying to survive" deal to a "VIP person who needs to save the world and get the girl".

Exactly. But two corrections and some notes: 1- We don't yet know if Gordon will get the girl. 2- He's VIP in fact. Maybe you start by surviving a certain danger but you end by saving the world in the first one, if I'm not mistaken. The G-Man takes you again, following orders of someone who supposedly hired your services, and this time you're a famous guy, also known for shooting accurately and killing massives loads of bad guys. 3- About the Barney thing, I really don't know because I didn't played the first game entirely, however I could tell you that I liked how he was introduced and the roll he played. I was always waiting to know about Barney, Kleiner or Alyx again. 4- He doesn't save the world per se he only tries to save City 17. 5- I don't know why you call it a "dubious romance thread" I thought that it was fitting, and perhaps after the first one and some expansions/mods we could start to feel that Gordon is another human being. That's my opinion.

[Lehesu]

Gordon was never "hired" per se. He was forced to join the G-Man in a "take it or die" offer. And, as they put it, City 17 was the nexus of all the cities in the world, through some convoluted reason that has yet to be explained (which comes off as tacked on and ill-thought-out). I don't know. In the first series, everything meshed together and the way the storylines interweaved a bit between the three sagas was very interesting. This current generation so far feels ill-thought out, plan as we go. I really hope that later "episodes" will resolve this.

[The_678]

I haven't played this yet but when I buy the game finally it will be for the online play only. I love DoD for HL1 and is the only online shooter I pretty much play.

On the limited ammo thing, I just wanted to add that teh best ammo usage I've seen in a game was with Far Cry in that even If you don't have the weapon currently in your inventory you still pick up ammo. I remember one time late in the game I picked up a pistol again just for fun and to my surprise I still had 150 bullets for it. I thought this was great and afterwards I didn't care about dropping my Rocket Launcher because I knew if I needed one again, I would still have my ammo.

[sapi]

Anybody who played this game (I didn't) should know about this

Yep :P

HL2 was an excellent game and if you think otherwise than you're one of those jaded people who still believe that mtw was better than rtw [/prepares for flaming], and ep1 only improves on it.

The brilliant thing about the game is - no matter how many flaws you can pick out afterwards, if you are so inclined - that it manages to draw you into the game so much that you want what the characters want; you feel a part of the game.

Don't listen to the critics; find out for yourself.

and for the record, you didn't have to be connected to the internet to play, only to validate your copy.

[Lehesu]

Episode 1 was the most bald-faced attempt at milking a franchise that I have ever seen, but whatever.

And comparing straight up vanillas, yes, MTW was much better than RTW.

And HL2 never managed to draw me into the game. I didn't feel compelled to play another thirty minutes or an hour. During the vehicle segements, when I realized that, in fact, they would not end in a timely fashion, I just quit right in the middle of it and came back later. The whole character thing with Alyx feels awkward...I don't talk or reciprocate her feelings, so it just feels like she is coming on to me and I don't really want any part of it. It feels forced. And those little NPCs that try to help me are about as useless as anything, which strengthens my aloof feelings toward them in the first place.

I don't know if you guys have actually played Half-Life 1 or other FPSs. HL2 is pretty good on its own, but fails to carry the mantle of greatness that the original had. Heck, I could name several games in which the guns were better, the storyline just as strong, and the atmosphere much more impressive. AvP2 comes to mind.

[Leet Eriksson]

I agree episode 1, while provided some nice story, was a pretty shoddy attempt at milking the franchise (only one new enemy, and its not really that new).

I hope for more content in episode 2.

[Dorkus]

agree with those who say this game is boring. for an experienced fps player, there just is not much interesting here. they throw the same stuff at you over and over. it felt like work playing this game. NO idea how it got such good reviews. shiny graphics, i suppose.

[lars573]

The problem with these new enteries into the classics of the FPS genre (Doom Quake and HL) is that the small bits of evolution in the FPS game are appearant in their absence in HL2 and those others. In the 90's then Doom, Wuake and HL were put out the protagonists (with a few exceptions) in the game had no personality. Zero, they didn't talk, they didn't emote beyond grunting in pain (and Gordon Freeman didn't even do that, but he was given a name at least). Now we have characters in FPS games that talk you can see in cut scenes and have personality. You care about what happens to them. At least I do. Some of my favorite FPS games are Postal 2, Serious Sam, and CoD. Now of those 3 only 1 doesn't have a guy you play as with loads of personality. Although it can be agrued that Serious Sam is a tranparent rip-off of Duke Nukem.

That's why I don't have as much drive to finish Doom3, Quake4, or HL2. As I do with Postal2, Serious Sam, CoDv1/2, or even MoH:PA.

HL2 falls flat in the narrative department because he sits there like an autistic lemp while a woman flirts with him and people fight a war that he inspired some how. This kind of character was fine in 1998 but in 2006 it's not. The way we expect to interact with an FPS story has changed. HL2 didn't.

[Ab Urbe Condita]

To the OP: Your problem is that you post on a Total War messageboard. You hate everything.