Half life 2 without HL1?

I've got HL2 and I'm wondering whether I should just dive in there and play it or whether I should get HL1 and play through it first. Do I NEED to play HL1 in order to understand any of the plot etc? Will I get really confused without playing the first one?

Really wanna play this series since it's got so much hype and is famous for being ground breaking. Any reccomendable mods to play with from the start etc to enhance the experience?

You don't absolutely need to play the first one as they take place like 20+ years apart, but in all honesty you could just read what happens in the first one which takes like 5 minutes tops to explain so you aren't completely lost.

Thats not to say you shouldn't play HL and OF, they are really fun if a bit dated games. There is a mod coming to HL2 that recreates it fully on the source engine called Black Mesa, but I don't think it will be out very soon.

And if you are getting HL2, get Orange Box. Seriously.

No way is Half-Life a 15 hour game on first playthrough. It's one of the longest single-player shooters out there. And, while it isn't necessary that you play Half-Life to enjoy the greatness of Half-Life 2, it is recommended so you get a more first-hand familiarity with the series and be able to say that you've played one of the greatest PC games of all time. Also, it'll do you wonders just because you'll actually play one of the greatest PC games of all time.

So yes, by all means do play Half-Life.

FOR SUREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE PLAY PART 1 FIRST !!! AWESOME

How long is it? Gameplay hours wise? Since I tend to get bored real fast on games unless I get sucked into a sweet story.death1505921

HL1 wont take you more than 10 hours. Its worth it, though. I mean if you only own HL2 go ahead and play through it. But if you bought a bundle where you own both HL1 and HL2 then you should play HL1 first.

I played through HL1 a couple of months ago and it was as fantastic as i first remembered it.

Graphically speaking, it looks somewhat dated but is still very playable. It's an incredible game.

What exactly makes it incredible? To me an FPS is an FPS you shoot people in the face. WHat makes me prefer other FPS over some is that their story is great.death1505921

if you're going to answer your own question, what do you need us for?

[QUOTE="death1505921"]What exactly makes it incredible? To me an FPS is an FPS you shoot people in the face. WHat makes me prefer other FPS over some is that their story is great.fireandcloud

if you're going to answer your own question, what do you need us for?

What? How did I answer my own question. What makes it so special? I then said what I like in a game and find most fps similar. What sets HL apart from them.

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

[QUOTE="death1505921"]What exactly makes it incredible? To me an FPS is an FPS you shoot people in the face. WHat makes me prefer other FPS over some is that their story is great.death1505921

if you're going to answer your own question, what do you need us for?

What? How did I answer my own question. What makes it so special? I then said that I like a game and find most fps similar. What sets HL apart from them.

great story.

for an fps.

[QUOTE="death1505921"]

[QUOTE="death1505921"]What exactly makes it incredible? To me an FPS is an FPS you shoot people in the face. WHat makes me prefer other FPS over some is that their story is great.fireandcloud

if you're going to answer your own question, what do you need us for?

What? How did I answer my own question. What makes it so special? I then said that I like a game and find most fps similar. What sets HL apart from them.

Half Life has:

A cinematic introduction sequence (which didn't happen back then), and did a good job of making the player feel like he was an actual character with a history who lived in a real world, rather than Doom guy or Quake guy. Back then, FPS characters were a hand, a gun and occasionally a face on the hud. Freeman brought a strong sense of realism (and therefore immersion) with him.

Neutral NPCs who talk to you, and help you. This added to the sense of realism by further creating the concept of the setting being real. This didn't happen in FPS games back then.

A story that is told to the player through events and through character dialogues rather than through loading screen text messages. Half Life's story is really just Doom's in a slightly different setting, but it is told in a very good way.

Some groundbreaking AI. The Half Life marines flanked, used grenades and retreated when injured. At the time, most AI would either charge at you, or shoot you constantly.

Enemies who are just cool. I personally think that the Half Life marines were the coolest (looking and sounding) enemies in computer game history until the F.E.A.R clones showed up.

Awesome music that's used extremely well.

Some amazing set pieces. Some of the enemies in Half Life are pretty amazing - like, as an example, a three-headed-monster-thing that hunts with sound. You can't kill it with regular arms, and you have to sneak past it. If it hears you, you die. You can distract it with grenades. Stuff like that just didn't happen in FPS games back then. You had regular enemies who took three shots to kill and bosses who took twenty shots to kill. That was how things were.

The thing you have to remember is that Half Life is almost ten years old. By modern standards, it's mediocre in every single way. But back at its release, it was just about the best you could get in almost every way. People playing it for the first time today probably won't be all that impressed by it, but the people who played it long ago will always remember how it changed everything, and, despite the fact that it is aging, will always call it a classic, and will recommend it to everyone. Regardless of whether or not it impresses them.

But, that said, Half Life has some awesome gunplay. The enemies look and sound great, the AI is better than Half Life 2's (which arguably makes the gunplay better) and many of the weapons are very satisfying to use.

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

[QUOTE="death1505921"]What exactly makes it incredible? To me an FPS is an FPS you shoot people in the face. WHat makes me prefer other FPS over some is that their story is great.death1505921

if you're going to answer your own question, what do you need us for?

What? How did I answer my own question. What makes it so special? I then said what I like in a game and find most fps similar. What sets HL apart from them.

the thing thats great about Halflife is that you are so much a part of the story.

In other shooters, you see a cutscene. You see a Space Marine blow up an AA turret in Quake 4...you see the Predator getting into an ambush position as he plans to rescue his clanmates in AvP2.

In Halflfie, you do all of those things. The story is also extremely good (for a shooter, mind you) the only bad thing is that it is vague...you have to tie a lot of things together yourself.

But, to agree with Artur to an extent, it really is dated. The thing about old games is that theyre very good for the people that played them originally, but not good for those that didnt. I didnt play Fallout 2 until a year ago, and while I have an appreciation for it I just dont like it. I think you might feel the same way about Halflife.

So, just go ahead and blast through HL2 and Episodes 1 and 2.

IMO nope :? things will still make sense without HL1

If your planning to get HL2 get the Orange Box gives you HL2,HL2:Episode 1,HL2:eopisode 2,Portal,and Team Fortress 2 all wonderful games for 50 bucks great deal :) enjoy :P

Half Life has:

A cinematic introduction sequence (which didn't happen back then), and did a good job of making the player feel like he was an actual character with a history who lived in a real world, rather than Doom guy or Quake guy. Back then, FPS characters were a hand, a gun and occasionally a face on the hud. Freeman brought a strong sense of realism (and therefore immersion) with him.

Neutral NPCs who talk to you, and help you. This added to the sense of realism by further creating the concept of the setting being real. This didn't happen in FPS games back then.

A story that is told to the player through events and through character dialogues rather than through loading screen text messages. Half Life's story is really just Doom's in a slightly different setting, but it is told in a very good way.

Some groundbreaking AI. The Half Life marines flanked, used grenades and retreated when injured. At the time, most AI would either charge at you, or shoot you constantly.

Enemies who are just cool. I personally think that the Half Life marines were the coolest (looking and sounding) enemies in computer game history until the F.E.A.R clones showed up.

Awesome music that's used extremely well.

Some amazing set pieces. Some of the enemies in Half Life are pretty amazing - like, as an example, a three-headed-monster-thing that hunts with sound. You can't kill it with regular arms, and you have to sneak past it. If it hears you, you die. You can distract it with grenades. Stuff like that just didn't happen in FPS games back then. You had regular enemies who took three shots to kill and bosses who took twenty shots to kill. That was how things were.

The thing you have to remember is that Half Life is almost ten years old. By modern standards, it's mediocre in every single way. But back at its release, it was just about the best you could get in almost every way. People playing it for the first time today probably won't be all that impressed by it, but the people who played it long ago will always remember how it changed everything, and, despite the fact that it is aging, will always call it a classic, and will recommend it to everyone. Regardless of whether or not it impresses them.

But, that said, Half Life has some awesome gunplay. The enemies look and sound great, the AI is better than Half Life 2's (which arguably makes the gunplay better) and many of the weapons are very satisfying to use.

mfsa

This was my first time playing it and it doesn't feel dated at all, the only reason I stopped was because I'm getting tired, so point is awesome game, even today.

[QUOTE="mfsa"]

Half Life has:

A cinematic introduction sequence (which didn't happen back then), and did a good job of making the player feel like he was an actual character with a history who lived in a real world, rather than Doom guy or Quake guy. Back then, FPS characters were a hand, a gun and occasionally a face on the hud. Freeman brought a strong sense of realism (and therefore immersion) with him.

Neutral NPCs who talk to you, and help you. This added to the sense of realism by further creating the concept of the setting being real. This didn't happen in FPS games back then.

A story that is told to the player through events and through character dialogues rather than through loading screen text messages. Half Life's story is really just Doom's in a slightly different setting, but it is told in a very good way.

Some groundbreaking AI. The Half Life marines flanked, used grenades and retreated when injured. At the time, most AI would either charge at you, or shoot you constantly.

Enemies who are just cool. I personally think that the Half Life marines were the coolest (looking and sounding) enemies in computer game history until the F.E.A.R clones showed up.

Awesome music that's used extremely well.

Some amazing set pieces. Some of the enemies in Half Life are pretty amazing - like, as an example, a three-headed-monster-thing that hunts with sound. You can't kill it with regular arms, and you have to sneak past it. If it hears you, you die. You can distract it with grenades. Stuff like that just didn't happen in FPS games back then. You had regular enemies who took three shots to kill and bosses who took twenty shots to kill. That was how things were.

The thing you have to remember is that Half Life is almost ten years old. By modern standards, it's mediocre in every single way. But back at its release, it was just about the best you could get in almost every way. People playing it for the first time today probably won't be all that impressed by it, but the people who played it long ago will always remember how it changed everything, and, despite the fact that it is aging, will always call it a classic, and will recommend it to everyone. Regardless of whether or not it impresses them.

But, that said, Half Life has some awesome gunplay. The enemies look and sound great, the AI is better than Half Life 2's (which arguably makes the gunplay better) and many of the weapons are very satisfying to use.

achilles614

This was my first time playing it and it doesn't feel dated at all, the only reason I stopped was because I'm getting tired, so point is awesome game, even today.

ahhh blast pit....that takes me back.

Just wait til surface tension!

By the sounds of it, it was one of those games that you really needed to play it at the time. I take all these things for granted now after HL1 made them. So I think It would ruin it for me, and the last thing I want is to have a bad experience with it. I think I'll play HL2 and skip HL1, if I get confused or anything I'll go back and play it. I really want to get into the episodes, because it seems there is a pretty deep story to them.death1505921

I recommend that you play BlackMesa instead of HL1. You don't have any nostalgic bonds to the first game, so the changes to the game won't bother you at all. Maybe they'll tweak the AI, weapons and animations and make the end levels a little better (I hate the ones in the original). Those imprvements and the enhanced graphics (and hopefully physics, it's Source after all) and this game can actually become a good title. Like others have said, it is a classic and a big part of gaming history, it's worth to check out the enhanced version. I think.

[QUOTE="achilles614"][QUOTE="mfsa"]

Half Life has:

A cinematic introduction sequence (which didn't happen back then), and did a good job of making the player feel like he was an actual character with a history who lived in a real world, rather than Doom guy or Quake guy. Back then, FPS characters were a hand, a gun and occasionally a face on the hud. Freeman brought a strong sense of realism (and therefore immersion) with him.

Neutral NPCs who talk to you, and help you. This added to the sense of realism by further creating the concept of the setting being real. This didn't happen in FPS games back then.

A story that is told to the player through events and through character dialogues rather than through loading screen text messages. Half Life's story is really just Doom's in a slightly different setting, but it is told in a very good way.

Some groundbreaking AI. The Half Life marines flanked, used grenades and retreated when injured. At the time, most AI would either charge at you, or shoot you constantly.

Enemies who are just cool. I personally think that the Half Life marines were the coolest (looking and sounding) enemies in computer game history until the F.E.A.R clones showed up.

Awesome music that's used extremely well.

Some amazing set pieces. Some of the enemies in Half Life are pretty amazing - like, as an example, a three-headed-monster-thing that hunts with sound. You can't kill it with regular arms, and you have to sneak past it. If it hears you, you die. You can distract it with grenades. Stuff like that just didn't happen in FPS games back then. You had regular enemies who took three shots to kill and bosses who took twenty shots to kill. That was how things were.

The thing you have to remember is that Half Life is almost ten years old. By modern standards, it's mediocre in every single way. But back at its release, it was just about the best you could get in almost every way. People playing it for the first time today probably won't be all that impressed by it, but the people who played it long ago will always remember how it changed everything, and, despite the fact that it is aging, will always call it a classic, and will recommend it to everyone. Regardless of whether or not it impresses them.

But, that said, Half Life has some awesome gunplay. The enemies look and sound great, the AI is better than Half Life 2's (which arguably makes the gunplay better) and many of the weapons are very satisfying to use.

mrbojangles25

This was my first time playing it and it doesn't feel dated at all, the only reason I stopped was because I'm getting tired, so point is awesome game, even today.

ahhh blast pit....that takes me back.

Just wait til surface tension!

oh yeah that thing!! that level was insane! first i was like wtf? then i just threw some nades to be able to run.

[QUOTE="death1505921"]By the sounds of it, it was one of those games that you really needed to play it at the time. I take all these things for granted now after HL1 made them. So I think It would ruin it for me, and the last thing I want is to have a bad experience with it. I think I'll play HL2 and skip HL1, if I get confused or anything I'll go back and play it. I really want to get into the episodes, because it seems there is a pretty deep story to them.artur79

I recommend that you play BlackMesa instead of HL1. You don't have any nostalgic bonds to the first game, so the changes to the game won't bother you at all. Maybe they'll tweak the AI, weapons and animations and make the end levels a little better (I hate the ones in the original). Those imprvements and the enhanced graphics (and hopefully physics, it's Source after all) and this game can actually become a good title. Like others have said, it is a classic and a big part of gaming history, it's worth to check out the enhanced version. I think.

black mesa is the name of the lab right? play it instead of hl1? is it a mod? i only have opppsing force and blue shift?

[QUOTE="artur79"]

[QUOTE="death1505921"]By the sounds of it, it was one of those games that you really needed to play it at the time. I take all these things for granted now after HL1 made them. So I think It would ruin it for me, and the last thing I want is to have a bad experience with it. I think I'll play HL2 and skip HL1, if I get confused or anything I'll go back and play it. I really want to get into the episodes, because it seems there is a pretty deep story to them.bawathegamer

I recommend that you play BlackMesa instead of HL1. You don't have any nostalgic bonds to the first game, so the changes to the game won't bother you at all. Maybe they'll tweak the AI, weapons and animations and make the end levels a little better (I hate the ones in the original). Those imprvements and the enhanced graphics (and hopefully physics, it's Source after all) and this game can actually become a good title. Like others have said, it is a classic and a big part of gaming history, it's worth to check out the enhanced version. I think.

black mesa is the name of the lab right? play it instead of hl1? is it a mod? i only have opppsing force and blue shift?

it's a mod that's going to be released in never. it's a re-creation of hl1 using the source engine. just google black mesa: source (it's actually called 'black mesa' now), and you'll find info on it pretty easily.

is it just me or are the enemies in half life one pretty hard to kill (humans).hl2 felt way to easy and was a breeaze to kill thembawathegamer

it's cuz of the steroids the marines are taking. the combine are not quite human, which may be why they're so inept.

Yes, get Half-Life 1. It's one of the greatest games ever made, and it's still amazing, even by today's standards. Hell, even if you don;t finish it, at least play through Surface Tension, the greatest single level ever devised.Mediocre_man90

really ?? you mean the one where hes outside all the time in that canyon region? man i hated that chapter.soo dam long.but i loved the last part where you use that console or watever to blow up that huge blue dude and break down the walls and stuff.really cool.i coudnt believe this game was so old when i played that part

black mesa is the name of the lab right? play it instead of hl1? is it a mod? i only have opppsing force and blue shift?

bawathegamer

do you mean november? and is it the hl1 game with the hl2 engine?that would be sweet! free?

bawathegamer

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"][QUOTE="bawathegamer"][QUOTE="artur79"]

[QUOTE="death1505921"]By the sounds of it, it was one of those games that you really needed to play it at the time. I take all these things for granted now after HL1 made them. So I think It would ruin it for me, and the last thing I want is to have a bad experience with it. I think I'll play HL2 and skip HL1, if I get confused or anything I'll go back and play it. I really want to get into the episodes, because it seems there is a pretty deep story to them.bawathegamer

I recommend that you play BlackMesa instead of HL1. You don't have any nostalgic bonds to the first game, so the changes to the game won't bother you at all. Maybe they'll tweak the AI, weapons and animations and make the end levels a little better (I hate the ones in the original). Those imprvements and the enhanced graphics (and hopefully physics, it's Source after all) and this game can actually become a good title. Like others have said, it is a classic and a big part of gaming history, it's worth to check out the enhanced version. I think.

black mesa is the name of the lab right? play it instead of hl1? is it a mod? i only have opppsing force and blue shift?

it's a mod that's going to be released in never.

do you mean november? and is it the hl1 game with the hl2 engine?that would be sweet! free?

it's been in development for over 3 years now (or so). i don't think these guys will get it done by the end of 2009.

someone already posted a link to their website. check it out.

and yes, it's free. you just need a legit copy of hl2 and cs:s, supposedly.

[QUOTE="bawathegamer"]

black mesa is the name of the lab right? play it instead of hl1? is it a mod? i only have opppsing force and blue shift?

Doom_HellKnight

9.99$ for each chapter? who the **** would pay that kind of money for a mod?but gotta admit its beautiful!

9.99$ for each chapter? who the **** would pay that kind of money for a mod?

bawathegamer

[QUOTE="Doom_HellKnight"][QUOTE="bawathegamer"]

black mesa is the name of the lab right? play it instead of hl1? is it a mod? i only have opppsing force and blue shift?

bawathegamer

9.99$ for each chapter? who the **** would pay that kind of money for a mod?

they played an april fools joke with that whole ea buying them out thing. but navigate through that junk and you'll be able to get to the real website. the mod's going to be free, unless valve buys them out (highly unlikely).

unless valve buys them out (highly unlikely).

fireandcloud

[QUOTE="bawathegamer"]

9.99$ for each chapter? who the **** would pay that kind of money for a mod?

Doom_HellKnight

lol.ok.but to tell you the truth i really woudnt mind coughing up even 10 dollars . i mean there would be soooo many people who would want it! 10 $ aint so much,plus it would atleast speed up the thing? 3 years ? please tell me this is just a hobby of these guys! if this has been there job for 3 years ,dam !

is it just me or are the enemies in half life one pretty hard to kill (humans).hl2 felt way to easy and was a breeaze to kill thembawathegamer

A long time ago someone on these forums summed it up perfectly: HL2's enemies look for a window to jump through, HL1's enemies look for the most efficient way to kill you.

HL2 is designed to impress you with cinematic moments, where HL1 is all about awesome moments like my maintenance garage death that I use as an example all the time (I got killed in a maintenance garage when a marine dropped the vehicle lift I was underneath on top of me). I think it still stands up as the best AI I've seen in a game.