So almost 7 years later... Halflife 2 vs Halo 2

Not really. Turtle Rock got bought by Valve, but L4D ain't a Valve game. They only published it. Either way, CS:S =/= Half-Life 2. It's Half-Life 2 vs. Halo 2. Not Half-Life 2 + CS:S vs. Halo 2.DarkLink77

It's a Valve game, it wouldn't have been what it was, if it wasn't. CS:S was HL2's multiplayer component when shipped - it's a grey zone as following the games release HL2: DM showed up, then CS:S was subsequently removed from being packaged with HL2, and how I do believe they're all sold separately.

It's funny you mention the gravity gun, because after awhile, it felt like a gimmick to me. Not that it wasn't employed properly in some respects, but most of the time I got the feeling, "oh. great. Wonder what I do here.:roll:" The Halo 2 campaign is actually better imo, when played with two people. The dual weilding added tremendous strategies at the higher difficulty levels(again, in coop, but also in sp). Halo 2 was the first game that really felt like you were in the middle of battle for me. When people bring up the campaign in halo 2, I always feel like I must bring up the coop, because it really does make a huge difference.

The art direction in halo is also far more memorable. The alien design in half life is pretty generic, and lame imo. Still a good game though.

Heirren

It changed the game considerably, to the degree where Half Life 2 is broken into a compilation of meta games, many of which rotate round the use of the grav gun. e.g. picking up objects to shield yourself from snipers, creating a safe path over ant lion sand dunes, or a tower defence themed bit with combine turrets etc. It's not a game that rests on a singular focused system of gameplay.

Otherwise no, Half Life's artistic direction is much stronger, not to say Halo's isn't good, but it's the artistic direction that's responsible for driving a good potion of Half Life's narrative, and it's this visual narrative design that has been copied far to many times to this day in game design, as Half Life was in its use of scripts. Compare the representation of Earth in Halo 2 and Half Life 2, it's worlds apart and the later allows far more projection on than the entire sum of Halo 2's or 3's Eath dedicated enviroments. Then there's the facial animations and digital actors in terms of technology, and the sheer scale of the game.

Halo 2's campaign on the other hand while good, compared to the first felt like a large corridor stomp, that never hit the high notes it should have. There wasn't a level that stood out in architecture to amazing Silent Cartographer, or one with the scope or situational variety as Assault on the Control Room.

It all very much felt like a conservative step back, despite the games obvious strengths in its combat systems, and a.i. - coop wasn't half bad either, it's just that the abundance of more restrictive level architecture didn't feel as suitable for multiple players. Then there's the issue of the games narrative which was an absolute mess, despite the introduction of the Artibiter who was an excellent addition to the cast, and a welcomed perspective shift, which was a crushing shame.

The strength of Halo 2 lies in its multiplayer, it really shows. Not to say the singleplayer is bad, it sure as hell isn't, its just sitting well in the shadow of its younger brother Combat Evolved.

Halo 2. Fantastic gunplay, Fantastic AI, great variety in levels and weapons, non-linear, excellent vehicular combat, an epic story(though told poorly), and an MP that was an absolute blast, even today without online.

HL2 only had atmosphere and storytelling. Graphics were better than Halo 2, but it still wasn't the best looking game out there.

And Halo 2 had some really good atmosphere near the end of the game. Playing Gravemind and watching the Covenant Civil War break out in front of you was amazing. So was experiencing the infestation of High Charity by the flood made for some strong atmosphere, racing against time to stop Truth from getting away, as you explored three dark and infested corridors of High Charity.

Halo 2. Fantastic gunplay, Fantastic AI, great variety in levels and weapons, non-linear, excellent vehicular combat, an epic story(though told poorly), and an MP that was an absolute blast, even today without online.

HL2 only had atmosphere and storytelling. Graphics were better than Halo 2, but it still wasn't the best looking game out there.

And Halo 2 had some really good atmosphere near the end of the game. Playing Gravemind and watching the Covenant Civil War break out in front of you was amazing. So was experiencing the infestation of High Charity by the flood made for some strong atmosphere, racing against time to stop Truth from getting away, as you explored three dark and infested corridors of High Charity.

gamedude234

Pretty much this.

Half Life 2 by miles. Kinda funny if some one actually says Halo 2 :lol:

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]Not really. Turtle Rock got bought by Valve, but L4D ain't a Valve game. They only published it. Either way, CS:S =/= Half-Life 2. It's Half-Life 2 vs. Halo 2. Not Half-Life 2 + CS:S vs. Halo 2.skrat_01

It's a Valve game, it wouldn't have been what it was, if it wasn't. CS:S was HL2's multiplayer component when shipped - it's a grey zone as following the games release HL2: DM showed up, then CS:S was subsequently removed from being packaged with HL2, and how I do believe they're all sold separately.

It's funny you mention the gravity gun, because after awhile, it felt like a gimmick to me. Not that it wasn't employed properly in some respects, but most of the time I got the feeling, "oh. great. Wonder what I do here.:roll:" The Halo 2 campaign is actually better imo, when played with two people. The dual weilding added tremendous strategies at the higher difficulty levels(again, in coop, but also in sp). Halo 2 was the first game that really felt like you were in the middle of battle for me. When people bring up the campaign in halo 2, I always feel like I must bring up the coop, because it really does make a huge difference.

The art direction in halo is also far more memorable. The alien design in half life is pretty generic, and lame imo. Still a good game though.

Heirren

It changed the game considerably, to the degree where Half Life 2 is broken into a compilation of meta games, many of which rotate round the use of the grav gun. e.g. picking up objects to shield yourself from snipers, creating a safe path over ant lion sand dunes, or a tower defence themed bit with combine turrets etc. It's not a game that rests on a singular focused system of gameplay.

Otherwise no, Half Life's artistic direction is much stronger, not to say Halo's isn't good, but it's the artistic direction that's responsible for driving a good potion of Half Life's narrative, and it's this visual narrative design that has been copied far to many times to this day in game design, as Half Life was in its use of scripts. Compare the representation of Earth in Halo 2 and Half Life 2, it's worlds apart and the later allows far more projection on than the entire sum of Halo 2's or 3's Eath dedicated enviroments. Then there's the facial animations and digital actors in terms of technology, and the sheer scale of the game.

Halo 2's campaign on the other hand while good, compared to the first felt like a large corridor stomp, that never hit the high notes it should have. There wasn't a level that stood out in architecture to amazing Silent Cartographer, or one with the scope or situational variety as Assault on the Control Room.

It all very much felt like a conservative step back, despite the games obvious strengths in its combat systems, and a.i. - coop wasn't half bad either, it's just that the abundance of more restrictive level architecture didn't feel as suitable for multiple players. Then there's the issue of the games narrative which was an absolute mess, despite the introduction of the Artibiter who was an excellent addition to the cast, and a welcomed perspective shift, which was a crushing shame.

The strength of Halo 2 lies in its multiplayer, it really shows. Not to say the singleplayer is bad, it sure as hell isn't, its just sitting well in the shadow of its younger brother Combat Evolved.

I want to respond to you more thoroughly, but I'm just heading out the door. I find Half Lifes art direction to be fairly unoriginal--to the point that I don't even think the developers strived for originality. The general aesthetic is very "throw back." If you look at creature designs, HL just looks like every alien drawn from a 50 scifi/horror flick. Yes, Halo draws obvious inspiration as well, but the overall world feels more consistent and well thought out. It is one of the few game properties that gives the feeling of, "wow, I know what this entire universe must be like", sitting right next to the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule.

As far as gameplay, the last time I played HL2 I couldn't even play as it got boring really fast. The game has a been there done that feel. Halo has this too, but the ai also alots for more situational variables.

Half Life 2 by miles. Kinda funny if some one actually says Halo 2 :lol:

Mozelleple112

I said Halo 2. :evil:

This really isn't a contest. I found Halo 2 to be leagues better tha HL2.

Halo 2 had better gunplay and multiplayer (unless you count counter strike source)
Half Life 2 is a better overall package.

Im sorry but Halo 2 is the much better game. Half Life 2's shooting felt awful, and the loading screen every 30 seconds just ruined any immersion the game had going for it. The story had a ton of boring, filler parts, such as the driving and boat parts (vehicles contolled pretty badly too).

Halo 2 on the other hand was filled with content. The campaign wasn' the strongest, but wasn't as boring as Half Life 2's. The multiplayer was also leagues above anything Valve could conjure up. It introduced matchmaking, which is not pretty much standard in most shooters. It was fun, addictive, successful. It was everything Half Life 2 wanted to be.

i'll take half life 2 any day of the week, of course i'm not a big halo fan.

People who say that Half Life 2 is boring should just stick to mindless corridor shooters like Call of Duty; where its just endless shooting and nothing else.

The game had some of the best variety and pacing ever in an fps, I could play it all day and never get bored with it.

Stringerboy

I would say both games were very enjoyable. Personally I enjoyed Halo 2 more for the mere fact that everyone was playing Halo 2 at the time. When I first played Half Life 2 I was amazed at how the atmosphere made you feel like there was no hope. Its just that every time I had to travel on water with that hovercraft I put the controller down, Enjoyed the car though. I also wasn't a big fan of the town where you had to fight the zombie things and those crab looking creatures at night. Also its taking way too long for them to wrap that Half Life story up. What gives?

I want to respond to you more thoroughly, but I'm just heading out the door. I find Half Lifes art direction to be fairly unoriginal--to the point that I don't even think the developers strived for originality. The general aesthetic is very "throw back." If you look at creature designs, HL just looks like every alien drawn from a 50 scifi/horror flick. Yes, Halo draws obvious inspiration as well, but the overall world feels more consistent and well thought out. It is one of the few game properties that gives the feeling of, "wow, I know what this entire universe must be like", sitting right next to the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule.

As far as gameplay, the last time I played HL2 I couldn't even play as it got boring really fast. The game has a been there done that feel. Halo has this too, but the ai also alots for more situational variables.

Heirren

Otherwise I can see what you mean by 'throw back' however there's a gppd deal of originality in Half Life 2's artistic direction especially next to Halo, even its representation of another fictional Orwellian society. The combine fall into a category of predictably future-fascist soldiermen e.g. Jin-Roh, just like the humans in Halo falling into the derivative space marine ala Aliens, as well as the Flood. Actually I think it's a little bit camp at times (the Gravemind for example).

Difference here is I'd argue Half Life's encompassing visual identity is much stronger with its tiers of realistically represented human landscapes and crumbling architecture contrasted by the the angular combine façades of the citadel for instance. It's not shining in originality however the very deliberate grimness and visual pallet holds considerable weight, and as I mentioned functions to drive the narrative on a level that's still above most games - Bioshock is up there too, as with STALKER. Halo 2's on the other hand has that high flying science fiction fantasy elaborate look of the covenant, angular slates of the forerunners and utility-like roughness (resilience) of the humans. Problem is I've never found the games to use that visual identity to carry the games themes or narrative at a similar level (like the human earth example), other than providing some aesthetically pleasing visual contrast and identity.

[QUOTE="nutcrackr"]Halo 2 single player is not good. I honestly cannot believe it was rated as high as it was on release. Half-Life 2 is leagues better in variety, gun play, story, charactersspacesheikh

halo is better

Hl2 might be a tad overrated, but nothing when compared to halo 2, which was a crappy game that felt as if it was done in 6 months, yet reviews were more than kind to it. Halo Ce was much better than halo 2.

halo has mp, agreed, but if i wanted to have a good MP experience, then i would just go start up CS/CSS.

I believe that people who think that HL2 is overrated analyze it in retrospect(or start playing with a mindset of looking for something great), and thus since no single thing especially jumps out, they feel it wasn't so great after all. The truth is that it was a game which was more than just the sum of it parts, and the components were so well-knit that there hardly any of those 'jarring' moments that break immersion. Story was average, but great character design and superb pacing never made you feel that.

All these years later Half Life 2 is still the best shooter I've ever played.

Hl2 might be a tad overrated, but nothing when compared to halo 2, which was a crappy game that felt as if it was done in 6 months, yet reviews were more than kind to it. Halo Ce was much better than halo 2.

halo has mp, agreed, but if i wanted to have a good MP experience, then i would just go start up CS/CSS.

I believe that people who think that HL2 is overrated analyze it in retrospect(or start playing with a mindset of looking for something great), and thus since no single thing especially jumps out, they feel it wasn't so great after all. The truth is that it was a game which was more than just the sum of it parts, and the components were so well-knit that there hardly any of those 'jarring' moments that break immersion. Story was average, but great character design and superb pacing never made you feel that.

Another-World

I disagree. Some of those hovercraft parts broke that immersion for me.

Wasnt HL2 also on the original Xbox?Tony-Baxter

Although I've beat HL2 probably 5-6 times and I love it......can't really compete with halo 2's offerings. That was like the revolution of xbox live. it was crazy.

shud have made a poll but

HALF LIFE 2

I think half life is a more adult game, Halo has bright green and purple aliens jumping around with kiddy american accents saying 'OMG you killed him!' and the multi player outfits look very much like power rangers.

I think Halo is aimed at a younger market then Halflife.

Halo 2 > Borelife 2

I think half life is a more adult game, Halo has bright green and purple aliens jumping around with kiddy american accents saying 'OMG you killed him!' and the multi player outfits look very much like power rangers.

I think Halo is aimed at a younger market then Halflife.

tenaka2

I'm happy you put "I think" because you thought wrong. As far as I'm concerned every age range played that game.

Halo 2 > Borelife 2

Harisemo

[QUOTE="nutcrackr"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]

Are you kidding? Half-Life 2's gunplay was atrocious then. It's beyond God-awful now.

dirktu

Thank you. Finally someone mentioning the Gravity Gun.

I don't dislike Halo 2, but Half-Life 2 is by far the better game. Gravity Gun and the physics made up for an entirely new gaming experience. Of course, if you choose just to run and gun, you didn't experience that feeling. On top of that locations and characters were more memorable, and I liked the level design better. Since this is System Wars, I don't think I have to bring up the graphics...

Half Life 2.. that game was just pure awesomeness. Also, it came with CS:S, so peeps that say Halo 2 was better due to MP, think again. CS:S is still played these days on the PC.

Half Life 2.. that game was just pure awesomeness. Also, it came with CS:S, so peeps that say Halo 2 was better due to MP, think again. CS:S is still played these days on the PC.

digiramm

[QUOTE="digiramm"]

Half Life 2.. that game was just pure awesomeness. Also, it came with CS:S, so peeps that say Halo 2 was better due to MP, think again. CS:S is still played these days on the PC.

Another-World

[QUOTE="dirktu"]

[QUOTE="nutcrackr"] Not kidding, Halo 2 has absolutely nothing special when it comes to weapons or their use. Ohhh dual needlers. oohh red plasma rifles. Just because you can use two weapons doesn't make it twice as good. The gravity gun alone is more involving and polished than the entire halo 2 arsenal. The revolver is better than any Halo 2 pistol, the crossbow is more satisfying than the sniper rifle in Halo 2 and yes the crowbar is more fun than the energy sword. The sticky grenades are awesome but the pheropods in HL2 are a healthy match. All weapons in HL2 are diverse and tuned to perfection to complement each other.

DarkLink77

Thank you. Finally someone mentioning the Gravity Gun.

I don't dislike Halo 2, but Half-Life 2 is by far the better game. Gravity Gun and the physics made up for an entirely new gaming experience. Of course, if you choose just to run and gun, you didn't experience that feeling. On top of that locations and characters were more memorable, and I liked the level design better. Since this is System Wars, I don't think I have to bring up the graphics...

Did you really say that a crowbar was more fun then the energy sword? I can only imagine how much fun you would have with a tire iron,

Both suck

Half-Life 2 is way better than Halo 2. Halo 2 was a disappointment for me whereas HL2's campaign was incredible. Yeah it i not perfect but the atmosphere, level design and storytelling is way above Halo 2's singleplayer.

Half-Life 2. Halo 2 is just Combat Evolved on steroids.

I'm a Halo nut. So Halo 2.

But I still liked Half life 2.

To the people bringing up multiplayer. Remember that people were playing Halo 2 OVER games like Halo 3, MW2, and other console games. It was only until MS shut down original xbox live titles that people stopped--and even then some people managed to extend its life by leaving their consoles on. I had more fun with Halo 2 than any other Halo online, including Reach. It was an extremely balanced game. Like another poster said, that one game really launched xbox live--essentially console online gaming in general.

Back to the atmosphere, yes HL2 is good, but even more than just the visual ques, Halo really embodied everything from the dialects to the original sound effects.

Meh I never even got close to finishing Halo 2, so my opinion is kind of void. People keep telling me that the overall experience of the single player campaign was worse than the first. If that truly is the case, than Half Life 2 for me as I'd probably wouldn't even be able to finish its campaign if indeed it is worst than CE--I don't even know how I pushed myself to finish the campaign in the first. I'd gather that Half Life 2 beats Halo 2 in atmosphere, variety, level design and storytelling. That said, I'm sure that Halo 2 beats it in the shooting department and probably AI.

I've never considered Half Life 2 to be much of a shooter. The shooting elements take a back stage to a lot of other stuff in the game, but these still amount to a more memorable experience to me than a series that has better shooting elements and AI but has horrible quality in almost everything else--if indeed CE is the epitome of the series: It's the only one I've finished.

So yeah, I might consider Half Life 2 to be a poor man's shooter, even in comparison to Halo, but the overall experience was far more memorable to me.

Half Life 2 but CE>Hl2

I didn't go to school the next day, after Half-life 2 came out. So you might guess which one I like more :P.

I played the crap out of Halo 2 as well (split-screen with bros and friends). I remember a teacher at school called in sick when it launched lol.