What is it about Half Life 2 that i just ''don't get''

TC, you are a few years late. While i still find the game enjoyable and good looking, it´s obviously a bit dated. In 2005 it was a masterpiece.

to be honest i think its a pretty average game :( at the time i prefered Far cry aswell.I like valve's games but to be honest im not that much of a fan of half life :/

The game felt huge and epic.

As you're running thru the world, going thru so many different environments, it feels like the game goes on forever.

The puzzles.

You know how every FPS these days is just "shoot faster, shoot longer, shoot more."

HL2 rewards you for playing smarter, for figuring out puzzles, you don't have to go mano-a-mano against everything, you can be smart and use the environment against itself.

Intelligence beats aim.

I like the populist theme. Most games have you as "soldier" or "special forces" working for some big government and given "mission objectives."

I prefer to be guerilla, freedom fighter, scientist, man of the people.

The controls.

They feel fast and agile, I don't like syruppy shooters where it takes you two hours to go down a corridor.

Overall Orange Box just felt "good."

I felt like it was old school, classic hardcore gaming, with more focus on the gameplay and story than the graphics.

More popular games, they are like "ooooh look at the visuals" and the gameplay and story is garbage.

In this the gameplay and story is perfect, the graphics are mediocre.

Ravenholm was one of the coolest experiences ever in gaming.

Not everybody can like the same game. It's different than most shooters out there and the way the game is may not appeal to everyone. Personally, I love it, but that's just me.

The game was way ahead of it's time.

ywan life 2

The game was way ahead of it's time.

el3m2tigre

In a lot of areas definitely. It's kind of hard to look back at it as it were when it came out but it looked amazing and could run on anything. The physics, sound and atmosphere, AI and voice acting were all top notch, but now as more FPS's have emerged it definitely shows its weaknesses (half life 1 holds up so much better, by far the better game). Enemies are straight up bullet sponges that only flinch when they get hit, which is very annoying, also while some of the guns had excellent sound the impact/feeling of them was just a bit off, they just never felt as powerful as they sounded i suppose. Another thing, the driving elements are awful and need to go away. To get from one point to another doesnt have to require vehicles but something more creative (Half life 1 did it), and as a result would probably make the game a big longer.

Half-Life 1 did so much right, I could never understand how they made a facility so much more interesting to explore than an entire city. Not to knock on Half-Life 2's design because it's athestically better than Half-Life 1's but ultimately i feel like they made such a better use of their environment... (Minus a few awesome places like Ravenholm). I also felt like the marines were FAR more menacing as a threat, you weren't elite or some super soldier, but a scientist stuck in the middle just trying to survive.

So you didn't get it... move along. There are hundreds of games out there, why single out half-life 2? Wait... because it's overated? :o

Because other than its storytelling, it's nothing but an average or below average game. What's sad is the ai is actually worse than Half Life's...

Those people that praise it so much probably played it at its release so there's no game that could match it but it's pretty terrible for me. NerubianWeaver

I played it just a couple of years ago in the Orange Box, i think is one of the best FPS games ever created.

Anyway, its hard for me to explain why i think is really good, first of all, i'm not a FPS fan at all, but with HLF2, despite the genre, i found myself very inmersed in this apocalyptic world, the lack of music, the lack of cut scenes, the paced of the game, the enemies, the atmosphere, everything just felt rigth, and i actually enjoyed the driving sequences, while the boat section was way too long for its own good and it got boring towards the end, i don't think it was that bad, and Ravenholme was just Godly, like i said, the atmosphere was just really good.

It might be the fact that i don't play that many FPS, however, i just don't seem to find any other FPS like Half Life 2, sure it has its flaws, but i still think is quite enjoyable, anyway, i would love to hear what games do you guys think are as good, or better than Half Life 2.

Damn, opinions are a ***** , huh?

Actually there seem to be quite a few NPCs, isolation isn't a big part of Half Life 2, in the episodes you spend nearly the entire game with Alyx. Are you sure you played the right game?

The game felt huge and epic.

As you're running thru the world, going thru so many different environments, it feels like the game goes on forever.

The puzzles.

You know how every FPS these days is just "shoot faster, shoot longer, shoot more."

HL2 rewards you for playing smarter, for figuring out puzzles, you don't have to go mano-a-mano against everything, you can be smart and use the environment against itself.

Intelligence beats aim.

I like the populist theme. Most games have you as "soldier" or "special forces" working for some big government and given "mission objectives."

I prefer to be guerilla, freedom fighter, scientist, man of the people.

The controls.

They feel fast and agile, I don't like syruppy shooters where it takes you two hours to go down a corridor.

Overall Orange Box just felt "good."

I felt like it was old school, classic hardcore gaming, with more focus on the gameplay and story than the graphics.

More popular games, they are like "ooooh look at the visuals" and the gameplay and story is garbage.

In this the gameplay and story is perfect, the graphics are mediocre.

Ravenholm was one of the coolest experiences ever in gaming.

ZombieKiller7

Before anyone comes in here trying to flame, i'm actually trying to have a civil discussion. I'm not saying the game is bad, obviously, it's not. I just didn't like/enjoy it...and i kinda hate myself(not really) because i REALLY wanted to!

I just disliked everything about it...but the sense of isolation/being alone really took a lot of the fun out of it for me. No real NPC's..no real characters...you just go from one side of the level to the next killing things. The mechanics of the game are great, no doubt....but it just didn't feel real? Blah. Hard to explain.

So far those of you who loved the game, what is it about the game you enjoyed?

cyclops10

[QUOTE="dommeus"]

The atmosphere and the pacing was what completed the experience for me. I think whenever there were parts I didn't like (some of the weapons having no ummph. the shoddy combine soldier AI, the finicky car sections, the cliffhanger ending etc), the overall atmosphere of the whole game kept me undeniably hooked, and the pacing for me was nigh on perfect.

They nailed the setting so well, and every element of the game, from music to sound effects to locations... hard to explain really. It is still to this day the best game I have ever played.

-Renegade

I am going to take a wild guess then and say you haven't played that many games. Half Life 2 had to be the most boring game I have ever finished.

[QUOTE="-Renegade"]

[QUOTE="dommeus"]

The atmosphere and the pacing was what completed the experience for me. I think whenever there were parts I didn't like (some of the weapons having no ummph. the shoddy combine soldier AI, the finicky car sections, the cliffhanger ending etc), the overall atmosphere of the whole game kept me undeniably hooked, and the pacing for me was nigh on perfect.

They nailed the setting so well, and every element of the game, from music to sound effects to locations... hard to explain really. It is still to this day the best game I have ever played.

clone01

I am going to take a wild guess then and say you haven't played that many games. Half Life 2 had to be the most boring game I have ever finished.

So you didn't get it... move along. There are hundreds of games out there, why single out half-life 2? Wait... because it's overated? :o

TailBlood

Because SW treats HL2 as the pinnacle of FPS gaming.

Before anyone comes in here trying to flame, i'm actually trying to have a civil discussion. I'm not saying the game is bad, obviously, it's not. I just didn't like/enjoy it...and i kinda hate myself(not really) because i REALLY wanted to!

I just disliked everything about it...but the sense of isolation/being alone really took a lot of the fun out of it for me. No real NPC's..no real characters...you just go from one side of the level to the next killing things. The mechanics of the game are great, no doubt....but it just didn't feel real? Blah. Hard to explain.

So far those of you who loved the game, what is it about the game you enjoyed?

cyclops10

It was amazing in 2004. Just didn't age that well. The first Half-Life aged better.

prob cuz your playing it in 2011. for 2004 it was pretty groundbreaking, the graphics, the immersion, the story telling. of course by todays standards its sort of average. but its still a great game even todayTH1Sx1SxSPARTA

What other FPS surpass it in terms of immersion and story telling? i would really love to know since i played it in 2008 and i thought it was fantastic.

Well here's my two cents

Loved the characters voice acting Pace Weapons Protagonist Enemies and The fact that there were no cutscenes, everything that happened you saw.

Hated the A.I though.

ABCarmine

Yeah the AI was dumb as hell, and not fun too fight

[QUOTE="TH1Sx1SxSPARTA"]prob cuz your playing it in 2011. for 2004 it was pretty groundbreaking, the graphics, the immersion, the story telling. of course by todays standards its sort of average. but its still a great game even todaymadsnakehhh

What other FPS surpass it in terms of immersion and story telling? i would really love to know since i played it in 2008 and i thought it was fantastic.

Nothing. It's mediocre in pretty much every sense of the word.

Nothing. It's mediocre in pretty much every sense of the word.

DarkLink77

There's the Lord of Hate we all know and despise :P

[QUOTE="TH1Sx1SxSPARTA"]prob cuz your playing it in 2011. for 2004 it was pretty groundbreaking, the graphics, the immersion, the story telling. of course by todays standards its sort of average. but its still a great game even todaymadsnakehhh

What other FPS surpass it in terms of immersion and story telling? i would really love to know since i played it in 2008 and i thought it was fantastic.

That being said, Half-Life 2 is still an amazing game to this day and one of the greatests shooters of all time. If you don't like it, then you probably just have bad taste. :P

The game is 7 years old... what were you expecting? If you were in 2004 you'd like the game like every single person who've tried it.silversix_

[QUOTE="-Renegade"]

[QUOTE="dommeus"]

The atmosphere and the pacing was what completed the experience for me. I think whenever there were parts I didn't like (some of the weapons having no ummph. the shoddy combine soldier AI, the finicky car sections, the cliffhanger ending etc), the overall atmosphere of the whole game kept me undeniably hooked, and the pacing for me was nigh on perfect.

They nailed the setting so well, and every element of the game, from music to sound effects to locations... hard to explain really. It is still to this day the best game I have ever played.

clone01

I am going to take a wild guess then and say you haven't played that many games. Half Life 2 had to be the most boring game I have ever finished.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]

Nothing. It's mediocre in pretty much every sense of the word.

commonfate

There's the Lord of Hate we all know and despise :P

[QUOTE="commonfate"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]

Nothing. It's mediocre in pretty much every sense of the word.

cain006

There's the Lord of Hate we all know and despise :P

It's a bit of a joke. I'm sure he understood very well :P

It's a bit of a joke. I'm sure he understood very well :P

commonfate

Personally, i like how the game is paced in the sense that you aren't sucking your thumb just because you got shot, although at times, things can be really annoying when you have to scrounge for medkits. Because of this, i usually avoid medkits when my health is above 70, allowing myself to backtrack to places where I know have medkits.

Additionally, one awesome thing I like is the GRAVITY GUN!

Before anyone comes in here trying to flame, i'm actually trying to have a civil discussion. I'm not saying the game is bad, obviously, it's not. I just didn't like/enjoy it...and i kinda hate myself(not really) because i REALLY wanted to!

I just disliked everything about it...but the sense of isolation/being alone really took a lot of the fun out of it for me. No real NPC's..no real characters...you just go from one side of the level to the next killing things. The mechanics of the game are great, no doubt....but it just didn't feel real? Blah. Hard to explain.

So far those of you who loved the game, what is it about the game you enjoyed?

cyclops10

I don't get it either. Thought the game sucked. I find it to be quite similar to games like Metro 2033 except Metro has much better graphics. Yet, people that hail HL2 as one of the best games ever think Metro 2033 is an average game. I don't know, I just don't see the difference. The driving parts were slow and boring. Way to easy to get stuck or flip over. The gun fights were crap. Puzzle and platforming parts just felt out of place and was slow and painful. Story was some what interesting but, you only got bits and pieces after spending hours going through some boring sewer. Main character felt like a robot. I could go on and on.

[QUOTE="KHAndAnime"]I loved everything about it. It sounds like your were just expecting the game to be something that it's not.-Renegade

A great game maybe? Who would have thought that with all the praise it gets? :roll:

I loved the game but it's not without its flaws I felt the combat was lacking a bit, but the mystery of the whole thing made up for it.

[QUOTE="silversix_"]The game is 7 years old... what were you expecting? If you were in 2004 you'd like the game like every single person who've tried it.-Renegade

Well it's pretty much a difference in taste I guess. I found metroid prime to be unbearably boring but I can see why the game was praised.

Some people just don't get Half Life.

This doesn't make them bad people.

This doesn't make them dumb people.

They just don't get it; something doesn't click.

It's a culmination of feelings, visuals, atmosphere and experience; If you don't get all of those, you won't get Half-Life.

If you go into HL2 thinking it's something it's not, you're not going to enjoy it. It's no one thing, like the cover system in R6:Vegas/Gears of War, or the story in an RPG, or the gunplay in Max Payne, or the fast paced/smooth multiplayer of CoD. It's an experience, more than anything--HL2 is a meta phenomenon.

Ohaidere

I didn't like Half Life 2 that much either, though it may have been in part due to everyone raving about it at the time saying that there's no point in anyone else making an FPS because nirvana had been reached. I never felt interested in the stroy, I HATED the vehicle sections, I thought the combat itself was pretty bad, I thought the ending was rubbish, (and yes, I know there's episode 1 and 2 NOW but those took ages to be released) and I never understood why people go on and on about Ravenholm being so scary or atmospheric, because I didn't think it was either. On the plus side, it had nice see-saws and moving lips.

I actually still prefer Half Life 1. The feeling of loneliness and wonder, and the fact that anyone you meet ends up dead no matter what was really powerful. Plus, I feel it had more standout moments.The falling lift, the huge tentacles trying to tear you up, the trip to Xen, the 'surface tension' chapter, plus I actually thought the ending was pretty cool.

Deus Ex is still better than both IMO. :)

[QUOTE="madsnakehhh"]

[QUOTE="TH1Sx1SxSPARTA"]prob cuz your playing it in 2011. for 2004 it was pretty groundbreaking, the graphics, the immersion, the story telling. of course by todays standards its sort of average. but its still a great game even todayAcidSoldner

What other FPS surpass it in terms of immersion and story telling? i would really love to know since i played it in 2008 and i thought it was fantastic.

That being said, Half-Life 2 is still an amazing game to this day and one of the greatests shooters of all time. If you don't like it, then you probably just have bad taste. :P

Agree, already played Bioshock, truly impressive game, and Infinite seems its going to be amazing, but personally, i think Half Life 2 was better, i'm agree that Bioshock has a much better story telling, but Half Life 2 has something that just make it so special to me, again Ravenholm was godly among other things, still, Bioshock is by no means a lesser game.