Just got Half-Life 2, what to expect?

gcasillo

I got Half-Life 2 today based on good reviews and a bout of Summer boredom. I have a Windows partition to run it on. Never played the original HL or Counterstrike games.

So what should I expect from HL2? Am I a fool for not buying and playing the original HL first? Will I have trouble stepping away from my PC? If so, for how long (game hours in HL2)? I will note that I don't really care about multi-player, and I was sold on HL2 as I read it had a good storyline in it. Got a 6600GT to run it. Believe it will look good.

Gonna have dinner then install. Can't frag on an empty stomach.

routerguy · Guru Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 462

I have Half Life 2 silver. I don't use it, though... I just don't have the guts to install Windows.

I've played it, it's fun, and it's immersive. You'll enjoy it.

steve_d555 · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 12:33 am Post subject:

Pure Awesomeness

I played about half of HL1 then quit, but I like HL2 much, much better and you shouldn't have much of a problem picking up the story. And a 6600GT is more than enough. I have one and the game looks absolutely amazing.
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Arainach · l33t Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 609

You're not going to understand ANYTHING if you don't play HL1 first. I highly reccomend it.
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routerguy · Guru Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 462

I agree. Half Life 1 is in fact a very good game. One of it's greatest strengths is that it immerses you in the game world by putting you in the 1st person, exclusively.

InsaneHamster · Guru Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 435

HomerSimpson · l33t Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Posts: 869 Location: Ohio, USA

I did not play HL1, Unreal or Doom but I did play HL2 and I loved it. It is the best single player game I have ever played. I play the military games and shooting aliens isn't all that interesting to me. Although I really liked HL2. There were parts that I did not understand (I assume because I didn't play HL1) but I thoroughly enjoyed the game.

So what to expect?

A lot of late nights not wanting to stop playing...
Nightmares from some of the scenes...
A good time playing a computer game...

Report back after you have played it
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steve_d555 · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 6:16 pm Post subject:

suineg · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:55 am Post subject:

Okay, I might be in the minority here, but I have played both 1 and 2 all the way through, and I think that the original is WAY better. The second one just seemed way too short and way too easy.
The story didn't come together as nicely as I had hoped either. I was hoping for two things:

who the hell is the suited fella, and maybe more importantly, what the hell is going on?

neither of which were *satisfactorily* answered.

Definately do yourself a favor and play the first one first. In fact, play halflife:source. Its the original running with the source engine = prettier graphics and MUCH better ai/physics.

Timbers2k · Apprentice Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 215

I can't beleive no one mentioned Steam. I never bought HL2 and I don't plan on doing it, ever. I played some at a friends house and it seemed like a great game, I played the first one and loved it (except for the stupid jumping in Xen). But Steam sucks! It sucks bad. I want a single player game that I can play whenever I want to, all I should need is power to the PC, but with Steam you always need a net connection. We played for about 30 minutes, then quit to eat. We came back to it a while later and his cable modem was down. That's it, can't play the damn game. I know there are hacks out there to get around it, but they shouldn't be needed. OK. cable is back, lets play. No, Steam has decided that you need an update to the game. It will be ready in 45 minutes! I don't want to play in 45 minutes, I want to play now! This isn't multiplayer, I don't NEED the update!

Nope, I will never buy any game that uses such a totally hosed up system.

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:38 pm Post subject:

Steam Offline? Though Steam still does suck.
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gcasillo · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:58 pm Post subject:

So far, I don't like HL2. I'm moving through the city, through a bunch of rubble. Just seems too guided. Run, jump, crawl, shoot, rinse, and repeat. It looks great, and the interaction between characters is well done. But the levels seem to have singular entry and destination points with only one way between them. Yawn.

Hope it picks up soon.

gcasillo · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:34 pm Post subject:

Extremely disappointed. I'm to the point where the guy yells, "We're being shelled," and the face suckers come out to play. This game is terrible. I guess to each his own, but this is boring to me. Stacking stuff up so I can jump and crawl is not interesting. The game is basically a level designer saying, "Go here. Stack this. Jump. Go here." Very closed-ended.

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:47 pm Post subject:

Thats exactly like HL1.... If you on easy try normal and so on and so forth. And I guess theyre coming out with a sequel soon anyway. We'll see what thats like.
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gcasillo · Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:07 am Post subject:

I won't. I sold HL2 tonight. Just didn't do it for me. Man, I'm having a hard time finding a good distraction. :cry:

steve_d555 · Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:46 am Post subject:

routerguy · Guru Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 462

gcasillo · Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:06 pm Post subject:

I didn't buy Doom3, because the demo seemed just as I describe my HL2 experience to be. Very closed-ended and linear. Didn't even get past that demo for Doom3.

Sadly, I think the single-player, non-networked game experience has been cast off in favor of the multiplayer, online variety. Actually, I know it has. I just wish some developer out there would give these shooters a little flavor for folks like me who want to play offline.

I'd take second-rate graphics to see it happen too, e.g. Deus Ex. Anymore, its as if the better the game looks, e.g. HL2 or Max Payne 2, the worse the gameplay is.

routerguy · Guru Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 462

I completely agree with you. In fact, I recommend that you play morrowind. If you don't know much about it, it's a first / third person 3d single player RPG that immerses you in the game and allows you to make your own path. Literally: the island is huge, and you can go anywhere you want, in any order. However, you will have to use Windows or Cedega, as I don't think it works in wine.

m0p · Apprentice Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 205 Location: en_GB

HL2 sucks, HL1 for teh big win!

gcasillo · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:13 am Post subject:

routerguy · Guru Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 462

Jengu · Guru Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 384

Eh, I wouldn't say morrowind is a whole lot better. Sure, pick a quest, but then complete it linearly

zecora · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:01 pm Post subject:

I enjoyed the game alot.

vonhelmet · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:01 pm Post subject:

Games have always been very linear. It's only in recent times that a few have deviated and given us the chance for more that we are getting used to the idea. Try something like Deus Ex, or - even better - System Shock 2. SS2 is pretty old, and the graphics are primitive, but it is one of the scariest, most atmospheric, involving games I've ever played. It scared the life out of me just playing it on easy. It's challenging and does require you to think. Highly recommended.

HL2 is an achievement, but I do accept the linearity criticism. And yes, I'm currently playing through Doom 3, and that suffers from it terribly.

I'm told Far Cry is much better in terms of open endedness, but I've not got round to playing it yet. It's queued up in my drawer of games at the moment.
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