Playing Half Life 2 for the first time

heartburnron · 21 Jun 2016 at 20:10

And it's really cool so far. Lucky for me I guess, that I missed all these classics when I stopped gaming for 15 years and am currently going back to play them. One thing I'm confused about is when I was browsing Steam there are separate store pages for Half Life 2 episode 1, 2, etc. What's the deal with these? Are these in addition to the main Half Life 2 game or could you buy it parts?

oll3h · 21 Jun 2016 at 20:12

Additions to the main game, DLC if you like.

heartburnron · 21 Jun 2016 at 20:22

And here's how it looks in glorious ultrawide 3440x1440:

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ANDARIAL · 21 Jun 2016 at 20:50

Looks nice there

Smokey Deza · 21 Jun 2016 at 21:08

I remember that pic. I was stacking them flammable barrels up an airshaft thinking that was the way to go

On Holiday · 21 Jun 2016 at 21:13

Go on then, what's the best texture pack or HD re-make for HL2 ?

I've never completed it before so might as well before HL3 comes out

heartburnron · 21 Jun 2016 at 21:19

Struggling with the controls to move of / jump of ladders - any tips/advice?

Oh, and is there a way of turning barrels on their end when moving them around?

ic1male · 21 Jun 2016 at 21:43

Don't forget Portal and Portal 2.

heartburnron · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:07

ic1male said:
Don't forget Portal and Portal 2.

Ok, I've heard of them but don't know anything about them. Have I missed an experience with these games?

matt_fsr · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:15

Cinematic mod is a nice improvement, although some of the later mods have gone a bit 'Lara Croft-esque' with Alex.... which is a shame, but you can customise the mod pretty well.

ic1male · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:20

heartburnron said:
Ok, I've heard of them but don't know anything about them. Have I missed an experience with these games?

They're a spin off from the Half Life games but well worth playing.

TheVoice · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:44

Plenty O'Toole said:
Go on then, what's the best texture pack or HD re-make for HL2 ?

I've never completed it before so might as well before HL3 comes out

Half-Life 2: Update does a really nice job of updating some of the visuals without detracting from the original style.

Zefan · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:49

heartburnron said:
Ok, I've heard of them but don't know anything about them. Have I missed an experience with these games?

Both Portal games are fantastic, competely separate (well, almost...) from Half Life so you don't need to worry about playing them until after you've finished HL2.

I am quite jealous that you're experiencing it for the first time.

TheOtherOption · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:50

heartburnron said:
Ok, I've heard of them but don't know anything about them. Have I missed an experience with these games?

Great fun if you like puzzle games with a physics twist!

maj · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:57

Off topic but this thread reminds me of a thread on here ages ago of someone who was doing the Water Hazard level without the hovercraft and was wondering why it was taking forever

heartburnron · 21 Jun 2016 at 23:02

maj said:
Off topic but this thread reminds me of a thread on here ages ago of someone who was doing the Water Hazard level without the hovercraft and was wondering why it was taking forever

Ha. That's like me playing F.E.A.R 2 and not realising you were supposed to get into the Mec - played on for 20 minutes past that on foot and wondered why I wasn't getting a save point. Had to go back and get the Mec to get the game to save.

VTR · 21 Jun 2016 at 23:20

If you haven't played Black Mesa (HL1 remake) do so before going any further!

Also jealous that you're playing this for the first time...

dholdi · 21 Jun 2016 at 23:27

Is Black Mesa finished now ?

K1LLSW1TCH · 21 Jun 2016 at 23:49

TheVoice said:
Half-Life 2: Update does a really nice job of updating some of the visuals without detracting from the original style.

It's the best version of HL2 in my opinion, the people who say it changes nothing obviously don't know what they're looking for/at. I cringe every time someone mentions Cinematic Mod.

dholdi said:
Is Black Mesa finished now ?

They're still working on Xen but it's still a fantastic recreation of HL. I'd already completed the mod version a few years ago and ended up buying the paid for version on Steam last year at some point. It's very polished and they're still working on it.

maj said:
Off topic but this thread reminds me of a thread on here ages ago of someone who was doing the Water Hazard level without the hovercraft and was wondering why it was taking forever

lol

It was Raymond Lin, he was moaning about having to open the console and use the god mode command because he kept dying in the radioactive water.

Shamikebab · 21 Jun 2016 at 23:50

Make sure you get in the boat, don't try and walk through that level