Don't lynch me... Half life 2 - whats the big deal?

Bengaboy

Bengaboy

Bengaboy

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Hi guys.

I'm having problems understanding why the half life series is regarded as one of the best series / fps of all time.

I'm 18 and didnt play hl1 on the pc, I played it on the ps2, so I can understand why I may not of liked it (due to the not so great visuals, and not great gameplay. Didnt really wow me until the end where you had 2 choices - thought that was cool.

Now - half life 2. What a boring game... Why does everyone rate it so highly?

Not one point in that game did I go "wow!!" , just a mind numbingly boring fps. Also played ep1 aswell because I bought it in a deal, and again was bored.

Played ep2 and things were a bit better, and quite liked the ending.

The only reason I played ep2 was because of the orange box, and I may aswell play through ep3 to see what happens to complete the series.

So why do you all rate half life 1/2 as the greatest game of all time?
 
I thought it was okay. Nothing more than that. I'm not a massive fan of FPS's (as every game recently seems to be one and lacks imagination). I did completed HL2 / EP1 / EP2 and thought it was okay - not a bad storyline but very, very scripted with one way to do things with no real choices. The fact that EP1 and EP2 were so small as well was annoying.

Same with Portal - I thought it was a fun diversion but not as great as all the accolades said. The end music I hated as well.

It's just different points of view. I would play EP3 to, hopefully, complete the series (another pet hate is episodic gaming).



M.
 
HL1 was great because it was one of the first FPS's that did more than just go down corridors and shoot stuff. It was immersive and had a proper plot that developed through the game.

HL2 is similar but added a lot of new elements, to me the world in HL1/2 feels so much more real than a lot of other FPSs.
 
I hated HL 1 so did'nt get HL2 or the add ons when it came out. I did cave in early this year though as i found the Orange Box for an unbelievably low price. I actually thought HL2 and it's add ons were very good. Certainly better than Crysis which was far too short. Portal was OK but got boring quite quickly.
 
Half Life 1 was very good, and pretty revolutionary for its time too. The story, the AI, just the scale of it hadn't really been seen before.

Like yourself, I found HL2 only ok. Decent enough, with some exceptional parts, but overall not brilliant. It was the whole mute-scientist-doing-whatever-people-tell-him thing that bugged me.

Only an ok game, but a load of strangers on the internet will think less of you if you say so :p
 
Decent storytelling, variety of locations as well as types of gameplay. It's rare in HL2 to find yourself doing tasks over and over, there are parts of HL2 that could easily be separated into individual games.

I don't hold it in quite as high regard as some, so I can't really expand on reasons why people like it so much, but those are a couple of the obvious reasons.
 
The problem is, loads of the gameplay mechanics in Half Life 2 have been copied by other games, so what was groundbreaking then is actually quite standard now.
 
If you played HL1 and HL2 when they were released they were epic. I can see how now they appear as just another FPS.

For me anyway, the HL series has a solid storyline, with good characters and enjoyable gameplay. And when they were new they were orignal and fresh.
 
Skeeter said:
If you played HL1 and HL2 when they were released they were epic. I can see how now they appear as just another FPS.

For me anyway, the HL series has a solid storyline, with good characters and enjoyable gameplay. And when they were new they were orignal and fresh.
Click to expand...

couldn't have said it better :)

Max Payne falls into similar categories (and still plays pretty well now)
 
HL1 yes, awesome game. HL2 i got on release, played it for 30mins and got bored, didnt go back to it for 6 months where i felt i might aswell complete it. Didnt rate HL2 at all, it really is just a generic fps game that looks pretty.
 
I remember playing through half life, and the exp packs for that and loving them. They did something different, they did everything that every other first person shooter did but better, everything about the game oozed class.

Half Life 2, i skipped college to play this when it was released.
Love it, thought it again, set a new bench mark, kinda did everything else that first person shooters did, but did it better, the mavity gun - brilliant.

Still play them both every so often.
 
Anim said:
HL1 yes, awesome game. HL2 i got on release, played it for 30mins and got bored, didnt go back to it for 6 months where i felt i might aswell complete it. Didnt rate HL2 at all, it really is just a generic fps game that looks pretty.
Click to expand...
Generic is the last thing I would call HL2.
 
When Half-Life arrived on the scene it was pretty ground breaking, at least for an FPS, in it's story and the much praised AI. HL2 on the other hand was OK but nothing special by comparison.
 
HL1 and 2 both have the dubious honour of being the only fps games that give me motion sickness.Must be the engine or something..anyone else get this?
 
Still have not encountered an intro to a game quite like travelling on the train into Black Mesa (I know, it's HL1, but hey).

Can still remember the first time I played it, being absolutely astounded at the immersiveness of it, the atmosphere, the music, truly ground breaking in it's day, and frankly, have not experienced anything else quite like it.

Also the game itself was excellent, the guards actually moved away from your fire, went for cover, and chucked nades at you!

And HL2 was and still is a cracking game!
 
I thought HL2 was brilliant because of the atmosphere. Nothing too extreme, but very subtle and well executed, not shoved down your throat like some games tend to do these days.
 
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