Steam christmas sale 2010... *twitch*

For me it would have to be Half Life - the game introduced so many innovative features that are still used by games today.

which game did you play first?

Well, plenty of people were playing Doom and Doom 2 (and DN3D) networked before Quake was out surely? I'm not sure it was the genesis of it all, it certainly helped it take off though.

Yes myself included but it never had anything like the impact quake did.
 
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Fair points, one thing I would say with regard to HL though is that while everyone raves about the 'interactive introduction' (arriving on the train, speaking to NPCs etc) rather than just being thrown straight into the gameplay, a lot of people forget that 6 months before HL came out Unreal did something conceptionally similar (although perhaps not as well executed) to set the scene on it's first level - you wake up and explore the ship, read diaries, 'witness' a guy being killed behind a sealed door complete with shrieking etc, in fact you don't actually fight anyone at all on the first level.

Halflife is undoubtedly influential when it comes to SP game design (more specifically a move away from mindless run-and-gunning towards a more immersive story-telling experience) but while it isn't quite as sexy, sometimes I think the technological influence of games can be overlooked. It's actually quite outstanding in my view that nearly 15 years after the release of Quake a lot of games are still copying the basic premises - although to be fair I'm sure there are some oldschool RPGs that can probably lay similar claims.

I completely agree. :) Quake is a massively influential game to the genre, just as Half Life was. My argument (though I may have failed to get it across the SP part) mainly has been that in my opinion Half Life is the most influential game for single player FPS. :)

I agree technology is massively important as well, and is of great interest to me personally. :)
 
Speaking of Hearts Of Iron 3 (I assume that's what you're talking about), is it worth it for the cost? I've always heard murmurings it's decent, but never enough to justify buying it...

If you like deep strategy then it's good, it can be overly complex and very time consuming. I really liked the previous games, not had time to give III a good go though... these modern fancy 3D games are messing with my mojo!
 
Got the Valve complete pack as haven't played any games in it and just played Counter Strike : Source for the first time what a game!


Left 4 dead is installing now :D
 
Anyone got Sniper: Ghost Warrior - the last trailer on Steam has got me very interested, but the Metacritic score isnt great. Just wondering if its actually a bargain for £7.50 or not?

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
HL1 never thought it was that good so overrated..... :p

Give me Quake2/Unreal1 from the same era anyday!! Better looking easier to get into & more fun ;)

HL2 now thats a whole different kettle of fish & without a doubt one of the finest games ever made on any platform. So much content & such a massive game. For the time gfx were stunning as well :D
 
HL1 never thought it was that good so overrated..... :p

Give me Quake2/Unreal1 from the same era anyday!! Better looking easier to get into & more fun ;)

HL2 now thats a whole different kettle of fish & without a doubt one of the finest games ever made on any platform. So much content & such a massive game. For the time gfx were stunning as well :D

I would say the complete opposite. HL1, Op Forces & Blue Shift were simply amazing and immersive!

I found HL2 to be a let down and boring. However i did find the graphics stunning!
 
In half-life, the game tries to create a cinematic story experience - and this has effected every single shooter since, with the possible exception of serious sam...
It's not enough now to give players a few levels to fight there way through and rack up kills (in fact, how many single-player games even tell you how many kills you have scored or secrets found?) - your avatar now needs a name, a skimpy backstory, a game world to inhabit, and npcs to interact with (even if only barely). All these things are half-life's legacy, for better or worse.

Goldeneye did it before Half-life.
Goldeneye had an excellent multiplayer too, although arguably its engine wasn't used for CS. So you could say HL as a whole had a greater influence on the online FPS.
 
The first public Beta of Counter Strike was out before UT, I find it hard to see how it influenced that. :p

Unreal released '98
Counter-Strike Beta released '99
Unreal Tournament released '99

but I'm not saying CS borrowed from unreal. However, the devs likely took a long hard look at earlier incarnations of Doom and Quake
 
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In half-life, the game tries to create a cinematic story experience - and this has effected every single shooter since, with the possible exception of serious sam...
It's not enough now to give players a few levels to fight there way through and rack up kills (in fact, how many single-player games even tell you how many kills you have scored or secrets found?) - your avatar now needs a name, a skimpy backstory, a game world to inhabit, and npcs to interact with (even if only barely). All these things are half-life's legacy, for better or worse.
If that truly is HL influence then thats pretty poor really - I cant think of a recent FPS that doesnt have a throw-away plot, but it sounds like you are saying these types of plots are due to HL?

As others have correctly said HL was a great game (one of the greatest) but theres no way it had the same amount of influence on gaming (especially multiplayer) that Quake/QW/Q3 did. If the guys who made Counter Strike hadnt had used HL engine I doubt HL would be so easily remembered by most...

Hmm thinking about it Deux Ex probably had more influence than HL did when it comes to a developing story/plot and NPC interaction...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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Considering as Half Life was after Quake 2 (based on the same engine I believe) it's not really the first to give names to the people you're controlling. It did nothing overly unique it just had a good story and tried to make you empahsise with the avatar.

You had Golden-eye on the N64 before Half Life as well so thats probably one of the best known names in films and games.



M.
 
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