Is it me getting older and jaded or Half-Life 2 is one of the worst shooters?

[Cyberarmy]

Worst thing about Half Life 2 was steam...

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

You have to admit, video game critics are still blinded by commercial success. Game X sold like hot cakes, must be the best in the genre!! Cue in the many GOTY reviews.

Imagine if the same logic applied to food industry. McDonald's would get 3 Michelin stars, lol.

 

[Ash]

Video game industry is filled with sellout game devs, dick-sucking game critics, and faggot gamers that support all the decline, argue over what crap game or hardware has/supports better graphics af it's really relevant, fall for fabricated hype machines and go into a frenzy about sexually provocative/gender-biased video game characters or dumb sociopolitical statements that are intentionally designed to provoke said response and thereby draw attention to the game.

What video game series would you erase out of your memory to replay again?

Bioshock (2089 upvotes, highest rated comment)

 

[sullynathan]

Well we have shooters in the current age better than half life 2,if you're done complaining you can play them

 

[Gentle Player]

I'm assuming the freeman crap got spread by the "ex slavery era" vortigaunts, but having them talk like a pack of emancipated slaves was stupid, why not just have them growly/screechy creatures who can share visions and etc like they were in HL1?

Agreed. It's a shame that they ruined the vortigaunts.

 

[Destroid]

Didn't like it much. But then the only shooters I ever finished were Red Faction, Serious Sam, Quake, and Soldier of Fortune.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

BTW, Black Mesa is p cool. They added so many little details to it, like setting zombies on fire with flares. Dunno why this remake is so controversial. Does it get like really horrible later? I'm only at the Office Complex now.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Didn't like it much. But then the only shooters I ever finished were Red Faction, Serious Sam, Quake, and Soldier of Fortune.

You NEVER finish Quake.

 

[HansDampf]

BTW, Black Mesa is p cool. They added so many little details to it, like setting zombies on fire with flares. Dunno why this remake is so controversial. Does it get like really horrible later? I'm only at the Office Complex now.

Wait til you get to the HECU Marines who can snipe you from the other end of the map with their pinpoint accurate MP5s.

 

[Jazz_]

Yeah, it's the typical mediocre game with good presentation acclaimed by the plebs. Another example that springs to mind: Fallout 3.

 

[Trotsky]

Half Life 2 looked amazing for 2004 and the hype was through the roof but I had my doubts. The game was a major letdown even back then and I was shocked more people didn't think so. The original Half Life and its first expansion were perfection tho so I can't blame the sequel too much but I would have preferred a completely different direction.

 

[commie]

I thought the pacing was terrible. The first game was a great mix of puzzle and shooter, varied elements(yeah even xen)but HL2 had most of the game seeing you go from one gate to another either by buggy or boat on a straight line. Almost the whole game you spend being told to go somewhere by some guy while everyone you meet considers you some kind of messiah, though the only time you really feel badass was during the assault on the Citadel. Puzzles are mostly crappy. The Episodes tended to be better since they were more focused without half or more of the campaign driving/boating from one place to the next.

Since 2004 I've come to forgive it many of its flaws mostly because FPS'es since have been mostly pretty terrible and HL2 at least still feels 'dangerous' on highest difficulty since you still have to scavenge for health and no cover mechanics. It still holds up visually and at least the cutscenes were integrated into the gameplay so HL2 rarely did the cardinal sin of most shooters since: taking control away from the player to force them to do set actions, look in a set direction,fall down then get hauled up etc. Nothing pisses me off more than this..this is worse than health regen,cover mechanics and corridors.

So yeah, it was overrated back then and is nowhere near as good as the first one but is still probably one of the better FPS'es we have gotten this century.

 

[Hoplopfheil]

This is relevant to my interests.

I've always thought of Half Life 1 as the best Die Hard game ever made. Gordon Freeman and John McLane are everyday dudes in the wrong place at the right time. They both know how to handle a gun, but otherwise they're normal guys just trying to survive a bad situation.

Half life 2's Gordon Freeman is like John McLane in (Live Free or) Die Hard 4. Still just an everyday Joe, but somehow also a child of destiny and the only one who can save the day. It misses the point of what made the original compelling.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

I get this is an edgy circlejerk of a thread but I'll post anyway.

My memory is foggy since I've last played it maybe in 2006?, but overall I had a pretty good time.
I only remember being very annoyed by the boat sequence which had barely any substantial content.
The buggy I've found to be fine as it was successful in creating the illusion of exploring the unknown.
The prison assault scene with antlions was good, the city 17 guerrilla dredging was heavily scripted but good overall.
Ravenholm was pretty fantastic.
The whole final stretch with super gravity gun was kinda annoying but didn't ruin the game for me.

I remember that after playing FEAR and a couple of other shooters, I got very annoyed by Episode 1 and Episode 2 as I didn't play them until 2009, mainly because it was superfluous sandbox with tons of rehashed encounters and scenarios but it didn't taint my impressions for original.

HL1 is a classic and I'll probably still remember every nook and cranny if I replay it but, for me, the sequel is just as good. Just a completely different game.

I don't get the complaints about linearity, did you people expect a good sandbox or something?

Also, lmao at people blaming the game journos for shaping the success of HL2. It's not like it was one of the most technically advanced games at the time with one of the most smoothest release at the time?

I've always thought of Half Life 1 as the best Die Hard game ever made. Gordon Freeman and John McLane are everyday dudes in the wrong place at the right time. They both know how to handle a gun, but otherwise they're normal guys just trying to survive a bad situation.

lol drog can you be any less transparent with validating yourself

 

[tormund]

It is still treated as a game design bible of sorts by every other major AAA developer. For example, I often saw that bit about how it's unfair for developers (as well as gamers themselves) if all of their hard work isn't visible and possible to fully experience within single playtrough either directly quoted or paraphrased by devs when talking about their insistence on linear, heavily scripted design...

Anyway, from a current day standpoint, it's a regular issue cinematic shooter of the sort that came to dominate the market, albeit one with some added gimmicks but also one with sub par gunplay. What still holds up are its art direction and atmosphere.

 

[Hoplopfheil]

lol drog can you be any less transparent with validating yourself

Incorrect. I'm a different guy, seeking a different kind of self-validation.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

It is still treated as a game design bible of sorts by every other major AAA developer. For example, I often saw that bit about how it's unfair for developers (as well as gamers themselves) if all of their hard work isn't visible and possible to fully experience within single playtrough either directly quoted or paraphrased by devs when talking about their insistence on linear, heavily scripted design...

Are you sure that started with HL2? I always remember this particular shift being the new paradigm with big money console games and overall cinematic focus, HL2 is a far cry from those games.

 

[Leechmonger]

HL2 was extremely boring, but I can't remember what I thought about the first one. Should replay it one day.

 

[sullynathan]

I don't know how you guys can complain about half life 2 but like FEAR even though these same complaints exist in both games but are worse in fear.

 

[Explorerbc]

I remember playing it for the first time 5-6 years ago.

It was ok but nothing extraordinary. I think at this point the game is just a meme because of valve's failure to finish the story.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

It's good as tech-demo, mediocre as gaem and terrible as sequel.

SiN2 was similar but much better (used the same engine).

 

[karoliner]

I played it and the episodes as they came out.They were fun enough games but even them i believed they were hugely overrated. It feels too long because very time a new gimmick is introduced they make fool around it with it until you are bored. Being a linear cinematic experience really kills replayability.And the real time cutscenes means you have to waste time standing around listening to NPCs talking nonsense before moving on.

It had some nice moments and the graphics still hold up today but is way too overrated.

 

[RuySan]

It's discussions like this that make me return to codex. It's one of the dullest shooters I've ever played, and I played it right the day it came out (i had a code to download it that came with my gfx card), so I don't understand how even some people could be impressed by this crap when Far Cry was released at the same year, and Painkiller the year before if I'm not mistaken. Even Doom 3 was way more fun than this.

 

[Carrion]

Half-Life 2 is a scripted rollercoaster ride polished to perfection, which is both its strength and its weakness. The pacing is spot-on, but that's because the game dictates it every step of the way, always keeping you on a very short leash. Every chapter feels different than the one that came before it, and for a corridor shooter the game has tons of variety, but it's done through such obvious gimmicks that it doesn't feel quite natural. The game is very well balanced, as every weapon in the game has its uses, but this is achieved by the game being extremely strict with its resources — for example, you can only carry a couple of clips for the pulse rifle, meaning that you'll constantly have to use the inferior SMG, and the rocket launcher is mostly useless except when you're fighting a mini boss, at which point the game will hand you an infinite supply of rockets. Every character in the game is super friendly to you, but after you've got past the initial "holy fuck these facial animations are good" stage, you'll realize that the only purpose Alyx and everyone else serves in the game is to make you feel good about yourself. It's a game that feels "over-designed" to a point where it comes off as almost manipulative at times, like every part of it was made with a calculator in one hand.

Compared to HL1 it's easier and more linear. HL1 was pretty straightforward too, but it still allowed for exploration every now and then rather than being just a corridor all the time. HL1 also was better in its storytelling, as for the most part it managed to feed you exposition seamlessly whereas HL2 has to lock you into a room several times, which makes the downsides of having a silent protagonist more obvious. HL1 also had a much more diverse selection of enemies and weapons, whereas in HL2 you mostly just shoot down soldiers and zombies.

That's not to say the game doesn't have some genuinely good things about it. I think it's still one of the best-looking games out there, and the art direction is great. There is some actual creativity put into the game despite how safe it all is. The gameplay is pretty simplistic but functional, and the game does have a few good weapons too. It's unfortunate that like HL1 it has spawned a horde of copycats that have tried to mindlessly imitate it without success, and partly because of that the FPS genre has been in a pretty sorry state for a long time.

 

[sullynathan]

It's discussions like this that make me return to codex. It's one of the dullest shooters I've ever played, and I played it right the day it came out (i had a code to download it that came with my gfx card), so I don't understand how even some people could be impressed by this crap when Far Cry was released at the same year, and Painkiller the year before if I'm not mistaken. Even Doom 3 was way more fun than this.

Because far cry is boring and garbage after a certain point and doom 3 is boring as hell.
Half life 2 is better than both.