Incline Half Life 2 is great and I love it

[Ash]

But it's not particularly fun. Has its moments for sure, but all the story stuff is dumb and boring, a lot of the vehicle sections tedious in vast wide open areas featuring nothing of interest, the ending with the upgraded gravity gun is stupid because there's no challenge or diversity to it, just spam dudes over and over. Half Life 1 is way more fun and that game is overrated too (though still an undeniable classic). The combat is rather boring too. Fun parts for me were playing floor is lava in the antlion nest, ravenholm (the physics playground), and I enjoyed the physics puzzles that showed up here and there. Late game is so boring too. Nova Prospeckt. Trash combat and running around with antlions doing all the work for you, intespersed with shooting down war of the worlds tripods one too many times in a very restrictive scenario (stuck on tiny roof, can't use other guns. Very popamole).

 

[Latro]

if a game isn't fun, it's shit. I found the boat ride somewhat fun when I hadn't played anything like it, but when you look back and realize it was a significant part of the game (and thus, robbing the game of other levels that could have been great), it has "aged" worse. it has become more shit. I rest my case.

 

[Ash]

lol

YOU aged, and over time realized it was shit. Many don't even make it that far, developing standards that is. Monocle for you

 

[zapotec]

I re-played it in last december along with the expansion and i found it super boring compared to the first one.

 

[cretin]

I replayed both HL1 and HL2 last year.

HL1 was a hell of a romp and was fun from start to finish. I even liked the much maligned Xen levels!

HL2 on the other hand, was mostly boring with a few highlights and when I was done I had no desire to try out any of the Totally Not Expansion Packs.

 

[Star Citizen]

hl2 has aged terribly outside of certain chapters (nova prospekt, city 17, antlion part), EP1 and EP2 are pretty solid

WTF? "aged" terribly? It was mediocre on release. Engine was really nice, physics were impressive, the game itself however was always inferior to HL1 and all the 90s classics. Age changed nothing. 7/10 then, 7/10 now. At absolute best.

Yeah lol I always base my shit off my release impressions and initial disappointment when discussing HL2. I tried replaying it multiple times since and always ended up tapping out from sheer boredom. Game for me was mediocrity defined, I don't really have much of an opinion of it at all other than it just being a bland n boring disappointment back then as it is today and that's all it'll ever be to me, same with Doom 3 but I at least got some fun out of that shit so it didn't sting quite as much.

All them years reading lengthy articles in zines about the revolutionary tech powering it, dev interviews, watching gameplay released officially and hunting down any leaked footage like some diseased, lactating creature (didn't have internet back then so I had to rely on some local gaming magazine's monthly word on the streets). I recall acquiring what must've been that e3 showcase demo at some lan and as rough and buggy and shit as it was, still my impressions from playing through it was that it was something I wanted badly once completed.

 

[†††]

Forget about vehicle sections; the biggest sin of HL2 is the dogshit AI that was clearly inferior to its prequel (a game from 1998!). I know the leak threw a wrench into their plans but really, it's terrible, easily the most "aged" part of the game.

 

[Morenatsu.]

Forget about vehicle sections; the biggest sin of HL2 is the dogshit AI that was clearly inferior to its prequel (a game from 1998!). I know the leak threw a wrench into their plans but really, it's terrible, easily the most "aged" part of the game.

The leak was an embarrassment, I guess, but I don't think it actually did much to the development. ‘lol they rebuilt game beceaus leek’ is probably one of the most obviously retarded meme-thoughts to ever exist.

I rather get the feeling that they managed to make each section of the game one level too long, but other that that... I always thought the game was fine. It gets more boring the more you replay it, but so can HL1 (did you ever notice that the first half of the game is really really easy and slow when they are no soldiers?).

 

[JarlFrank]

I replayed HL2 earlier this year, never finished it back in the day (quit before Ravenholm because young Jarl was scared of spooky levels ).

It's ok. The level design is painfully linear, just like HL1. Apart from the occasional 2 meter long side track that lets you find a hidden cache, there's always just a straight line to follow. Sometimes in the more open areas you wonder if there's more than one way to get to the next place, but no. It's always just one way, usually locked behind some simple physics puzzle.

The engine is cool, and it's still impressive to this day. Good physics, good animations, everything is smooth. Honestly, there's not much that games have gained visually since HL2, and it's obvious why back in the day it was such a huge step forward in technology.

But that's what is is: a glorified tech demo to show off an amazing new engine. The cool tech stuff still holds up today, using the gravity gun is as funny as it was back then. But sadly, gameplay has been designed as merely a tool to show off all the cool shit the engine can do. Everything is a gimmick serving only to show you all the cool things that are possible.

You thought you were going to walk around and shoot things in your FPS? Haha no!
Here, let's have a:
- boat section
- car section
- section where you lose all guns except the gravity gun so we can show off our physics
- section where you toss bait and make antlions do all the work so we can show off our AI/squad mechanics
- section where you command resistance fighters so we can show off our AI/squad mechanics again

And all the guns have pretty low max ammo pools, in order to force you into using the physics gimmicks more.
Oh but when there's a gunship you have to take down with your rocket launcher, you suddenly get infinite rocket ammo crates. You can't carry a lot of rockets at once so the rocket launcher can only be used rarely, but when you really NEED it, you get infinite ammo lol.

It's painfully obvious that every single design decision in the game was geared towards showing off all the cool shit the engine can do, rather than creating a fun gameplay experience with good flow.

The story cutscenes are a great example of it, too. They're overly lengthy and you can't even skip them, you run around the room tossing physics objects around while NPCs talk at you. All just to show off the super cool facial animations that were the best in the entire industry at the time.

 

[Morenatsu.]

EVERY GAME EVER IS A TECH DEMO

 

[Kainan]

i'm a half life fan but i think the series is super overrated, Unreal came before HL1 and did everything that HL did and sometimes better.

Half-life 2 is better than HL1 but the story is all over the top nonsense and doesn't have the same feel that HL1 had.

HL1: good game, overrated as fuck.

HL2: Great game, bad sequel, overrated as hell too.

I would say hl2 is a good sequel but a bad game. It isnt over the top as cod etc. There are some good things about it. But what kills it is bad ai that makes you question the premise of the game of how are those retards combine able to take over the earth.

 

[Morenatsu.]

But what kills it is bad ai that makes you question the premise of the game of how are those retards combine able to take over the earth.

the same can be said about real life

 

[seco]

Half Life was never good.
Play real games like Doom, Quake, Duke, Marathon, Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, Unreal, Blood, Tribes, Dark Forces, Sin, Heretic, Hexen, Shadow Warrior, Deus Ex, Outlaws.
Imagine thinking linear scripted fps are good.
Even the mods sucked.

 

[Morenatsu.]

Half Life was never good.
Play real games like Doom, Quake, Duke, Marathon, Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, Unreal, Blood, Tribes, Dark Forces, Sin, Heretic, Hexen, Shadow Warrior, Deus Ex, Outlaws.
Imagine thinking linear scripted fps are good.
Even the mods sucked.

sin = linear scripted fps
marathon = mediocrity incarnate only redeemed by story and atmosphere (and not even that in the sequels)
deus ex, system shock, thief, ultima underworld = not fps

cool list bro

 

[good fucking shit happen]

Alexander DeLarge

 

[Morenatsu.]

Alexander DeLarge

Betafags are forever jerking off over their imaginary green-fog HL2 despite the fact the only prototypes they actually have don't have that aesthetic at all but are rather more like a rougher, dirtier version of what we got in the final game. And honestly, I prefer that over HURR DURR DURKNASSS!! I remember in the big Facepunch/Discord beta discussions, there was one time they were talking about skyboxes, and some autists got the idea that the skies in included in the stolen build were actually just brightened and filtered versions of what were originally DARK GREENFOG SKY OMG so they refiltered them to what they thought they should be, and slapped it into an existing map and were like ‘omg its so much better!!’ despite the lighting and fog not matching at all. Even in the Project Beta map pack, they somehow got an actual older skybox that looked like that and replaced the newer version with it and completely failed to realize it only maybe fit one map and the rest only matched the newer one that was already there. But muh green fog concept art im gonna moooood

oh yeah and these losers still haven't figured out how to put the game into DX8 mode for the true beta spheremap experience

 

[good fucking shit happen]

Alexander DeLarge

Betafags are forever jerking off over their imaginary green-fog HL2 despite the fact the only prototypes they actually have don't have that aesthetic at all but are rather more like a rougher, dirtier version of what we got in the final game. And honestly, I prefer that over HURR DURR DURKNASSS!! I remember in the big Facepunch/Discord beta discussions, there was one time they were talking about skyboxes, and some autists got the idea that the skies in included in the stolen build were actually just brightened and filtered versions of what were originally DARK GREENFOG SKY OMG so they refiltered them to what they thought they should be, and slapped it into an existing map and were like ‘omg its so much better!!’ despite the lighting and fog not matching at all. Even in the Project Beta map pack, they somehow got an actual older skybox that looked like that and replaced the newer version with it and completely failed to realize it only maybe fit one map and the rest only matched the newer one that was already there. But muh green fog concept art im gonna moooood

You seem upset.

 

[Carrion]

stop with the aged crap.

Yeah, it's not like there are many shooters worth mentioning that were released after HL2 anyway. If anything, the current crap only makes it seem better. The visuals have held up incredibly well too.

The level design is painfully linear, just like HL1.

This is not exactly true regarding HL1. HL2 is quite a bit more straightforward in its level design, lacking levels like Blast Pit, Power Up and Lambda Core that have you flicking a switch here and turning a valve there to make something happen in another part of the level. They level layouts aren't terribly complex, but there's still room for some exploration and backtracking in there. In HL2 you might occasionally have to take a two-minute detour to disable a force field or something, but that's about it. HL2 keeps you on a tighter leash, to a point where it feels almost overdesigned, like the low ammo pools and conveniently placed rocket boxes you mentioned. The game basically takes care of resource management for you.

I do think HL2 is still a very well made linear game. Good pacing, memorable and distinct levels, lots of variety (even though a lot of it comes in the form of gimmicks like vehicles and temporary companions).

 

[gerey]

You thought you were going to walk around and shoot things in your FPS? Haha no!
Here, let's have a:
- boat section
- car section
- section where you lose all guns except the gravity gun so we can show off our physics
- section where you toss bait and make antlions do all the work so we can show off our AI/squad mechanics
- section where you command resistance fighters so we can show off our AI/squad mechanics again

I'd argue this is one of the game's strengths - and I think it may also have been a very deliberate attempt by Valve to hide just how bad the gunplay in HL2 was - every level has some new gimmick, weapon, enemy or theme to play around with, they tried really hard to keep the game fresh. It's something they're really good at doing in all their games. Hedon is another FPS that tries to have some unique mechanic in every level, but without having the gimmick overshadow the standard gameplay. In the first level there's two "quests" you can solve to get some useful items, and in one of the next levels set in a forge you can go around collecting resources that you can then craft into ammo at the appropriate machine.

I also think HL2 really shines when it puts you in a more open level, like the car sections in HL2 and Episode 2. There's something very satisfying about navigating the sombre landscape, coming across a building or point of interest and going in to take a look.

HL1 also tried to mix things up with each new level, though in that game there was less emphasis on the gimmicks, and a bigger focus on the gunplay.

HL games were always in this weird inbetween when it comes to the combat, not realistic enough to masquerade as a milsim shooter, but not arcade enough to really go wild, so you end up with a fairly cliché arsenal that is boring to use, especially since quite a few weapons feel underpowered, have next-to-no use or operate weirdly. I like both games just fine, but they would be miles better if the guns were a tad more accurate, a tad more powerful, and didn't sound like peashooters.

To this day I will not understand why the SPAS-12 fires from both "barrels", when with a minimum of research Valve could have found out that the shotgun can operate both in semiauto and pump-action. They could have set alt-fire to be the pump-action with increased damage to compensate for the slower reload animation (and yes, I'm aware the pump-action IRL is meant for rounds that generate lower pressure).

 

[jebsmoker]

hl1 has aged better, although you're bullshitting if you think the xen chapters are good

 

[Morenatsu.]

The level design is painfully linear, just like HL1.

This is not exactly true regarding HL1. HL2 is quite a bit more straightforward in its level design, lacking levels like Blast Pit, Power Up and Lambda Core that have you flicking a switch here and turning a valve there to make something happen in another part of the level. They level layouts aren't terribly complex, but there's still room for some exploration and backtracking in there. In HL2 you might occasionally have to take a two-minute detour to disable a force field or something, but that's about it. HL2 keeps you on a tighter leash, to a point where it feels almost overdesigned, like the low ammo pools and conveniently placed rocket boxes you mentioned. The game basically takes care of resource management for you.

I do think HL2 is still a very well made linear game. Good pacing, memorable and distinct levels, lots of variety (even though a lot of it comes in the form of gimmicks like vehicles and temporary companions).

It's what happens to a lot of sequels. They try to trim what they see as the fat and end up cutting off some of the good parts. And Valve developed a habit of over-optimizing their games for their sometimes retarded play-testers.

Still, a game made by talented people for retards is better than one made by the tards themselves.

you're bullshitting if you think the xen chapters are good

meme-opinion, get out

I think it may also have been a very deliberate attempt by Valve to hide just how bad the gunplay in HL2 was

I'd rather think they were just too focused on the ‘gimmicks’ to develop the combat, rather than the other way around.

HL games were always in this weird inbetween when it comes to the combat, not realistic enough to masquerade as a milsim shooter, but not arcade enough to really go wild, so you end up with a fairly cliché arsenal that is boring to use, especially since quite a few weapons feel underpowered, have next-to-no use or operate weirdly. I like both games just fine, but they would be miles better if the guns were a tad more accurate, a tad more powerful, and didn't sound like peashooters.

It's true that HL1 has some underutilized weapons, and HL2's combat comes together to be too weak, but I otherwise disagree. HL1 has the best feeling shooting in any game ever made, and the sounds in both games is fine and highly preferable to KABANGKABANGKABANGKABANGKABANG that everyone seems to think video game guns should be. There was that Doom 3 beta with the old gun sounds that people think are better, but to me it sounded so trite. The only time I was bothered by peashooter-sounding guns was Duke 3D.

To this day I will not understand why the SPAS-12 fires from both "barrels", when with a minimum of research Valve could have found out that the shotgun can operate both in semiauto and pump-action. They could have set alt-fire to be the pump-action with increased damage to compensate for the slower reload animation (and yes, I'm aware the pump-action IRL is meant for rounds that generate lower pressure).

HL2's rocket launcher is backwards. Cannot unsee.

 

[jebsmoker]

meme-opinion, get out

if it was 2000, i'd agree with you. but it's not the early 2000's anymore. the last segment of half life 1 feels rushed compared to the rest, and it hasn't stood the test of time. its quality doesn't mesh with the rest of the game at all

 

[Morenatsu.]

meme-opinion, get out

if it was 2000, i'd agree with you. but it's not the early 2000's anymore. the last segment of half life 1 feels rushed compared to the rest, and it hasn't stood the test of time. its quality doesn't mesh with the rest of the game at all

xen is cool as shit stfu

everyone is just butthurt they fail at landing on giant, easy-to-reach platforms

 

[jebsmoker]

oh, the first xen chapter is short and trivially easy. interloper is absolute dogshit and unbalanced, and the end boss, nihilanth, is easy to cheese

 

[schru]

It is underdeveloped, but it's still interesting and the change of pace and location for the finale is nice. It's not so devoid of set pieces either and the combat can get kind of tense too.

It goes without saying that the platforming is indispensable and more shooters should have it.