Honest Opinion on Half-Life 2

[Morenatsu.]

Just use the ladder bro

There isn't one bro. And if you think HL2 ladders are remotely usable to jump off of onto a pipe from the main one you're an idiot. Ladders barely work, they don't work enough to make jumps like that.



57:30. He jumps on a railing and then along a pipe to get up there. So it is possible without physics shit but it's not the obvious solution when they put barrels under the ledge as I said.

 

[Hell Swarm]

Just use the ladder bro

There isn't one bro. And if you think HL2 ladders are remotely usable to jump off of onto a pipe from the main one you're an idiot. Ladders barely work, they don't work enough to make jumps like that.



57:30. He jumps on a railing and then along a pipe to get up there. So it is possible without physics shit but it's not the obvious solution when they put barrels under the ledge as I said.

And it took him 4 attempts to jump off the ladder to land on the pipe. Ladders suck in this game and while Valve may have intended you to use the ladder that way we can see how stupid a decision that was.

 

[Morenatsu.]

Just use the ladder bro

There isn't one bro. And if you think HL2 ladders are remotely usable to jump off of onto a pipe from the main one you're an idiot. Ladders barely work, they don't work enough to make jumps like that.



57:30. He jumps on a railing and then along a pipe to get up there. So it is possible without physics shit but it's not the obvious solution when they put barrels under the ledge as I said.

And it took him 4 attempts to jump off the ladder to land on the pipe. Ladders suck in this game and while Valve may have intended you to use the ladder that way we can see how stupid a decision that was.

stfu and press e

 

[schru]

Just use the ladder bro

There isn't one bro. And if you think HL2 ladders are remotely usable to jump off of onto a pipe from the main one you're an idiot. Ladders barely work, they don't work enough to make jumps like that.

You just press the use key to get off where you're currently looking.

The ladders in HL2's version of Source are rather sticky and rigid, but they're pretty functional otherwise.

Just use the ladder bro

There isn't one bro. And if you think HL2 ladders are remotely usable to jump off of onto a pipe from the main one you're an idiot. Ladders barely work, they don't work enough to make jumps like that.



57:30. He jumps on a railing and then along a pipe to get up there. So it is possible without physics shit but it's not the obvious solution when they put barrels under the ledge as I said.

And it took him 4 attempts to jump off the ladder to land on the pipe. Ladders suck in this game and while Valve may have intended you to use the ladder that way we can see how stupid a decision that was.

That person is just overestimating the distance and difficulty of reaching the pipe. The ladder is the intended path.

 

[Hell Swarm]

That person is just overestimating the distance and difficulty of reaching the pipe. The ladder is the intended path.

As you said the ladders are rather sticky and it's annoying to get off ladders at all, let alone land on a pipe. I've fallen twice on ladders with a ledge right next to them.

The stickiness also applies to the air boat. It physically drags you into the wall while lining up some jumps. It's frustrating to fail a jump because the game pulled you off course and tries to wrestle your handling away from you. And the whoever thought driving up/over logs was a good idea. The air boat section isn't challenging for the enemies. You take random damage occasionally from chopper fire (like shooting you from behind in a tunnel) but the real menace is the physics. I even got stuck under the collapsing tower at one point. Didn't kill me just trapped me.

 

[Average Manatee]

200 IQ HL2 gameplay in action. Makes you feel like you really have a PhD from MIT.

 

[Tel Velothi]

banal shit boring

 

[schru]

That person is just overestimating the distance and difficulty of reaching the pipe. The ladder is the intended path.

As you said the ladders are rather sticky and it's annoying to get off ladders at all, let alone land on a pipe. I've fallen twice on ladders with a ledge right next to them.

The stickiness also applies to the air boat. It physically drags you into the wall while lining up some jumps. It's frustrating to fail a jump because the game pulled you off course and tries to wrestle your handling away from you. And the whoever thought driving up/over logs was a good idea. The air boat section isn't challenging for the enemies. You take random damage occasionally from chopper fire (like shooting you from behind in a tunnel) but the real menace is the physics. I even got stuck under the collapsing tower at one point. Didn't kill me just trapped me.

Yes, trying to jump off ladders can be problematic. Try just looking where you want to end up and pressing the use key. It should be enough to dismount seamlessly in most cases.

As for the air-boat, it's more uncontrollable when it's not accelerating and just floating instead, but maybe that's not what you mean. Generally, I find its mechanics to be very satisfying, since it takes a bit more skill to control than the car does (especially in the later versions since the Mac compatibility update, which changed its handling entirely, making it very bland). You can get tripped and knocked off course by some obstacles, but all the ramps for work as intended, only some of them require more precise alignment. One spot that can cause problems is the collapsed pipe during the helicopter chase with the music, I suppose, but that looks like an intentional trap.

 

[Egosphere]

If i wanted to play devil's advocate, i would say the combine are not the actual force that conquered earth, but just the peace keeping occupation troops that were left behind. The problem with that of course is that Gordon fights his way towards the heart of their power any no other kind of army shows up so i guess that was it.

The Advisors were supposed to be the leaders of the Combine, I believe.
If their powers are any indication, they would've made for some really tough boss fights.

iirc Laidlaw had that twitter joke account on which he posted cryptic messages according to which the advisors themselves were invaded by a parasite that puppeteered them towards its own ends. Not official lore of course, but still was an interesting take on who the actual enemy is, for it seems to be the enemy of everyone involved.

 

[Egosphere]

Another thing I'll say in 2's favour - I remember more music tracks from it than from 1. Triage at Dawn, C Violation, the track that plays when you're under the bridge. A big step up from the first game, although perhaps tied with Opposing Force, which had quite a few bangers of its own as well. I lost all remaining trace of interest in the series when Bailey left the studio. Bailey had a certain texture to his work that was unique.
This was his last piece for Valve as far as I'm aware.



You can just picture cruising down abandoned Finnish highways in your buggy with the biomech combine helis buzzing in the sunset glow of the horizon.

 

[NecroLord]

Absolutely memorable soundtrack and sound effects indeed!

 

[ds]

Dunno, HL1 has fewer memorable tracks but that just makes Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar, Nuclear Mission Jam and the closing theme stand out more when they do come on. HL2's music is great too though, just never felt HL1 was lacking in that department.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Fun fact: i played Half-Life 1 without music the first time.

The only other game i ever did that was System Shock 2.

Something in both games just told me the experience would have been better without music.

 

[luj1]

Thread title.
What is your honest opinion on Half-Life 2?

Good game

Is it better than the original?

No

Is it guilty of opening the way for scripted cinematic bullshit in FPS games?

A little

 

[Morenatsu.]

Fun fact: i played Half-Life 1 without music the first time.

The only other game i ever did that was System Shock 2.

Something in both games just told me the experience would have been better without music.

I don't understand the SS2 muting meme. There's nothing wrong with the music.

 

[Egosphere]

Fun fact: i played Half-Life 1 without music the first time.

The only other game i ever did that was System Shock 2.

Something in both games just told me the experience would have been better without music.

I don't understand the SS2 muting meme. There's nothing wrong with the music.

Some of the tracks take away from the horror of the setting

 

[NecroLord]

Fun fact: i played Half-Life 1 without music the first time.

The only other game i ever did that was System Shock 2.

Something in both games just told me the experience would have been better without music.

I don't understand the SS2 muting meme. There's nothing wrong with the music.

Some of the tracks take away from the horror of the setting

I think the first System Shock game's soundtrack doesn't get enough credit.
I thought it was even better than two's.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Fun fact: i played Half-Life 1 without music the first time.

The only other game i ever did that was System Shock 2.

Something in both games just told me the experience would have been better without music.

I don't understand the SS2 muting meme. There's nothing wrong with the music.

It's not that i dislike the soundtrack a lot of the times i just didn't want hear any music at all. I had no idea it was a thing either i thought it was just me.

 

[rubinstein]

Fun fact: i played Half-Life 1 without music the first time.

The only other game i ever did that was System Shock 2.

Something in both games just told me the experience would have been better without music.

I don't understand the SS2 muting meme. There's nothing wrong with the music.

Some of the tracks take away from the horror of the setting

i assume you mean the "dreaded" dnb tracks. its almost like soundtrack was split into music that fits exploration bits (moody, atmospheric ambient tracks) and music that fits combat bits (energetic, adrenaline-pumping tracks perfect for beheading monkeys with laser rapier) for a reason. as far as i remember these dnb tracks never play outside of combat. when you are facing multiple maintenance robots while having grenade launcher equipped then the horror elements of the setting go far into the background, and you need some music to hype you up.
the designers were right to make it that way.