Honest Opinion on Half-Life 2

[Halfling Rodeo]

I find 'this weapon should be the most awesomest weapon of all times, i want it to nuke all the combines because thats so kewl' to be really stupid (unless it had very limited ammo or something).

When you sell your game on physics and a grav gun people expect the grav gun to be the most awesomest weapon of all time. Which it does eventually become but the games worn out it's welcome at that point. It should have been able to do more like pulling off combine's face masks or something similar.

 

[Average Manatee]

I don't think you can make the grav gun a balanced, interesting weapon. It's inherently ammoless, so it can't be consistently powerful (or it would be used forever and destroy everything like in the final level). It can't be weak, because physics objects are going to be overpowered in every game (you can't justify throwing a giant saw blade or a toilet or w/e at a human and having it just bounce off, it's gotta be a one hit kill). All it can be is very situationally overpowered, i.e. once in a while you notice some stuff that can be used to trivialize an encounter.

There was one good in-combat usage of the grav gun that felt appropriate, required an amount of attention and skill, and wasn't overpowered. That was using it to throw grenades back at the combine. Now that I think about it you could probably do the same with their bouncing balls of get fucked, though I don't think they advertise firing that like they do throwing grenades and the speed would make it almost impossible to time.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

I don't think you can make the grav gun a balanced, interesting weapon. It's inherently ammoless, so it can't be consistently powerful (or it would be used forever and destroy everything like in the final level). It can't be weak, because physics objects are going to be overpowered in every game (you can't justify throwing a giant saw blade or a toilet or w/e at a human and having it just bounce off, it's gotta be a one hit kill). All it can be is very situationally overpowered, i.e. once in a while you notice some stuff that can be used to trivialize an encounter.

There was one good in-combat usage of the grav gun that felt appropriate, required an amount of attention and skill, and wasn't overpowered. That was using it to throw grenades back at the combine. Now that I think about it you could probably do the same with their bouncing balls of get fucked, though I don't think they advertise firing that like they do throwing grenades and the speed would make it almost impossible to time.

You need to design enemies around your weapon not just guns. Guns should still work but imagine fighting Dog but you can pull parts off him to expose weak spots and launch them back to hit them. Or have an enemy only hurt by explosives but not enough ammo to kill multiple of them so you need to use explosive barrels. Or being able to pick up a headcrab and launch it onto a human's head. Turn them into a zombie so they lose their ability to use a strong weapon you don't want to engage normally (sniper maybe?).

Lots of cool ways to use it.

 

[Morenatsu.]

That sounds like some retarded modder shit.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I love Half Life 2 because we got Bloodlines thanks to its engine. Other than that first game is superior in everyway except technical parts.

 

[Dave the Druid]

I love Half Life 2 because we got Bloodlines thanks to its engine.

See also: Dark Messiah, the game with the greatest melee combat ever

 

[mastroego]

I only played HL2 once.
Yes some parts were a bit too long but I loved the atmosphere.
I sometimes feel the urge to play it again.

But it still has no ending.
Were I to play it again, I would be annoyed by the lack of an ending as I was so many years ago.
So, for now at least, no.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

May I suggest we all agree to play through HL2 (and episodes if you wish) in the next week or so and we compare our experiences?

 

[Eirinjas]

I liked HL2's atmosphere, but the story made no sense, portions of it were long and tedious, and it had no ending. I never played the episodes because HL2 didn't leave a great impression on me, and because I know even with the episodes there is still no ending. Basically, I came away with it feeling the same way Peter Griffin did about The Godfather.



Jesus, same feels - right down to "I've never seen the ending". lol

 

[Morenatsu.]

But I just replayed everything already!

 

[deuxhero]

I think the physics puzzles and driving segments are the best parts of HL2. The shooting mechanics are that meh. You've got a small number of guns, but they never really feel distinct (SMG and rifle both rapidly shoot bullets and have an explosive alt fire) unless the ammo for them is so rare (outside of setpieces you've got infinite ammo during) as to be unusable in most situations.

 

[orcinator]

I find 'this weapon should be the most awesomest weapon of all times, i want it to nuke all the combines because thats so kewl' to be really stupid (unless it had very limited ammo or something).

Control does this in additon to making the TK throw homing and also having enemies that are extra vulnerable to it
Control didn't have good gameplay, but it could have.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

I find 'this weapon should be the most awesomest weapon of all times, i want it to nuke all the combines because thats so kewl' to be really stupid (unless it had very limited ammo or something).

Control does this in additon to making the TK throw homing and also having enemies that are extra vulnerable to it
Control didn't have good gameplay, but it could have.

And making it stupidly over powered so it was basically all you did all game.

 

[9ted6]

I liked HL2's atmosphere, but the story made no sense, portions of it were long and tedious, and it had no ending. I never played the episodes because HL2 didn't leave a great impression on me, and because I know even with the episodes there is still no ending. Basically, I came away with it feeling the same way Peter Griffin did about The Godfather.

The atmosphere was top notch and some of the sections were really fun. Always loved Nova Prospekt for both its atmosphere and gameplay, and the hard as shit turret defense section where you actually had to think and work to survive.

The story was incomprehensible, the characters barely existed and the three in a row cliffhanger endings plus one cliffhanger retcon all drag down the experience.

 

[NecroLord]

I liked HL2's atmosphere, but the story made no sense, portions of it were long and tedious, and it had no ending. I never played the episodes because HL2 didn't leave a great impression on me, and because I know even with the episodes there is still no ending. Basically, I came away with it feeling the same way Peter Griffin did about The Godfather.

The atmosphere was top notch and some of the sections were really fun. Always loved Nova Prospekt for both its atmosphere and gameplay, and the hard as shit turret defense section where you actually had to think and work to survive.

The story was incomprehensible, the characters barely existed and the three in a row cliffhanger endings plus one cliffhanger retcon all drag down the experience.

On Hard that fight is fucking insane.
Too bad you can't lean around corners and fire from cover.
I often find I must also bring those two turrets with me from the previous section just to get through the fight.
Fuck that.
Half-Life had a lot of great fights and memorable encounters. Not so much Half-Life 2...

 

[Morenatsu.]

Bro I was playing that in my super hard mode and I got through it. Without hiding in the closet or climbing up to the next floor.

Shoutout to the generator plaza and its cover for the OICW you don't have.

 

[Average Manatee]

Dario Casali did a playthrough/dev commentary on HL1. The playthrough itself isn't really that interesting but he includes a few minutes of stuff about early valve culture and the environment at the beginning of each episode. Which isn't too pertinent to the thread, but there is one part here where he talks about the differences between HL1 and HL2 combat:

 

[Goldschmidt]

Half-Life 2 is better than 90% of shooters, simply because:

1) It was designed for pc.
2) It has quick and manual saving.
3) It has no horrid quicktime events.

Features that are long gone since late 2000s.

 

[Nutmeg]

2) It has quick and manual saving.

Cheat feature

 

[Morenatsu.]

Real gamers don't not save, they don't load

 

[9ted6]

Half-Life 2 is better than 90% of shooters, simply because:

1) It was designed for pc.
2) It has quick and manual saving.
3) It has no horrid quicktime events.

Features that are long gone since late 2000s.

4) No regenerating health.

 

[Nutmeg]

4) No regenerating health.

Based feature. Health regen ruined what would have been some very nice FPSes.

 

[Goldschmidt]

2) It has quick and manual saving.

Cheat feature

Players who see saving as 'cheating' always have the option to not use it.

If I get a phone call or someone rings at my door, I need to be able to save. Something every PC game used to have.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

4) No regenerating health.

Based feature. Health regen ruined what would have been some very nice FPSes.

I understand why it's disliked but I've never found it a problem if the game was designed around it. Halo 1, Reach and ODST all have half your health bar regen while still using med packs. It's a fine mechanic if used properly. It's a lazy mechanic if used because it's popular. There's room for more casual and hardcore FPS games using different mechanics depending on what fits the setting.

 

[NecroLord]

Half-Life 2 is better than 90% of shooters, simply because:

1) It was designed for pc.
2) It has quick and manual saving.
3) It has no horrid quicktime events.

Features that are long gone since late 2000s.

No arguments here.
It is still nowhere near as good as the 90s classics though.