The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

[Menckenstein]

OpFor is the best half-life game.

 

[hoopy]

I would like all the people praising HL series, especially the first game, to be the genre's brigthest examples, to list the other FPS games they have played before and after.

And I mean all of them.

I'm expecting a significant shortage of titles in those lists.

Ok, here's an incomplete list of singleplayer games I've played:

ARMA 2
Bioshock
Blood
Borderlands
Bulletstorm
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Chronicles of Riddick
Crysis 1
Crysis 2
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Deus Ex 1
Deus Ex 2
Deus Ex 3
Doom 1
Doom 2
Doom 3
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem Forever
Eradicator
F.E.A.R.
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Far Cry 1
Far Cry 2
Halo 1
Halo 2
Halo 3
Ken's Labyrinth
Metro 2033
Quake 1
Quake 2
Quake 4
Rainbow Six 3
Rainbow Six Vegas 1
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Redneck Rampage
Rise of the Triad
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 1
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 3
Serious Sam 3
Shadow Warrior
Singularity
Star Wars Republic Commando
SWAT 4
System Shock 1
System Shock 2
Wolfenstein 3D

I didn't mind the vehicles. I just hated Alyx to all hell. The guy from HL:Blue Shit was fine - at least he could look after himself, and they used the scripting to give a decent 'buddy cop film' feel to some of his parts in the revolution levels (you know, he busts the door open from the side so you get the drop on the enemies coming through, that sort of thing).

If they included a bit where you could use a vehicle to drive over Alyx, perma-killing her and giving you a choice of less irritating companions in the episodes, I think I'd be actively liking the vehicle sections.

I never had any problems with Alyx in the Episodes. I can't immediately think of games with better companion AI and scripting.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Eradicator
Ken's Labyrinth
Redneck Rampage
Rise of the Triad
Shadow Warrior
Singularity

I have never ever heard of these games.

Are they good and recommendable?

 

[Medic]

I would like all the people praising HL series, especially the first game, to be the genre's brigthest examples, to list the other FPS games they have played before and after.

And I mean all of them.

I'm expecting a significant shortage of titles in those lists.

Maybe we should turn this question around, please list the brightest examples of FPS outshining HL games quality and reasoning behind your choices.
I'm expecting a significant shortage of titles in this list.

 

[Menckenstein]

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Eradicator
Ken's Labyrinth
Redneck Rampage
Rise of the Triad
Shadow Warrior
Singularity

I have never ever heard of these games.

Are they good and recommendable?

ROTT, Shadow Warrior and DF: BHD are worth playing.

 

[hoopy]

I have never ever heard of these games.

Are they good and recommendable?

Eradicator is an obscure mid-nineties game that apparently had some innovative or unusual mechanics, but I don't remember it well enough to say anything about it.
Ken's Labyrinth is Wolfenstein-esque, and probably not much more than a historical curiosity.
Redneck Rampage is a BUILD engine game. I don't remember if it was good or bad.
Singularity is good. Underrated.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Haha Redneck Rampage. So much fun shooting the poor chickens back in the day.

Thanks for reminding me of it!

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Haha Redneck Rampage. So much fun shooting the poor chickens back in the day. :p

Thanks for reminding me of it!

Wow, I have so many fond memories of playing Redneck Rampage with my bros when I was like 12. Those chickens erupting in a spray of feathers...

 

[villain of the story]

Redneck Rampage series > Half Life series

RR does everything HL does with the exception of shitscenes and does it better and does it while staying a pure FPS. Even driving a motorcycle in RR is a more fulfilling FPS experience than Scenery LARP simulation in HL. And it comes with wacky humour to boot.

 

[Crispy]

They should do a HL/RR hybrid.

"Pick up that beer can."

 

[Menckenstein]

They should do a HL/RR hybrid.

"Pick up that beer can."

Black White Mesa Table Research Stick Pokin' Facility Backyard

 

[TripJack]

I have never ever heard of these games.

you have never heard of rise of the triad shadow warrior or redneck rampage?

you dont deserve to be a member of the codex

 

[dbx]

I have never ever heard of these games.

you have never heard of rise of the triad shadow warrior or redneck rampage?

you dont deserve to be a member of the codex

Well, you have to render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's. This is RPG Codex, not the FPS Codex.

 

[dbx]

But did it have gay sex?

 

[DraQ]

HL compares positively to *any* Build engine game - even Blood.

The thing I really liked about HL1 was that there was some thought to alien design - they had stuff like homologous anatomy, they behaved differently and their world was suitably alien. HL also had really good and diverse selection of weapons for its time and IIRC pioneered stuff like rocket launcher with serious hitting power and LESS than ~50 spare rounds.

I also enjoyed models with fairly accurate hitboxes and the fact that different parts of the models could have different physical properties - for example alien grunts were partially covered with armour capable of deflecting weaker rounds, some human soldiers had helmets serving the same role, gargantuas were so armoured that few weapons could actually harm them and so on.

Plus, HL scripted sequences were in one key aspect different from cutscenes - they integrated seamlessly with the rest of the gameplay. Unskippability is a small price to pay for that and HL school of design (never depart from PC's perspective) is actually very good when applied to variety of genres - including RPGs.

HL2 + episodes was weaker than HL1, but still enjoyable and probably the closest to storyfag FPS possible for a pure FPS.

 

[Wyrmlord]

I have never ever heard of these games.

you have never heard of rise of the triad shadow warrior or redneck rampage?

you dont deserve to be a member of the codex

I wasn't much into gaming in the 1990s. Outside of games that nearly everyone would have played - Heretic, Doom, Hexen,.etc - I wasn't really what you would call a "gamer". No TV set at home (still the case) meant I wasn't much of a movie-viewer or show-watcher either.

I am not so well acquainted with this whole pop culture thing, as recent John Carpenter threads would make you understand.

 

[Oriental European]

Plus, HL scripted sequences were in one key aspect different from cutscenes - they integrated seamlessly with the rest of the gameplay. Unskippability is a small price to pay for that and HL school of design (never depart from PC's perspective) is actually very good when applied to variety of genres - including RPGs.

Emmm... bro, "HL scripted scenes" were brief and always either before big action part ("push the crystal brah") or after it (first fight with those female ninjas and then capture scene "body? what body brah?"). So in first game scripted scenes enhance gameplay (other scenes), in second they are the gameplay.

Bonus: HL2 has nothing as powerful as silent appearances of gmang in first game.

 

[SoupNazi]

Plus, HL scripted sequences were in one key aspect different from cutscenes - they integrated seamlessly with the rest of the gameplay. Unskippability is a small price to pay for that and HL school of design (never depart from PC's perspective) is actually very good when applied to variety of genres - including RPGs.

They didn't integrate seamlessly because when it's gameplay, you can just push forward. Also you can shoot shit. And who are you to say it's a small price to pay that you can't skip them? Maybe to you, but to me - in both games - it was an issue. Likewise, I never understood the whole thing about not departing from the PC's perspective. What's so great about that, exactly? It's not like I'm gonna imagine myself in the body of some d00d blowing shit up and bunnyhopping around shooting rockets and railguns. Most of all, mute PC is the most annoying thing that can come from an FPS. It's fine in some cases where there's no requirement for talking, but when ALL the NPCs go on tangents and tell you a shitload of stuff, it's so badly immersion breaking that the character never replies that no "never depart from the PCs perspective" shtick can save it.

 

[MetalCraze]

SoupNazi - maybe Gordon Freeman has a deep psychological wound due to a dark past which Valve keeps in secret that makes him deep and silent and well-written like animu main characters?
HL is a DEEP game, you are not mentally capable of understanding it.

 

[attackfighter]

SoupNazi - maybe Gordon Freeman has a deep psychological wound due to a dark past which Valve keeps in secret that makes him deep and silent and well-written like animu main characters?
HL is a DEEP game, you are not mentally capable of understanding it.

maybe that psychological wound is from playing his own game 7 times

a video game characderp laying his own game 7 times, SO DEEP MANG

 

[villain of the story]

I'm certain skyway was being sarcastic.

HL also had really good and diverse selection of weapons for its time and IIRC pioneered stuff like rocket launcher with serious hitting power and LESS than ~50 spare rounds.

Selection was the typical FPS fare of its time but they were good indeed and imaginative. But Shadow Warrior had a better selection that was far more satisfying to use. HL2's weapons also felt more satisfying. Especially the combine assault rifle.

 

[Oriental European]

HL2's weapons also felt more satisfying.

 

[attackfighter]

HL2's weapons also felt more satisfying.

Especially the combine assault rifle.

the only thing that could make it even more satisfying, is if they built a rumble pack into the mouse and vibrated when you fired

 

[Menckenstein]

Half-Life 2: Now with 3 enemy types

 

[villain of the story]

Just for clarification, this is what I'm talking about:

And I think it was very satisfying to use. It packed a punch, felt right and sounded awesome. If you disagree, fuck you. I think it looks interesting as well, breaking away from typical assault rifle designs. Both USP and 357 in HL2 also felt and sounded better than Glock and the 357 in HL1.

I hated the submachine gun in HL2 and missed Gauss gun from HL1, as well as laser mines.