Incline TotalBiscuit: Have FPS gone backwards? (answer is yes)

[Gurkog]

CoD/BF shit is more like CS than HL. I hate all of those equally.

 

[otsego]

If you want to complain about HL2 being built on nothing more than a gimmick, at least give credit where credit is due.

Reeks of edginess, all around. Anyone else remember when the tech demo was leaked to the internet (before we had a connection that could download megs at a time)? It was incredible. And speculated to be a marketing stunt, but I digress.

You fault it's focus on facial animation and physical manipulation as being nothing more than gimmicks that add to the 'decline' of the game (and therefore the genre)... these feats were relatively new and extraordinary for the time, and Valve incorporated the technology very effectively, to add more factors to an otherwise static genre of bunny hopping and rocket launchers.

We can look back at it now and say 'yeah, it was all about the gravity gun' (it wasnt, I NEVER used the gravity gun unless absolutely required, which is no more than maybe 10% of the game), but for the time, it was incredible. I replayed HL2 recently and their examples of 'abusing' their new physics technology is painfully obvious now... but back then, it was very welcome and impressive technology. I'm not saying they were the first to come up with this stuff, but they were one of the first to make very effective use of it. Dare I say... INNOVASHUN.

We may also look at HALO 1 as being a harbinger of decline... with it's popularization of regenerating shield... for HALO, it was an okay feature, and worked fine. We can't blame Bungie for the assholes who decided they'd expand that to regenerating health, and therefore make every shooter revolve around that. The assholes are the ones who decided regenerating health by hiding behind a waist-high cinderblock was AWESUM and TAKE MY MONEY.

 

[Darth Roxor]

but for the time, it was incredible.

I NEVER used the gravity gun unless absolutely required

Yes, it was indeed incredible how you could implement innovashun in such a horrible and boring way!

 

[otsego]

Yes, it was indeed incredible how you could implement innovashun in such a horrible and boring way!

Neither boring nor horrible, but that wasn't the point I was making regardless. It was fun here and there, but not forced 'in your face must use all the time look at my physikz' if you didn't want to. You had the option to manipulate your environment to your advantage, or you could use conventional means to dispatch the obstacles. You could largely ignore it (save for the forced areas, which most including myself would agree were annoying) and it still play, enjoy, and finish the game. Even the 'boss' where you get the Antlion sac (a lower point in the game in my opinion)... I'd use the gravity gun to fling barrels at the bastard, but also largely use the rifle's grenade launcher to dispatch it, amongst other explosives. It was a tool, which was forgivably shown off at some areas, but largely unnecessary.

Sounds like a pretty good use of new tech and existing tropes to me, and most others who appreciate the design of the game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

If not for the forced 'look at muh physixxx' brick piling segments (and that fucking horrible endgame), probably nobody would ever bother with the gravity gun except for the initial novelty of "hurr durr I'm throwing bricks at people ". It was largely inferior compared to normal guns, got boring after about five minutes of using and it was mostly cumbersome because you had to keep looking around for new bricks to throw.

As for the "option to manipulate your environment to your advantage", what exactly would that be? Throwing bricks at people? There were always plenty of chest-high walls which made any barricade building obsolete (which was not even needed in the first place considering the combine soldiers' braindead AI). Oh, I suppose you could also throw Conveniently Placed Explosive Barrels (tm) into shit, but that's not exactly any different from just shooting them when shit gets close.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

I remember grabbing a table with gravity gun and using it as a riot shield of sorts as I crawled towards some enemies with stationary machinegun. It was a pretty beast moment I must say, although it happened like once or twice

 

[RK47]

gravity gun would be amazing if i can pull down people's pants with it.

 

[Carrion]

As for the "option to manipulate your environment to your advantage", what exactly would that be?

I don't know, anything a creative person can come up with? Grabbing a medkit or a box of ammo from a hard-to-reach place. Rolling a car over to crush the enemies taking cover behind it. Blocking a doorway with a bunch of junk. Using a car door as a shield. Grabbing enemy grenades mid-air and throwing them back at them. Turning manhacks into weapons by grabbing them and throwing them at other enemies. Altering the battlefield by moving, removing or adding different types of hindrances. Deflecting the attacks of certain enemies. Setting up different kinds of traps or taking advantage of existing ones. Use your goddamn brain.

There were always plenty of chest-high walls

There weren't. Stop making shit up.

 

[Darth Roxor]

There are so many creative ways of using the gravity gun if only you larp and pretend you need them

K, got it.

 

[Carrion]

"The Gravity Gun is forced on you, what a fucking stupid gimmick, it fucking sucks."
"You aren't forced to use the Gravity Gun, isn't that a poorly implemented gimmick or what, it fucking sucks."

Somehow having a bunch of different weapons at your disposal can be turned into a negative thing.

 

[Darth Roxor]

You are only forced to use the stupid gravity gimmick in pointless forced physix gimmick 'puzzles' because otherwise it is a subpar pseudo-weapon that is only good for 'huehue i throw stuff ' and worse than most of the regular guns, so yes, it is a fucking stupid and poorly implemented gimmick that fucking sucks, FFS NIGGER what's so wrong to get?

 

[RK47]

Roxor is angry. Use a gravity gun on him to calm him down.

 

[abnaxus]

gravity gun would be amazing if i can pull down people's pants with it.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

I dunno what u rage about roxxor-sama, gravity gun seemed fairly optional for the most part of the game. It's not that bad of a gimmick anyway. There are other reasons to hate on HL2. Dumb AI, convinient endless rocket sequences, hallway-ish levels (bigger corridor but stil linear), immortal sidekick, etc.
EDIT:

gravity gun would be amazing if i can pull down people's pants with it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Oh, I know. It's but only one of the things that make me raeg about this overrated piece of turd : x

 

[Carrion]

worse than most of the regular guns

In certain places it's the most effective weapon of the game. In some places, something else is better. That's how weapons usually work in HL2 and in most good shooters.

it is a fucking stupid and poorly implemented gimmick that fucking sucks

So, what would be the proper implementation? Aside from apparently removing the physics puzzles from the game?

Being able to manipulate nearly every object in the game world should be in every single game by now, Gravity Gun or not. Finding that kind of stuff stupid or useless is mind-boggling and pretty much outright retarded.

immortal sidekick

She can die, by the way.

 

[Borelli]

HL2 decision to reduce ammo capacity felt weird to me after playing HL1 where you can have like 80 shotgun shells in the pocket. I think they did that to force you to use other weapons. Funnily enough i don't remember going out of ammo in HL2 often because despite the reduced ammo capacity you still find lots of it around (like on the bodies of enemies).

Good thing about HL2 for me was how different the levels were both thematically and mechanically, like one second you are shooting evil riot police another you are driving around then shooting at flying robots then riot police again etc. Regarding those flying robots, i love it how Valve took a standard enemy (helicopter) and improved it by adding a single thing, that it could dodge missiles. So instead of "shoot a rocked, reload in cover then shoot again" we have a minigame where you have to try to break his defenses. Seeing those flying insectish robots maniacally rotating was too good.

Levels i hate most are those in expansions where they force you to use gravity gun. You are beset by constantly respawning zombies without any ammo pickups so you HAVE TO use gravity gun to fling stuff at them. Felt a bit forced.

 

[RK47]

For more rage worthy gimmick power, look no further than Timeshift

 

[Kane]

Valve never made a good game.

 

[J_C]

 

[Multidirectional]

Fuck all of you.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Fuck all the Valve haters. Fuck them all with a crowbar.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I vastly prefer Q1 to Doom

There were a few things about Quake that were decline. One, it introduced Id's henceforth monochromatic palette and started their fixation with making everything brown, 'cause brown is gritty and shit. Two, the music was shit. Fuck all the Trent Reznor fanboys. Doom was all about kick ass heavy metal songs with big whopping atmospheric tracks to mix out the pace (Doom 1 was better then Doom 2 in this regard). Quake had a bunch of unintelligible buzzing noises 'cause trololo 90s, or whatever the fuck. Lastly, all the weapons felt wimpy as fuck. In every single category, from shotgun to rocket launcher to whatever, Doom did it better.

 

[skacky]

I also prefer Quake over Doom. Everything wasn't brown in Quake. You had some cool red variations (Gloom Keep), blue wizard themes (Romero's episode) and the blue Elder World theme (Azure Agony is a perfect example). You also had variations of green and yellow (the base maps in particular). I think the soundtrack is also one of the best and sets the mood perfectly. The only thing that makes Quake's experience better is when you play some Sunn O))) tracks instead of Reznor's score, but that's just me. Also, when it comes to Doom's score, I vastly prefer the very dark ambient and brooding Doom 64 soundtrack, I'm not really into that heavy metal thing anymore. I also don't really agree with your criticism of the weapons. The only one that feels weird/weak is the nailgun (and its pretty terrible noise) and arguably the base shotgun (it's perfect for sniping and it has a very fast recovery time though). The SNG feels extremely powerful (and it is) and the rocket launcher is the best in any game in my opinion.

 

[Carrion]

I also don't really agree with your criticism of the weapons. The only one that feels weird/weak is the nailgun (and its pretty terrible noise) and arguably the base shotgun (it's perfect for sniping and it has a very fast recovery time though). The SNG feels extremely powerful (and it is) and the rocket launcher is the best in any game in my opinion.

I don't think the weapons are that bad in Quake, but Doom just nailed it. That shotgun sound combined with that death scream and the visual effects, the almost hypnotizing rhythm of turning an enemy after enemy into a pile of blood and guts... It's just incredibly satisfying compared to anything in Quake, or pretty much any other game for that matter. Doom's pacing and gameplay is also pretty much flawless, it has barely aged at all. Also some of the best music in any game. Quake didn't quite achieve that.

I really like Quake too, it has some brilliant levels, a pretty unique atmosphere and mostly great visual style. I've probably played it more than Doom because I actually had a physical copy of it in the 90's whereas Doom was just something I played at a friend's house. Yet out of these two games, I'd go with Doom nine times out of ten.