Half Life 2 Opinions

Canis Lupus

I could have put this into the HL forum but I reckoned this topic is more at home in here....

So by now most of us have played the game a fair bit I was wondering what ppls opinion of HL2 were and whether they reckon it deserves the title of best shooter ever?

My own opinion on HL2 is that it's a real good polished game that deserves the plaudits its gotten but for me I reckon CoD still holds the top spot for best shooter mixing incredible atmosphere with a great pace and some frenetic shooting. HL2 for me just seems to be one long trek with enemies in between.

Rew

Canis Lupus wrote:

My own opinion on HL2 is that it's a real good polished game that deserves the plaudits its gotten but for me I reckon CoD still holds the top spot for best shooter mixing incredible atmosphere with a great pace and some frenetic shooting. HL2 for me just seems to be one long trek with enemies in between.

I agree with the long trek bit.

Game is too short, I finished it in no time at all and I was expecting a greater varity of bad guys, bosses and waepons. Have to say im a bit disapointed... Reckon HL1 was better for game play.

KdjaCL

Excellent game one of the best but alas not the best (Goldeneye is) main problems with HL2 is its too easy , to linear and i not finsihed it yet but if i close to end its fairly short with 0 replay value.


kdjac

Maximilian

I think best FPS ever. Atmosphere is excellent, the game world feels more "alive" than any game that has ever come before it. The Source engine is simply awsome. The animation is too. I can't see how any other game can compare now.

I actually just finished off Call of Duty last night (needed to free up some disk space) after playing HL2 all week. Its amazing how COD has aged since HL2 arrived. Its made every other FPs, including Doom 3, almost obsolete now.

Canis Lupus

Maximilian wrote:

I actually just finished off Call of Duty last night (needed to free up some disk space) after playing HL2 all week. Its amazing how COD has aged since HL2 arrived. Its made every other FPs, including Doom 3, almost obsolete now.

Graphics aside do u not think the firefights in HL2 are: see enemy, run straight up to him if possible, stand and keep fire button depressed till enemy falls over, turn an repeat on next enemy. While CoD is move move, fire a burst, move again, lob a grenade with mortars going off and bullets flying through the air.

I think one of the most annoying aspects of HL2 apart from the constant feeling of walking/driving in a straight line is that I don't feel there is an objective to what I'm doing. It just feels like I'm in a car driving along the road shooting at stuff for no reason and in a bit I'm going to come to a house where enemy will run out of. I know I could actually drive right past but I won't. Eventually I will come to a house with friendlies who will talk a bit and I'll be on the move again doing the same thing but maybe walking this time and I have no real idea of why I'm doing it and no impetus to carry on doing it.

I'm still enjoying the game immensely but it's just not a game that grabbed my attention like CoD did.

Retr0gamer

I think HL2 is a fantastic game and one of the best FPs games ever made but I preferred the COD games. I was playing united offense at the same time as HL2. My reason for preferring it is simple. After extended play of HL2 I get a little tired of it and have to stop playing for the rest of the day or I won't enjoy it. COD while short had me playing from 12 noon to 12 midnight on saturday non-stop and I was enjoying it so much I didn't realise that I had nothing to eat since lunch.

I think HL2 might have benefitted from more atmospheric large scale battles like in COD. In the later stages the atmosphere was right but the scale of the firefights was a little small. Saying that, I still haven't beaten HL2.

Praetorian

Just finished it twenty minutes ago on normal.

Half-Life 2. Jaw droppingly gorgeous. Revolutionary. Lack of multiplayer and weapons, and the removal of some previously shown content (shown in some of the preview movies) means hl2 doesn't attain a perfect score. Still quite remarkable. 9.4/10

I played it on max detail : 1200 x 1024 no antialiasing, luckily for me my pc was well upto the task.

Maximilian

I don't think it was meant to be an intense shooter like COD. Its all about the atmosphere, the shiny water, the journey, seeing new things, killing them and then later, picking up the bodies with your enhanced grav gun and doing a waltz. HL2 is a thing of beauty. Maybe it doesn't rock your world but you have to admit, its unique and in terms of technology, its without equal.

Zaphod B

Succeeds by repeating the gameplay of HL1, making sure there were plenty of set-pieces and encounters that felt suitably cinematic (again like in HL1), but this time adding great graphics and really amazing physics, and including vehicle and puzzle sections that were simple but fun. Basically it takes HL1, updates it and improves the graphics. Certainly not revolutionary.

The plot certainly wasn't one of the attractions of this game, at least not once I realised Valve had decided not to let us know what the plot was. Some people think this was an incredibly clever move, and we should be all over message boards posting "OMG its soe obvius cant yuo see Gman is Gordon cuz they both have a head and ears and eyes" or "Clearly Gordon Freeman is not human but is in fact the physical manifestation of an eternal being representing both spiritual and corporeal freedom and enlightenment, thus in a supremely ironic way we discover that we are in fact playing God". Great. Personally my response was "WTF is going on liek tbh", closely followed by "Ah, b0ll0cks to it" as I stopped caring. Ditto the ending; I just felt cheated. (Don't think I've given too much away here, if you disagree just let me know in a suitably outraged manner and I'll add spoiler tags).

In general, I'd say it's a very good but not amazing FPS, with extremely good graphics and physics. Once I got over the physics and pretty effects I realised it wasn't as good as it seemed at first. First time round it was very atmospheric (

Ravenholm!

) and there were some really fun moments (

gravity gun!

) but even so, I felt it had nowhere near as much replay value as HL1 - I'll be playing it again, but mainly to see the graphics properly on a decent spec PC, not for the gameplay value. There's really only so many Combine soldiers you can shoot at before you just get bored.

IMO one really good thing about this game is its modding potential. In the form of CS, DoD etc, people are playing Half-Life 6 years after its release. I can't say whether people will be playing HL2 mods in 6 years, but at least with the SDK and tools out people can realise HL2's potential and improve on it - because as good as it is, it could certainly be improved.

Canis Lupus

Zaphod B wrote:

"OMG its soe obvius cant yuo see Gman is Gordon cuz they both have a head and ears and eyes" or "Clearly Gordon Freeman is not human but is in fact the physical manifestation of an eternal being representing both spiritual and corporeal freedom and enlightenment, thus in a supremely ironic way we discover that we are in fact playing God.

[suitably outraged manner] Ya b.ollox I haven't finished the game yet :eek: [/suitably outraged manner]

TinCool

Great game and sadly it looks like I am nearing the end. The reason why I'm rating this so high for me is the fact that I've been playing it every day since I've gotten it and it's held my attention. I've had so many games in the past where I'd play it for a couple of days and forget about it. Not with this game.

L5

"picking up the bodies with your enhanced grav gun and doing a waltz"


thanks for the spoiler, you've ruined the end of the game for me.

Praetorian

L5 wrote:

"picking up the bodies with your enhanced grav gun and doing a waltz"


thanks for the spoiler, you've ruined the end of the game for me.

Fupoff with the spoilers!

Maximilian

L5 wrote:

"picking up the bodies with your enhanced grav gun and doing a waltz"


thanks for the spoiler, you've ruined the end of the game for me.

I doubt it

mewso

HL2 was a bit short but probably up there with Deus Ex for me as best game I've played. As for COD. Sorry but I prefer a story driven game and while COD is very good I am not as sucked in when I'm playing 3 different players. Also if I want to play a WW2 FPS thats what I want to play. Not driving tanks or shooting planes in a bomber.

koneko

I personally thought COD was very overrated, didn't like it that much at all (might just be me though...)

Kiith

it's a bit short, and a bit easy, but it's one of the best games i've ever played. the athmosphere is brilliant, and the graphics are insane. i spent 5 minutes at the start putting bricks on a seesaw and balancing it out. great fun.

Deadwing

HL2 is simply amazing. Its the first game ive ever played that actually USES the physics for something other than bad looking ragdoll deaths. As far as FPS's go, sure cod rocked, i loved it, but i think HL2 is really a step forward for videogames whereas most other fps's of late have just been more of the same.

mayordenis

great game best single player game in a very long time.

Canis Lupus

koneko wrote:

I personally thought COD was very overrated, didn't like it that much at all (might just be me though...)

Do not mock the greatness that is CoD. Repent now before it is too late.

Praetorian

COD was a fantastic game, but Half-Life 2 is better. Retrogamer is just trying to be controversial He decided before he had even finished the game, which is actually an improvement for him, he usually makes up his mind about a game from what “they” say before he’s even seen the intro! Someday we’ll find out who “they” are!

Zaphod B

Canis Lupus wrote:

[suitably outraged manner] Ya b.ollox I haven't finished the game yet :eek: [/suitably outraged manner]

Don't worry, both those theories are just plain silly - at least I hope so for the sake of HL not turning crap.

P.S. L5, he didn't ruin the end of the game for you.

Valve have gone and done that already.

Coyler

Simply fantastic. A couple of caveats though. If you are anyway experienced at FPSs it must be played at hard like the original. Started myself at normal and decided after a short while to restart at a higher difficulty level. Makes a huge difference to AI and durability of the enemies.
As far as the plot goes, it certainly doesn't hand it to you. Some people will love the way its handled (like myself) some won't. Purely a taste issue but I do implore anyone playing it to take there time and listen or examine as much as you can. There is a lot of info there.
Oh and I do love the shotty. This could be blasphemous but I love it more than the DoomII shotty.
/dons flaming stake retardant suit.

Maximilian

Zaphod B wrote:

P.S. L5, he didn't ruin the end of the game for you.

Valve have gone and done that already.

LOL - I liked the ending!!!

By the way L5, this is ruining the end --->

you're a petty plankton-brained child