Because you know exactly what it is. It's a horrible tentacled trap that you've been carefully avoiding for a game and a half, and when you see it lying there on a lab table like any other specimen you say "<willsmith>Aw hell no,</willsmith> I'm not picking that thing up." But, eventually you do (because otherwise the area's impassable), and not only is it a fine grapple gun, but it chews through enemies in the exact same way it chewed through you if/when you were careless enough to wander into one. So, laughing maniacally, you charge at enemies to feed them into the maw of your new bestest buddy.
Sure, you scratch the Bee Cannon, maybe tease a Snark... but you pet the barnacle.
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Anyone who knows me knows that my love for HL2 is, well, non-existent. I enjoyed the first game well enough (played through it when the PS2 port hit), but I ran through HL2 on the 360 and found it to be, well, boring. The gameplay was standard shooter fare that did absolutely nothing new, the much-talked-about physics basically amounted to "sometimes you need to stack shit," and the characters were flat and uninteresting.
I've tried to get into it a few different times, I feel like there's something I must be missing. Anyways, I ended up with $80 in GameStop credit the other day and bought a $20 MS Points card, and wouldn't you know it, yesterday they put The Orange Box on Games on Demand.
So I bought it, and now I'll always have a digital copy to download when I try to figure out the appeal of HL2.
I am literally playing it right now, and was when I saw this thread pop up. Weird coincidence.
quality OP, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out Concerned, which starts out kinda shaky but gets better after a while
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
Concerned is also great.
Oh, and Minerva has a prequel. It's way better than basic Xen. All I have to say on the matter.
(Also, I may be the only person on Earth who has beaten Minerva. On hard. With a touchpad. I am far prouder of this than any reasonable person would be.)
Anyone who knows me knows that my love for HL2 is, well, non-existent. I enjoyed the first game well enough (played through it when the PS2 port hit), but I ran through HL2 on the 360 and found it to be, well, boring. The gameplay was standard shooter fare that did absolutely nothing new, the much-talked-about physics basically amounted to "sometimes you need to stack shit," and the characters were flat and uninteresting.
I've tried to get into it a few different times, I feel like there's something I must be missing. Anyways, I ended up with $80 in GameStop credit the other day and bought a $20 MS Points card, and wouldn't you know it, yesterday they put The Orange Box on Games on Demand.
So I bought it, and now I'll always have a digital copy to download when I try to figure out the appeal of HL2.
I am literally playing it right now, and was when I saw this thread pop up. Weird coincidence.
Maybe playing it on console is the issue. Valves not really a console company.
I have no idea, I've only heard this stuff second hand, but I know the PSX version of Half-Life had altered graphics and that the Orange Box port was reportedly not so fantastic. And combat in general plays very differently when you can aim quickly and accurately with a mouse vs. with a gamepad, at least in games where headshots matter (like Half-Life).
Anyone who knows me knows that my love for HL2 is, well, non-existent. I enjoyed the first game well enough (played through it when the PS2 port hit), but I ran through HL2 on the 360 and found it to be, well, boring. The gameplay was standard shooter fare that did absolutely nothing new, the much-talked-about physics basically amounted to "sometimes you need to stack shit," and the characters were flat and uninteresting.
How far did you get into the game? What you can do with physics ramps up as the game goes on.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
I have no idea, I've only heard this stuff second hand, but I know the PSX version of Half-Life had altered graphics and that the Orange Box port was reportedly not so fantastic. And combat in general plays very differently when you can aim quickly and accurately with a mouse vs. with a gamepad, at least in games where headshots matter (like Half-Life).
Or games with fast, agile enemies. Like, say, Manhacks?
Man, manhacks.
Ask me how it feels to fight those with a touchpad.
Anyone who knows me knows that my love for HL2 is, well, non-existent. I enjoyed the first game well enough (played through it when the PS2 port hit), but I ran through HL2 on the 360 and found it to be, well, boring. The gameplay was standard shooter fare that did absolutely nothing new, the much-talked-about physics basically amounted to "sometimes you need to stack shit," and the characters were flat and uninteresting.
How far did you get into the game? What you can do with physics ramps up as the game goes on.
I beat it. Twice.
I know what specific weapon you're referring to as well, but it never felt anything more than gimmicky. It also didn't help that BioShock hit a couple months before The Orange Box did
Going through it now, and still, I don't think it's a bad game by any means, but the lengths to which people go to praise it are just baffling to me. Greatest game ever, and so forth. And yet those same people will say something like BioShock is overrated, when something like that still hasn't been quite done since ("I enjoyed this more when it was System Shock 2!" No you didn't, nobody bought System Shock 2). It's one thing to be the innovator, and yeah, maybe HL2 was that in a lot of respects. But I don't think it stood up to its contemporaries even a mere three years after release is all.
Being able to cut zombies in half with a properly aimed sawblade was nothing more than a gimmick for you? Shit, all of Ravenholm was an excellent showcase of physics.
Being able to cut zombies in half with a properly aimed sawblade was nothing more than a gimmick for you? Shit, all of Ravenholm was an excellent showcase of physics.
Y-yes?
Seems like the mid-2000's, games were going crazy by showing off "look! Ragdoll physics!" (this was not nearly confined to HL2)
My reaction to which was "Um, alright?"
(I never used telekinesis in BioShock either, since that's the obvious parallel for that)
Ragdolls weren't ever really presented as anything more than nice garnish. A very nice garnish. A nice garnish that replaced one of my biggest pet peeves in videos games at the time (canned death animations). But still, garnish none-the-less.
Pretty off-topic, but my dad roped me into watching Falling Skies on TNT, and whoever writes for that show has a deep and abiding love for Half-Life 2 but pretty much no budget.
Pretty off-topic, but my dad roped me into watching Falling Skies on TNT, and whoever writes for that show has a deep and abiding love for Half-Life 2 but pretty much no budget.
I seem to recall it being one of the most expensive shows currently on television
As a long time video game player (since, what, '85 maybe?) I have a horrible confession to make.
I've never played ANY half-life games.
Duuuuude!
You're on Steam, I'm sure like... ~$10/$15 will get you Half-Life and The Orange Box. Go Go Go!
I'm pretty sure I already own Half-Life 2, I just haven't got round to it. It's something I keep meaning to fix but just haven't had chance to. All this gushing praise may force my hand though.
My favourite aspect of Half Life 2 is how it rewards you for embracing the Gravity Gun.
You're taught to use it and you're probably thinking "Eh, guns are more suited for this", but then to reinforce your using it they throw you into Ravenholm with limited ammo, so it encourages you to throw the buzz saws arround, and your mind shifts to "hey this is kinda cool", and you're more likely to at least incorproate it into your fighting style for the remainder of the game. Then finally you infiltrate the citadel and it gets super charged, and you go from thowing barrels at people to throwing people at people, which is immensely satisfying.
That BMS video kind of sucked. They should have just stuck with doing a straight up graphics update rather than change the gameplay and audio. Makes no sense to me unless it's a legal thing.
I played HL2 about fifty hojillion times on PC. Played it maybe half that much on 360 in The Orange Box, and I've never noticed a difference in quality between the PC game and the console port. Other than mod support and I'm sure you can get the PC version to look a little prettier. I did hear that the oXbox port was a little pooey, though.
Funny-ish story about HL2: I was foamy with excitement juice following the torture that was HL2's development. But for all the videos I watched, and articles I read, I had no idea when the game was coming out. One day, after work, I decided to stop by Walmart out of boredom. I was wandering the electronics area, looking over PS2 and Xbox games. I happened to glance up at the PC shelves, and saw row after row of boxes labeled "Half-Life 2" with Gordon Freeman staring back at me with his sexy eyes. I picked my jaw up off the floor and rushed over to the shelves. I held the box in my trembling hands, and I think I was fighting back the tears of joy that were welling up. Made my way to the cashier, and hurriedly payed for it, trying to get out of the store as fast as possible. I was sure this was a mistake, Half-Life 2 couldn't be out yet... I gotta jet before they figure it out! Got in my car and drove off, called my friend on the drive home and told him to get his ass down to Walmart. I was up wayyy later than I should have been playing that game into the wee hours of the night. Work was hell the next day because I was so tired and I also wanted to get back home ASAP.
As sad as it sounds, I think that was probably the happiest day of my life... :P
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
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Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
That BMS video kind of sucked. They should have just stuck with doing a straight up graphics update rather than change the gameplay and audio. Makes no sense to me unless it's a legal thing.
Most certainly is for the audio. They wouldn't be legally able to redistribute any assets from the original Half-Life. And besides that, the assets that exist on the end user side of the game are pretty damned lo-fi to begin with.
Almost guaranteed that someone will make a mod to revert back to the OG sounds and backrev gameplay nuances, though. Assuming BMS ever comes out anyway.
Anyone who knows me knows that my love for HL2 is, well, non-existent. I enjoyed the first game well enough (played through it when the PS2 port hit), but I ran through HL2 on the 360 and found it to be, well, boring. The gameplay was standard shooter fare that did absolutely nothing new, the much-talked-about physics basically amounted to "sometimes you need to stack shit," and the characters were flat and uninteresting.
How far did you get into the game? What you can do with physics ramps up as the game goes on.
I beat it. Twice.
I know what specific weapon you're referring to as well, but it never felt anything more than gimmicky. It also didn't help that BioShock hit a couple months before The Orange Box did
Going through it now, and still, I don't think it's a bad game by any means, but the lengths to which people go to praise it are just baffling to me. Greatest game ever, and so forth. And yet those same people will say something like BioShock is overrated, when something like that still hasn't been quite done since ("I enjoyed this more when it was System Shock 2!" No you didn't, nobody bought System Shock 2). It's one thing to be the innovator, and yeah, maybe HL2 was that in a lot of respects. But I don't think it stood up to its contemporaries even a mere three years after release is all.
One thing I noticed going from Half-Life: Opposing Forces to Half-Life 2 was that they redid the lore on the barnacle.
In Opposing Forces, they specifically said the barnacle can only latch onto "organic material", which is why you had to aim at growths or enemies and it wouldn't just grapple anything.
But in Half-Life 2 they pick up pretty much everything, including barrels and rocks and cans.
'course, that was Gearbox so I guess it was never "cannon" anyway.
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Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
edited August 2012
Even if it was rock-solid in continuity, the matter in HL2 was 1) we have cool new physics tech now! 2) let's abuse the shit out of it! So now barnacles can grab into any damn thing. I don't think they thought about it any further than that, really. Didn't have to make a contrived explanations on why all your guns now uses ammunition "thermal clips" all of a sudden in the sequel or anything like that.
I love the Half Life series but the gunplay is rather archaic, in my opinion. I don't need iron sights or anything like that, but when you give me a gun and the first shot is just as inaccurate as the following shots I sigh a little bit.
Yeah, half life was the first game that actually felt different in the pile of shovelware FPS that came out about that time. I still remember playing it for the first time and being amazed at how just a few subtle changes to the formula made a far far superior game.
The lack of 'end points' in a level...that the entire game lead into the next section with a minimum of load times.
The enemies that you needed to work at to kill instead of mowing them down in a line, GOOD consideration of how much ammo to supply a player that would both keep it tense and keep it from being frustrating. I remember parts of that game that i would hit a save point with 4 bullets. in my pistol...and nothing else. So many games give you a meele weapon and you never see it past the first level.
It made you stop and look at and use your environment. the other games, they were just an endless series of rooms, they were wallpaper on the game. In HL when you walked into a room and saw a box, you damn well had to think...well, i could destroy the box, use it to jump up to something, or there might even be a headcrab or monster inside the bigger ones.
The tram ride and the intro was so simple an idea, but it set the stage for the immersion and changed practically every game who made an effort to have a good story that has come out since in establishing an environment for your character. Dead Space was another that did this. When i first realized that the entire screen was my view...no user interface, health bars, etc cluttering up and destroying the immersion, i was amazed. I'm really shocked that the Dead Space model hasnt spread more in that instance.
Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
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HedgethornAssociate Professor of Historical Hobby HorsesIn the Lions' DenRegistered Userregular
I'm not even sure the idea of an action survivor had been attempted yet in a mainstream game. No, there's no real difference between Gordon and a Space Marine ability wise. Yet I remember that first twenty minutes of calm doing so much to establish how awful things were going to get.
One thing I noticed going from Half-Life: Opposing Forces to Half-Life 2 was that they redid the lore on the barnacle.
In Opposing Forces, they specifically said the barnacle can only latch onto "organic material", which is why you had to aim at growths or enemies and it wouldn't just grapple anything.
But in Half-Life 2 they pick up pretty much everything, including barrels and rocks and cans.
'course, that was Gearbox so I guess it was never "cannon" anyway.
Gameplay conceit being overridden by a later gameplay conceit. Alternatively, in the space between HL1 and HL2 the barnacles, at least those in the City 17/Nova Prospekt area, evolved the ability to be less discriminatory in what they latch onto.
That BMS video kind of sucked. They should have just stuck with doing a straight up graphics update rather than change the gameplay and audio. Makes no sense to me unless it's a legal thing.
The audio is a legal thing. They wanted to remove all dependencies on HL1 and HL2 content so that anyone with access to the Source SDK Base could play the mod. The level design changes apparently just came with the map remakes. They want to iterate on the game's pacing to make it more like a modern Valve product. We won't ever know whether or not this was a good idea, what with how it would require us to play it. Which we will never do. Ever.
I was a PC gamer growing up, but I played almost exclusively the multiplayer modes of games like Quake 2 and blizzard games. I never really gave Half Life a shot.
It was only a couple of years ago when I decided to get a gaming PC for Starcraft 2 that I gave the Half Life series a shot. Great, great games. Some things really showed their age though:
- Map design. I loved that they still had that oldschool map design and that it wasn't the complete narrow path filled with cutscenes that modern shooters are. But some of the paths you are supposed to take, if you were to take them in a modern shooter, it would feel like you were glitching the game. Walking tight rope acts across beams that look too narrow for your character, etc.
- Half Life 1 end fight:
The big alien baby. I actually had to look up the solution for this one. No indicators showing whether I was actually doing any damage. And when I finally did do the correct thing of jumping onto the baby's head, there was so much clipping that I wasn't sure if I was in the right place. Also, even after making it to the baby's head, I had to wack it for a good long while with the crowbar before it died. If I hadn't looked it up prior, I might have given up after a minute or 2. How in the world did anyone figure this fight out back when the game was released?
- No aim-down-sight. Feels weird not having it.
On another topic, Half Life 2 would make me physically ill after 30 mins of playing. Thankfully I found a solution of changing the field-of-view to fix that. Did any of you feel sick playing it as well?
I don't recall having to look up how to beat that boss. I just blew up the crystals, shot it a whole bunch, and when its head split open I hopped up and dropped some rockets into it.
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Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Because you know exactly what it is. It's a horrible tentacled trap that you've been carefully avoiding for a game and a half, and when you see it lying there on a lab table like any other specimen you say "<willsmith>Aw hell no,</willsmith> I'm not picking that thing up." But, eventually you do (because otherwise the area's impassable), and not only is it a fine grapple gun, but it chews through enemies in the exact same way it chewed through you if/when you were careless enough to wander into one. So, laughing maniacally, you charge at enemies to feed them into the maw of your new bestest buddy.
Sure, you scratch the Bee Cannon, maybe tease a Snark... but you pet the barnacle.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Half-Life
Anyone who knows me knows that my love for HL2 is, well, non-existent. I enjoyed the first game well enough (played through it when the PS2 port hit), but I ran through HL2 on the 360 and found it to be, well, boring. The gameplay was standard shooter fare that did absolutely nothing new, the much-talked-about physics basically amounted to "sometimes you need to stack shit," and the characters were flat and uninteresting.
I've tried to get into it a few different times, I feel like there's something I must be missing. Anyways, I ended up with $80 in GameStop credit the other day and bought a $20 MS Points card, and wouldn't you know it, yesterday they put The Orange Box on Games on Demand.
So I bought it, and now I'll always have a digital copy to download when I try to figure out the appeal of HL2.
I am literally playing it right now, and was when I saw this thread pop up. Weird coincidence.
Oh, and Minerva has a prequel. It's way better than basic Xen. All I have to say on the matter.
(Also, I may be the only person on Earth who has beaten Minerva. On hard. With a touchpad. I am far prouder of this than any reasonable person would be.)
Why I fear the ocean.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I've heard this argument before, though
What the hell is the difference? The content is the same, only the control method differs
How far did you get into the game? What you can do with physics ramps up as the game goes on.
Or games with fast, agile enemies. Like, say, Manhacks?
Man, manhacks.
Ask me how it feels to fight those with a touchpad.
Just ask.
Why I fear the ocean.
I beat it. Twice.
I know what specific weapon you're referring to as well, but it never felt anything more than gimmicky. It also didn't help that BioShock hit a couple months before The Orange Box did
Going through it now, and still, I don't think it's a bad game by any means, but the lengths to which people go to praise it are just baffling to me. Greatest game ever, and so forth. And yet those same people will say something like BioShock is overrated, when something like that still hasn't been quite done since ("I enjoyed this more when it was System Shock 2!" No you didn't, nobody bought System Shock 2). It's one thing to be the innovator, and yeah, maybe HL2 was that in a lot of respects. But I don't think it stood up to its contemporaries even a mere three years after release is all.
Y-yes?
Seems like the mid-2000's, games were going crazy by showing off "look! Ragdoll physics!" (this was not nearly confined to HL2)
My reaction to which was "Um, alright?"
(I never used telekinesis in BioShock either, since that's the obvious parallel for that)
I seem to recall it being one of the most expensive shows currently on television
I'm pretty sure I already own Half-Life 2, I just haven't got round to it. It's something I keep meaning to fix but just haven't had chance to. All this gushing praise may force my hand though.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
You're taught to use it and you're probably thinking "Eh, guns are more suited for this", but then to reinforce your using it they throw you into Ravenholm with limited ammo, so it encourages you to throw the buzz saws arround, and your mind shifts to "hey this is kinda cool", and you're more likely to at least incorproate it into your fighting style for the remainder of the game. Then finally you infiltrate the citadel and it gets super charged, and you go from thowing barrels at people to throwing people at people, which is immensely satisfying.
Funny-ish story about HL2: I was foamy with excitement juice following the torture that was HL2's development. But for all the videos I watched, and articles I read, I had no idea when the game was coming out. One day, after work, I decided to stop by Walmart out of boredom. I was wandering the electronics area, looking over PS2 and Xbox games. I happened to glance up at the PC shelves, and saw row after row of boxes labeled "Half-Life 2" with Gordon Freeman staring back at me with his sexy eyes. I picked my jaw up off the floor and rushed over to the shelves. I held the box in my trembling hands, and I think I was fighting back the tears of joy that were welling up. Made my way to the cashier, and hurriedly payed for it, trying to get out of the store as fast as possible. I was sure this was a mistake, Half-Life 2 couldn't be out yet... I gotta jet before they figure it out! Got in my car and drove off, called my friend on the drive home and told him to get his ass down to Walmart. I was up wayyy later than I should have been playing that game into the wee hours of the night. Work was hell the next day because I was so tired and I also wanted to get back home ASAP.
As sad as it sounds, I think that was probably the happiest day of my life... :P
Most certainly is for the audio. They wouldn't be legally able to redistribute any assets from the original Half-Life. And besides that, the assets that exist on the end user side of the game are pretty damned lo-fi to begin with.
Almost guaranteed that someone will make a mod to revert back to the OG sounds and backrev gameplay nuances, though. Assuming BMS ever comes out anyway.
Look I love bioshock
But system shock 2 was better
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
In Opposing Forces, they specifically said the barnacle can only latch onto "organic material", which is why you had to aim at growths or enemies and it wouldn't just grapple anything.
But in Half-Life 2 they pick up pretty much everything, including barrels and rocks and cans.
'course, that was Gearbox so I guess it was never "cannon" anyway.
Luckily, Smod is a thing.
The lack of 'end points' in a level...that the entire game lead into the next section with a minimum of load times.
The enemies that you needed to work at to kill instead of mowing them down in a line, GOOD consideration of how much ammo to supply a player that would both keep it tense and keep it from being frustrating. I remember parts of that game that i would hit a save point with 4 bullets. in my pistol...and nothing else. So many games give you a meele weapon and you never see it past the first level.
It made you stop and look at and use your environment. the other games, they were just an endless series of rooms, they were wallpaper on the game. In HL when you walked into a room and saw a box, you damn well had to think...well, i could destroy the box, use it to jump up to something, or there might even be a headcrab or monster inside the bigger ones.
The tram ride and the intro was so simple an idea, but it set the stage for the immersion and changed practically every game who made an effort to have a good story that has come out since in establishing an environment for your character. Dead Space was another that did this. When i first realized that the entire screen was my view...no user interface, health bars, etc cluttering up and destroying the immersion, i was amazed. I'm really shocked that the Dead Space model hasnt spread more in that instance.
Thanks for this. I was planning on getting some work done today...
A) holy fuck balls
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Gameplay conceit being overridden by a later gameplay conceit. Alternatively, in the space between HL1 and HL2 the barnacles, at least those in the City 17/Nova Prospekt area, evolved the ability to be less discriminatory in what they latch onto.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
(I think it looks great.)
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
It was only a couple of years ago when I decided to get a gaming PC for Starcraft 2 that I gave the Half Life series a shot. Great, great games. Some things really showed their age though:
- Map design. I loved that they still had that oldschool map design and that it wasn't the complete narrow path filled with cutscenes that modern shooters are. But some of the paths you are supposed to take, if you were to take them in a modern shooter, it would feel like you were glitching the game. Walking tight rope acts across beams that look too narrow for your character, etc.
- Half Life 1 end fight:
- No aim-down-sight. Feels weird not having it.
On another topic, Half Life 2 would make me physically ill after 30 mins of playing. Thankfully I found a solution of changing the field-of-view to fix that. Did any of you feel sick playing it as well?
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126