Pretty much everything you need to know to understand Half-Life 2 is told in Half-Life 2. All of the characters and stuff that are apparently from the player character's past in the first game were just retconned/invented for the second game, anyway.
There's a lot of world-building that goes unexplained or is hard to catch in HL2 because it's kind of secondary to the plot, and playing/watching the first game isn't going to help with that.
If you're the kind of person who can respect an old piece of media for what it was doing in its context of the time period, Half-Life 1 is still fucking great, so it's worth a play on its own merits. I wouldn't recommend someone try to jump in on that now unless I knew their tastes, though. Maybe the remake, Black Mesa.
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ApogeeLancks In Every Game EverRegistered Userregular
I'm going to start Half Life 2 soon in preparation, for the first time. Should I read up on the story for Half Life 1? YouTube it? (I would play it but time is extremely limited for me for gaming, HL2 will be a push).
I would highly recommend getting Black Mesa, a modern remake of the original game. It does away with a lot of the things that aren't fun these days (like jumping puzzles) and overhauls the visuals. It's still technically not complete - the final chapter of the game has been pending release for... a long while, but it appears they are actually nearly done.
It goes on sale fairly regularly, so I'd wait until the holiday season and get it for $5 or whatever. You can at least play to the final chapter and watch the rest on youtube if they haven't finished it by next spring when Alyx is released...
You are Gordon Freeman, PhD in theoretical physics at the top secret Black Mesa Research Facility. Working with your mentor, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, his associate, Dr. Eli Vance, and your good friend and BMRF security guard, Barney Calhoun. As a mysterious blue-suited government man drops in to observe a new test, something goes wrong, a Resonance Cascade happens and the facility is decimated while a horde of alien flora and fauna get teleported in. As Gordon makes his way through the facility, surviving thanks to the HEV (Hazardous Environment Suit) he's forced to contend with increasingly deadly and more intelligent aliens like the green-lightning throwing Vortigaunts, a military clean-up squad with orders to kill everyone and everything in the facility, and eventually a full blown alien invasion complete with living ships dropping alien soldiers onto the battlefield. All the while the Gman frequently appears, apparently observing you and always just out of reach. As Gordon uncovered the truth, the the BMRF facility knew about the aliens and had been conducting teleportation and biological research on the aliens for years, he is teleported to the alien dimension of Xen to kill the being directing the invasion. After he does so, the Gman appears, seemingly able to teleport himself and Gordon at will. He says Gordon's actions have impressed his "employers" and that he's been authorized to offer Gordon a job He gives Gordon a choice: agree to work for the Gman and jump into a portal, or face a battle he has no hope of winning. Gordon accepts, the Gman telling him he'll "See you up ahead" and the game informs the player that Gordon has been hired and is awaiting assignment. Roll credits.
All of the HL1 expansions were from the PoV's of other characters (a soldier named Corporal Adrian Shephard, security guardian Barney Calhoun and two scientists named Gina Cross and Collette Green.)
Of the compliments I pay to HL2, the arsenal isn't one of them. Most of the weapons feel kind of weak, I'd personally argue, especially alongside contemporaries (Halo:CE, Doom III, FEAR which came out later).
Except toilet by means of Gravity Gun. And the crowbar is satisfying, but limited. They're both punchy as hell.
You are Gordon Freeman, PhD in theoretical physics at the top secret Black Mesa Research Facility. Working with your mentor, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, his associate, Dr. Eli Vance, and your good friend and BMRF security guard, Barney Calhoun. As a mysterious blue-suited government man drops in to observe a new test, something goes wrong, a Resonance Cascade happens and the facility is decimated while a horde of alien flora and fauna get teleported in. As Gordon makes his way through the facility, surviving thanks to the HEV (Hazardous Environment Suit) he's forced to contend with increasingly deadly and more intelligent aliens like the green-lightning throwing Vortigaunts, a military clean-up squad with orders to kill everyone and everything in the facility, and eventually a full blown alien invasion complete with living ships dropping alien soldiers onto the battlefield. All the while the Gman frequently appears, apparently observing you and always just out of reach. As Gordon uncovered the truth, the the BMRF facility knew about the aliens and had been conducting teleportation and biological research on the aliens for years, he is teleported to the alien dimension of Xen to kill the being directing the invasion. After he does so, the Gman appears, seemingly able to teleport himself and Gordon at will. He says Gordon's actions have impressed his "employers" and that he's been authorized to offer Gordon a job He gives Gordon a choice: agree to work for the Gman and jump into a portal, or face a battle he has no hope of winning. Gordon accepts, the Gman telling him he'll "See you up ahead" and the game informs the player that Gordon has been hired and is awaiting assignment. Roll credits.
All of the HL1 expansions were from the PoV's of other characters (a soldier named Corporal Adrian Shephard, security guardian Barney Calhoun and two scientists named Gina Cross and Collette Green.)
Always hoped Adrian Shephard would have made a reappearance in HL2.
I don't remember the two scientists though, which DLC were they in?
Which is to say, the current adoption rate of VR hardware is 0.38% of users on Steam as of October 2019, and Steam supposedly had around 90 million active users month to month in 2018. Being a very successful VR game means selling your game to most of the about 350k people who own a headset.
I don’t know how these numbers are really supposed to add up. Steam’s 90 million are...well, that’s got to cover a great, huge swath of PCs, laptops, various desktop and e-machines...amassed over more than a decade plus. For starters, how many of those 90 million have something that a VR machine could attach to?
Having a VR headset is almost like having a wacom tablet or a 3D printer. It provides a specialized function that is not included out of the box with any computers at this time. I think VR needs to either become a truly standalone product as its standard, or it needs to become as fundamentally indispensable as having a mouse. And I think until there is some kind of consensus among VR makers about its destiny as a product, it will linger in the shadow of PCs as a fancy option that will be unfairly judged for not being good enough that the majority of PC users will prefer it over whatever they already have.
You are Gordon Freeman, PhD in theoretical physics at the top secret Black Mesa Research Facility. Working with your mentor, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, his associate, Dr. Eli Vance, and your good friend and BMRF security guard, Barney Calhoun. As a mysterious blue-suited government man drops in to observe a new test, something goes wrong, a Resonance Cascade happens and the facility is decimated while a horde of alien flora and fauna get teleported in. As Gordon makes his way through the facility, surviving thanks to the HEV (Hazardous Environment Suit) he's forced to contend with increasingly deadly and more intelligent aliens like the green-lightning throwing Vortigaunts, a military clean-up squad with orders to kill everyone and everything in the facility, and eventually a full blown alien invasion complete with living ships dropping alien soldiers onto the battlefield. All the while the Gman frequently appears, apparently observing you and always just out of reach. As Gordon uncovered the truth, the the BMRF facility knew about the aliens and had been conducting teleportation and biological research on the aliens for years, he is teleported to the alien dimension of Xen to kill the being directing the invasion. After he does so, the Gman appears, seemingly able to teleport himself and Gordon at will. He says Gordon's actions have impressed his "employers" and that he's been authorized to offer Gordon a job He gives Gordon a choice: agree to work for the Gman and jump into a portal, or face a battle he has no hope of winning. Gordon accepts, the Gman telling him he'll "See you up ahead" and the game informs the player that Gordon has been hired and is awaiting assignment. Roll credits.
All of the HL1 expansions were from the PoV's of other characters (a soldier named Corporal Adrian Shephard, security guardian Barney Calhoun and two scientists named Gina Cross and Collette Green.)
Always hoped Adrian Shephard would have made a reappearance in HL2.
I don't remember the two scientists though, which DLC were they in?
You are Gordon Freeman, PhD in theoretical physics at the top secret Black Mesa Research Facility. Working with your mentor, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, his associate, Dr. Eli Vance, and your good friend and BMRF security guard, Barney Calhoun. As a mysterious blue-suited government man drops in to observe a new test, something goes wrong, a Resonance Cascade happens and the facility is decimated while a horde of alien flora and fauna get teleported in. As Gordon makes his way through the facility, surviving thanks to the HEV (Hazardous Environment Suit) he's forced to contend with increasingly deadly and more intelligent aliens like the green-lightning throwing Vortigaunts, a military clean-up squad with orders to kill everyone and everything in the facility, and eventually a full blown alien invasion complete with living ships dropping alien soldiers onto the battlefield. All the while the Gman frequently appears, apparently observing you and always just out of reach. As Gordon uncovered the truth, the the BMRF facility knew about the aliens and had been conducting teleportation and biological research on the aliens for years, he is teleported to the alien dimension of Xen to kill the being directing the invasion. After he does so, the Gman appears, seemingly able to teleport himself and Gordon at will. He says Gordon's actions have impressed his "employers" and that he's been authorized to offer Gordon a job He gives Gordon a choice: agree to work for the Gman and jump into a portal, or face a battle he has no hope of winning. Gordon accepts, the Gman telling him he'll "See you up ahead" and the game informs the player that Gordon has been hired and is awaiting assignment. Roll credits.
All of the HL1 expansions were from the PoV's of other characters (a soldier named Corporal Adrian Shephard, security guardian Barney Calhoun and two scientists named Gina Cross and Collette Green.)
Always hoped Adrian Shephard would have made a reappearance in HL2.
I don't remember the two scientists though, which DLC were they in?
Was wondering what i'm missed as well.
Want to seek out HL: Decay now
OP has instructions on how to play both Half-Life: Uplink (demo levels that don't appear in the main game) and Half-Life: decay (ported from the PS1 version by some enterprising modders)
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
. For starters, how many of those 90 million have something that a VR machine could attach to?
Just under 30% of Steam users have a PC that is ready for VR as-is who would only need to buy a headset and they're away.
This "VR needs to be standalone to succeed" is a myth.
Stand-alone VR will definitely help penetrate the consciousness of non-gamers and console players, but there's tens of millions of PC gamers ready for it whenever they want.
Well I mean...the new game's obviously not out yet, and Half Life as we know it is well documented history at this point. Not sure what the point of conversation would be right now if not about the VR side of things, really.
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
edited November 2019
Let's speculate on what it all means! Who were those alien radio voiced guys? And the big tower? Whats that? So many questiohh wait.
Edit: the guy at the end... could he work for the GOVERNMENT?!?!
Between that, the fact that my "must have five games I really want" platform rule got tripped, one of those games is Half-Life and learning that the wireless adapter works with the Index, I put my order in. Hopefully it gets here sooner than later.
Also, hopefully it doesn't make me sick as hell and I don't wind up needing to unload a $1000 piece of equipment in this town.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention for those of your playing through HL2, there's a free mod called HL2: Update that has numerous minor graphical enhancements and bugfixes.
Complete lighting overhaul including enhanced lighting, more detailed world shadows, and full High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDR).
New particle effects and improved fog.
Countless bug fixes, correcting both visual and game-based issues.
An extensive Community Commentary Mode featuring the voices of well-known Youtubers, including Caddicarus, Brutalmoose, Ricepirate, Balrog the Master, ProJared, and Ross Scott from Freeman's Mind .
Retains the iconic Half-Life 2 visual style and gameplay.
All available in one free standalone download!
Are you referring to his post after your's in the VR thread? I think that's a miscommunication -- as far as I know, Mr_Grinch doesn't own an Index. He was talking about sideloading content onto his Oculus Quest, not the wireless adapter for Index. The index doesn't work with the Vive wireless adapter.
Heh yeah, unfortunately that's not a thing right now. It probably will support wireless at some point, as it has an expansion slot and a spare USB connector like the Vive, but nothing official (or unofficial that I'm aware of) at the moment.
You are Gordon Freeman, PhD in theoretical physics at the top secret Black Mesa Research Facility. Working with your mentor, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, his associate, Dr. Eli Vance, and your good friend and BMRF security guard, Barney Calhoun. As a mysterious blue-suited government man drops in to observe a new test, something goes wrong, a Resonance Cascade happens and the facility is decimated while a horde of alien flora and fauna get teleported in. As Gordon makes his way through the facility, surviving thanks to the HEV (Hazardous Environment Suit) he's forced to contend with increasingly deadly and more intelligent aliens like the green-lightning throwing Vortigaunts, a military clean-up squad with orders to kill everyone and everything in the facility, and eventually a full blown alien invasion complete with living ships dropping alien soldiers onto the battlefield. All the while the Gman frequently appears, apparently observing you and always just out of reach. As Gordon uncovered the truth, the the BMRF facility knew about the aliens and had been conducting teleportation and biological research on the aliens for years, he is teleported to the alien dimension of Xen to kill the being directing the invasion. After he does so, the Gman appears, seemingly able to teleport himself and Gordon at will. He says Gordon's actions have impressed his "employers" and that he's been authorized to offer Gordon a job He gives Gordon a choice: agree to work for the Gman and jump into a portal, or face a battle he has no hope of winning. Gordon accepts, the Gman telling him he'll "See you up ahead" and the game informs the player that Gordon has been hired and is awaiting assignment. Roll credits.
All of the HL1 expansions were from the PoV's of other characters (a soldier named Corporal Adrian Shephard, security guardian Barney Calhoun and two scientists named Gina Cross and Collette Green.)
Always hoped Adrian Shephard would have made a reappearance in HL2.
I don't remember the two scientists though, which DLC were they in?
Was wondering what I missed as well.
Want to seek out HL: Decay now
Fake Edit: apparently it's a co-op expansion.
I should mention you can play it solo and just jump between the two characters.
I'd be curious to learn how much stock they actually had ready to go.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't stockpile too hard. As long as nobody ends up waiting for their order past the Alyx release date, the optics on being heavily backordered are probably a net positive.
Yeah, it's pretty clearly been a net positive for VR already. Rock Paper Shotgun flipped their coverage from "ewww sorry I'm too cool to wear those silly goggles and you're silly for owning them" to like 10 different articles on how to build an Alyx ready rig, with genuine enthusiasm. I like it!
Of the compliments I pay to HL2, the arsenal isn't one of them. Most of the weapons feel kind of weak, I'd personally argue, especially alongside contemporaries (Halo:CE, Doom III, FEAR which came out later).
Except toilet by means of Gravity Gun. And the crowbar is satisfying, but limited. They're both punchy as hell.
Shotgun. The shotgun is the light. The revolver is also alright. Everything else feels clunky, weak or awkward. Like SMG grenades -- fun but awkward and the shortest arc for a firearm ever unless you aim into the sky.
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There's a lot of world-building that goes unexplained or is hard to catch in HL2 because it's kind of secondary to the plot, and playing/watching the first game isn't going to help with that.
If you're the kind of person who can respect an old piece of media for what it was doing in its context of the time period, Half-Life 1 is still fucking great, so it's worth a play on its own merits. I wouldn't recommend someone try to jump in on that now unless I knew their tastes, though. Maybe the remake, Black Mesa.
I would highly recommend getting Black Mesa, a modern remake of the original game. It does away with a lot of the things that aren't fun these days (like jumping puzzles) and overhauls the visuals. It's still technically not complete - the final chapter of the game has been pending release for... a long while, but it appears they are actually nearly done.
It goes on sale fairly regularly, so I'd wait until the holiday season and get it for $5 or whatever. You can at least play to the final chapter and watch the rest on youtube if they haven't finished it by next spring when Alyx is released...
All of the HL1 expansions were from the PoV's of other characters (a soldier named Corporal Adrian Shephard, security guardian Barney Calhoun and two scientists named Gina Cross and Collette Green.)
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
I wonder if it will still be awful.
Of the compliments I pay to HL2, the arsenal isn't one of them. Most of the weapons feel kind of weak, I'd personally argue, especially alongside contemporaries (Halo:CE, Doom III, FEAR which came out later).
Except toilet by means of Gravity Gun. And the crowbar is satisfying, but limited. They're both punchy as hell.
Always hoped Adrian Shephard would have made a reappearance in HL2.
I don't remember the two scientists though, which DLC were they in?
Not DLC, a PS2 game called Half-Life: Decay
Edit: I should read my own links, apparently there was a PC release in 2008, though it isn't available on Steam.
... you hear her talk in the trailer.
I don’t know how these numbers are really supposed to add up. Steam’s 90 million are...well, that’s got to cover a great, huge swath of PCs, laptops, various desktop and e-machines...amassed over more than a decade plus. For starters, how many of those 90 million have something that a VR machine could attach to?
Having a VR headset is almost like having a wacom tablet or a 3D printer. It provides a specialized function that is not included out of the box with any computers at this time. I think VR needs to either become a truly standalone product as its standard, or it needs to become as fundamentally indispensable as having a mouse. And I think until there is some kind of consensus among VR makers about its destiny as a product, it will linger in the shadow of PCs as a fancy option that will be unfairly judged for not being good enough that the majority of PC users will prefer it over whatever they already have.
Was wondering what I missed as well.
Want to seek out HL: Decay now
Fake Edit: apparently it's a co-op expansion.
OP has instructions on how to play both Half-Life: Uplink (demo levels that don't appear in the main game) and Half-Life: decay (ported from the PS1 version by some enterprising modders)
Just under 30% of Steam users have a PC that is ready for VR as-is who would only need to buy a headset and they're away.
This "VR needs to be standalone to succeed" is a myth.
Stand-alone VR will definitely help penetrate the consciousness of non-gamers and console players, but there's tens of millions of PC gamers ready for it whenever they want.
New game is VR only. Time to accept that.
Edit: the guy at the end... could he work for the GOVERNMENT?!?!
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/231/HalfLife_Complete/
Black Mesa is $12
https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
...If you bought that, would it include Half-Life: Alyx once it's released?
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I don't think they ever implied it was going to include every Valve game that will ever be released.
For instance, while it has CS:GO, TF2, DOTA2 and the Lab (All free) it still does not have Artifact or DOTA Underlords.
https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-index-sold-out-stock-half-life-alyx/
Between that, the fact that my "must have five games I really want" platform rule got tripped, one of those games is Half-Life and learning that the wireless adapter works with the Index, I put my order in. Hopefully it gets here sooner than later.
Also, hopefully it doesn't make me sick as hell and I don't wind up needing to unload a $1000 piece of equipment in this town.
If you own HL2 you can get it at https://store.steampowered.com/app/290930/HalfLife_2_Update/
Wait, what? Do you have a source for that?
@Mr_Grinch says he got it to work.
Are you referring to his post after your's in the VR thread? I think that's a miscommunication -- as far as I know, Mr_Grinch doesn't own an Index. He was talking about sideloading content onto his Oculus Quest, not the wireless adapter for Index. The index doesn't work with the Vive wireless adapter.
Yeah, the ones that were sold on Steam don’t include future games.
The Friends and Family ones that are gifted by Valve *do* include future games.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
I should mention you can play it solo and just jump between the two characters.
Now I feel bad, because yeah I was referring to the Quest and the sideloaded content.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
I wouldn't worry. The Index will get wireless. It really wouldn't have been worth splashing out on a Vive setup just to get it right away.
Don't feel bad, it was just one of several reasons why I bought a headset. I probably would have snagged it away.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Shotgun. The shotgun is the light. The revolver is also alright. Everything else feels clunky, weak or awkward. Like SMG grenades -- fun but awkward and the shortest arc for a firearm ever unless you aim into the sky.