Spoilers about the end of Episode 2 and speculation about Episode 3:
It's so obvious that Alyx will have to die to destroy the Borealis. The foreshadowing was so thick it almost made me sick.
doubt it. Plenty of dead Vances for this series. I'd say Barney might die (if he even reappears in the story). No reason, plot-wise, for kleiner or mossman to die. I don't even know who the fuck magnusson is, he's so goddamned minor. Dog ain't coming to the arctic.
Talk about a kick in the nuts for an ending. Fading to black with Alyx crying like that is just so heartwrenching.
I found the entire AR2 conversation great. I bind weapons to individual keys, so I've been typing bind x "use weapon_ar2" a whole lot. I always thought it was just a programming name, meaning Assault Rifle 2. It was interesting to hear it referred to that way. And the guy talking about his leet AR3 skillz.
Music again was spectacular. I'm going to have to dig through the GCFs and savor it forever.
I also like how the pistol has a bit more oomph now, and the enhanced blood.
So, when all is said and done, the Orange box is pure gold.
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Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
So, fortunately, I DID have a save of me staring at the rocket with the gnome seated firmly inside. I didn't realize that you could close the hatch, so I did so, but didn't seem to get immediate confirmation about achievement success (on another note: the hatch doesn't actually block objects, and I could pick up the gnome again through it, kinda funny).
So, I played through the entire end of the game again. The last event is much more fun if you aren't constantly reloading for perfectionism (and the achievement). I lost two or perhaps three buildings, but it was so much more fun to drive all over the damn place, picking up supplies each time I got a new bomb (the sawmill is designed to be hard as fuck to defend, so it has no goddamn supplies at all). Driving all over was much more fun. Also seemed much easier to get the oh-so-great Hunter Roadkills. Gof, I love those.
At some point, I got the fucking gnome achievement. Fuck yes. Just need the combine grenade (a total of maybe four grenades were thrown at me the whole game, and it was never convenient for me to toss one back), and the squishy achievements, I think. Fucking missed twenty of the grubs on my first playthrough. That's gonna be a pain in the ass, because you don't know if you missed any until you complete the whole section. Maybe I'll try to do it when I play through with commentary.
Lesson learned: fucking hell that gnome achievement is a PAIN IN THE FUCKING ASS. Only do it if you hate fun games.
Haha, I started replaying HL1, and I think I found the "microwave casserole" that Magnusson was talking about. The microwave in the breakroom at the beginning of the game will blow up the dish that's inside if you press the buttons enough. Take that, you douche.
So what the fuck does the Borealis have to do with anything? We've destroyed the Portal, the combine are fucked for this area, but what about this ship? Maybe I didn't catch on, but I just want to know why it's important. And too bad we got no preview for Ep.3.
And where can I get that GCF extension thing for the music files?
So what the fuck does the Borealis have to do with anything? We've destroyed the Portal, the combine are fucked for this area, but what about this ship? Maybe I didn't catch on, but I just want to know why it's important. And too bad we got no preview for Ep.3.
And where can I get that GCF extension thing for the music files?
The borealis is a research vessel which was owned by Aperture Laboratories (the portal dudes). Aperture and Black Mesa were directly competing pre-HL1 for government funding, and BM was winning. Aperture was dicking around and made the boat, its crew, and a portion of the dry-dock it was located at disappear. You know. As if teleported. Apparently to the arctic.
Kleiner and Co. thought it was just a legend, but now they know it is true. Portal technology = bad if in combine hands!
Was anyone else dissapointed with it? I wanted it to be like in the trailers. First off, the lighting wasn't dark like in the previews, which I would have loved. Second, it was just too easy, there weren't any combine troops or gunships or anything. I didn't even have the big supplies house blow up the first time playing it because I took down the striders so quickly.
So what the fuck does the Borealis have to do with anything? We've destroyed the Portal, the combine are fucked for this area, but what about this ship? Maybe I didn't catch on, but I just want to know why it's important. And too bad we got no preview for Ep.3.
And where can I get that GCF extension thing for the music files?
The ship was made by Aperture Science, whose only apparent major project is the portal gun (and combat androids that are alluded to in Portal, but that's minor). Along with the story of how the ship disappeared: taking it, everybody on it, and a chunk of the drydock, one can assume that they accidentally created a rather nasty portal. Portals are exactly the sort of thing the Combine want.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
edited October 2007
On my second playthrough, I was disappointed by something.
I turned on developer commentary, and listened to the description about how the train bridge / portal storm scene was developed. I was like.. cool, but this sounds like a new physics engine. So I threw a rock at the upper part of the bridge. And the rock went right through.
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
edited October 2007
Yeah, after hyping up the end battle like nothing, the actual confrontation itself wasn't the grand chaos I convinced myself that it was, I so I was a kind of let down a bit. Mind you, I still found it enjoyable.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Was anyone else dissapointed with it? I wanted it to be like in the trailers. First off, the lighting wasn't dark like in the previews, which I would have loved. Second, it was just too easy, there weren't any combine troops or gunships or anything. I didn't even have the big supplies house blow up the first time playing it because I took down the striders so quickly.
I swear this game defaults to easy. I turned it to normal midway through.. And trust me, I got through this game by the skin of my teeth.
endgame spoiler
Also, Eli loved Mossberg. So Alyx is fufilling his wishes, to bring her back safely.
So what the fuck does the Borealis have to do with anything? We've destroyed the Portal, the combine are fucked for this area, but what about this ship? Maybe I didn't catch on, but I just want to know why it's important. And too bad we got no preview for Ep.3.
And where can I get that GCF extension thing for the music files?
The borealis is a research vessel which was owned by Aperture Laboratories (the portal dudes). Aperture and Black Mesa were directly competing pre-HL1 for government funding, and BM was winning. Aperture was dicking around and made the boat, its crew, and a portion of the dry-dock it was located at disappear. You know. As if teleported. Apparently to the arctic.
Kleiner and Co. thought it was just a legend, but now they know it is true. Portal technology = bad if in combine hands!
Right, that was a cool tie-in. So it seems this is a departure from the main storyline, now that things are all good in City 17 and it's immediate area (though everything is destroyed). Would be cool to go back there either in Ep.3 or maybe Half-Life 3 (if it gets made) to see the destruction up close.
I'm guessing a lot will be revealed in Ep. 3 though, at least I hope so. I still don't understand the G-Man. He is helping you achieve something, that is still unknown, all of this that's happened so far is obviously in his plans. But what's the end goal?
So what the fuck does the Borealis have to do with anything? We've destroyed the Portal, the combine are fucked for this area, but what about this ship? Maybe I didn't catch on, but I just want to know why it's important. And too bad we got no preview for Ep.3.
And where can I get that GCF extension thing for the music files?
The ship was made by Aperture Science, whose only apparent major project is the portal gun (and combat androids that are alluded to in Portal, but that's minor). Along with the story of how the ship disappeared: taking it, everybody on it, and a chunk of the drydock, one can assume that they accidentally created a rather nasty portal. Portals are exactly the sort of thing the Combine want.
Yeah, to send in more troops to take care of the resistance. Like I said, I just hope we get some major revelations here regarding the combine or g-man, some huge plot stuff that i've been waiting for through ep. 1 and 2. Ep. 2 just had some stuff regarding g-man, but I think we all already knew he has planned all of this since we took that train ride to black mesa in HL1. Him using Alyx was interesting, I didn't see that coming, and it was definently a cool plot development with the HL1 tie-in.
I was mainly disappointed because I had no idea the game was going to stop right there, and was VERY sad that it was over. That's the fourth time I've had to go through this kind of "disappointment" now.
I'd wager that the cooler lighting from the trailers was done in post
also: the dichotomy in portal technology in regards to the resistance and the combine is an allusion to the contrast in strategies deployed by the viet cong and U.S. forces during vietnam
I think Alyx is finally starting to really warm up to Gordon... Hell he only had to save her about 25 times now.
About Alyx.
She's always been kinda flirty, since you first meet her.
I used to hate Alyx, but after having her snipe for me in those alleys and such I kinda accepted that she's pretty cool. I still don't like how everyone just assumes you're a couple now, even though Gordon says nothing.
Spoilers about the end of Episode 2 and speculation about Episode 3:
It's so obvious that Alyx will have to die to destroy the Borealis. The foreshadowing was so thick it almost made me sick.
I don't think so. If anything, mossman will die. She was a traitor who sided with Breen and then "changed her mind" and now she lost the one man she loved, Eli. If anyone is going to die for the cause, it's probably her.
Did anyone else notice just as Alyx says to her dad, "Prepare for unforseen consequences" the G-man appears on the screen (that Judith was on) for a few seconds?
Did anyone else notice just as Alyx says to her dad, "Prepare for unforseen consequences" the G-man appears on the screen (that Judith was on) for a few seconds?
I wasn't looking the in correct direction, but thats really freaking cool.
Did anyone else notice just as Alyx says to her dad, "Prepare for unforseen consequences" the G-man appears on the screen (that Judith was on) for a few seconds?
So was she hypnotised, or did she realise what she was doing? I mean, she seemed to shake something off just after saying it, and only said it once the G-Man appeared on the monitor.
Did anyone else notice just as Alyx says to her dad, "Prepare for unforseen consequences" the G-man appears on the screen (that Judith was on) for a few seconds?
So was she hypnotised, or did she realise what she was doing? I mean, she seemed to shake something off just after saying it, and only said it once the G-Man appeared on the monitor.
I think the G-man used her to relay the message. Eli says something along the lines of "and now he's putting words in my babys mouth"
So yeah.
Is it a warning though? A threat? Who knows. A level in the original half-life was called unforseen consequences as well.
Hey, an even more interesting tidbit from the script.
"ep_02.al_launch_herewecome01" "<clr:255,212,255>Well, Gordon,"
"ep_02.al_launch_herewecome02" "<clr:255,212,255>I hope that suit of yours is warm because"
"ep_02.al_launch_herewecome03" "<clr:255,212,255>Borealis"
"ep_02.al_launch_herewecome04" "<clr:255,212,255>Here we come."
Twice. Only way I played through it. After playing through HL2 and Ep1 on medium I figured I was up kicking things up a bit.
First time playing through the final section killed me a lot, and I made a lot of use of saving loading (I prefer to play through just using the checkpoints ordinarily). When I replayed again yesterday I made it through with pretty much only 1 or 2 deaths, no saving.
One thing is that I never bother with the ancilliary stuff like achievements, that just seems like being difficult for the sake of it. So for example:
I never bothered trying to save all the houses in the final segment. I was just concentrating on kicking but efficiently and running over hunters.
I think I'll have to go back to HL2 / Ep1 now and go through those on hard, so I can have a proper go at the combine.
All in all it was fun. Seriously, if you've already played through the previous chapters you've probably got nothing to fear from this. Crank it up a notch. Honestly, I even wish there was a harder difficulty above this. The harder the difficulty, the more tense things become, the more I have to think and adapt on my feet, the more fun I find myself having. I found fighting hunters the most fun. I was really forced to make good use of whatever power weapons / objects I could get my hands on.
Talk about a kick in the nuts for an ending. Fading to black with Alyx crying like that is just so heartwrenching.
I found the entire AR2 conversation great. I bind weapons to individual keys, so I've been typing bind x "use weapon_ar2" a whole lot. I always thought it was just a programming name, meaning Assault Rifle 2. It was interesting to hear it referred to that way. And the guy talking about his leet AR3 skillz.
Music again was spectacular. I'm going to have to dig through the GCFs and savor it forever.
I also like how the pistol has a bit more oomph now, and the enhanced blood.
So, when all is said and done, the Orange box is pure gold.
I thought that that conversation was funny and I think it's the only place it's actually referred to as AR2 ingame (not counting the console).
Talk about a kick in the nuts for an ending. Fading to black with Alyx crying like that is just so heartwrenching.
I found the entire AR2 conversation great. I bind weapons to individual keys, so I've been typing bind x "use weapon_ar2" a whole lot. I always thought it was just a programming name, meaning Assault Rifle 2. It was interesting to hear it referred to that way. And the guy talking about his leet AR3 skillz.
Music again was spectacular. I'm going to have to dig through the GCFs and savor it forever.
I also like how the pistol has a bit more oomph now, and the enhanced blood.
So, when all is said and done, the Orange box is pure gold.
I thought that that conversation was funny and I think it's the only place it's actually referred to as AR2 ingame (not counting the console).
I liked the 2 guys in the ant-lion tunnels
"Hey Freeman! Be adequate!"
"What does that mean anyway?"
"I dunno, sounded like something the Vorts would say."
Which reminds me, I hope Barney makes a re-appearance somewhere in Episode 3.
Talk about a kick in the nuts for an ending. Fading to black with Alyx crying like that is just so heartwrenching.
I found the entire AR2 conversation great. I bind weapons to individual keys, so I've been typing bind x "use weapon_ar2" a whole lot. I always thought it was just a programming name, meaning Assault Rifle 2. It was interesting to hear it referred to that way. And the guy talking about his leet AR3 skillz.
Music again was spectacular. I'm going to have to dig through the GCFs and savor it forever.
I also like how the pistol has a bit more oomph now, and the enhanced blood.
So, when all is said and done, the Orange box is pure gold.
I thought that that conversation was funny and I think it's the only place it's actually referred to as AR2 ingame (not counting the console).
I liked the 2 guys in the ant-lion tunnels
"Hey Freeman! Be adequate!"
"What does that mean anyway?"
"I dunno, sounded like something the Vorts would say."
Which reminds me, I hope Barney makes a re-appearance somewhere in Episode 3.
Oh yeah, Barney wasn't in Episode 2, was he? I didn't even notice he was gone.
Also, the only complaint I have about Ep. 2 is that it was too short and I want more. Now to wait 2 years for Episode 3.
Oh and one thing that I'm a little disappointed about is how we didn't get any new (direct) weapons. I was watching the Half-Life 2 commentary and I agree with the guy. Showing the player the combine sniper rifle and not letting him use it is like teasing a small child with a lollipop. A big, delicious lollipop with a blue laser.
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Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
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AngryThe glory I had witnessedwas just a sleight of handRegistered Userregular
Twice. Only way I played through it. After playing through HL2 and Ep1 on medium I figured I was up kicking things up a bit.
First time playing through the final section killed me a lot, and I made a lot of use of saving loading (I prefer to play through just using the checkpoints ordinarily). When I replayed again yesterday I made it through with pretty much only 1 or 2 deaths, no saving.
One thing is that I never bother with the ancilliary stuff like achievements, that just seems like being difficult for the sake of it. So for example:
I never bothered trying to save all the houses in the final segment. I was just concentrating on kicking but efficiently and running over hunters.
I think I'll have to go back to HL2 / Ep1 now and go through those on hard, so I can have a proper go at the combine.
All in all it was fun. Seriously, if you've already played through the previous chapters you've probably got nothing to fear from this. Crank it up a notch. Honestly, I even wish there was a harder difficulty above this. The harder the difficulty, the more tense things become, the more I have to think and adapt on my feet, the more fun I find myself having. I found fighting hunters the most fun. I was really forced to make good use of whatever power weapons / objects I could get my hands on.
saving all the houses is stupid difficult. i tried it and i'm sure i could have done it, but i deemed it woudln't be worth the pure aggravation of having to kill every hunter and every strider myself as well as making sure they didn't blow up some useless abandoned house. your teammates on that last level are so useless i don't know why they're even there.
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I found the entire AR2 conversation great. I bind weapons to individual keys, so I've been typing bind x "use weapon_ar2" a whole lot. I always thought it was just a programming name, meaning Assault Rifle 2. It was interesting to hear it referred to that way. And the guy talking about his leet AR3 skillz.
Music again was spectacular. I'm going to have to dig through the GCFs and savor it forever.
I also like how the pistol has a bit more oomph now, and the enhanced blood.
So, when all is said and done, the Orange box is pure gold.
So, I played through the entire end of the game again. The last event is much more fun if you aren't constantly reloading for perfectionism (and the achievement). I lost two or perhaps three buildings, but it was so much more fun to drive all over the damn place, picking up supplies each time I got a new bomb (the sawmill is designed to be hard as fuck to defend, so it has no goddamn supplies at all). Driving all over was much more fun. Also seemed much easier to get the oh-so-great Hunter Roadkills. Gof, I love those.
At some point, I got the fucking gnome achievement. Fuck yes. Just need the combine grenade (a total of maybe four grenades were thrown at me the whole game, and it was never convenient for me to toss one back), and the squishy achievements, I think. Fucking missed twenty of the grubs on my first playthrough. That's gonna be a pain in the ass, because you don't know if you missed any until you complete the whole section. Maybe I'll try to do it when I play through with commentary.
Lesson learned: fucking hell that gnome achievement is a PAIN IN THE FUCKING ASS. Only do it if you hate fun games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RP3pdC3li8
Okay, so it's just a standard baddy, but he's friendly to you and you can kill him. lol
Also, I need help with the car:
And where can I get that GCF extension thing for the music files?
Kleiner and Co. thought it was just a legend, but now they know it is true. Portal technology = bad if in combine hands!
I swear this game defaults to easy. I turned it to normal midway through.. And trust me, I got through this game by the skin of my teeth.
endgame spoiler
I'm guessing a lot will be revealed in Ep. 3 though, at least I hope so. I still don't understand the G-Man. He is helping you achieve something, that is still unknown, all of this that's happened so far is obviously in his plans. But what's the end goal?
Or robots. Whatever. Replicants.
Did you turn on all the lighting effects to their fullest?
Yep.
Also, it looks like the site for GCFScape is down. Could anyone who has it send it to me via AIM? My sn is Fathom216.
Regarding the last fight.
And yes, it was kind of an ....empty last fight.
also: the dichotomy in portal technology in regards to the resistance and the combine is an allusion to the contrast in strategies deployed by the viet cong and U.S. forces during vietnam
it's all quite obvious
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BFBC2
I used to hate Alyx, but after having her snipe for me in those alleys and such I kinda accepted that she's pretty cool. I still don't like how everyone just assumes you're a couple now, even though Gordon says nothing.
Its like that saying. Speak Softly(or not at all) and carry a big crowbar.
I'm pretty sure thats right
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BFBC2
I am a freaking nerd.
So yeah.
Is it a warning though? A threat? Who knows. A level in the original half-life was called unforseen consequences as well.
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Twice. Only way I played through it. After playing through HL2 and Ep1 on medium I figured I was up kicking things up a bit.
First time playing through the final section killed me a lot, and I made a lot of use of saving loading (I prefer to play through just using the checkpoints ordinarily). When I replayed again yesterday I made it through with pretty much only 1 or 2 deaths, no saving.
One thing is that I never bother with the ancilliary stuff like achievements, that just seems like being difficult for the sake of it. So for example:
I think I'll have to go back to HL2 / Ep1 now and go through those on hard, so I can have a proper go at the combine.
All in all it was fun. Seriously, if you've already played through the previous chapters you've probably got nothing to fear from this. Crank it up a notch. Honestly, I even wish there was a harder difficulty above this. The harder the difficulty, the more tense things become, the more I have to think and adapt on my feet, the more fun I find myself having. I found fighting hunters the most fun. I was really forced to make good use of whatever power weapons / objects I could get my hands on.
"Hey Freeman! Be adequate!"
"What does that mean anyway?"
"I dunno, sounded like something the Vorts would say."
Which reminds me, I hope Barney makes a re-appearance somewhere in Episode 3.
Also, the only complaint I have about Ep. 2 is that it was too short and I want more. Now to wait 2 years for Episode 3.
Oh and one thing that I'm a little disappointed about is how we didn't get any new (direct) weapons. I was watching the Half-Life 2 commentary and I agree with the guy. Showing the player the combine sniper rifle and not letting him use it is like teasing a small child with a lollipop. A big, delicious lollipop with a blue laser.
saving all the houses is stupid difficult. i tried it and i'm sure i could have done it, but i deemed it woudln't be worth the pure aggravation of having to kill every hunter and every strider myself as well as making sure they didn't blow up some useless abandoned house. your teammates on that last level are so useless i don't know why they're even there.