Half Life 2
Half Life 2
Fuck yeah. I got it over Xmas, and I think I'm as about as impressed as I have been with any video game in a long, long time. Just on the outdoor level storming through the city towards the Citadel, and the sight of those walkers stomping about and blowing the crap out of the place... I reall am lost for words. Just when I think I'm loosing my faith in gaming it's good to know that there are still games out there that can give me the same, warm shit-eating grin as the games of old. I''d just like to hear from anyone else that has played what you favorite levels, bits, whatever where and if there were any bits you didn't like (the annoying Ant Lions on the Highway/Sandtrap levels being my biggest annoyance as of yet - seemed cheap and unfair in the context of a game designed so well in every other way).
I played it on the PC. It's a completely average overrated game. Valve cut out the excellent ai the series was famous for and completely fucked up the ending.
Vehicles were completely tacked on as well. It was almost like half life 2 wanted to inject a little halo into the game.
Vehicles were completely tacked on as well. It was almost like half life 2 wanted to inject a little halo into the game.
Proud citizen of the American Empire!
Fucking brautiful game, with incredibly fun levels and ideas. Particular highlights for me was :
Ravensholm, because the Gravity Gun + Saw Blades = Joy!
Nova Prospect, because I just loved it when the Antlions become your chum, and help out in the carnage, and the street fight. Taking out the striders was great!
Ravensholm, because the Gravity Gun + Saw Blades = Joy!
Nova Prospect, because I just loved it when the Antlions become your chum, and help out in the carnage, and the street fight. Taking out the striders was great!
Ikaruga review now up in PLASMA BLOSSOM
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dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Is this game more straightforward then the first Half-Life? In other words, are there less puzzles, and more shooting? I really like my FPS's as "puzzle-light" as possible-you know, hit a few switches, turn on a computer, but not much more then that.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
I completed HL2 two weeks ago at a friend’s computer in a single weekend.
The levels are very nicely/realistically connected & actually give out a nice illusion of continuity in the story line flow. I haven’t witnessed this since I completed Unreal 1 back in 1999! The enemy AI was great & those troopers with the blue-eyed mask/helmets were the most sinister looking foes I’ve seen in a FPS for some time now.
My favorite highlights were:
1. Overall the physics engine in HL2 was great. Probably even better than the all mighty Doom3!
2. Incredible outdoor scenes. The city surrounding the Citadel & the sea view next to the road on the cliffs was truly breath taking. (Only Far Cry can beat it in this department)
3. The part with the hovercraft, where you race through the polluted river in the outskirts of the city. I loved the part where one of the rocket tanks blows down a tall chimney and you speed right under it just in the nick of time. Later on when you get the machine-gun on the hovercraft you 1st encounter those cool 4-engine spaceships flying over you & dropping mines in front of you.
4. The transport spaceships with the 4 engines & the gunships were the coolest looking air-born vehicles I’ve seen in a FPS. They definitely had a Japanese/Anime feel into them. I loved fighting them with the laser guided rocket launcher. Specifically, the gunships looked like Mecha/Squids!
5. The part where you 1st get the buggy and drive through a very long route, while having to stop and use the huge crane to drop down the bridge & fighting the ant-lions.
6. I thought the part where you get trained by the DOG-Mech, to using the gravity-gun, was a very nice touch. Later on when hell brakes loose and DOG opens the huge gate that lead to the zombie city and then slamming it in your face, gives you a shiver down the spine that you’re completely disserted, compared to the warm home-feel of the training.
7. The Gun Fight with your comrades at the light house after you park the buggy. When the carrier spaceship lands on top of the light and the troopers start poring out, was one of the coolest fights of the game.
8. Having to pass under the bridge with the strong side-winds pushing you from every direction.
9. The small force field protected forts, blocking the city blocks & the enemy troops firing at you from on top.
10. The street warfare at the besieged city around the citadel, where the rebels were fighting against the Walkers and you hiding under trenches as the storming Walkers were rampaging right by you, was a shocking experience indeed!
11. When you 1st enter the besieged city, (last level before the citadel) you encounter the DOG/Mech fighting a group of evil troopers. They try to smash it by driving an armored transport unit against it, but DOG picks it up and throws it right back in their face! A few seconds later DOG jumps one of the enemy transport spaceships and flies away. Surprisingly you meet him again later on when it uses all it’s might to lift a part of the expanding/moving wall of the citadel clearing the way for you. This was definitely one the coolest character I’ve encounter in a FPS.
12. The citadel it self was one the most shocking & sinister looking structures I’ve seen and so was the last level inside it.
Now what I did not like:
1. The 1st part of the game up to the point where you get the hover craft, was very boring & repetitive. I actually thought about stopping if my mate hadn’t encouraged me to play further.
2. The Grand/Administrator Evil Villain looked like Mr. Bean and was by far and away the most retarded looking bad guy I’ve seen in a game. I was very happy when I blasted him & his generator at the last stage.
3. The haunted/zombie/ghost city was very boring, repetitive tiring. Not very fun at all.
4. Same goes for the disserted Prison stage.
5. The way that the Gravity-Gun was powered at the last level, was very cheap imo. I was like, Umm... Yeah Right!
6. The Boss fights were very disappointing & the Bosses them selves very uninspiring. A FPS without some cool Bosses to back it up is... ahh…hmm.. Well…a novel.
7. The ending was total crap! Worse ending ever! Even worse than Quake 4
So HL2 was a great game, (definitely not overrated) with many nice touches, innovations, incredible graphics & sound and cool physics engine, but it’s short length, the lack of cool bosses (very important in my book) & the crapy ending, place it behind Doom 3 & Quake 4 imo.
P.S. I think Gordon Freeman was a wimp and the most retarded leading character in a FPS. It’s hard to believe that a scientist could operate a dozen high-tech assault weapons, fight through that entire holocaust & live to tell the tale in the end… Ahh.. Yeah right!
And no I’m no Halo fan.
The levels are very nicely/realistically connected & actually give out a nice illusion of continuity in the story line flow. I haven’t witnessed this since I completed Unreal 1 back in 1999! The enemy AI was great & those troopers with the blue-eyed mask/helmets were the most sinister looking foes I’ve seen in a FPS for some time now.
My favorite highlights were:
1. Overall the physics engine in HL2 was great. Probably even better than the all mighty Doom3!
2. Incredible outdoor scenes. The city surrounding the Citadel & the sea view next to the road on the cliffs was truly breath taking. (Only Far Cry can beat it in this department)
3. The part with the hovercraft, where you race through the polluted river in the outskirts of the city. I loved the part where one of the rocket tanks blows down a tall chimney and you speed right under it just in the nick of time. Later on when you get the machine-gun on the hovercraft you 1st encounter those cool 4-engine spaceships flying over you & dropping mines in front of you.
4. The transport spaceships with the 4 engines & the gunships were the coolest looking air-born vehicles I’ve seen in a FPS. They definitely had a Japanese/Anime feel into them. I loved fighting them with the laser guided rocket launcher. Specifically, the gunships looked like Mecha/Squids!
5. The part where you 1st get the buggy and drive through a very long route, while having to stop and use the huge crane to drop down the bridge & fighting the ant-lions.
6. I thought the part where you get trained by the DOG-Mech, to using the gravity-gun, was a very nice touch. Later on when hell brakes loose and DOG opens the huge gate that lead to the zombie city and then slamming it in your face, gives you a shiver down the spine that you’re completely disserted, compared to the warm home-feel of the training.
7. The Gun Fight with your comrades at the light house after you park the buggy. When the carrier spaceship lands on top of the light and the troopers start poring out, was one of the coolest fights of the game.
8. Having to pass under the bridge with the strong side-winds pushing you from every direction.
9. The small force field protected forts, blocking the city blocks & the enemy troops firing at you from on top.
10. The street warfare at the besieged city around the citadel, where the rebels were fighting against the Walkers and you hiding under trenches as the storming Walkers were rampaging right by you, was a shocking experience indeed!
11. When you 1st enter the besieged city, (last level before the citadel) you encounter the DOG/Mech fighting a group of evil troopers. They try to smash it by driving an armored transport unit against it, but DOG picks it up and throws it right back in their face! A few seconds later DOG jumps one of the enemy transport spaceships and flies away. Surprisingly you meet him again later on when it uses all it’s might to lift a part of the expanding/moving wall of the citadel clearing the way for you. This was definitely one the coolest character I’ve encounter in a FPS.
12. The citadel it self was one the most shocking & sinister looking structures I’ve seen and so was the last level inside it.
Now what I did not like:
1. The 1st part of the game up to the point where you get the hover craft, was very boring & repetitive. I actually thought about stopping if my mate hadn’t encouraged me to play further.
2. The Grand/Administrator Evil Villain looked like Mr. Bean and was by far and away the most retarded looking bad guy I’ve seen in a game. I was very happy when I blasted him & his generator at the last stage.
3. The haunted/zombie/ghost city was very boring, repetitive tiring. Not very fun at all.
4. Same goes for the disserted Prison stage.
5. The way that the Gravity-Gun was powered at the last level, was very cheap imo. I was like, Umm... Yeah Right!
6. The Boss fights were very disappointing & the Bosses them selves very uninspiring. A FPS without some cool Bosses to back it up is... ahh…hmm.. Well…a novel.
7. The ending was total crap! Worse ending ever! Even worse than Quake 4
So HL2 was a great game, (definitely not overrated) with many nice touches, innovations, incredible graphics & sound and cool physics engine, but it’s short length, the lack of cool bosses (very important in my book) & the crapy ending, place it behind Doom 3 & Quake 4 imo.
P.S. I think Gordon Freeman was a wimp and the most retarded leading character in a FPS. It’s hard to believe that a scientist could operate a dozen high-tech assault weapons, fight through that entire holocaust & live to tell the tale in the end… Ahh.. Yeah right!
And no I’m no Halo fan.
Saint Dragon - AMIGA - Jaleco 1989
"In the first battle against the Guardian's weapons, created with Vasteel Technology, humanity suffered a crushing defeat."
Thunder Force V
"In the first battle against the Guardian's weapons, created with Vasteel Technology, humanity suffered a crushing defeat."
Thunder Force V
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dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Pffft. I'm honestly quite sick of people complaining about this.FatCobra wrote:The fact that you have to log online via Steam just to play the single player is the reason I won't play this game.
The game is flat out great. Excellent graphics, voice acting, music, environment, everything. It really immerses you in the world. Ravenholm is especially fun.
I can't wait for the next one or the expansion or whatever.
Very linear and straight forward level layout and a few easy puzzles to solve.dave4shmups wrote:Is this game more straightforward then the first Half-Life? In other words, are there less puzzles, and more shooting? I really like my FPS's as "puzzle-light" as possible-you know, hit a few switches, turn on a computer, but not much more then that.
It utilizes the continuous level flow from Unreal 1 too.
Saint Dragon - AMIGA - Jaleco 1989
"In the first battle against the Guardian's weapons, created with Vasteel Technology, humanity suffered a crushing defeat."
Thunder Force V
"In the first battle against the Guardian's weapons, created with Vasteel Technology, humanity suffered a crushing defeat."
Thunder Force V
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dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Thanks for that info!ST Dragon wrote:Very linear and straight forward level layout and a few easy puzzles to solve.dave4shmups wrote:Is this game more straightforward then the first Half-Life? In other words, are there less puzzles, and more shooting? I really like my FPS's as "puzzle-light" as possible-you know, hit a few switches, turn on a computer, but not much more then that.
It utilizes the continuous level flow from Unreal 1 too.
Still stinks that you have to get on XBOX Live to play single player-that doesn't make any sense.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
I thought that was only the PC version that needed the connection to Steam in order to do jack shit with the game, regardless of how it was purchased.
Additional innovation points for releasing a game forward thinking enough to require an internet connection on a shit-ton of CDs instead of one DVD-ROM. Bra-vo.
Additional innovation points for releasing a game forward thinking enough to require an internet connection on a shit-ton of CDs instead of one DVD-ROM. Bra-vo.
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theevilfunkster
- Posts: 950
- Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:49 pm
- Location: Glossop, UK
No, thats just the PC version which you need to be online for. The Xbox version is like any normal Xbox game. Infact, there are no Xbox live features in the game at all.dave4shmups wrote:You have to have XBOX live JUST to play single player?!FatCobra wrote:The fact that you have to log online via Steam just to play the single player is the reason I won't play this game.
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dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Sweeet!!theevilfunkster wrote:No, thats just the PC version which you need to be online for. The Xbox version is like any normal Xbox game. Infact, there are no Xbox live features in the game at all.dave4shmups wrote:You have to have XBOX live JUST to play single player?!FatCobra wrote:The fact that you have to log online via Steam just to play the single player is the reason I won't play this game.
Thanks for that info!"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Don't get the Xbox version, you'll be missing multiplayer, not to mention the little graphical touches that make the game look great on a good PC.
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
That's true. Multiplayer is a blast, however if your PC can't do it any justice at all then the xbox version is surprisingly well done, and recommended.
Personally i've never had any issues with Steam since Half Life 2 came out, and I actually really like it.
Personally i've never had any issues with Steam since Half Life 2 came out, and I actually really like it.
Ikaruga review now up in PLASMA BLOSSOM
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ArrogantBastard
- Posts: 1044
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:45 am
Well I finished it last week, and the ending did suck a bit. The Gravity Gun was a good laugh on the last level though, nothing more fun than throwing enemy soldiers into bottomless pits, or into each other. Having seen the PC version last week, I think the Xbox has done an incredible job with this, really seems to be strateching the machine to its limits. Would be nice to see an upgraded 360 version though. Definitely gonna be playing this through again, though Resi 4 is next in the pile.
Ironic as two features, the streamed loading and light bloom effects, were made for the PC version via downloadable patches after after they were completed for the XBox version.it290 wrote:Don't get the Xbox version, you'll be missing multiplayer, not to mention the little graphical touches that make the game look great on a good PC.
Cool game, dumb ending though and horrible "plot" progression. If what story was present was handled in a better way it would have made up for the lack of cool bosses.
That said, HL1 didn't really have "bosses" either per se until towards the end. Thought periodically you'd fight those massive creatures you'd have a couple of different ways of dealing with. In many cases you could just avoid them entirely.
Streamed loading eh? Well, the PC version still doesn't have that (unless you're talking about a 3rd party mod). As for the bloom/HDR effects, even on the PC w/Lost Coast it's not 'real' HDR rendering, but those effects are a good bit beyond what the Xbox GPU is capable of.Ironic as two features, the streamed loading and light bloom effects, were made for the PC version via downloadable patches after after they were completed for the XBox version. Razz
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
I was lead to believe Valve was going to implement this as a patch you could download. Theory being that it would completely eliminate the massive load times between areas.
It's gets BAD in the XBox version sometimes though. It'll load when you change what direction you're facing in one of the vehicle phases.
It's gets BAD in the XBox version sometimes though. It'll load when you change what direction you're facing in one of the vehicle phases.
I'm not seeing the need for any more boss type fights - the Striders were cool because they didn't get overused, and the were some fun scrapes with the drop ships and so on.
Plot-wise there just didn't seem to be that much going on full stop, it was more that the game presented a collection of environments that actually felt like game worlds, rather than just levels that kept me going.
Loading was a touch intrusive, but nothing too bad for anyone that laready played Deus Ex IW or similar.
On another note, finally started Resi 4 last night and that seems great as well. And now got Far Cry Instincts awaiting play.
Plot-wise there just didn't seem to be that much going on full stop, it was more that the game presented a collection of environments that actually felt like game worlds, rather than just levels that kept me going.
This never happened while I was playingIt's gets BAD in the XBox version sometimes though. It'll load when you change what direction you're facing in one of the vehicle phases.
Loading was a touch intrusive, but nothing too bad for anyone that laready played Deus Ex IW or similar.On another note, finally started Resi 4 last night and that seems great as well. And now got Far Cry Instincts awaiting play.
Far Cry Instincts is great! I think I actually like it more than the PC version. 
There's a 360 port of Instincts coming out in March. I'm wondering if anything will be added.
Instincts is a very easy game but it feels more balanced and streamlined in a good way at the same time. As an example, there's less weapons in it than in the PC version but each weapon that made the cut is more useful overall and more unique when stood up against each other. I love setting traps and how you can roll onto your back to stay under cover while shooting up at stuff.
It's like playing through the first half of the original Predator movie for ten hours straight.
There's a 360 port of Instincts coming out in March. I'm wondering if anything will be added.
Instincts is a very easy game but it feels more balanced and streamlined in a good way at the same time. As an example, there's less weapons in it than in the PC version but each weapon that made the cut is more useful overall and more unique when stood up against each other. I love setting traps and how you can roll onto your back to stay under cover while shooting up at stuff.
It's like playing through the first half of the original Predator movie for ten hours straight.
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captain ahar
- Posts: 3182
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:03 pm
- Location: #50 Bitch!
do yourself a favor and play with at least a mouse and a controller. i played through this version when my computer refused to work.Turrican wrote:I'm currently playing Half-Life 1 on PS2. Yeah, yeah, butchered conversion, I know. But speaking of the game... No wait, I think I won't say anything yet as I just started it. But I'll update my impressions here.
and half life 2, it seems very decent. i'm playing through it on xbox, in a sort of non-commited way. i figure when i get my computer set for games, i'll sell the console version and use the cash to buy the pc version.
that fan-boat-thing section almost made me give up on it. boring as all hell.
one thing i love about these games, i get fucking paranoid while playing them. they do a great job with the tension, i'm working on not saving constantly.
far cry instincts seemed pretty cool, but i had problems with the sound. speech and vehicle effects came out as garbage, and creating new saves didn't help.
also, i have been playing doom for the first time this past week. didn't know it could be so awesome.
I have no sig whatsoever.