Can someone tell me what's so good about Half Life 2?

One word, Everything.

Story, Gameplay, puzzles, hot toon chic. what more could you want?
 
I agree with you. Presentation was incredible. Puzzles were interesting. Graphics and sound were top knotch. However, the game was drawn out at times. The weapons needed much larger clips. I wished I could carry more ammo. The AI wasn't up to snuff.

Overall, it was a good game that lacked the gunplay I desired.
 
I've heard this comparison before, and I mostly agree with it. The difference between scripted games like Half-Life 2 and more open games like Crysis is like the difference between a well-written movie and a reality TV show. Movies and games like Half-Life 2 exist for the purpose of telling a story. Reality shows and open world games exist more so that the people involved (cast and player) can create their own stories, and the basic frameworks of plot and story exist to give context.

Personally, I prefer well-written movies.
 
What can I say, you need an imagination for a sandbox game. I've seen some people play through Crysis like they were playing painkiller which isn't terribly interesting. Sneaking about and stealthing people, aswell as using the suits full range of abilities in action is what made the game interesting for me.

I do also enjoy a good story, probably more so, but them games no where near as replayable.
 
I enjoyed HL2 + episodes thoroughly because I was able to beat the AI around & use the environment to my advantage. Playing it through multiple times on hard is a satisfying experience. I loved the super-charged gravity gun at the end of HL2 by using orbs & zapping Combine soldiers was great fun but the best parts usually dealt with exploration of any level. I always looked for the half-life symbol & gained more supplies. HL2 has a lot of hidden goodies in it & I feel its an FPS that's different from the rest (even with scripting). It's a linear shooter but the gameplay is very open. It manages to still hold up well to this day. I'm just pissed that its taking forever to release Ep3... >_<
 
The HL series is amazingly well scripted and well planned. It is the foundation and model that most FPS games are built on.
The story is what makes the game and the atmosphere amplifies the story.
It may be less open-ended but the overall superb construction of the game more than compensates.
I have played through EP1 and EP2 numerous times and they are never quite the same.
I do agree that the whole "episodes take less time to produce" thing was a ruse. It generally takes 18-24 months for Valve to release the episodes. (originally advertised at 1 year intervals)


The graphics engine still holds up well and runs full tilt on almost any system, another plus.
 
Mark_Warner said:
Imagination? Hardly. Creativity, perhaps, but the two are not one and the same.
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I never said they were the same.

Imagination is how a kid playing with a branch believes he's a swashbuckling pirate. I'm not sure what creativity has to do with anything.

Imagination allows you to give your character personality and that decides how you play the game, I imagined my character would be a lot like a modern day Garrett (from theif) or more like Sam Fisher from splinter cell, and that effected how I aproached the game and how I thought my character would behave.

You don't have to be creative to play the game like some stealthy assassin or like rambo, or like a sniper, just to have enough imagination to realise you can, and that imposing your own rules upon yourself (don't get seen, don't kill anyone etc) can add depth to the game.
 
Yeah I guess. Creativity is about finding solutions for the problems that a game presents you. Imagination, I suppose, is more about what you described. Each has its place I suppose. I just prefer to stay in the game I'm playing, and not pretend that I'm someone else.
 
Pay attentiont to the details in the world, and keep going, I didn't fall in love with HL2 until after the vehicle levels.The street combat later in the game is such good fun, and when you get decent at hitting combine in the head with a single pistol shot and here that squeal from their mics.. ahhh... loves me my HL!
 
Well yes, for example stealth problems can be solved in a number of different ways, some more elogant than others depending on how creative you are.

The character you play in Crysis really doesn't have a whole lot of personality, and he has all these tools at his disposal to allow him to play in varying different ways, I'm simply suggesting that those with an imagination are likely to enjoy a sandbox game, precisely because you're not told what your character is like, what to do, and how to do it.

If you lack a good imagination you're probably just going to steam roll through the game like a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, if you enjoy that then cool, but the game potentially has far more depth than that, and anyone that hasn't enjoyed the experience is likely to enjoy it more if they use the broad range of abilities available to them to play in more interesting ways.

At one point in the game I was doing nothing but killing Koreans by making it look like they'd had accidents, even to the point of staging physics objects around them so it looked liek they'd tripped over a barrel or were just asleep in bed. This is somethign I did In thief a lot actually, pick pocket keys from people and instead of just keeping them, I'd use them and then drop them down a loo, or next to where the guards patrol so it appears like he'd simply dropped his key.

There was no point in doing so, only that I thought it was fun.
 
Well what you are saying about Nomad in Crysis is exactly what Gordon Freeman is like in Half-Life 2. No personality, so you can inject your own.

I personally find it patently offensive that you are insinuating that people who don't love sandbox games are without an imagination. That is false. Some people just don't like that in a game.

Personally, I do. I like sandbox games. I like rolling around the world, seeing what kind of stuff you can do and what kind of trouble there is to get into. I just don't feel like it is a superior form of gaming, or that my enjoyment of it makes me somehow more imaginitive than other people.
 
forsberg78 said:
I played it for a few hours, I'm at the part where I'm on this water bike, but I just don't have the urge to continue playing. It's just very boring to me.

What is it about Half Life that everybody loves so much? I'd really like to know!
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The game starts slowly, I know. Trust me, once you get to Black Mesa East the game really starts to pick up.

HL2 was designed to stand up on it's own, but you'll have a much better understanding of what's going on if you play the original Half Life, and even Opposing Force as well (which many will argue was better than the original Half Life). Opposing Force takes you into Black Mesa, but has you playing as Adrian Sheppard (a soldier sent to kill everyone and silence witnesses) instead of Gordon Freeman.
 
Opposing Force was an awesome experience. I want Adrian to be a main character again...
 
+1 for Opposing Force. Awesome expansion! I'd love to see Adrian Shepherd team up with Gordon in EP 3.
 
pigwalk said:
Gotta disagree. Gordon Freeman sucks. He's a blank non-character with no personality.

LOVE the gameplay though, the feel, controls and level design is great.
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what lol? it's you, and you never speak, make noise, or show emotion lol. how can he be bland when youre not supposed to know anything about his personality lol

HL1 was a breakthrough title. the gameplay is absolutely superb. it's not a typical run and gun as there's multiple ways to kill enemies besides shooting them.

HL2 is as good or better. it's post-apocolyptic feel is like playing a movie. the gravity gun literally makes for infinite ways to kill zombies. the levels are well-designed. the stroyline, although not extremely original, is well done. even the voice acting is great. your interaction with Alyx and even Dog really gets you attached to the characters.

The travel zones were very cool, but got old after the 1st one.

the ending wasn't an ending. they planned on doing the episodic releases from the get-go.i believe Ep 3 is the last one before HL3. combine the 3 Episodes and you'll pretty much have a full-length game.

1 word: Ravenholm.
 
Incredible immersion. Graphics were awesome. Released Nov 16th, 2004. Four years is a long time to carry a "wow" factor.
 
I just fired up Steam a few days ago. I had played through all of HL2 and part way through Episode 1 a few years ago. I too had trouble getting into the game. I've now finished Episode 1 and am about half way through Episode 2. I don't regret re-installing this game at all. I'm truly enjoying every moment. The graphics are dated, but they do look pretty darn good once you've got all settings maxed.

Oh and I finally gave Team Fortress 2 a shot. I can't belive I waited so long to play, it's a blast!!!

Stick with it...it's well worth it.
 
The best game I got out of the Orange Box was Portal. I have played through HL2, EP1 and EP2, and regardless of all the praise they've received, I have no desire to play them again. Were they good? Yeah. Would I recommend them to a friend? I guess. Would I ever play them again? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's just be, but nothing from the series has gotten me really fired up like I was over HL and Opposing Forces (awesome, awesome expansion). While I still think the HL2 and episodes are good (you can also apply this to TF2 as well) after getting my a good taste, all I've got to say is "Meh", there are other games I'd rather play. Then again though, my taste in games isn't the most usual.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
Half-Life 2 was little more than a monotonous shooter that paled in comparison to the original Half-Life. The only part of HL2 that approached HL1's greatness was the Cathedral level. Of course, even that part was spoiled by the absolutely stupid way HL2 ended. It struck me as if the writers simply couldn't figure out what to do so they just found a cheap way out.
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I so I thought I was going through that portal !

Like the alien levels in HL.


Half Life = 10/10
Half Life 2 = 9/10

It was a good game but not iconic like the original.
 
Somnambulator said:
what lol? it's you, and you never speak, make noise, or show emotion lol. how can he be bland when youre not supposed to know anything about his personality lol

HL1 was a breakthrough title. the gameplay is absolutely superb. it's not a typical run and gun as there's multiple ways to kill enemies besides shooting them.
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I'm not sitting there talking back to alyx when she talks to me. I'm not bleeding when gordon gets shot. I don't wear Weezer rimmed glasses. I can't climb a ladder when I'm holding a shotgun with both hands. I HAVE HANDS! Which I use to open doors and turn valves with.

I AM NOT GORDON FREEMAN.

I LOVE the games, the gameplay is great, the set pieces and story is awesome, the rest of the characters are great. Just don't like the "THE CHARACTER IS YOU!" idea. It's stupid.
 
Lol. Agreed. Back in the day, when games used to zoom out and show the a predetermined character (Deus Ex, etc) I still felt much more "in character" than I do now. By seeing and listening to the protagonist, I almost felt like I could roleplay and put myself in that situation. I understand the symbolic value of trying to insert ME into the narrative by presenting nothing at all, but it just isn't believable that way. I'm a History major, not a FEAR operative. If I was put in the situations these games depict, I'd be toast
 
It has an engaging story, feels like a "real" world of sorts, the graphics/physics were awesome back in the day when it came out, and was just plain old fun to get through the levels.
 
It's pretty linear game, but that's the beauty. The scripted sequences are great. The fighting is great, IMO. The characters are great. The storytelling is great. The scenery is great. You should at least play it until you get the gravity gun and can play through Ravenholm with it. HL2 is an awesome journey. Even though it happens the same way every time pretty much I've still beat it a bunch of times.
 
HL2 was the last game I REALLY ever played :( (meaning, you get INTO the game)
 
Hellraiser said:
What does being scripted has to do with what I said?
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You mentioned that you liked how things happened due to your actions; however, you aren't actually causing anything yourself since it's all pre-scripted. Nothing you yourself do has much of an effect on the game.
 
Zero82z said:
You mentioned that you liked how things happened due to your actions; however, you aren't actually causing anything yourself since it's all pre-scripted. Nothing you yourself do has much of an effect on the game.
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I didn't say anything about emergent gameplay, it's about the feeling of emergent gameplay that you get from the game (yes even it's scripted and it's just an illusion), hl was similar in that way without all the fancy physics.
 
Well if u didnt play hl2 until now it may seem a little boring, dull graphics etc.. but back then in 2004 this game was amazing really but now it has lost its charm i guess nothing strange about that most games do.
 
Nothing, as far as I'm aware. If you think an FPS is less of a corridor-shooter just because you have to stick some breeze blocks on a seesaw occasionally, then you need a slap.

H-L2 Was mediocre to the max.

Also, anyone saying that there was more depth to Crysis than any other FPS is having a laugh. Right, so you can choose to either go invisible, run really fast, hit them really hard, shoot them, or bypass them altogether? You're still playing the same game millions of other people are, just as in every FPS - you might be using a different gun to achieve the same ends, but it's no more deep than Serious Sam.
 
Hellraiser said:
I didn't say anything about emergent gameplay, it's about the feeling of emergent gameplay that you get from the game (yes even it's scripted and it's just an illusion), hl was similar in that way without all the fancy physics.
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Fair enough. I didn't get that feeling at all in HL2 though.
 
HL2 was good when it first came out, now it seems a bit old :p

its one of those you had to be there when it was popular kinda things imo
 
Wally said:
Nothing, as far as I'm aware. If you think an FPS is less of a corridor-shooter just because you have to stick some breeze blocks on a seesaw occasionally, then you need a slap.

H-L2 Was mediocre to the max.

Also, anyone saying that there was more depth to Crysis than any other FPS is having a laugh. Right, so you can choose to either go invisible, run really fast, hit them really hard, shoot them, or bypass them altogether? You're still playing the same game millions of other people are, just as in every FPS - you might be using a different gun to achieve the same ends, but it's no more deep than Serious Sam.
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Serious Sam is insulted. He now kick ass.

SS was a FAR better game, fun wise, than Crysis.
 
Immersion in HL2 was better than any other FPS I've ever played. It was like when I was 8, playing Doom on my cousin's beastly gaming computer (with surround sound - in the very early 90's!) at night, and freaking out every time I heard the grunt of a lone soldier, still alive somewhere in the level, through the speakers behind me. Except, that was a more strictly visceral kind of immersion...HL2 was total immersion. I don't know how they did it or why I don't feel this way about other games, but everything that happened in the game felt like it was happening for a reason, for real.
 
I enjoyed HL2 and episodes but I can totally relate to what the OP is saying.

The beginning chapters of HL2 (route canal and water hazard) are quite dull in terms of gameplay.
Its just a long run through weak enemies for 3 hours straight with no events.
Two of my friends that purchased OrangeBox stopped playing at Water Hazard level! I think that says something.

HL2 start getting interesting after Ravenholm IMO.
 
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