HL2E1 disappointing

T

Techx

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Messages
4,380
I'm playing through episode 1 and I am finding it extremely annoying and just not fun at times. The reason for this is the fact that almost every map dark and several are pitch black and you can't see a goddamn thing without the flashlight, which of course runs out of juice every minute. I actually feel that Doom 3 wasn't even THIS bad, yet that game got such a bad rap for being so dark, HL2E1 is no better in that respect! I wish these developers would get the hint already, you can have a moody dark feel to the game but it doesn't need to be in total darkness, all it does is annoy the hell out of me. Don't get me wrong though as I am enjoying some of the game, well.. the parts I can see anyway, and where I'm not getting owned by 10 headcrab zombies right when my flashlight runs out of energy :rolleyes:
 
Use flares... light the zombies with the flares... walking torches.
 
You probably are one of the few to be dissapointed with this episodic installment. Most reviews I have read agree that this is what Hl2 should have been (gameplay and what not).
 
It wasn't BAD. I just felt as though they were trying too hard to make it Doom.

Alyx is by far the worst cooperative NPC i've ever had.
 
Z(+)DIAC said:
You probably are one of the few to be dissapointed with this episodic installment. Most reviews I have read agree that this is what Hl2 should have been (gameplay and what not).
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yea the reviews seem to be good, its still too dark, even with flares that last 6 seconds, turning up the brightness on my lcd will not do anything to a pitch black room but make it look grey lol
 
I dunno, I liked the battles in the subways lit by the flaming bodies of zombies running around while screaming... made for a very entertaining experience, kind of amplified the sense of urgency of the time limit that you had to kill the zombies and the zombines in.
 
Adionik said:
Alyx is by far the worst cooperative NPC i've ever had.
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I enjoyed the part where she got a shotgun....I pulled my shotgun out and we started puttin em down easy. :D
 
I too was disappointed, it seemed cheaply done to me. It was almost entirely in very tight enclosed spaces, it seemed like the large scope such as large outdoor areas, huge buildings, the inside of the citadel, being in the middle of huge freaking battles, etc., that made HL2 so impressive. I also thought a lot of the things you had to go through were more of an annoyance than a challenge, (dark areas, infinite bug spawns, ferrying groups of rebels from one side of the map to the other). It was also very short. I got in on the Circuit City 7.99 deal, so I don't feel cheated, but there is no way that this would be worth anywhere near $20 IMO.

The preview for episode 2 seemed like it might get back to more of the things that made HL2 good for me. I still won't get ep 2 though until I see it on sale.
 
Alyx WAS the best part of the game. She was quite funny at times. I wish that they would at least move the story along the whole episode felt dragged out.
 
I actually enjoyed the dark places. They seemed to actually be done in the right way too. Doom 3 was slated because there was no reason for the entire game to be in the dark. Even before hell broke loose the corridors were badly lit. But at least HL2:Ep1 seemed to have a reason for the lights being off. Admittedly after running through a pitch black tunnel full of zombies and exploding barrels to find the switch. But its just the same when you wake up in the middle of the night wanting a piss at home.........sorta
 
This episode was non-stop action, amped by the urgency of time limited things like the flashlight.
I thought it was a great story,nicely paced, and the Alyx character made me giggle more than once.
What could be more fun than torching Zombines with flares???? Come on, use your imagination a little. If its dark, light something on fire for crying out loud.
You cant tell me the parking garage was too dark or boring. How about the last bit with the Strider???
I mean, how much action do you want????
Plus its just one part. The next part looks like its out in the wide open again.
Its Half-Life2, it was all it was advertized to be and then some,IMO.
Disappointing,no way.
 
Comparing HL2 EP1's darkness to D3's darkness, is nothing short of silly. D3 was much worse, and had much more of it.
 
I somewhat enjoyed HL2 Ep1, but it the experience was really taken down by the fact that I kept on getting that lockup on looping audio and lockups on loading screens. I had to play the last battle in god mode so I could get through it before it locked up again. I've tried just about everything in the steam help section. If I remember right, HL2 played better on my 1 gig P3 than my current machine with a A64 3500+, 1 gig of ram, and a 9800 pro.

If they ever get around to fixing this, I might play through it again.
 
magoo said:
This episode was non-stop action, amped by the urgency of time limited things like the flashlight.
I thought it was a great story,nicely paced, and the Alyx character made me giggle more than once.
What could be more fun than torching Zombines with flares???? Come on, use your imagination a little. If its dark, light something on fire for crying out loud.
You cant tell me the parking garage was too dark or boring. How about the last bit with the Strider???
I mean, how much action do you want????
Plus its just one part. The next part looks like its out in the wide open again.
Its Half-Life2, it was all it was advertized to be and then some,IMO.
Disappointing,no way.
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Well said.
 
magoo said:
This episode was non-stop action, amped by the urgency of time limited things like the flashlight.
I thought it was a great story,nicely paced, and the Alyx character made me giggle more than once.
What could be more fun than torching Zombines with flares???? Come on, use your imagination a little. If its dark, light something on fire for crying out loud.
You cant tell me the parking garage was too dark or boring. How about the last bit with the Strider???
I mean, how much action do you want????
Plus its just one part. The next part looks like its out in the wide open again.
Its Half-Life2, it was all it was advertized to be and then some,IMO.
Disappointing,no way.
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well you can have your opinion and i'll have mine, i found it annoying to need to use the flashlight so much and flares aren't always around when you need them.. some people may like flashlight gameplay, I do not... I did say I enjoyed the parts that were better lit and found alyx to be pretty cool and she did have some funny things to say so it's not all bad..
 
Techx said:
well you can have your opinion and i'll have mine, i found it annoying to need to use the flashlight so much and flares aren't always around when you need them.. some people may like flashlight gameplay, I do not... I did say I enjoyed the parts that were better lit and found alyx to be pretty cool and she did have some funny things to say so it's not all bad..
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No problem. I have always liked HL and I also like sneaking around, Splinter Cell has always been a favorite of mine, too.
I didnt intend to be harsh or anything. I just feel the EP1 was very well done.
 
I finished ep. 1 today and I thought it was great. Kept you in the action and I actually died a few times at some parts. I only remember running out of flashlight energy and needing it once, but it really wasn't a big issue to me. Awesome game imo.
 
I liked Ep1 a lot but it was disappointingly short. I paid 13 bucks for it at Fry's and then saw it for 8 bucks in the Hotdeals at Circuit City. I think 20 bucks via steam is a bit much for such a short episode, especially since Valve doesn't have to deal with packaging that way. I think 10 bucks online is what the episode was worth, especially since it was so short.

I look forward to the next episode, but won't be spending 20 bucks on it.
 
I enjoyed the game, but the only thing disappointing for me was the length of the game. Too Short!
 
Z(+)DIAC said:
You probably are one of the few to be dissapointed with this episodic installment. Most reviews I have read agree that this is what Hl2 should have been (gameplay and what not).
Click to expand...

What Half-Life 2 should have been? I thought HL2 was phenomenal, and Episode I continues that tradition.

I only played the demo for Doom 3, didn't even finish it. Am I correct in remembering that you can't use your flashlight and weapon at the same time??
 
I guess I'm one of the few who enjoyed Doom3 but didn't really care for Hl2. Yeah, it was annoying in Doom3 that you couldn't use the flashlight and gun at the same time but it really didn't bother me all that much. Besides a mod came out a little later that allowed the use of the flashlight and gun at the same time (duct tape mod).

The darkness of Doom3 didn't bother me at all. To me it seemed to fit the game.

Now, HL2 on the other hand just didn't keep me interested in it. I played a little over half way through the game I believe and I just quit playing. It wasn't one of those games for me that made me want to play it every time I sat down at the computer. It had great visuals but the gameplay itself was annoying to me. I think I like more action than walking around doing other things.

Also, part of my problem with HL2 was the stupid way they did game saves. You couldn't have more than one person playing the game and doing saves because you couldn't put your own name on your own save. I have two older boys that also played HL2 and it was annoying when I would get back in to HL2 and click on a saved game that I thought was mine only to find out that one of the boys had been playing a little while ago and my last save just gone to be replaced by one of theres that was either at an earlier point than where I left off or at a later point in the game meaning that I had no idea what stuff I'd missed out on. I got really tired of having to backtrack through the saved games just to find a point that I could start from that was earlier than my last save but not so early that I had to play for a half an hour or so before I got back to where I was.

I haven't bought, and I won't be buying, episode 1 or any other episodes. At least not if they continue to be $20. If they ever offer them at $10 then I might be interested but I doubt that's going to happen.
 
I haven't played it yet, might one day. But considering how short it is I don't believe it's worth any more than $5 to me. If it gets to that price point I'll pick it up.
 
I can't belief I waisted 20 bucks on this simple game. Most areas of it where boring and repetitive like the elevator and water jumping....HL2 oh yeah. Can't top it. I waited 1 year for this! hopefully epsiode 2 wont be such a drag as City 17 is no more. Some kinda forest maps they will have from the looks of the trailer.
 
Some liked the game. Some hated it. When I got bored in the game (rarely), I would simply go into a crouch position and walk around Alyx slowly. Boy, they sure programmed her nicely...

;)
 
brachy33 said:
Some liked the game. Some hated it. When I got bored in the game (rarely), I would simply go into a crouch position and walk around Alyx slowly. Boy, they sure programmed her nicely...

;)
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I bet you installed the alyx nude patch too!!! haha
 
I don't think it's too short? I've been playing it on the default medium difficulty for three evenings now. For 8 bucks from circuit city I can't complain at all. I still think the half-life game engine is a bit dated in the movement area. Quake, Unreal Tournament and even far cry have better movement, but the game is worth playing in my opinion.
 
I have been kicking myself for paying $18 during the preorder "Sale" and thought that it was too much. I am going to wait until E2 goes on sale before buying it whereas I wouldn't wait if they were to drop the price to a more "reasonable" level of $10-12 for that amount of gameplay...
 
I really enjoyed this installment. Aside from some of the positive aspects others have posted, I absolutely love when you're kicking ass in a really tense moment and that cool music starts blaring. Like the situation where you have to turn on the power to the elevator in that really dark room. Or in the hospital where Alyx gets her shotgun... VERY exciting! :D
 
i must say that im a bit disappointed [playing it now], but if it bridges to ep 2, then im fine with it. ep 2 looks sick
 
It was fun but it was not worth it at $20. Next episode, I am waiting for a sale that marks it down to about $10.
 
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