Wow, Half Life 2 is really not that impressive

[Flak Beard]

Moz is right. It's just one of those games that's objectively sound, so the dividing factor is taste. I don't like the GTA series, but that doesn't mean it's not good.

I'm not a huge HL fan either, but I see its merits. Also, Gabe Newell is a whiny bitch so no I'm not paying for his pizzas.

[DuManchu]

HL2 is the greatest game ever, IMO.

I've never gotten so wrapped up in the story of a game as much as I have HL2 and the subsequent episodes. I also think having the über weapon NOT be a "super-explosion-death-fest" is one of the more innovative changes to shooters in recent memory.

I still haven't played HL1 much, mostly because I only have the DC version and it's a pain in the ass to play without twin analog stick (I do plan on getting the PS2 version though).

Different strokes for different folks I guess, but there ARE valid reasons people think it's one of the greatest games of all time.

If there's one thing I don't like about HL2 it's the cliched use of exploding barrels, even though they are fun to shoot.

[JJJ]

I didn't like HL2 much either. Its one of the few FPS games that I considered *too long*. It just wore me out. I loved Ravenholm but the rest was very so-so. Its not bad, but basically only a solid FPS.

My friend keeps telling me EP1 and EP2 are big improvements though. I finished EP1 and it was more fun, in part because it is short and doesn't wear out its welcome. EP2 I haven't played yet but he insists its far and away the best of the 3 games. So I'll give it a chance sometime.

Really, low-budget Portal is so much better than the rest of Orange Box its ridiculous. If you haven't played the 'fewest portals' mode in it yet, hurry up! This will crunch your brain in ways no other game ever has.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I didn't like HL2 much either. Its one of the few FPS games that I considered *too long*. It just wore me out. I loved Ravenholm but the rest was very so-so. Its not bad, but basically only a solid FPS.

My friend keeps telling me EP1 and EP2 are big improvements though. I finished EP1 and it was more fun, in part because it is short and doesn't wear out its welcome. EP2 I haven't played yet but he insists its far and away the best of the 3 games. So I'll give it a chance sometime.

Really, low-budget Portal is so much better than the rest of Orange Box its ridiculous. If you haven't played the 'fewest portals' mode in it yet, hurry up! This will crunch your brain in ways no other game ever has.

Yes. Even Yhatzee (Zero Puctuation, from the escapist) said he couldnt find anything really wrong with it, and if you have watched his other reviews, you know he hates just about everything under the sun (he reminds me alot of Mozgus)

[Mozgus]

Yes. Even Yhatzee (Zero Puctuation, from the escapist) said he couldnt find anything really wrong with it, and if you have watched his other reviews, you know he hates just about everything under the sun (he reminds me alot of Mozgus)

You and a lot of others around here, just choose to ignore my positive threads.

[Gamerforlife]

I didn't like HL2 much either. Its one of the few FPS games that I considered *too long*. It just wore me out. I loved Ravenholm but the rest was very so-so. Its not bad, but basically only a solid FPS.

My friend keeps telling me EP1 and EP2 are big improvements though. I finished EP1 and it was more fun, in part because it is short and doesn't wear out its welcome. EP2 I haven't played yet but he insists its far and away the best of the 3 games. So I'll give it a chance sometime.

Really, low-budget Portal is so much better than the rest of Orange Box its ridiculous. If you haven't played the 'fewest portals' mode in it yet, hurry up! This will crunch your brain in ways no other game ever has.

Yes. Even Yhatzee (Zero Puctuation, from the escapist) said he couldnt find anything really wrong with it, and if you have watched his other reviews, you know he hates just about everything under the sun (he reminds me alot of Mozgus)

Yeah, I kind of knew that Yahtzee likes Valve and this game. That is really strange to me. The fact that Yatzee couldn't find anything to criticize says to me that there is just some sort of built in bias towards Half Life within the gaming community. Some of the posts in this thread have pointed out certain annoying things in the game and Yahtzee couldn't find one thing to criticize? Yeah, definite bias there. Or, as others have said, I guess it's just taste, but Yahtzee's whole deal is being able to criticize EVERYTHING. Yet, somehow Valve games like HL 2 and Portal somehow escape his analysis unscathed.

Well, I got past the whole control antlions part of the game and that was fun. After that it got a little boring again. I an really sick and tired of doing the whole defend the room with the turrets thing for like the fifth time. HL 2 has this annoying tendency to introduce a game element that the designers think is cool and then overdoing it. It's like my earlier complaint about the air boat part lasting too long. And yes, I am thoroughly tired of how much the game shows off its physics engine. Not just the silly puzzles, but the useless debris and garbage that is littered about every stage. I'm tired of moving stupid boxes and things out of my way all the time. Yes, it's realistic and I'll admit that, but it's also annoying.

I know I will draw a lot of hate for this, but I actually think the original Halo was better than Half Life 2 in some ways and as I recall Half Life 2 came out after Halo. Halo had more fun weapons like the Needler, the plasma gun and plasma grenades. Besides the gravity gun, HL 2 hasn't really had any interesting weaponry. Halo had more interesting vehicles. The ghost, the Banshee, a tank that could accommodate four marines with sniper rifles, a warthog with a gunner on the back. At least, the vehicle based stuff could be somewhat interesting while I just found the buggy and air boat sections of Half Life 2 very boring. Halo actually had a protagonist with an actual personality versus the unrealistic mute. It had enemies with actual AI. The combine soldiers are idiots in comparison to the Covenant. I'll just stop there because I know the very notion of praising Halo over HL 2 is already making people hate me. I think I've broken some gaming commandments in this thread.

There does seem to be a lot of awesome mods for the game though, but I'm trying to discuss Half Life 2 the game, not some fan's modified version of it. Having awesome mods doesn't make the game itself awesome so I don't know why the mod thing keeps popping up in this thread as a defense of the game's quality. Just my opinion. Well, that's all I've got to say. We can probably kill this thread as everyone has their own valid opinion of the game so no point in arguing over it any further

[Mozgus]

I'll just stop there because I know the very notion of praising Halo over HL 2 is already making people hate me. I think I've broken some gaming commandments in this thread.

I don't hate you. I just pity you. It must be rough living a life where you can't recognize and appreciate talent.

[JJJ]

I think part of the difference in opinion comes from a general burnout on FPS games. I've spent literally thousands of hours (damn, this is bad...) on FPS games over the years - starting right from Wolf 3D on my 286. Dozens of FPS games finished, multiplayer modes played to death. I'm tiring of the genre in general.

That said, some FPS games still stand out. Deus Ex blew my mind with its story, multiple solutions, and general imagination. Portal expanded my mind in a totally different, but original way. Hmm, can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

The point is, I think its a genre thats starting to stagnate. There is evidence of this everywhere. The most popular FPS games are basically the same stuff we played 10 years ago - Halo 3, HL2, Counterstrike Source. That said, Deus Ex 3 is in production - as is Bioshock 2. And of course the Portal devs will have a much larger budget to create something awesome the next time around. So I'm hopeful for some small amounts of innovation here and there.

[marurun]

I'll just stop there because I know the very notion of praising Halo over HL 2 is already making people hate me. I think I've broken some gaming commandments in this thread.

I don't hate you. I just pity you. It must be rough living a life where you can't recognize and appreciate talent.

Wow, that's pretty flame-worthy. And you're a mod, no less. Cool it. Enjoyment is ALWAYS subjective. And he never said HL2 wasn't a quality product, just that he wasn't getting as much of a kick out of it and doesn't understand why the praise is almost universal. I feel this way about Final Fantasy VII all the time, except I genuinely don't think it's as high quality as everyone says it is.

[marurun]

Well, I got past the whole control antlions part of the game and that was fun. After that it got a little boring again. I an really sick and tired of doing the whole defend the room with the turrets thing for like the fifth time. HL 2 has this annoying tendency to introduce a game element that the designers think is cool and then overdoing it. It's like my earlier complaint about the air boat part lasting too long. And yes, I am thoroughly tired of how much the game shows off its physics engine. Not just the silly puzzles, but the useless debris and garbage that is littered about every stage. I'm tired of moving stupid boxes and things out of my way all the time. Yes, it's realistic and I'll admit that, but it's also annoying.

I'm going to agree with some of your points here. As much as I love HL2, I admit that many areas of the game just felt too long. I thought the buggy and the boat were neat but I got tired of driving them. I got tired of the zombies in Ravenholm. I got tired of gun turrets. And yeah, I felt the gun play was a little weak at times.

I think Halo did have better gun play and had a number of battles that were just as, if not more, memorable than many of the ones in HL2. But you know, Halo was guilty of some of the same flaws as HL2. Like the areas when you first start battling the Flood? Hell, not only did the Flood get madly repetitive (I know that was part of the point) but the maps were incredibly repetitive in places as well. The Flood area is one. The whatever they were, alien barracks or something, were also very repetitive. Also, during that end level where you have to drive the buggy (does NOT handle any better than HL2's buggy) through those very repetitive areas I got pretty bored. Halo had some spectacular level design in some areas, but most of the indoor stuff was way too repetitive. HL2 has much more varied environs, especially indoor environs.

Frankly, Bungie, at their best, really is a worthy competitor to Valve, ID, and Raven, and I think considering when Halo was released Halo is a contender with HL2 for one of the top FPS games. If you were one of the lucky few who played Marathon and Marathon 2 on Mac when others were playing Doom and Duke Nukem 3D on their PCs you likely know where Valve got some of their inspiration for storytelling and atmosphere. Yup, I bet the Valve guys were Bungie fans. Of course, Bungie isn't the same company any more. Once Halo was done they underwent major staffing changes.