fvgazi wrote:Half-Life 1 has so much story to tell without laying it all out for you. It might be interesting to play 2 and all the episodes first then go back. You might enjoy more of what is going on in HL1 if you play it backwards.
But I wouldn't miss any rewarding background info/inside jokes etc by starting with 2?
You would. You'd have little idea who Barney was if you didn't play Blue Shift, and having the Vorts as allies would be much less a novelty if you couldn't remember killing them left and right. HL1 is cheap, just go ahead and buy it.
It's not about the price. It's more about the time. Also I don't like playing FPS on PCs (weird, I know), so I'd have to play the PS2 version on my PS3.
I'm just trying to decide if I should get the PS2 version or just get the Orange Box for PS3 first.
BTW, I do know who Barney is. I've played through a bit of the beginning of both Half-Life and Blue Shift.
Well I'm basically going to agree with everyone else... yes, you could essentially jump into HL2 first and not miss a whole lot, although HL1 is still just as good of a game and very different in many ways. It's more of a platformer (almost gave me this weird Metroid vibe when I first played it, since you're alone in this huge underground facility just trying to get out and the game is massive). You will also miss the awesomeness that is the G-Man, who will probably be very central to the main storyline if Valve ever cares to do more sometime before we're dead. G-Man doesn't pop up as much throughout HL2 as he does in HL1.
I'd recommend release date order, but it's not a huge deal. The huge deal is that yes, you play and finish both some way or the other.
Maybe next years Together Retro FPS should be Half Life. The Dreamcast port is apparently quite good now, so that should satisfy the cross platform requirement.
We are prepared to live in the plain and die in the plain!
Hatta wrote:Maybe next years Together Retro FPS should be Half Life. The Dreamcast port is apparently quite good now, so that should satisfy the cross platform requirement.
If you're pressed for time and you're not already fascinated by Half Life, skip it and go straight to Half Life 2.
Half Life is spectacular for a 1998 shooter, and even today it's aged well. Playing it WILL give you a pretty interesting perspective when you move on to HL2. However in 2011 I don't think it's quite the 'omg you must play this' title that it was when it came out. The character models are clunky. Some of the puzzles are just long winded and aggravating. To summarize shortly there's a lot of things in that game that were awesome when they came out but now they're just sorta taken for granted.
I think playing it will give you a pretty interesting perspective when you move on to HL2 with some story/atmosphere related things, so here's my advice: begin playing HL1 and if you get bored, just skip it. HL2 is a 'must play' and HL1 is optional.
Hatta wrote:Maybe next years Together Retro FPS should be Half Life. The Dreamcast port is apparently quite good now, so that should satisfy the cross platform requirement.
that's interesting. So PC, PS2 and DC? Yeah.
If we do Half Life, that will mark the first time I'll participate in a Together Retro.
prfsnl_gmr wrote:There is nothing feigned about it. What I wrote is a display of actual moral superiority.
Hatta wrote:Maybe next years Together Retro FPS should be Half Life. The Dreamcast port is apparently quite good now, so that should satisfy the cross platform requirement.
that's interesting. So PC, PS2 and DC? Yeah.
If we do Half Life, that will mark the first time I'll participate in a Together Retro.
I'd be up for that as well. I've been meaning to go back and play HL1 after beating HL2 and both episodes.
Incognito D wrote:Mere months after buying my original GBA, Nintendo trolled me hard by releasing the SP.
