To lighten the "let's all bash each other" mood, the only complaints I have about half life two is:

 

 

The horribly long "get to Black Mesa East" part in the very start

and

Ravenholm

which is probably one of the scarriest places in any game I've encountered. Graphics this good plus

swinging corpses, headcrab zombies, torsos on sawblades with their legs on the floor

is not my idea of a good time. 

Um, yeah. Anyway, what was the game about, again? I seem to have missed the part where... well, the whole story actually, if it had any.

I never got though half-life so I have no idea what the heck is goin' on, really. I think it has to do with, um, the man, things and. . .stuff? <_<

Well, for those that claim they didn't have problems with HL2 & STEAM, I congratulate you. That hasn't been my experience. I'm sorry, but I still feel ripped off. I will not buy another STEAM game & will strenuously advise people to do the same. eventually, valve will get the point, or they will go the way of iply. There are only so many users with broadband, & a helluva lot more who have dialup & will continue to have dialup for the forseeable future. It's never good business practice to alienate a sizable portion of your potential customer base...

I never got though half-life so I have no idea what the heck is goin' on, really. I think it has to do with, um, the man, things and. . .stuff?  <_<

Heh, that's what I thought too. It's not like the original Half-Life had the deepest story ever, but it was enough for a FPS. It seems they spent all of the $40M in tech gimmicks (and the fabled Steam) and they found themselves with no money left to pay a good storywriter. Quite disappointing. <_<

From what I understand, Half-Life 2 was completely self-financed by Valve.

The backstory seems unfinished to me. I'm sure Valve was thinking something along the lines of, "hey, let's leave the backstory hanging so we have a built in sequel." As I understand it, HL2 sold quite well, and so we can undoubtedly count on HL3. I don't think this is expansion pack material. I feel pretty confident that they'll make another full package.

 

That's relevant simply because the story in HL2 might not be a vital part of the overall backstory. There's a lot of explaining to do. I thought the whole savior thing was interesting, and the setting was quite well done. Nevertheless, there were more questions than answers at the end. I'm pretty confident that we could use conjecture to figure out what's going to happen, but I'd rather just buy the next game.

 

Along with everyone else, I won't be happy if it includes Steam. Taken together, I'm happy with the whole package, but that's despite Steam rather than because of it.

There are only so many users with broadband, & a helluva lot more who have dialup & will continue to have dialup for the forseeable future. It's never good business practice to alienate a sizable portion of your potential customer base...

It really sounds to me like you are speculating about this. How do you know how dialup users will 'continue to have dialup for the forseeable future'? I see the opposite as broadband prices are at an all-time low. Around me it only costs like 5 dollars more a month for DSL over dialup. Many neighbors I know have it for that very reason. Do you have any figures to back up the claim that a majority of people still use dialup? I won't dispute your claim simply because I have no concrete evidence to refute it, but in my experiences an overwhelming majority of people/familes I know have some form of broadband. And I can only expect this to grow in the future. But show me some evidence supporting you're claim and I'll gladly concede the point.

 

I only argue this because I don't think Valve made a blunder by expecting people to have some kind of broadband.

 

As for the story: I actually enjoyed it. I rarely play a game that allows me to slip into the story and get immersed so much. I have an overactive imagination, and I don't like being bludgeoned over the head with explanations and stuff in a game. For example, I saw that some people really hated how no one told Gordon what happened in the years before his arrival, but it would have only made sense that they would assume he knew what happened. I mean, look at it from the NPC's perspective. He's Gordon Freeman. A legend. He started this whole thing. Of course he knows what happened. If Valve gave some stupid explanation to the events of the past then it would have ruined the immersion. The acted exactly as it should have in order to keep the immersion level up. Same thing with the rest of the story. Nothing is told to you outright, you have to figure it out just like Gordon has to do. I like stories like that.

 

But you know what? This is pointless. Arguing over whether or not the story was good will be fruitless. It's totally a subjective thing, much like music. We can sit here and argue about whether or not the story was up to par until the cows come home and none of us will change their opinion. I just wanted to get my views up. Oh, and I've been told that HL3 is a definite thing, although my 'source' was someone on IRC, so take that with a grain of salt. Dunno if they would immediately start working on it, though. :D

 

@DesertHawk: Awww! You didn't like Ravenholm?! But it was so much fun! I like being scared in games, though. I was so immersed into the game by this point that I almost dreaded going on in some parts. That's awesome that a game can do that, in my opinion. But to each his own.

Certain cities are starting to provide free wireless internet for their citizens, or wireless broadband at cheap rates ($19.99/mo).

The backstory seems unfinished to me.  I'm sure Valve was thinking something along the lines of, "hey, let's leave the backstory hanging so we have a built in sequel."  As I understand it, HL2 sold quite well, and so we can undoubtedly count on HL3.  I don't think this is expansion pack material.  I feel pretty confident that they'll make another full package.

 

That's relevant simply because the story in HL2 might not be a vital part of the overall backstory.  There's a lot of explaining to do.  I thought the whole savior thing was interesting, and the setting was quite well done.  Nevertheless, there were more questions than answers at the end.  I'm pretty confident that we could use conjecture to figure out what's going to happen, but I'd rather just buy the next game.

Yep. It seems pretty obvious they were aiming for a sequel. But that still doesn't justify they don't explain a damn thing. And I'm not referring to what happened while Gordon was away or who are 'our benefactors'. No, I'm referring to basic things like 'and why should I risk my neck going through the next soldier-infested area?'. At the beginning of the game you were being pursued and it made some sense, but after you escape you aren't given a single damn good reason as to why do what you are doing.

 

Now on a personal note, I would have loved it if Cpl. Adrian Shepard had made an appearance. It only made sense since most of the characters from the first game were in HL2. Perhaps the devs were worried that he might kick so much more ass than Freeman and the audience might not like that...

 

I for one won't be buying that supposed sequel thanks to the fiasco HL2 has been for me.

Half-Life Source looks worse than the Original with the High Definition Pack.

 

Judge yourself !

 

The Beauty: Original Half-Life with HD Pack

 

and the Beast: Half-Life Source

@DesertHawk: Awww! You didn't like Ravenholm?! But it was so much fun! I like being scared in games, though. I was so immersed into the game by this point that I almost dreaded going on in some parts. That's awesome that a game can do that, in my opinion.  But to each his own.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hey, this is why I'm an RPG gamer. I hate excessive violence. Even on TV.

 

Watched the X-files. . .Maybe once. Never, ever, ever again.

 

Maybe I'll make my boyfriend do it for me. Actually he'll probably just sit by me, eating doritos and cackling insanely as I freak out. Hmm. Not the brightest idea. I'll just do it later today. Bleh. They're just headcrab zombies and thank god they don't have those claws. Those horrible, horrible claws.

Half-Life Source looks worse than the Original with the High Definition Pack.

 

Judge yourself !

 

The Beauty: Original Half-Life with HD Pack

 

and the Beast: Half-Life Source

You sure that's HL: Source? I had read some very bad things but man... that is just ugly.

No, I'm pretty sure it is. All the 'Source' part adds is the physics and water. Although I was almost sure they were gonna use the HD pack. Meh, glad I didn't pay for it now.

i thought that source look pretty decent. i just had a couple issues with my comp. crashing.

And we look at ANOTHER thread from 2004, ladies and gentleman

 

Necro'ing is totally hot today

i did a search for halflife. i did't want to start another thread. i know, i have issues.

 

I love HL and HL:S

I <3 this thread.

Well at least he used the Search button.

True. It's funny that some people seem to upbraid others for starting endless amounts of threads with the same subject ... and criticize others for necroposting.

 

 

 

V. convenient rhetorical devices. Just a teeny-weeny bit hypocritical.

Old necorposting that is more than a year old can be annoying.

This thread is so 2004

Like totally. Reminds me of 1984.

1984 was cool. I was a teeny then, big hair, great music fun times!

Baggy Trousers ... almost as big a fashion faux pas as flares.