I guess bad endings are fashionable these days

[Kaftan Barlast]

I dont see how spoilers could really be applied to an FPS game so I didnt use the blacktags.[/i

 

 

 

So I finally finished it and what happens? Do I bring peace and happiness to the world? Do I get the girl? Do I get to rock n roll all night and party all day?

 

No, just as the big fat ending explosion takes place, the G-man comes along and talks some brief gibberish, teleports you away and then its end credits. WTF?!

 

 

 

I am left feeling completely indifferent. Had this been an RPG I would have raged and ranted a minor essay but now Ill just sigh quietly and hope that in the future, game designer will realise that the ending must top or equal the middle part, you cant just fade to black and leave the player disapoointedly staring at the end credits.

[Roger]

Most game designers believe the non-interactive bits to be the drag factor in games, so they limit them whenever possible. My suggestion would be to make the entire 3rd act interesting, and then the credits.

[Nartwak]

Take your Ritalin Barlast, the show isn't over yet.

[Reveilled]

I am left feeling completely indifferent. Had this been an RPG I would have raged and ranted a minor essay but now Ill just sigh quietly and hope that in the future, game designer will realise that the ending must top or equal the middle part, you cant just fade to black and leave the player disapoointedly staring at the end credits.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

"Thank you for saving me, Mario!"

*Princess kisses Mario*

*Fade to black*

*Credits Roll*

 

Fading to black and rolling the credits works fine if you do it right. "

[WITHTEETH]

I feel you! atleast valve is going to make an extension called Aftermath.

[alanschu]

I liked the ending....as it was just as bizarre as the ending of the first one.

[metadigital]

The ending didn't because it wasn't meant to. Valve are going to be making lots of expansions for λ

[Darkside]

I thought the ending was rather fitting for HL: mysterious, dark, and bizarre(spelling?). While cliffhangers are annoying, they are sometimes appropriate, though I'm dying to find out what happened to Alex and Eli (forget Dr. Whats-Her-Face, to switch sides once is forgivable, but twice? :ph34r: ). I do sincerely hope Gordon kills the G-Man next time though...

[metadigital]

I thought the ending was rather fitting for HL:  mysterious, dark, and bizarre(spelling?).  While cliffhangers are annoying, they are sometimes appropriate, though I'm dying to find out what happened to Alex and Eli (forget Dr. Whats-Her-Face, to switch sides once is forgivable, but twice? :ph34r: ).  I do sincerely hope Gordon kills the G-Man next time though...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not much chance of the G-Man buying it, he's got his hands on too many levers.

 

(Dr Judith Mossman -- whatdyamean twice? She was only pretending to be on Breen's team to save Eli. Once.)

 

Kaftan, did you play Half-Life?

[Darkside]

Not much chance of the G-Man buying it, he's got his hands on too many levers.

 

(Dr Judith Mossman -- whatdyamean twice? She was only pretending to be on Breen's team to save Eli. Once.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Unfortunately, you're right, but I'd still like to see Gordon shove the crowbar down the G-man's throat during some long, cryptic convo. I'm all for dark mystery and such, but I do so hate being manipulated by these way-too-powerful, God-like(supposedly anyway, Kreia ended up being a pushover) sociopaths. Ha, just had a thought. Wouldn't be fun to lock Kreia and the G-man in a room together and see who drove the other crazy first?

 

p.s. I still don't trust Judith, if only because she's too stupid to be trusted. What kind of idiot takes the villian up on a promise? She knew Eli was going to be stubborn, and she had to know Breen wasn't going to like that.

[Darth Sirius]

Most game designers believe the non-interactive bits to be the drag factor in games, so they limit them whenever possible. My suggestion would be to make the entire 3rd act interesting, and then the credits.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Simply have the cut-scenes, but make them skipable - for the mainstream audience.

[omnimutant]

When it's all said and done they will throw in some angle where gorden IS the G-man...

[213374U]

The ending is fitting if you consider that the depth of the story through the game is nil. It wouldn't make sense to have a well fleshed ending where everything falls into place and all the gaps are explained because there aren't really any gaps, more like little islands of storyline floating on a sea of uncertainty. My point is, you can't begin to tell a story at the end of the story.

 

 

The ending didn't because it wasn't meant to. Valve are going to be making lots of expansions for λ

[Kaftan Barlast]

What a game should look like:

 

beginning-middle-end

 

 

what most games look like, even those who claim to have "a story":

 

-middle-

 

 

 

see?

[Nartwak]

Where does Pacman fit in? Or Tetris? Some games simply begin when you start them, and end when you stop playing. I don't see why games should be constrained to a certain narrative style.

[213374U]

I don't see why games should be constrained to a certain narrative style.

Neither do I, as long as the narrative style is good, which in this case isn't.

[metadigital]

The ending is fitting if you consider that the depth of the story through the game is nil. It wouldn't make sense to have a well fleshed ending where everything falls into place and all the gaps are explained because there aren't really any gaps, more like little islands of storyline floating on a sea of uncertainty. My point is, you can't begin to tell a story at the end of the story.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The story was sufficient to suspend disbelief and to motivate you -- even you! -- to finish the game, so it was more than adequate for the task. More plot will undoubtably be revealed in the ensuing chapters,a nd that doesn't count the miriad of community mods that are beginning to appear ...

The ending didn't because it wasn't meant to. Valve are going to be making lots of expansions for λ

[Roger]

The story, if present, normally has at least a three-part structure.

 

 

Simply have the cut-scenes, but make them skipable - for the mainstream audience.

Well, the dialogs are cutscenes of that sort. The pre-rendered cinematics take up too much disk space at any rate.

[213374U]

There's no word on Aftermath pricing yet (it may even be free, and it will only be available through Steam), but The Lost Coast is definitely confirmed as free, gratis and zero cost. (Aside from the cost of upgrading your hardware to fit the minimum spec to run the new high definition lighting model ...)

I stand partially corrected, then. Partially because it's next to impossible for people who don't have broadband to get those expansions. And, at any rate, it doesn't change the fact that the original lacked a backbone.

[Morgoth]

There's no word on Aftermath pricing yet (it may even be free, and it will only be available through Steam), but The Lost Coast is definitely confirmed as free, gratis and zero cost. (Aside from the cost of upgrading your hardware to fit the minimum spec to run the new high definition lighting model ...)

I stand partially corrected, then. Partially because it's next to impossible for people who don't have broadband to get those expansions. And, at any rate, it doesn't change the fact that the original lacked a backbone.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not true. In fact, it has already been confirmed that HL2: Aftermath will also get a retail release.

[metadigital]

I stand partially corrected, then. Partially because it's next to impossible for people who don't have broadband to get those expansions. And, at any rate, it doesn't change the fact that the original lacked a backbone.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Didn't you enjoy shooting stuff? And getting bigger guns? And then zipping through a canal system on an airboat? And then shooting things with a big gun whilst zipping through the canals on that same airboat? And then getting a gravity gun to play with? And then zipping around on a dune buggy with a bonnet-mounted laser? And then using the antlions as disposable storm troopers? And then getting a super-duper gravity gun?

 

Man, what more story do you need? Any more and they'd have to invest a significant effort in not just narrative, but technological and philosophical constructs -- think of the way all of us yammer on on this board about the smallest inconsistency in SW and think how little of λ

[metadigital]

Not true. In fact, it has already been confirmed that HL2: Aftermath will also get a retail release.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks like I am partially corrected, too. )

 

Still, that is not a bad thing. I was able to access all the λ first generation games through Steam, that I had previously bought retail (by just entering their serial numbers), so I have access to λ and CounterStrike using the λ

[Kaftan Barlast]

Well, Ill just say this- Im not buying another Valve product again. Ill trade this one in for DooM3, which I will love regardless, since Im a an ID Software fanboi and have been since 1993.

 

 

..hey wait a sec, I cant trade Hl2 because Valve wont let anyone else register with my key, correct? #

[213374U]

Not true. In fact, it has already been confirmed that HL2: Aftermath will also get a retail release.

Thanks for correcting a statement I hadn't made to begin with. Let's slow down a bit.

If Aftermath is going to have a standard retail release, then by definition it is not going to be free. Therefore, I would have to pay an extra to get the rest of the story, a story that should have been complete in the original, which I have already paid for. So... yeah.

 

 

Didn't you enjoy shooting stuff? And getting bigger guns? And then zipping through a canal system on an airboat? And then shooting things with a big gun whilst zipping through the canals on that same airboat? And then getting a gravity gun to play with? And then zipping around on a dune buggy with a bonnet-mounted laser? And then using the antlions as disposable storm troopers? And then getting a super-duper gravity gun?

No. My only reasons for finishing the game were the

[Morgoth]

Not true. In fact, it has already been confirmed that HL2: Aftermath will also get a retail release.

Thanks for correcting a statement I hadn't made to begin with. Let's slow down a bit.

If Aftermath is going to have a standard retail release, then by definition it is not going to be free. Therefore, I would have to pay an extra to get the rest of the story, a story that should have been complete in the original, which I have already paid for. So... yeah.

 

For free? Nothing in this world is for free. It's still hard work and a very ambitious project for Valve, they can't live from air and love alone, after all. Besides, as long as they deliver quality I'm always willing to pay... Not to mention that Aftermath will probably blow away any other full version FPS out there anyway (with the exception of FEAR maybe). So yeah.

 

@Kaftan

 

I assume you aren't an id fanboy because of the "great" stories they have in their games, right?