Half-Life

[Child of Flame]

I owned both of the early Oddworld titles on the PS1 and loved them.  I played Munch's Oddysee at a game kiosk in a WalMart for 5 minutes, and it didn't seem to have the dark humor and Oddworld feel to it.  I never tried Stranger's Wrath.

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The first Oddworld Title on the Xbox had the dark humor, though it wasn't revealed until later on.

 

Stranger's Wraith was a masterpiece, and had an epic story, as well as an awesome twist that took me by surprise.

 

 

Half-Life 2 utilized a very similar music style to Half-Life 1.  I would have been disappointed if they decided to change the music personally.

 

 

But the title screen music for Halo that I had grown so familiar with when I was watching the game's development for the Mac/PC in 2000 was perfect.

 

I don't think that style of music would be appropriate for Half-Life 2 however.  The worst thing about the music in the Half-Life games is that there isn't enough of it.

 

Having said that, there's one Half-Life track that made its way into Half-Life 2 that is probably the best action music track I had ever experienced.

 

If you're not sure which track I'm talking about, it's on the We've Got Hostiles level

when you're heading up the elevator right when you realize that the marines are not there to help you

.  That same track was played during a

chase scene in Half-Life 2 when you're on the waterboat being chased by the helicopter

.

 

It's a heavy guitar riff with a good beat and excellent tempo, and is perfect for any chaotic action scene.

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Actually, the waterboat music was the stuff I hated the most. I like Orchestral music for mood setting. I feel that the only reason the Music was that way in the original Half Life, was because the game was made on a shoestring budget.

[EnderAndrew]

Oddly enough the dual-wielding didn't come until Halo 2. That was basically the one "improvement" in the sequel. Some sequel.

[alanschu]

Actually, the waterboat music was the stuff I hated the most.  I like Orchestral music for mood setting.  I feel that the only reason the Music was that way in the original Half Life, was because the game was made on a shoestring budget.

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Orchestral music works in some settings, and not so well in other settings.

 

 

I starting "finding" the soundtrack for HL2, and it's surprisingly untechno IMO. Many of the tracks I remember from Ravenholm and the final chapter of the game, and brought back some good memories. There are some more techno tracks, but I don't recall the music ever being inapprorpiate for the scene.

 

If I find many more tracks, I'll probably find myself playing the game again.

[alanschu]

For those that care, the track I was thinking of seems to be called "Lambda Core."

 

I'm probably biased since while it was playing I was arguably going through one of the coolest moments in FPS gaming history at the moment, but it's what was playing in HL1, as well as in the Half-Life 2 chase sequence when you're on the waterboat.

 

While listening to it I could practically see the beautiful water getting strafed by guys up on bridges as I weave in and out dodging obstacles and gunfire from the troopers as well as the helicopter.

 

 

Sooooo many memories.....

[Calax]

I liked the Halo and Halflife series. Only problem I had with each was that one (Halo) had a very thin story. They didn't give you anything for a basis of power for weapons on the ship (I mean the Pillar of Autum) so you didn't know if you were fireing a peashooter that couldn't take down a dude in a 60's space suit or the death star cannon. Halflife the origional Had a different problem, how on earth can this double PHD scholar from MIT be the best shot in the known universe? also early on HL didn't have a very good multiplayer until OpFor and TeamFortress came out. Then came CS and the rest is history. Halflife2's multi I haven't played but I have played Halo2's, While it's good its not great. Unreal Tournament (the origional) Had a better Multiplayer system set out. Halo the radar is based on motion. So if you don't move you don't get seen. this can lead to some nasty ambushes. In Unreal you knew at least where people were to some extent. Not always the level but at least you could tell where they were at all times. Also Unreals levels were varied. From Operation Overlord to the most basic two person map. Then there's the larger amount of Modes in Unreal and an Engine that can stand up to todays to a minor extent. Especially considering that the Unreal engine was the benchmark for which all FPS games were set (Even Deus had a heavily modified form of the UT engine) So ultimatly FPS is much much better when made for the PC. Simply because they are bigger badder and can be patched easily.

[alanschu]

Half-Life Deathmatch + Gravity Gun = win!!!

 

I actually didn't mind Half-Life's original MP too much, but TFC was great, and CS was..well...I failed out of school because of it ^_^

 

I guess a background in Theoretical Physics from MIT makes figuring out such mundane things as weapons easy

[Calax]

but that still shouldn't make him a world class shot and able to take down elite marine units. And how does a guy with a briefcase get around without getting his head ripped off by Xeno's? does he have a perfect Dark-esq laptop gun?

[alanschu]

Errr, I was being less than serious when I was talking about Gordon.

 

As for the Gman...well....play Half-Life 2. A bit more of his type of background is given, albeit in a rather cryptic way.

[EnderAndrew]

Calax,

 

He had special combat armor.

[alanschu]

It's possible the HEV suit assisted him in many things (aside from living).

[Child of Flame]

And he played lots of murder simulators in his spare time as all good geeklings do.

[alanschu]

Ah yes.

 

Theoretical Physicists practically build murder simulators.

 

Surely he also experienced Genocide Simulators (like Civ) which is why he could whup-ass on Xen.

[EnderAndrew]

That's why the study theoretical physics, so they can make better murder simulators.

[alanschu]

It's just not a murder simulator without realistic physics.

[EnderAndrew]

You need to get realistic arterial spray or what's the point?

[Llyranor]

Half-Life Deathmatch + Gravity Gun = win!!!

\o/

[Calax]

so we have a guy with super dooper body armor and the ability to smack anyone or anything to death with a briefcase... A MIT grad with at least 2 PHD's who can outdo the US Marine Corp when it comes to E&E and fighting off alien invasions. And yet somehow a corprate heavy weight comes out on top. I find the incredibly odd.

[EnderAndrew]

In countless video games one hero is able to kill entire armies single-handedly. Yet you single out one video game for this. The entire industry is to blame for that.

 

You're just needlessly nit-picking.

[Calax]

At least in most others you have some sort of backround in firearms. But anyway I like to nit pick. not the real ones just details.

[Child of Flame]

Dammit Calax, don't underestimate the power of the Murder Simulators, or else I might have to bust a cap in yo' ass.

[Darkside]

Woah, comparing Halo to Half-Life isn't even fair. After all, Half-Life and Half-Life 2 make any game look like crap.

 

And I fail to see how you could even notice the level design in the Library. I was too busy focusing on the five hundred Flood crawling out of the walls. I admit though that the level design was a bit weak at times.

[Musopticon?]

I'm so not going to argue over the strenghts and weaknesses of fps, when the examples given differ so much from each other. Not comparable even remotely.

 

About Halo 3; has someone else pondered on the question that if Earth really is the Ark, as Guilty Spark said, then where the hell are all the nice shiny Forerunner facilities and technology? Why it's pretty simple; underwater.

[Lucas Trask]

Halo feels a lot like Bungie's earlier FPS Marathon. The alien threat is certainly similar. In between Marathon and Halo, Bungie did the Myth strategy games which involved lots and lots of undead. I think it's more likely they got the inspiration for the Flood from their own work (or Doom) than borrowing from Half-Life.

[Darkside]

About Halo 3; has someone else pondered on the question that if Earth really is the Ark, as Guilty Spark said, then where the hell are all the nice shiny Forerunner facilities and technology? Why it's pretty simple; underwater.

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What? I never did manage to hear what the pixie says when Keyes asks about the Ark, though Earth would be the natural choice wouldn't it?

 

Here's my question. The LE comes with a booklet called "Converstations from the Universe" with a bunch of reports and letters and whatnot to and from the different characters. The last one is a very personal letter to John (the Master Chief) from Cassandra. I've checked into every detail related to the games, read all three books, and still I can't figure out who she is. Does anyone know?

[Dark Moth]

It makes perfect sense for the Ark to be Earth, I think. I think that's what the Covenant were looking for in the very beginning of the game. That's how they discovered Earth, but they were looking for the Ark, not the humans. That is why they were not expecting a human presence and were caught completely by surprise when they first arrived at Earth.