Half-Life

[Tetzlaff]

Good games but also highly overrated.

[snapshot]

My favorite FPS series, followed closely by Doom, replayed the original like 4 times, Multiplayer is also fun, I still remember first time I played it when I was younger and getting hyped for the new Multiplayer skins and maps whenever a Downloading screen shows up, I and my friends used to spend so much time on crossfire and bootcamp each day after school, the good old days.

 

Opposing Force is great too, the new weapons are so much fun to use, shame Opposing Force's Multiplayer isn't as active as the original game, the Barnacle weapon was satisfying to use as a tool to quickly traverse long distances and reach high spots for hidden goodies or just for some nice sniping spots, and CTF!

Blue Shift was in my opinion the weakest of the bunch, largely due to the fact that it was too short and it didn't offer anything really new, other than the updated High Definition pack, they were great but happened at time when the GoldSrc engine started showing it's age.

 

Spoiler

 

Half-Life 2 is a fantastic sequel, the graphics looked gorgeous and the gameplay shares similarities with the original but it has received some questionable downgrades, namely the removal of some of the great original weapons such as the Gluon Gun and Tau Cannon, and the enemies AI downgraded to be less aggressive, they no longer seem to try and take cover when they're badly damaged, at least not when they work in squads, but all in all the levels blend in well together, Making good use of physics-based puzzles, with each having a unique gimmick or taking place in a different location keeping things fresh.

 

I'm glad there's still a passionate community creating mods and for these games, eventhough Valve seems to have abandoned It's Singleplayer franchises.

Edited April 14, 2018 by dmg_64

[The_SloVinator]

Half Life is a mediocre franchise. Nothing about it really appeals to me. It's overrated, repetitive, dull & has not enough replay value to it besides mods.

 

I played all of the games & first one is ok. It has good atmosphere & I liked the idea of one map divided by chapters & the map flow was great. Other than that, it's boring. Opposing force was the best one out of all three & Blue Shift has better story & ending out of all of them. No gimmick bs Gman nonsense that still isn't explained to this day. lol k Valve

 

Sequels were bad. Guns felt weak & toy-like, gravity gun was fun against zombies for a few min, the sleep-inducing story bits you can't skip & driving sections...eh. Atmosphere was the best bit & music is ok.

 

I don't know why media & community talks about the series placing standard to story-telling in FPS genre when there were games with better stories before & after the Half Life games, correct me if I'm wrong but I haven't seen any game doing the same way of story-telling as Half Life. You know, no text, no cutscenes, always in control of character...

 

At least there are some amazing mods (that aren't blatant just Half Life 1 & 2 with few things changed but rather a fully developed mod, like Nightmare House 2 or Gunman Chronicles).

 

Everyone going nuts over Freeman, a scientist who uses guns like a military unit & blazes throughout the Black Mesa. I don't care how "unique" this is, it's a ridiculous thing. Not to mention, he's mute. At least some pain sounds would be adequate. 

 

Not impressed with the series & lack of a conclusion.

 

 

 

[notjimmyboigreez]

9 hours ago, Tetzlaff said:

Good games but also highly overrated.

 

this^^^^

Also the gunplay and combat in HL2 is rather basic,

Id take the deus ex games any day over the HL games.

[Summer Deep]

^^ Deus Ex, seriously?

 

My recollection of that title was that the game flow, and any prospect of spontaneity, was constantly disrupted by having to go into the inventory to change weapons, select powerups or implement upgrades, etc. Plus, rubbish equipment like the plasma rifle which took up about a quarter of the space in the inventory, and the even worse submachine gun, which never worked effectively no matter how many upgrades were applied. A potentially excellent game, spoilt by poor implementation, IMO.

 

Still, 'Chacun à son goût', as the French say....

[StoneMason]

I think the half-life games are generally good. though they do kinda start a bit slowly. I wouldn't call the franchise a favorite of mine, but I can see why people like it.

[The_SloVinator]

1 hour ago, Summer Deep said:

^^ Deus Ex, seriously?

 

My recollection of that title was that the game flow, and any prospect of spontaneity, was constantly disrupted by having to go into the inventory to change weapons, select powerups or implement upgrades, etc. Plus, rubbish equipment like the plasma rifle which took up about a quarter of the space in the inventory, and the even worse submachine gun, which never worked effectively no matter how many upgrades were applied. A potentially excellent game, spoilt by poor implementation, IMO.

 

Still, 'Chacun à son goût', as the French say....

1. It's a RPG. What did you expect? Also, you don't have to change weapons in the inventory. You can apply any hotkeys to it on your belt for quick equipping.

2. Plasma rifle is a heavy weapon, so obviously it takes huge amount of space in your inventory and you don't even have to use it.

3. It's not a submachine gun. It's an assault rifle & upgrades work wonder in all the weapons.

 

 

[CARRiON]

13 hours ago, The_SloVinator said:

Not impressed with the series & lack of a conclusion.

 

It honestly sounds like your expectations/standards are set way beyond the scope of what is, at the end of the day, a rather straight forward FPS game that brought with it is interesting ideas and innovations to the genre.

 

Quote

Everyone going nuts over Freeman, a scientist who uses guns like a military unit & blazes throughout the Black Mesa. I don't care how "unique" this is, it's a ridiculous thing. Not to mention, he's mute. At least some pain sounds would be adequate. 

 

It's a 90's video game. There have been far stranger.

[Lila Feuer]

HL1 is reinterpreted Doom. It has a top secret isolated research facility with an experiment involving portals going awry that lead to an otherworldly force breaking through; with some twists. Like your government sending in a highly trained and very dangerous military cleanup squad, and the Xen alien race not being necessarily evil.

[seed]

On 4/14/2018 at 9:22 PM, The_SloVinator said:

Everyone going nuts over Freeman, a scientist who uses guns like a military unit & blazes throughout the Black Mesa. I don't care how "unique" this is, it's a ridiculous thing. Not to mention, he's mute. At least some pain sounds would be adequate. 

 

Not impressed with the series & lack of a conclusion.

 

Well you have Valve to thank for the cliffhanger ending, it was supposed to continue but that's never happening, so we have to live with it.

 

Also, I for one prefer silent protagonists over voiced ones any time, makes me feel like I actually am the player, observing and taking part in the action rather than just controlling a character, kinda breaks immersion.

 

@dmg_64 "Tau Cannon". Well at least there still is one mounted on the Buggy y'know :D .

Edited April 17, 2018 by Agent6

[Vermil]

1 hour ago, cyan0s1s said:

HL1 is reinterpreted Doom. It has a top secret isolated research facility with an experiment involving portals going awry that lead to an otherworldly force breaking through; with some twists. Like your government sending in a highly trained and very dangerous military cleanup squad, and the Xen alien race not being necessarily evil.

As much as I like Doom, it's hardly original that scientists experiments accidently unleash something on an unsuspecting world.

[The_SloVinator]

2 hours ago, CARRiON said:

 

It honestly sounds like your expectations/standards are set way beyond the scope of what is, at the end of the day, a rather straight forward FPS game that brought with it is interesting ideas and innovations to the genre.

 

 

It's a 90's video game. There have been far stranger.

I'm not a fan of linear basic FPS games with no replay value.

 

 

[Coopersville]

HL1 is fun to watch speedruns of. So is HL2 for that matter. 

[kristus]

Enormously overrated.

[[McD] James]

7 hours ago, The_SloVinator said:

I'm not a fan of linear basic FPS games with no replay value.

 

 

Half-Life's user created content makes it infinitely replayable, not unlike Doom. 

[The_SloVinator]

13 hours ago, Ajora said:

 

Half-Life's user created content makes it infinitely replayable, not unlike Doom. 

I love when a mod is a full thing on its own (Gunman Chronicles was amazing), not just some Half Life weapon modification or HD texture pack but I can't deny what you said.

[[McD] James]

On 14/04/2018 at 11:22 AM, The_SloVinator said:

Everyone going nuts over Freeman, a scientist who uses guns like a military unit & blazes throughout the Black Mesa. I don't care how "unique" this is, it's a ridiculous thing. Not to mention, he's mute. At least some pain sounds would be adequate. 

 

 

Countless video game publications have awarded Gordon Freeman the honour of being the single greatest video game character of all time. A choice I have no problems understanding and respecting. 

[The_SloVinator]

12 hours ago, Ajora said:

 

Countless video game publications have awarded Gordon Freeman the honour of being the single greatest video game character of all time. A choice I have no problems understanding and respecting. 

I never trusted video game publications & reviews, especially with all the controversies surrounding "being paid for what to say or write", so I make my own opinions.

[[McD] James]

17 minutes ago, The_SloVinator said:

I never trusted video game publications & reviews, especially with all the controversies surrounding "being paid for what to say or write", so I make my own opinions.

 

Well, Gordon Freeman has placed at no. 1 on countless polls for who the greatest video game character of all time is. He's definitely somewhere in the top 5, that's for sure. 

 

Gordon Freeman > Doomguy.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Ajora

[Lila Feuer]

On 4/15/2018 at 2:59 AM, Vermil said:

As much as I like Doom, it's hardly original that scientists experiments accidently unleash something on an unsuspecting world.

To be fair, Gabe was a huge fan of Doom, hence the connection.

[DynamiteKaitorn]

Wish I had episodes 1 and 2 :S