Half- Life 2

[Crimson King]

Well, I had some cash to spend, plus I coaxed Wal-mart to lower the price to $40 and I now own Half-Life 2.

Ignoring the hour installation and the 4.5 gb hit your hard drive will take, your system will need to be exceedingly good to play this game. I have a 1.6 Ghtz Pentium 4, 512 Mb Of Ram, GeForce 3 and I experince occiasional slow down after the long load times and when there is a scripted event about to occur. Other than that, I get great performance from this title.

The graphics are the definition of how games should be going. G-Man's face is filled with expressions, and he is just one of the characters who was fully animated.

The story is nice and mysterious, but has an aspect that I like, Totalitarian Government needing to be overthrown. With that, you will see quite a few characters from the first one.

The sound is INCREDIBLE. The soundtrack is mostly techno, and not my cup of tea personally, but when you are in combat, it pushes you. The weapons sound extremely realistic when fired and the voice acting is superb.

The gameplay kept all great things of the first and added newer features to improve it. Vehicles are a welcomed addition to the game and the physics are incredible. Nothing beats running by panes of glass that shatter like real life when shot. Every object that would be normally able to be picked up, can and can be used to solve the interwoven puzzles.

I would seriously not recommend this though until after you have played the games you truly enjoy. This game will make you not want to even touch the boxes. It is so impressive and unbelieveable I am wanting to play to see what happens next.
My only compliant is personal as I prefer non-linear, open-ended games and for the most part(so far), it is very linear, but I am enjoying it way too much to care.

Overall Rating: 10/10
*Note: This is 1 of 5 games in my 14 years of games that I would give a 10 out of 10, so do not take my rating as typical.

 

[Rwing_Wurm_Champ]

I hate you...but when you made this site. I fell in love with you!!~kiss me poppy~

U'know I hated your guts when you posted in my thread!

But now when you posted something that is one of the games that I excel at..
(I play mad tourneys on the first one. CS for life!)
^_^ I simply forgotten what pissed me off
...since my thread was just freshly made.
I kinda had to go back and re-edit it 4 times since I did leave it to be nastily targeted at u. lol

I am glad you posted this,
I didn't have enough time to get all the information myself.
I have a question for you Eric.
Do you know what graphics card is the best for it.
I hear the new nVideas:Gforce other then the latter: new 9800 Rage?

 

[Crimson King]

I have no clue what you are really talking about. But, I always stick with NVidia Geforce over any other. It's always given me the best performance no matter the ram it has or the processor that PC had.

 

[Rwing_Wurm_Champ]

er-hmm, I see.


Well basically. I see now.
...What if 'its (PC)' was 5 to 6 years old?
..compared to the fact that "HL2" was made targetting enhanced PC's?

 

[Crimson King]

The way you talk is rather annoying.

This game is by no means for any PC made earlier than 2 years ago. I have a 1.6 Ghtz, 512 MB of Ram, Nivida GeForce 3 with 64 mb and still get moderate slowdown (at minor points though and rarely in combat).
The requirements are by no means good to have anymore.

 

[Kirby_M@ster]

Yay! I finally got Half-Life 2, in the form of the special edition! With the T-shirt, the little book, and the 2 extra source games!

... Too bad I can't play it untill I get a DVD rom, eh?...

 

[Cyrahk]

I like killing terrorists.

CSS is soooooo fun.

 

[Kirby_M@ster]

^ Nah, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch is better!

 

[Anth]

cs

i like cs better.... playing 1.6 but getting source soon

 

[Giygas]

Originally posted by Eric_The_Red
Well, I had some cash to spend, plus I coaxed Wal-mart to lower the price to $40 and I now own Half-Life 2.

How'd you get Wal-Mart to do that?

The story is nice and mysterious, but has an aspect that I like, Totalitarian Government needing to be overthrown.

Sounds like my school.

*Note: This is 1 of 5 games in my 14 years of games that I would give a 10 out of 10, so do not take my rating as typical.

What would be the other games, out of curiousity?

 

[Amorasaki]

HL2 Deathmatch was too broken when I played it (a couple weeks ago). The assault rifle, already a bad weapon in single player, becomes terrible when you're playing against people who have much better accuracy than the AI. The magnum is too good, as it makes the crossbow obsolete by having sniper accuracy and power. Small variety of maps also hurts the HL2 deathmatch, as well as no spawn protection (spawning in a spot between two fighting people is an instant death).

Even if you like the concept of deathmatch more than mission objectives and teams like in CS:S, you have to admit that HL2 Deathmatch is poorly executed. It needs some major balancing work, and a lot of tweaking on the system itself.

 

[Crimson King]

Wal-mart has a policy (little known since they decided to stop advertising) that says they will match any price that is lower than theirs.

The others were Deus Ex, Morrowind, GTA 3 engine(games based of it as well as one), and the first Half- Life.

 

[Anth]

im getting source soon...i here its real fast pase tho

 

[soberfox]

Half Life 2 truly is amazing, and it deserves a 10. From the beginning to the end, it never fails to at the least be exciting at all times. The story is good, although it leaves way to many unanswered questions even when the game is fully completed, but that could mean a sequel which is great.

The gravity gun is one of the most kick-*** guns in any FPS ever, by the way. Definetly one of the most creative inclusions in the game.

 

[Crimson King]

Before a sequel is even thought about, I hope they do either expansions to further the story with this engine. The capablities it has is limitless (maybe an alien warrior, an officier, or a civilian that assists Gordon.) Then, if another Half-Life needs to come out, make one, using the engine, about the G-Man's past or maybe a Half- Life prequel.

This game has SO many possiblities they need to use it. At the very least, I demand an SDK to make single player campaigns so this game can get a good community.

 

[pika_123]

I installed my friends copy

I actually get nice performance 2, it will run at 1024x768 full settings(including water to reflect all) at about 50fps, but i get all these weird hicups.. and the game will "stutter" a lot randomly

i had to set it to medium or default everything, and 800x600 before that crap would stop -_-;;

but i did enjoy the game a lot so far, im on chapter 10.

 

[Crimson King]

Ah, I think I am passed that chapter.

The game is such a fun one that you lose track of time when playing.

 

[pika_123]

well, im going ot have to buy it now. since i got to the end of the 11 chapter.. and i got a "Visual C++ runtime error" every time i tryed to walk past this one point... i think its because i cracked it

ahh well, ill buy it soon

 

[soberfox]

It's hard to believe theres people that don't own this game.

 

[Crimson King]

Well, I just beat the game. That was one **** of a ride.

For those interested, you are in for quite a treat with the last chapter.

I still hope they use this engine and this time in the story to build a lot. They can do so much with it, like they did for HL. I really hoping for a few expansion sets to use this potiential.

 

[Mic_128]

Anyone else feel.....cheated by the end of it?

 

[Cyrahk]

Not really. The way I see it, your kinda a mercenary for the G-Man, so you only do what you're needed to. And you get pulled out, which means you've done your job...Whoop-t-doo, and it opens up such a great potential for a sequel, since now that what's happened has happened, you now have what could be the final struggle.

I love spolier free comments.

 

[Crimson King]

I didn't feel cheated at all personally. I really couldn't see ANY other way for that game to end. The Gman alone has not yet revealed if he is a power of good or evil, but I have my speculations. I think HL and HL2 were just minor tests of the GMan for Gordon to prove his worthiness.

 

[Kirby_M@ster]

I'm not sure exactly where I'm up to..
I think I'm either nearing the end of the Air Boat part, or just beginning it. I've gone a fairly long way with it, I've beaten the first chopper, and I've gone through that fast-paced action scene where the chopper drops mines randomly in the water in front of you. I'm also past the part where these glowy rockets come out of the sky and knock that silo/tower/stack down onto the water infront of you. Not sure exactly where I am now... but god is it fun!?

 

[Crimson King]

Since I beat half-life 2, and while waiting for the mods to come out, I discovered I didn't install Codename: Gordon. I play it, it's a 2D side-scroller of Half-Life. It's alot of fun too. Try it.

 

[soberfox]

http://fragfiles.org/~hlstory//timeline.htm

Click that to have the entire Half Life Saga's storyling explained to you from before the first Half Life all the way until the end of the second one. Probably some of the most interesting stuff I've read in awhile. It's odd actually understanding completely a storyline that you knew so little about.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=182302

Also, check out those G-man sightings in HL2. It's fun to go back and and do them yourselves after seeing them all.

 

[Crimson King]

Thanks for the links Soberfox.

I have information that Natural Selection, one of the best Half-Life mods, may be ported to the Source Engine. On top of that, Natural Selection 2 has been announced, and it will be a FULL VERSION GAME. Sweet.

 

[Kirby_M@ster]

Ahh, yes. I've done quite a bit of searching for HL2 mods. No such luck finding any (except Garry's Mod, but that's not a game, really...) worthwhile playable ones.
I've tried Codename: Gordon... it's... Meh. Not very good if you ask me. :/

I've heard about that Natural Selection Source, and I can't wait, beacuse I've only played the original once, and it was really good (from what I could see).

There's also going to be another mod moved to source... what was it... Crap, can't remember.

Anyway, some good mods to look for are:
-Hobo Wars
-Garry's Mod (released! V4.0 is the latest)
-Junkyard wars (I think that's the title...)
-City 13
-Dragonball Adventure

Heh, yeah. Too bad none of the actuall Gameplay mods are out yet. >_<

 

[CaliburChamp]

The guy in Half Life

The dude looks like a scientist to me. An enraged scientist trying to prove his point. Reminds me of snex.

 

[Crimson King]

I really have no clue what that post was about.

I think Half-Life, but I am not even sure now.

 

[soberfox]

I think he may be talking about G-man, but I'm really not too sure either.

Anyway, what is the Natural Selection mod themed around? I have never heard of it.

 

[Crimson King]

Natural Selection, if I remember right, basically was an FPSRTS. You were either marines or aliens and a commander played it in the style of an RTS.


The Half-Life engine was so great, people made racing mods.

 

[CaliburChamp]

Im talking about the guy on the cover of the game. I dont play this game so i dont know his name.

 

[Kirby_M@ster]

On my cover, from left to right, there's:
The G-Man, Gordon, And Alyx....

 

[Crimson King]

After talking at length with another forum who provide me two great links, see here:
Half-Life Time Line
Half-Life is real?

Anyway, I developed quite a theory as to the ending of the game. The following is a big spoiler of Half-Life 1 and 2:

Spoiler

First off, the ending needs to be put in retrospect of the game. For those who beat Half-Life, there were two endings. The better ending was when you sided with Gman and ultimately became his slave. This comes to explain why Gordon doesn't talk, because he doesn't want to get attach. Alyx was deeply attached to Gordon hence why at the end she was relieved he had lived. The portal erupted however and the explosion definately killed Alyx. Gordon was only spared due to the Gman. The Gman used Gordon to kill Breen who was in place soley to pacify the humans. Now, Gordon is nothing but a worker of the GMan. He does what he is told and that's why he was so vital. This is why the ending to Half-Life 2 was the only possible ending. It also leads to the possiblity of a huge 3rd Half-Life which explores not only what Gordon does after destroying City 17, but also if he embraces his job once and for all or emancipates himself from the Gman and works solo. I really hope the expansions that follow provide the build up that should be an epic close.

 

[i8waffles612]

i wanna try garry's mod!!

 

[F8X]

i wanna try Garry's mod!!

You do know you could just get Garry's Mod alone (ironically not a mod) now. So if you want it so much (as your post seems to say) get ten bucks and buy it.

Also, I'm having a problem. I'm not sure what should I do when it comes to buying HL2:EP2. I have HL2 on my PC but its does not run nativity on my 20" monitor( I need more ram and a better graphics card) . I could also get this on my 360 and get HL2:Ep1 which I have yet to play.

So what should I get? PC version of HL2:Ep1 and HL:Ep2 or the 360 version with HL2 +EP:1 & EP2?

 

[i8waffles612]

You do know you could just get Garry's Mod alone (ironically not a mod) now. So if you want it so much (as your post seems to say) get ten bucks and buy it.

Also, I'm having a problem. I'm not sure what should I do when it comes to buying HL2:EP2. I have HL2 on my PC but its does not run nativity on my 20" monitor( I need more ram and a better graphics card) . I could also get this on my 360 and get HL2:Ep1 which I have yet to play.

So what should I get? PC version of HL2:Ep1 and HL:Ep2 or the 360 version with HL2 +EP:1 & EP2?

I will get in when i get my new computer in a couple days from dell.com! I already have a lot of games (HL, CS, CSS HL2, TFC,DoD, and a lot more)

So Garry mod looks incrediably cool but it will take a while to learn how to use everything. And I am gonna buy it.

Anyways this seems like a stupid question to ask but,,,, will Garrys Mod and all other Source games work better on Windows Vista??

XD

 

[i8waffles612]

* i had to double post or no one will see this...*

ok i got my new computer like 2 weeks ago and it is great!!

anyways im on the last chapter of half life 2... and im curious...

is that white old dude who is always on the screens a good guy or bad guy??

 

[golden_leeroy]

I have no clue what you are really talking about. But, I always stick with NVidia Geforce over any other. It's always given me the best performance no matter the ram it has or the processor that PC had.

I agree with you, NVidia is the way to go.

Depending on your motherboard, if it has PCI-Express, you can hook up two NVidias using Scalable Link Interface (SLI) and that should really enhance your playing experience.

Your current RAM amount should be enough to support that configuration.

i8waffles, I'm sure that the G-Man is a neutral entity, of you spot him around the game, he either leads you to a stash of items....or zombies >_<