Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Half-Life

    Franchise »

    A celebrated series of award-winning FPS games which has consistently pushed the limits and expectations of the first-person shooter genre since its inception.

    Let's talk about our feelings

    Avatar image for oraknabo
    oraknabo

    1744

    Forum Posts

    12

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 6

    #1  Edited By oraknabo

    I'm not really impatient about games and I've never been one of those people who are angry at Valve for taking so long. Maybe this is just a weird mood I'm in lately, but in some strange way I really feel like I'm at a time in my life where I want HL3 to come out soon. I feel like I really need the game right now.

    I can't tell if it's that I haven't gotten the kind of satisfaction from games in a long time I got back when I first played through HL2 or if I'm just worried if I'm getting to the point where I'm just not going to care any more.

    It's not that I hate all the games I've played lately. I loved XCOM. I liked Dishonored a lot, even though I was hoping for a little more of a Thief experience from it, but It at least leaves me with great hopes for a sequel. I'm not a huge Bethesda fan, but I think Skyrim is good and I really enjoyed the last 2 Fallouts even though I was annoyed by the thousand bugs in each. I think Bioshock Infifnite will be interesting, especially in how the mechanics of the rail system works, but as much as I liked the backstory, world building and main plot twist, I felt like Bioshock was inferior to the System Shocks overall. Of course, I loved both Portals, but they're no substitute for Half-Life. I liked Gears of War, but don't really feel a need to play more than the first two.

    I have been really into the Assassin's Creed games and the Mass Effects, but I haven't even been able to finish the last installments of both. I used to be the biggest Zelda fan and now I am pretty convinced they will never make another truly great one. I really enjoyed RDR and GTAIV and I'm still excited about V. I am also kind of looking forward to Tomb Raider, but I'm worried that it will be too scripted for my tastes. I thought Human Revolution was pretty good, but it was lacking something. Really none of the Franchises I really care about are as exciting to me as they used to be.

    I know I probably sound like a huge complainer here. I do think there are still a lot of great, talented people working in games, and I really don't intend to seem so broadly critical, but I've been playing games since Pong and right now, I feel like the industry has moved away from everything that ever drew me to it in the first place. I occasionally get into an indie game here or there, I like Amnesia a lot, I had a lot of fun playing with the mapping in Miasmata recently and really enjoyed my second run through FEZ, but It seems like most games, from indie to AAA, don't inspire the deep attachment and loyalty they used to.

    I don't know. Maybe I'm just getting too old or all of this. I know I'm putting too much expectation on Valve, but I know they are committed to making a great experience and a great game, not just churning out a yearly franchise entry and I still trust them to deliver the kind of game I can get excited about.

    EDIT: I should add that Walking Dead blew me away this year too. It really is something special, but not enough to make me feel different about the industry as a whole.

    Avatar image for kermoosh
    kermoosh

    919

    Forum Posts

    187

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #2  Edited By kermoosh

    when i played hl2 back in 08 or 09 i was obsessed about a hl3 release date. but after a month i quickly got over it. I'm still very excited about its release but have gotten used to the whole waiting thing. After all its just a video game...

    Avatar image for toowalrus
    toowalrus

    13408

    Forum Posts

    29

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 3

    #3  Edited By toowalrus

    I want to like Half Life. I've tried to play both 1 & 2 and they're just... so boring. I wrote up a thing about my experience with the Orange Box two years ago, but reading it again now... I might be a bitch. Who knows. I should probably try again at some point. Maybe I've changed. (People don't change.)

    Avatar image for cloudenvy
    Cloudenvy

    5896

    Forum Posts

    8

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #4  Edited By Cloudenvy

    @TooWalrus said:

    I want to like Half Life. I've tried to play both 1 & 2 and they're just... so boring.

    Agreed. Half-Life 2 was such a disappointment to me when I finally played it, how anyone thought that was ever amazing is crazy to me. Yes, physics are impressive but overusing the hell out of it for puzzles made me lose interest pretty quickly and shooting-wise there are games from around that time that played way better and still do.

    Avatar image for christoffer
    Christoffer

    2409

    Forum Posts

    58

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    #5  Edited By Christoffer

    As I see it, you have two options. Get away from games for a while and pursue other hobbies for 1-3 years. Come back when HL3 is out and enjoy it then. The other option is to try out different games than you are used to play. You said you liked X-COM, how about other strategy games? I wont blame you if you've grown away from the standard high concept AAA title. There's a whole swamp of deep strategy games on the PC to sink youself into. As I get older i tend to lean towards those game a bit more (though I still like my fair share of high concept).

    I don't mind if they wait to release HL2 until it's perfect. The episodes convinced me that even Valve can do mistakes, so I hope they doesn't rush the ending out just to get it out.

    Avatar image for living4theday258
    living4theday258

    695

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #6  Edited By living4theday258

    isn't there a rumor floating around that valve is making a new source engine and its presumed to be for HL3?

    Avatar image for somedelicook
    SomeDeliCook

    2353

    Forum Posts

    61

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #7  Edited By SomeDeliCook

    If you've been waiting for a third Half-Life that isn't an episode and Half-Life 2 came out in 2004, that is almost 9 full years. 
    Duke Nukem Forever took 14 years. That is only 5 years more than our current wait for Half-Life 3 from Half-Life 2, and we haven't even had an official announcement of a new Half-Life yet

    Avatar image for oraknabo
    oraknabo

    1744

    Forum Posts

    12

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 6

    #8  Edited By oraknabo

    @Christoffer: I've been spending a lot more time playing old stuff from GOG this year instead of finding some kind of new genre I don't know about. Maybe it is time to just take a break overall. I took a pretty long break from games once between the N64 and the PS2 and had a lot of fun later going back and playing all of the PSX and Dreamcast games I missed.

    I still haven't played Far Cry 3 or Sleeping Dogs. I think I'll at least enjoy those two a lot. I can't think of a lot of stuff announced for the coming year that I'd feel really bad about missing though.

    Avatar image for ravenlight
    Ravenlight

    8057

    Forum Posts

    12306

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    #9  Edited By Ravenlight

    Making HL3 means they will have to stop making hats. That would be unacceptable.

    Avatar image for endoworks
    endoworks

    359

    Forum Posts

    375

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 3

    #10  Edited By endoworks

    I have replayed all the half-life games several times but at this point I for some reason think Half-Life 3 will never happen just because Valve doesn't need to and they seem more focused on being a platform (which is awesome) more than making games.

    Avatar image for christoffer
    Christoffer

    2409

    Forum Posts

    58

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    #11  Edited By Christoffer

    @oraknabo said:

    @Christoffer: I've been spending a lot more time playing old stuff from GOG this year instead of finding some kind of new genre I don't know about. Maybe it is time to just take a break overall. I took a pretty long break from games once between the N64 and the PS2 and had a lot of fun later going back and playing all of the PSX and Dreamcast games I missed.

    I still haven't played Far Cry 3 or Sleeping Dogs. I think I'll at least enjoy those two a lot. I can't think of a lot of stuff announced for the coming year that I'd feel really bad about missing though.

    Then it seems to me you don't really want to leave the game media completely (that and your added The Walking Dead comment). You're just like me "what else would I do if not play games, watch TV? Hell no".

    Avatar image for oraknabo
    oraknabo

    1744

    Forum Posts

    12

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 6

    #12  Edited By oraknabo

    @Christoffer: Well, I have a ton of hobbies. I make all kinds of stuff and I read a lot, but games have always been something I enjoyed. I played in arcades and on PCs and just about every major console and I've wasted a lot of time and money on crap along the way, but when you get a game like Ocarina of Time or Half-Life or Thief, it makes it all worth it. I guess I'm just at a point where I need another one of those games to come out again.

    I love crazy, ambitious games. I even have a lot of respect for terrible failures like Jurassic Park Trespasser just because of how ambitious it was. I think the bigger franchises of this generation were wildly ambitious at first, but now it all seems really safe with yearly releases and everything having to ship with multiplayer. It just feels like a chore to play most of them. Maybe I just need to wait for some of the more successful Kickstarter projects to start appearing. FTL isn't the kind of game that usually appeals to me, but it's certainly ambitions and different than most of what's out there.

    Avatar image for oraknabo
    oraknabo

    1744

    Forum Posts

    12

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 6

    #13  Edited By oraknabo

    I don't want to turn this into a 'list your favorite games' thread, because I will probably have played most of what gets recommended, especially anything older than a year or two, but maybe people can try to get me into something different.

    What is the most ambitious game you've ever played? In the last 5 years?

    If someone was going to wipe your memory and you were only allowed to remember one game you played, what would it be?

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.