I recently picked up Half Life, it's two expansions, and Team Fortress Classic as a package on Steam for ten bucks. I had never played the original Half Life, but I had heard good things, so I wanted to check it out. I was playing through it fine, and kind of enjoying it, until I got to one certain part about an hour in. I'm in a cold storage room, and there are multiple head crabs roaming around as well as those things that are like head crabs but are bigger and shoot acid. I was walking along swatting at head crabs, when I turn around, and HOLY SHIT THERE IS AN ALIEN MONSTER RIGHT THERE. I literally jumped out of my chair screaming (as a 15 year old guy) and have not played since.   

Yeah, I'm a fucking wuss, but that scare is not the only reason I stopped playing. I have just got frustrated with the survival horror-y aspects of the game. I've never liked ammo-conservation, and never having enough ammo to reload my gun is just really annoying to me. Having to use my crowbar to hit these little crabs jumping at me and taking away ten percent of my health in the progress is a pain in the neck. I appreciate it's a classic, the same way I appreciate Resident Evil 4, but so far it's not a game for me. So, I have a few choices that I could take now and I want help from the GB community because duders talking about this game is mostly the reason I started playing it. 
 
A) Keep playing the game. 
 - Does it open up and give me more ammo and better guns later? 
 
B) Skip it and play the expansions 
 - Do they give you more ammo and better guns? 
 - Do I need the story from the original game to understand what's going on? 
 
C) Skip it all and play Half Life 2
 - Does it give me more ammo and better guns? 
 - Does the gravity gun really open it up and make it more shooter-y? 
 - Do I need the story of the original to understand what's going on? 
 
Thanks for the help, if you help.

Play a nice and relaxing game like Dead Space.

Godmode. That's what I think you should do.

Sit back and enjoy a calm and light game like Condemned instead.

As somebody who just went through the game, but finally completed it for the first time, just 2 months ago I can tell you a few things. 
 
C is probably your best choice. I was so scared of dieing in Half-Life that I saved every minute or so. After each encounter, before each room, etc. Sure you get a few better weapons, but new enemies appear. The expansions.... well, Opposing Force is pretty hard. Blue Shift is actually really boring. Basically the original HL is the same few hours repeated over and over, so if you liked what you've played then keep playing. Otherrwise don't worry too much about it. Even my other Half-Life enthusiast friend avoided the original because it was boring.

So you are saying that it scared the dick out of you? I would reccomend skipping to HL2, it's more shooter-y but some parts can and will scare the dick out of you.

Half-Life still scares me.

" As somebody who just went through the game, but finally completed it for the first time, just 2 months ago I can tell you a few things.  C is probably your best choice. I was so scared of dieing in Half-Life that I saved every minute or so. After each encounter, before each room, etc. Sure you get a few better weapons, but new enemies appear. The expansions.... well, Opposing Force is pretty hard. Blue Shift is actually really boring. Basically the original HL is the same few hours repeated over and over, so if you liked what you've played then keep playing. Otherrwise don't worry too much about it. Even my other Half-Life enthusiast friend avoided the original because it was boring. "

" Play a nice and relaxing game like Dead Space. "

" Sit back and enjoy a calm and light game like Condemned instead. "

" @Vinchenzo said:

" As somebody who just went through the game, but finally completed it for the first time, just 2 months ago I can tell you a few things.  C is probably your best choice. I was so scared of dieing in Half-Life that I saved every minute or so. After each encounter, before each room, etc. Sure you get a few better weapons, but new enemies appear. The expansions.... well, Opposing Force is pretty hard. Blue Shift is actually really boring. Basically the original HL is the same few hours repeated over and over, so if you liked what you've played then keep playing. Otherrwise don't worry too much about it. Even my other Half-Life enthusiast friend avoided the original because it was boring. "

Well, there goes ten bucks down the drain! Haha I guess I still have Team Fortress Classic to play.  Thanks for the help. "

Scared? By a video game?! Let me laugh even harder.

A) 
 
You wuss. 
 
Don't worry about dying so much. It's gonna happen. 
 
Also, yes there are many, many awesome weapons to collect over the course of the game.

" @supermike6 said:

" @Vinchenzo said:

" As somebody who just went through the game, but finally completed it for the first time, just 2 months ago I can tell you a few things.  C is probably your best choice. I was so scared of dieing in Half-Life that I saved every minute or so. After each encounter, before each room, etc. Sure you get a few better weapons, but new enemies appear. The expansions.... well, Opposing Force is pretty hard. Blue Shift is actually really boring. Basically the original HL is the same few hours repeated over and over, so if you liked what you've played then keep playing. Otherrwise don't worry too much about it. Even my other Half-Life enthusiast friend avoided the original because it was boring. "

Well, there goes ten bucks down the drain! Haha I guess I still have Team Fortress Classic to play.  Thanks for the help. "

I completely disagree with the above poster. Now, I haven't played HL since it originally came out, but I certainly recall it getting more shootery and awesome the further you progress. About halfway through the game, you'll be fighting not just headcrabs and headcrab zombies, but a badass military task force come to cover it all up. And yes, you'll have great fucking weapons to fight them with. "

Didn't know it was possible to be scared by HL. Get over it, it's too good to pass up.

Wow, you suck. And you make me aggressive. "Half Life 2 is difficult, I wanna more guns and ammo pl0x". Ugh.

" Wow, you suck. And you make me aggressive. "Half Life 2 is difficult, I wanna more guns and ammo pl0x". Ugh. "

Lol head crabs is the least of your worries buddy. Later on you deal with some shit that would scare the shit out of you. 
 
I say keep playing dude. It's a great game and it shouldn't be passed up by anybody! 
 
Oh wait...seems you switched to easy. Good luck! 
 
Edit: Oh yeah and quicksave like every 5 seconds and you'll be good to go.

Whoa. I never knew that Half-Life was actually considered frightening. I never found either Half-Life 1 or 2 frightening, so I can't really address that part.
 
As for your issues with ammo conservation, yes, Half-Life 2 is more shooter-y (in that it provides you with more ammo, and is more focused on just...shooting shit), so if that's what you're looking for, then I'd say go ahead.

C. Literally, your best bet is to play Half Life 2, and watch "Freeman's Mind" for the entire story of Half Life 1. Because he's funny, it takes the edge off of the scariness.

" So you are saying that it scared the dick out of you? I would reccomend skipping to HL2, it's more shooter-y but some parts can and will scare the dick out of you. "

The original Half-Life scared me too, I was about eleven or twelve at the time and I did not expect a game that begun so innocently to turn into such an awesome (and at times terrifying) game!
 
You should definitely keep playing it, it's a real piece of gaming history. Countless games since have been inspired by what Half-Life presented.
 
...and Half-Life 2...one word. Ravenholm.

Wow, really guy?

" Wow, really guy? "

I've never been scared by a videogame.  Never. That doesn't mean that I don't like them, though.
 
Scary movies don't scare me either, however.  Except David Lynch films.  I couldn't fall asleep for about a week after I saw Eraserhead, and same story with Inland Empire.  Yikes. 
 
Back OT:  Stop being a pussy.  I've never actually played all the way through HL (it's just too old now, I can't get into it.  I've been spoiled by new advancements in FPS's).  Don't get me wrong, I recently played through MGS1 again for shits and gigs, so it's not all the fact that it's old.  But seriously, if because you're scared is the only reason you're not playing it, you need to grow a pair.

lol, you won't be able to play Half-life 2 then. If its really that bad, just put god mode on. I'd rather you cheat and finish the game, then to completely give up.

Pro-tip:

" Pro-tip:

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Don't be a pussy.

"

HL2 Ravenholm has gotta be the most scariest level ever.

Just enable the console, sv_cheats 1, god_mode 1.

Just enable the console, sv_cheats 1, god_mode 1.

If you want to experience the game but dont want to deal with ammo conservation either 
A) Lower the difficulty. 
B) Use a cheat code.  (ie spawn more ammo) 
C) Man up and play this amazing game as it was intended.

Wow, really, guy?  It takes two fucking pistol shots to kill headcrabs.  The game gives you PLENTY of ammo to deal with whatever it throws at you.  Not to mention that headcrabs are the easiest enemy in the game to dodge.
 
Stop being such a fucking pussy, dude.  Grow up.  It's just a video game.  Remember to quicksave often and explore around constantly for ammo caches.  If you can't beat half-life because you're too scared then I've lost respect for you as a gamer.  It's people like you that make developers dumb down games excessively these days.  
 
Finish Half-life.  After you're done with that, play and beat a STALKER game.  That will wean you off of this horrible "this game is too scary to finish" mentality.

Half-Life gets more shooter-y in the middle section of the game. Ignore the morons who are saying it sucks compared to today's games. It inspired them all, it's pretty the ultimate single player first-person shooter in my eyes.

I say if you like what you have played so far, go for it. If not, don't stress it too much. Yes, it is a fundamental block for FPS and Sci-Fi games to this day, but playing video games is about having fun. Some people think being scared is a fun rush, some people don't get scared, and some people hate scary or creepy stuff period. If you fall into the latter, then skip it. A game should not be "Man up and play it". It should be fun, and if you aren't enjoying it, there is no point in forcing yourself through it.

Half Life has aged pretty horribly. I say just skip it.
 
Also, if that scared you, definitely don't play Half Life 2.

watch Freeman's Mind, then after your hooked on that(trust me you will be hooked) play the first game as THAT character, if that makes any sense. Makes it alot funnier and more enjoyable. I had the same problem, but i recently bought and played through HL1 Source, and putting the Freemans Mind voice into the game made it so much better.

1. 
   Im playing it recently, the most freckyest thing was when i was playing DeathMatch with my little bro (yer i know, its illegal - but portable) and i come round the corner and boom, zap and instant death. im 14 and i freaked out

" Play a nice and relaxing game like Dead Space. "