I was the exact same way at first. It feels a lot like bad level design or just blatant unfairness pretty much from the beginning through the hoverboat part. Then again with the dune buggy. Particularly because those vehicles handle horrifically on the 360. Also throughout much of the beginning of the game, you have a pistol and a crowbar (and maybe the SMG) which isn't a lot to go on. And when the game's throwing combine soldiers at you from all directions, some on foot, some in helicopters or tanks, it seems like the game is trying very hard to make you hate it. I got really damn frustrated at those parts because its not like you can do any damage to a helicopter with a pistol, and there's these damn puzzles every 3 minutes. You never truly feel like you're making progress. Ravenholm sucked too, I'll just get that out of the way. Especially in the caves with the infinitely spawning (or so it seemed - I didn't kill all of them before I got out) headcrabs.
After these parts though, the game really takes off and its fun as shit. You have a bigger arsenal of weapons to choose from, slightly more creative puzzles that don't spring up every 3 minutes, and its just a blast hurling tables and crap at your enemies. It seems to really encorporate everything from big open battles, stealth (I'm thinking of the sniper part of City 17 and getting around the watchtowers with the antlions), boss fights (to some degree - striders for the most part). From Half-Life 2 into Episodes 1 and 2, the game keeps getting better (except 2 kinda, you're in a buggy most of the time).
That's just what I got. When I first started playing HL2 I considered it to be more of a chore than any actual fun. But once I got far enough, (and I had my friend finish effing Water Hazard) it got a lot better. I think people should give it a chance.
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