7 years later and look how well Half Life 2 stands up!!! :D

The pacing is superb and despite the age of Source 1.0, the game is still remarkably good looking, (the art design certainly helps).

-----------

What is disappointing is how Source's engine at the time still produces better facial animation then many games coming out today (I'm looking at you Dead Island).

Man, City 17 (and surrounding areas) creates such a believable fiction; I'm very exited to see what happens with Dishonored, who's world is designed by Half Life 2's Victor Antonov.

Have any of you played HL2 recently? What did you think?

I played it for the first time recently- don't like it. Game kinda sucks, man. Tried so hard to like it and just... couldn't. 

I bust the HL2 series out every six months or so. It's surprising how well the gameplay and graphics still hold up.

Yeah I recently played through it myself, probably one of my most beloved series of games. The source engine is beautiful, it runs perfectly even on lower-end machines and has excellent graphics that-for the most part- have aged quite well. With games like Portal 2 showing that the source engine can still hold its own in todays market I'd be content with playing well made games on this reliable engine for years to come.

Also, com'on valve, episode 3!!!!

I played it for the first time recently- don't like it. Game kinda sucks, man. Tried so hard to like it and just... couldn't. 

OH GOD NO....NOT RAVENHOLM...HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!...oh god, the nightmares have started!

@TooWalrus said:

I played it for the first time recently- don't like it. Game kinda sucks, man. Tried so hard to like it and just... couldn't. 

Huh? Why? Care to elaborate? What about all the cool weapons and stuff?

@TooWalrus said:

I played it for the first time recently- don't like it. Game kinda sucks, man. Tried so hard to like it and just... couldn't. 

Huh? Why? Care to elaborate? What about all the cool weapons and stuff?

@hoossy said:

The pacing is superb and despite the age of Source 1.0, the game is still remarkably good looking, (the art design certainly helps).

I just got to point out that unless you're playing an illegal copy of HL2, the engine it runs on has been updated to the version Episode 2 runs on.

This means:

• HDR support.
• Soft particles.
• Full-screen motion blur.
• (And best of all) Dynamic lightning and shadowing Version 2.

You can figure the first 3 out yourself, and here's the differences between Dynamic L&S v1 and v2:

The last feature is awesome.

I absolutely love the characters and story. i never felt that the combat was the best part of it, but so much of that game stands up really well. Someone has yet to make a more believable and like-able cast of characters. (Mass Effect is close though).

Love it. Played through the game proper at least three times on Xbox, PC and 360. Been stuck on the HL2: Episode 2 climax for years though. Still've never beaten it.

I never finished Half Life 2.

Not sure if it was the weapons or the enemies or the vehicle sequences, but something about the gameplay never really grabbed me.

I did absolutely love the opening sequence though.

I tried playing it recently and didn't understand why it was so well liked.

Got halfway through it, got bored and never finished it

Great game. For me, its art style was what made it so special. There were times when I was in Seattle and I thought "Hey, that train yard looks like one in HL2" ect. (Antonov does some great representations of urban areas.) Despite it's aging visuals, the art style makes City 17 seem very authentic and real.

But that's just me.

@Junkerman said:

Yeah I recently played through it myself, probably one of my most beloved series of games. The source engine is beautiful, it runs perfectly even on lower-end machines and has excellent graphics that-for the most part- have aged quite well. With games like Portal 2 showing that the source engine can still hold its own in todays market I'd be content with playing well made games on this reliable engine for years to come.

Also, com'on valve, episode 3!!!!

More like come on Blizzard. Think when they bought Valve they took a lot of the talent cus most of the guys at Blizzard are dinosaurs.

Seriously, though exploding barrels sprinkled everywhere, and the linearity made HL2 a little stale. I miss grabbing civilians and running under suckers soo much. Crowbars... Come on man!!!! The gestapo bit in the beginning was only 5 minutes long :*(

@awe_stuck: Pretty sure Blizzard doesn't own Valve.

@beeftothetaco said:

@awe_stuck: Pretty sure Blizzard doesn't own Valve.

Activision does..

I play HL 2 every year, sometime in the fall. Typically near thanksgiving.

@awe_stuck said:

@beeftothetaco said:

@awe_stuck: Pretty sure Blizzard doesn't own Valve.

Activision does..

I can't tell if you're a troll or if you're really that stupid.

@Manhattan_Project said:

@awe_stuck said:

@beeftothetaco said:

@awe_stuck: Pretty sure Blizzard doesn't own Valve.

Activision does..

I can't tell if you're a troll or if you're really that stupid.

Look it up... God.

@Tacoboy1986 said:

I play HL 2 every year, sometime in the fall. Typically near thanksgiving.

I still havent finished Episode 2. Its a lil scary. Episodes were more fun then the game in my opinion. Great game though

@awe_stuck:

Valve is their own private company.

@coakroach:

I'm guessing you didn't get to near the very end where you get the uber gravity gun? Because the game is almost worth playing for that reason alone.

@TooWalrus:

I just read through that post of yours.. the fact that you never got to the gravity gun is upsetting... probably the greatest video game weapon of all time (well, the portal gun may top that actually) NEEDS to be experienced. Cutting off people's heads with circular saw blades launched from the gravity gun is incredibly satisfying.

Also, I feel like Half Life 2 in many ways in the the film Children of Men. It doesn't spoon feed a plot. You're left to piece things together and imagine how the world could get the way it is... idk... I like it.

I long lost count the amount of times I have played HL2 to completion fucking amazing.

@awe_stuck said:

@Manhattan_Project said:

@awe_stuck said:

@beeftothetaco said:

@awe_stuck: Pretty sure Blizzard doesn't own Valve.

Activision does..

I can't tell if you're a troll or if you're really that stupid.

Look it up... God.

Only thing I can find that could somehow be misconstrued into what you're saying is that Valve had a publishing deal with Sierra Entertainment way back when.

@hoossy said:

@awe_stuck:

Valve is their own private company.

@coakroach:

I'm guessing you didn't get to near the very end where you get the uber gravity gun? Because the game is almost worth playing for that reason alone.

@TooWalrus:

I just read through that post of yours.. the fact that you never got to the gravity gun is upsetting... probably the greatest video game weapon of all time (well, the portal gun may top that actually) NEEDS to be experienced. Cutting off people's heads with circular saw blades launched from the gravity gun is incredibly satisfying.

Also, I feel like Half Life 2 in many ways in the the film Children of Men. It doesn't spoon feed a plot. You're left to piece things together and imagine how the world could get the way it is... idk... I like it.

I know I cant find it. Meh.

Yeah, I finally played HL2: Episode 1 and 2 for the first time back in like July, and they're just as solid as any game made this year. HL2 and the episodes are incredibly well made.

But at the same time, I can sort of see why a bunch of people in this thread got bored and stopped at some point. Unlike most modern shooters, it has a slow start, similar to how something like the original Deus Ex has a slow start. Shit doesn't really get totally off the chain until you get the gravity gun and start heading for Nova Prospekt. Speaking of which, I'm sure if Valve were to design that game today, they probably wouldn't wait until like halfway through the damn game to give you the gravity gun (ok, it's a little earlier than that), when it was one of the coolest bullet-point-on-back-of-the-box features. Also, the gravity gun in general probably isn't quite as impressive to people who pick up the game for the first time in 2011, since physics engine as robust as HL2's engine are more commonplace now.

That being said, I think "people getting bored by the gradual pacing" is more a fault with today's players than with the game itself, and "the gravity gun isn't new anymore" is hardly the fault of the game. So in general, I still think people are crazy for not finishing the game.

Also, it's funny that awe_stuck has no idea what he's talking about, because the supposed exodus of talent from Valve over to Blizzard/Activision is something he must've imagined, and forgot that it wasn't a real event.

@awe_stuck said:

I know I cant find it. Meh.

Are you perhaps mistaking Valve for Vivendi Games, a company which was, in fact, purchased by Activision?

@BisonHero said:

Yeah, I finally played HL2: Episode 1 and 2 for the first time back in like July, and they're just as solid as any game made this year. HL2 and the episodes are incredibly well made.

But at the same time, I can sort of see why a bunch of people in this thread got bored and stopped at some point. Unlike most modern shooters, it has a slow start, similar to how something like the original Deus Ex has a slow start. Shit doesn't really get totally off the chain until you get the gravity gun and start heading for Nova Prospekt. Speaking of which, I'm sure if Valve were to design that game today, they probably wouldn't wait until like halfway through the damn game to give you the gravity gun (ok, it's a little earlier than that), when it was one of the coolest bullet-point-on-back-of-the-box features. Also, the gravity gun in general probably isn't quite as impressive to people who pick up the game for the first time in 2011, since physics engine as robust as HL2's engine are more commonplace now.

That being said, I think "people getting bored by the gradual pacing" is more a fault with today's players than with the game itself, and "the gravity gun isn't new anymore" is hardly the fault of the game. So in general, I still think people are crazy for not finishing the game.

Also, it's funny that awe_stuck has no idea what he's talking about, because the supposed exodus of talent from Valve over to Blizzard/Activision is something he must've imagined, and forgot that it wasn't a real event.

No, no Blizzard bought Sierra (Vivendi). Didnt realize Valve stayed independent during that. My bad.... My bad. Sorry, guys....

@BisonHero said:

@awe_stuck said:

I know I cant find it. Meh.

Are you perhaps mistaking Valve for Vivendi Games, a company which was, in fact, purchased by Activision?

Yep. Lets get back to the gravity gun and using chainsaw blades to cut stuff in half guys :D

@awe_stuck: It takes a big man to admit he was wrong instead of just disappearing from a thread to never be seen again. Good for you.

@BisonHero said:

@awe_stuck: It takes a big man to admit he was wrong instead of just disappearing from a thread to never be seen again. Good for you.

I'm just tired lol But thanks. I didnt know Valve stayed independent. Thats good. Gabe needs more donuts!!!!

Wanna do something cool in HL2? Download Minerva. OMG soo awesome.

@awe_stuck said:

No, no Blizzard bought Sierra (Vivendi). Didnt realize Valve stayed independent during that. My bad.... My bad. Sorry, guys....

I'm kind've bummed out to learn that you aren't from an alternate universe or something.

@Ravenlight said:

@awe_stuck said:

No, no Blizzard bought Sierra (Vivendi). Didnt realize Valve stayed independent during that. My bad.... My bad. Sorry, guys....

I'm kind've bummed out to learn that you aren't from an alternate universe or something.

I wish I was. A universe where Infinity Ward wasnt owned by Activision. At least then I would never have been scarred for life by Call of Duty Black Ops.

HL 2 is great.  It was quite amazing upon release, and still holds up reasonably well.
 
But it fucking drags, man.  Sections of that game just go on way longer than necessary.
 
Edit: imo

@csl316: The only part I agree with you on is the airboat sequence early on in Half-Life 2. There's the first section where you have no mounted gun, and then the later section when you get the mounted gun. They basically should have cut one of those 2 sections, because man, you have to get out of the stupid boat constantly, and there's all this acid you can't step in, and it's just kinda lame.

However, I think everything after that is absolutely fine, and I really enjoyed the car-driving sequences.

I did not enjoy Half-Life 2 as much as most other people did...

I've already replayed the HL2 series multiple times with much enjoyment myself. What I like about the series, story-wise, is that the post-apocalyptic setting is contrasted with a growing notion of hope: The Combine may have trashed the planet, but humanity can still pull through with its combined ingenuity and resilience.

Oh, and if you ever need to kill a dude quickly from a distance, draw your revolver, use your suit zoom, get your crosshair on his head, zoom out, and then shoot. Liked the revolver a lot more when I figured that out.

Great game that's just a tad too long. I prefer replaying the episodes.

One of my favorite games ever. I think I may be in the minority when I say I prefer it to the first game.

As an aside, I first played it on the original Xbox. Pretty good port for what its worth.

i played it a few months ago because they added steam achievements since the last time i played. got all of them and still enjoyed the game, though i agree with the point raised by a few people on this thread that some sections feel a little long.