Yup,  
 
I only bought Half Life for CS back in the day, and once UT99 came out...I said fuck that shit, and stuck with Epic's masterpiece.  Looking back now, I have tried to play the original Half Life many times over the course of ten years.  I could never get passed the part of once you get a handgun.   I beat HL2 on launch, but used cheats the entire time...and I never played EP1 and EP2.  I feel like this is a major strike against me, and I should be filled with shame. 
 
I'm really interested in trying to play the Half Life series in a legitimate way, so my friends told me to play OPFORCE first and then try HL again.  I'm kinda waiting for Black Mesa as it would be easier to get into.   
 
Now, I know I sing the PC FPS tune, and I standby that.  I think UT2k4 is the perfection of online FPS that no retarded space marine could even come close to.   
 
I never sat down and really played Half Life, but I want to.  Is it really required to play them?  Worth all the time and hassle?

Yup.

you didn't miss anything

That's unfortunate.

I played the original about a year ago.
 
Definitely hasn't aged well.

Aww c'mon, how could you pass up crouch jumping your way through platforming hell on Zen? Those were good times.

I played through the original Half Life and Opposing Force not that long ago (like a year ago maybe) and I really enjoyed it. 
 
But I'm good at "adjusting my mindset" enough to play and enjoy older games. If your playing them and your not enjoying them, then don't waste your time and play something you like instead. 

You should just buy it off Steam and play it. It's pretty cheap. It invented cohesive narrative in fps games, and is still a pretty good time. 
 
No one should be fucking waiting for Black Mesa. They haven't updated for a goddamn year. Just assume it's never coming out. Maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised one day, but do not wait on it.

Am I confused? I played HL with the source engine..I remember it was better than the origonal, but objects and such like sandbags still looked very funky, that sort of thing. They offer it as HL, source, and has nothing to do with the Black Mesa project, which sounds a few dozen orders above and beyond the graphic league of the HL, source I played. 
 
But it did make it more playable. And you know what, the game itself in concept is still great. Nothing like hearing that music when going down the elevator and you know the game is switching from hello(a long one) to rock and roll. HL was one of the very best games I have ever played, so glorious on the PC. Ah well, Memories.....Of the way things used to be. 
 
Where the fuck is Episode 3!

One of the best games ever. Nuff said

Here's my confession: I think Half Life is very good, but not great. I've never understood the praise it's story (though I appreciate the little touches) or gameplay got. 

I've played HL1 and HL2, once I got over the stigma of 'holy shit I put the can in the trash', and 'holy shit, look at the shading' I got bored pretty quickly.  The only Valve game I ever really enjoyed was TF2 and Portal. I always felt like I was missing the boat on that one. 
 
It's not like back in the day where I'd spend 24 solid hours playing Hexen. Love Hexen.

just wait for Black Mesa even though the release date goes for the "when it's done" approach. "

Tried to play it a couple months ago but couldn't stand it.

" Half Life by now needs a gameplay overhaul. It's stuck in the past. As for your question; just wait for Black Mesa even though the release date goes for the "when it's done" approach. "

I played  both Half-life 1 and 2, and the 2 episodes very recently.
 
You've missed dozens of hours of annoyances and 3-5 pretty awesome moments from episodes 1&2.

Its one of my favourite games, but a bunch of my friends cant stand it. I find that most people who don't like the game are the people who didint play it back when it came out, and get into the filthy habit of comparing old games to new ones.

I played it 2 years ago for the first time and still enjoyed it enough. I would definitely just wait for Black Mesa, hopefully won't be too long.

Half Life 1 is still a great game. Using the Gauss Gun to take down a helicopter is one of my favorite video game moments of all time. The kids today think it's overhyped, but it'll always have a special place in my heart.

For the love of Pete, stop telling people to wait for Black Mesa. There's a good chance it will never come out.

" Its one of my favourite games, but a bunch of my friends cant stand it. I find that most people who don't like the game are the people who didint play it back when it came out, and get into the filthy habit of comparing old games to new ones. "

I bought it today and played it for the first time for about 30 minutes. I'm not sure if I'll play any more. It seems like a competent game, but generally speaking First Person Shooters from that era don't hold up nearly as well as the RPGs that I usually feature on my old game blogs. So basically, I have to echo everyone else and say "Just wait for Black Mesa, and when that gets canned just play Half Life 2 again"

You should play it.  It's a piece of gaming history that's influenced pretty much every other FPS that came after it.  It's something you should experience.
 
I don't understand what people mean when they say the game is "dated".
Do they mean graphically? well,  no shit. 
But the game is a fucking first person shooter.  You point at stuff, you shoot.  There's nothing frustrating about it (unless you suck, I guess).  Nothing really stuck out to me as painfully archaic game design.
Unless you count the lack of regenerating health/ironsights/cover system/two-weapon limit as downsides? LOL.   Maybe I'm just stuck in the past.

 I first played Half-life in 2006 and had few problems.  
You should bang it out so that you can at least have an informed opinion on one of the most critically acclaimed and influential video game franchises of all time.  Play on easy if you're worried about difficulty.

Know what I did? I watched a let's play and feel completely satisfied with that.