Why is Half Life so much better than Half Life 2? It's

Closer to its Quake engine roots, has weapons that don't feel like fucking pea-shooters.

For me it was the better monster desgin and horror atmosphere

Always was scared back then being lonely in a chemical underground lab filled with monster and poison

Fewer cutscenes
The guns feel a lot better
You don't have to hold a key to sprint

Less of the "cinematic experience" philosophy (e.g. story above all else), and more actual gameplay.

In my opinion, HL2 was one of the first games to herald the era of set pieces and walking simulators that we have now.

Made as a game instead of a tech demo

>>389626072
>>389626569
What's with plebs shitting on HL2 having a weak starter pistol and starter SMG? You realize these guns are intentionally weak to create contrast with the later weapons? This is a time-tested idea for weapon balance, it's just that for HL2 they made the weapons feedback match their actual strength. You look at the AR2, Shotgun, Crossbow, Rocket Launcher, Gravity Gun, and Magnum and they're all appropriately hefty and damaging. You are MEANT TO gravitate toward these weapons over the rest. That's why the Pistol and SMG are so frantic and fast. They fit great with panicky moments of spraying and praying. Even on hard mode, I find the balance and feedback are well-tuned and make for a very interesting toolbox.

>>389626879
Another World came out in 1991, jackass.

HL1
>you are trapped in an underground facility during a mysterious alien attack, trying to survive Die Hard style

HL2
>you are the Chosen One™ come to fight evil and save the world

>>389627021
You can't gravitate towards the AR2 because they intentionally gave it a pitiful ammo supply to force you back into the SMG. Crossbow and Magnum also have really small ammo supplies to balance out their high damage. You use them for a little bit and then switch back to the SMG because it's the only long range weapon you get a reliable amount of ammo to use.

>>389627021
The HL1 pistol and SMG were stronger and more accurate than their HL2 counterparts; they didn't just feel like they were.

The zombie town in HF2 was great.

>>389627191
You might be playing the game wrong, as on hard I was able to get through by primarily using the Shotgun and approaching encounters in a way that I would be in close range. I never was forced to use the pistol or smg, though I did ocassionally use them when I wanted to harass an enemy but didn't feel comfortable using the more valuable ammo, but by no means were they primary. At all. You're blaming the game for your failure. If you don't like certain guns, you don't have to use them.

>>389627204
Yes but not by much. The HL1 SMG is a real peashooter as well, and the HL2 Pistol has a higher rate of fire making the actual DPS not that different from the HL1 Pistol.

>>389627171
You want a rehash?

>>389627021
>Another World came out in 1991, jackass.
And Prince of Persia came out in 89, so what?
The point is that HL2 made setpiece-driven storytelling and forced "interactive" cutscenes more viable in shooters and AAA action games in general.

Look at the current state of FPS and tell me you don't see the HL2 influence.

>>389627643
So it's not "one of the first" if there's a shit ton of cinematic platformers the decade before. Don't pretend like HL2 is some kind of mythical boogieman that jumper-cable kickstarted Everything You Hate about games you haven't played, because HL1 was doing pseudo-cutscenes before, setpieces before, environmental storytelling before. HL2 just did it better.
Though if you really want to blame something, blame Ico. You probably ~hate!~ that game too.

>>389627630
Rehash?
You realize there's millions more possible stories than "escape facility" and "save the world", right?
I just hate the obvious Mary Sue design of a special chosen hero meant to save the world. I'd rather Gordon be an actual human with depth, and the conflict be more complicated than good rebels vs evil government.

>>389627947
You realize that Gordon was intentionally as shallow as possible? He was mute so you could project your own personality onto him.

>>389627947
He's an unkillable omnipotent save scumming God-king no matter which way the narrative spins it, so you might be taking it a little too personally. I think it's pretty great that the character goes from pure anonymity to celebrity. It fits with the shift from isolated facility to the living breathing natural world of HL2. The game knows when to cut it out, too. There are prolonged sections of solitude. There are sections where the people who meet you treat you as just a dude.
As for the last point about the morality, well you should just gaze upon and healthy HL2 thread to see people clamoring to defend Breen. It's not as muddy as HL1, but it is definitely more interesting than the empty "heh everyone's bad/flawed >:)" cynicality of the first game.

>>389627914
It's one of the first FPSs, and one of the first big budget games to do it. Sorry, I didn't think you were so autistic that I had to lay that out for you.

>cinematic platformers
Why did you even bring that up?

Just about every FPS, from Call of Duty to Bioshock, owes a lot to HL2. Even third person shooters like TLOU and Gears share the same gameplay-setpiece-gameplay-setpiece game flow. Walking simulators are the logical conclusion of this philosophy.

Sure, HL1 was setpiece heavy, but those were merely additional to the gameplay. HL2 makes story the main focus, at the detriment to gameplay. Once Valve popularized this in the previously action-heavy genre, other devs followed. Again, just look at the shooters we have now.

Ico is pretty irrelevant. It was a niche game with niche ideas and doesn't have much of an influence on modern AAA game design. Don't know why you would bring that up.

>>389627914
>HL2 just did it better.
HL2 did it way worse. At least in HL1 there weren't so many of them.

>>389627630
>approaching encounters in a way that I would be in close range
Every level is pretty much hallways except certain points where you actually have to use ranged weapons.

>>389625943
HL1 has more weapon choice, and also enemy variety; to this day I still don't understand why there are so few aliens in HL2 (bullsquid, alien grunts, houndeyes etc)

also the combine are much slower and stupider compared to HL1's grunts, so they were much more boring to fight

>>389627204
HL2 SMG is much more useful than HL1 SMG. It has less grenades, though.

>>389625943
It wasn't made as a ploy to force everyone to download Steam

>>389628378
>You realize that Gordon was intentionally as shallow as possible? He was mute so you could project your own personality onto him.
In HL1, sure. In HL2 they added a whole other layer of "chosen one" and "saving the world". In HL1 he was just a scientist trying to survive.

>>389628481
>He's an unkillable omnipotent save scumming God-king
Uh, by that logic all games with quicksave have a shit story.
HL1 also had quicksave, and a minimalistic story, but had an overall better narrative. It was more cohesive and let the player make their mind up. HL2's way of spoonfeeding you the story was hamfisted and generic. Don't even bring up Breen; /v/ likes to defend the most 1-dimensional of anime villains.

>>389628859
>o this day I still don't understand why there are so few aliens in HL2
Because story is more important than gunplay lol

>>389629018
>Don't even bring up Breen; /v/ likes to defend the most 1-dimensional of anime villains.
episode 3 story confirmed that breen was right all along.

>>389629018
>In HL1, sure. In HL2 they added a whole other layer of "chosen one" and "saving the world". In HL1 he was just a scientist trying to survive.
And in what way is that bad? Sounds to me like an opinion.
I pretty much agree with >>389628481
Nobody said a game with quicksaves has a bad story.
>more cohesive
What does that even mean in your mind?
>let the player make their mind up
>spoonfeeding you the story
So you prefer games that give the player the freedom of imagining his own story? So go play with LEGOs or lie in bed daydreaming instead of playing video games.

>>389629234
>And in what way is that bad?
It doesn't make sense considering anything that happened in the first game. Most of the people who knew him died or lost contact with him after he killed Nihilanth.

>>389629435
Vortigaunts might have spread the word.
Barney, Kleiner and Vance are still alive.
For all you know G-Man might have advertised his newest associate's achievements.

>>389628595
Weird you don't connect the dots between cinematic platformers and HL1 and 2. If you made Another World first person (it already has a gun), maybe threw in a health bar and reloading and other tacky mechanics, you have a right fit. Anyway, the crux of these semantics is this
>HL2 makes story the main focus, at the detriment to gameplay.
The burden of proof is on you. Go on. Prove you stance. heck I'll even accept something written by someone else.
(also lol about the non-sequitor walking sim reference, that's as much of a genre as character action games-- just as "character action game" is a codeword for "great beat em up", "walking simulator" is a codeword for "bad adventure game". to be more truthful and terse, just say "I HATE THESE KIND OF GAMES" instead of some grunge blabbering about how it's the 'endgame.' (because I guess you couldn't use the obvious answer that Actual Movies are the endgame, as that wasn't epicly negative enough to *zing* the thread.))

>>389627171
>be a terminator that kills hundreds of aliens soldiers and zombies and literally saves the world and also frees an entire race of aliens
>omnipotent elder god hires you to work for him since you're that good
>not get aknowledgement at all
That would be retarded anon

>>389629089
If you have to bring up an unreleased sequel to defend HL2's story, it failed.

>>389629234
>And in what way is that bad?
It takes Die Hard and turns it into Battlefield Earth.

>Nobody said a game with quicksaves has a bad story.
Save-scumming was brought up as a reason why Gordon is invincible. Which is ridiculous. If we're looking at the story as intended, though, Gordon is meant to be a just a guy with a suit in HL1. Several times he almost dies from just drowning. It's not until HL2 where Gordon is the leader of a resistance against an alien invasion AND a tyrannical government, single-handedly makes his way to the control centre of said government, commandeers Ant-lions, etc.

>So you prefer games that give the player the freedom of imagining his own story?
No, I prefer games that use the medium to it's fullest, and tell their story through gameplay.
Rather than games that design themselves around the story first and try to ape the film industry with increasingly non-interactive elements where you literally just stand and watch what's happening for 5-10 minutes.

FPS these days are a joke.

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>>389626879
>>389627643
>the 'it's a games fault that other games try to copy something it did and fuck it up' meme

>>389629018
>In HL1 he was just a scientist trying to survive.
People don't get recognition based on what they were TRYING to do, but on what they ACTUALLY DID. This is one of the problems of a society in which you get rewards purely for putting in moderate effort, people don't recognize this fact anymore.
Take Hitler, the man only tried to secure living space for his peoples. He kills a bunch of Jews, so suddenly he's the bad guy.

>>389629772
So he does the same thing he did in HL1, but there are other people on his side now?

Because HL2 was a tech demo for Source, which is why it constantly rubbed its Source nuts on your face with rudimentary physics puzzles fucking everywhere.

It was also the killer app for Steam to take hold, which was a DRM worse than Denuvo and Uplay combined. Once Valve found the winning formula of selling crate keys to retards by vivisecting TF2 mangled corpse, they stopped giving a shit about game development altogether, the end game of Steam.

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>>389629772
>single-handedly
>commandeers Ant-lions
uhhh

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>>389629772
>Save-scumming was brought up as a reason why Gordon is invincible. Which is ridiculous. If we're looking at the story as intended--
"lol"

>>389630101
>Because HL2 was a tech demo for Source
that would only be applicable if other people actually used the source engine

>>389629649
>Weird you don't connect the dots between cinematic platformers and HL1 and 2.
Sure they are vaguely connected. Kind of irrelevant to a discussion about modern AAA FPSs, no? Pong was the first sports game, but I don't bring it up every time we talk about FIFA.

If you are seriously denying the influence of HL2 on the genre, I don't know what to say.

>The burden of proof is on you.
That's a whole other subject. But if you play HL1 and HL2 side-by-side, surely you would notice the amount of time you are made to stand and listen to NPCs having conversations. If you timed the gameplay sections vs the story sections, the ratios would be wildly different.
Then there's the pissweak gunplay that was brought up, etc.

>(also lol about the non-sequitor walking sim reference,
How is it a non-sequitor in a discussion about HL2's influence? The idea of cinematic storytelling (aka story over gameplay) has become a dominant force in gaming. Obviously HL2 didn't created it, but popularized it in the same way FF7, Uncharted, and The Last of Us did. Walking Sims (and you know exactly what I mean) wouldn't have existed without these games. Look at any AAA game today and you will be flooded by scripted setpieces and glorified cutscenes in which you just stand and watch without being able to influence anything. The cinematic experience philosophy isn't restricted to one genre, it never was.

>>389629772
Gordon is invincible because it's a fucking video game
I swear there's nothing more autistic than people trying to take game stories seriously

>>389630627
>it's just a game bro
Not an argument

>>389630706
games have non-sensical stories for the sake of making a game that's fun to play
how about we try to explain how completely impossible the architecture of black mesa is
or the fact that there's always exactly one path to go and it's always to where you need to be going

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Half-Life was made with Japanese game design principles.
Half-Life 2 was made with western "game" design principles.

>>389625943
Because HL1 was designed as a game firstly, this doesn't mean the meme about HL2 being a tech demo is true, its just a lot of work for HL2 was put into physics and the AI but these things were underutilized in gameplay, I'd say once they realized compromises needed to be made to work on the average 2004 computer and the X-Box which released a year later, as a result they had to limit the gameplay possibilites, if you've ever played any other source engine Half Life like the episodes or stuff like Minerva you'd realize that the engine could make fun gameplay utilizing the advanced physics and AI and such but the tech just didn't allow the full potential.

>>389630826
>Half-Life was made with Japanese game design principles.
lmao

>>389630826
>weeb trying to claim a masterpiece

embarrassing

>>389630826
>Half-Life was made with Japanese game design principles.
Jesus Christ /v/

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>>389630826
>Half-Life was made with Japanese game design principles.
You've gone too far this time weebs

I'm tired of people saying the whole Freeman messiah thing.
For the first two(three if you count red letter day) levels, barely anyone recognized you outside of your black mesa co-workers and vortigaunts(who have good reason to)
Only towards the end of route canal and the one bit of water hazard do people even recognize you. And that's only after alyx tells people about you over the radio. They don't really view you as a messiah guy until after (a week after, where you were presumably a martyr along with alyx and eli) nova prospekt, which exploded.
Then people actually have a reason to view you as a savior.

>>389629995
>So he does the same thing he did in HL1, but there are other people on his side now?
Huh? How is trying to escape a military complex the same as trying to avenge your resistance buddies by chasing the President of Earth and invading his base?

>>389630165
How many soldiers does Alyx kill, realistically? Most of the time, Gordon is the one taking down the armies of Combine. Doesn't he even infiltrate Breen's HQ alone?

>>389630529
Come on, quicksaving barely applies to gameplay. If you are being serious, does this retroactively affect the story of every NES/SNES/Genesis/etc games since now you can quicksave in them all? Oh and better add rewind/fastforward to the stories too!
That's fucking retarded.

>>389630986
>invade Nihilanths base
>kill him
>save Earth

>invade Citadel
>kill Breen
>save Earth

hmmmm

>>389630826
Kill yourself with Japanese principles.

>>389627021
>Another World came out in 1991, jackass.
And? Cinematic platformers were never wildly popular. They were mainstream enough because of their realism and mechanics, but they didn't dominate the entire platformer genre. In fact, they were quite the opposite.

Half-Life 2 arrived in an FPS market that had already fully moved to the conventions that Half-Life 1 brought to the genre, and Half-Life 2 pushed FPS games even MORE toward story-driven experiences with incidental FPS gameplay instead of FPS games with a companion story.

>>389626072
>>389626569
>>389627204
>>389629081
HL1's weapons were ass, don't kid yourself. They all felt floaty and clumsy as shit, and the sound quality was overly primitive and distorted as hell. Only the pistol was superior to its HL2 counterpart. The rest?
>shotgun with literally no kick whatsoever; the OpForce version having a garbled square wave as a "gunshot"
>assault rifle sounds like an aluminum can being tossed around and the "recoil" feels like waggling a Wiimote
>grenades have the physics of hallowed out foam
>rest are a bit better since they don't have superior equivalents but they're so poorly balanced you hardly ever use them anyway

>>389630618
>But if you play HL1 and HL2 side-by-side, surely you would notice the amount of time you are made to stand and listen to NPCs having conversations. If you timed the gameplay sections vs the story sections, the ratios would be wildly different.
I'd say HL2 has maybe 40 minutes more of cutscenes? Red Letter Day is ~12 minutes of cutscene. Black Mesa East is ~10 minutes of cutscene. These are taken from quick glances at Youtube videos. According to HowLongToBeat.com, Half-Life 2 is about an hour longer than HL1. So ultimately you're not losing any gameplay and the cutscenes are just for flavor. If you don't have ADHD you should be fine. Plus none of the cutscenes are as uninteresting as HL1's tram ri[LOADING]de which sorta drag[LOADING]ged on.

>>389630826
>Half-Life was made with Japanese game design principles.
ZugZug

>>389626072
The weapons feel better in HL2

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>>389625943
Must say, even tho I've started with hl2 and was a big fan of it, hl1 has really got me more. Atmosphere in Black Mesa was perfect, never gets dull. You can play as Shepard, Barney or even a bloody vortigaunt and it's still a pleasure to see familiar walls. Can't even remember how many mods I've tried just to make this experience longer.
That said, remastered version of hl1 that is "Black Mesa" didn't had this kind of heart in it and I cannot say that it's better than hl2 with Xen or without it.

>>389629818
Nope, HL2 already fucked it up in the first place.

>>389629826
I don't really understand your point, mate

>>389630627
I'm not taking the story seriously; everyone who's telling me how amazing HL2's story is. Part of HL1's greatness is it doesn't burden you with it's story.
Also, maybe try to get better standards.

>how about we try to explain how completely impossible the architecture of black mesa is or the fact that there's always exactly one path to go and it's always to where you need to be going
See, this is the exact bullshit that HL2 started. In HL1 it DOESN'T MATTER. You are just trying to get out. In HL2, they shove it down your throat every 5 minutes, so these plotholes and bad writing become obvious as fuck.

Replaying HL1 on a pacifist run on hard at the moment and this game is hard as FUCK.

>>389631313
Surely there's some killing required

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This gun is the best gun.
>that smooth reload
>that bassy 'kablam'
>deletes most enemies in one or 2 shots
Sold me the moment I started OpFor.

>>389630618
There's litteraly no gameplay changes between HL1 and 2

>sperging out about walking sims
?????
You already looks retarded enough

>>389630165
How many hands do antlions have? Check mate, atheists.

>>389631363
I just made it to the part where you run past the guards complaining about "All I know is that hes been killing all of my buddies" and the area right before the rocket launch is damn near impossible, but so far I haven't shot a single bullet or hit an enemy with the crowbar.

It's extremely doable, just required a lot of reloading and tight situations where you are surrounded by 8 enemies and have to find a way to finesse running through all of them at the same time without dying.

>>389631405
>There's litteraly no gameplay changes between HL1 and 2
weapons in HL2 are shit
they force you to use the gravity gun by giving you 1/4 the ammo
tons of brainless gimmicks which make every level feel like 'that level' instead of just straight up FPSing

>>389631468
not to mention the shoehorned boat/buggy sequences

>>389627947
>being an invincible killing machine in first game
>second game setting is Ibiza holidays because after all players wants Gordon to be an human with depth

Don't ever make videogames
Don't ever talk about videogames again

>>389631468
At least ABH was fun?

>>389631468
>tfw preferred weapon was gravity gun with a saw blade
Its just so hood

>>389630914
Doesn't change the fact that the aim of the game is to save the world. For the second time. And Gordon, a single man, manages to take on the Combine army and infiltrate the HQ of the most powerful man in the world.

Kind of different from random scientist hiding in air vents from strange Lovecraftian creatures.

>>389631027
Except that wasn't the aim of the game. That wasn't Gordon's motivation. Your motivation was simply to survive and escape, the rest of the story takes a backseat to that gameplay.

And having the protagonist save the world twice is way more ridiculous.

>>389631464
They do eat a lot of people, probably a hand or two in their stomachs.

HL1 has a stronger focus on gameplay and level design. Basically Quake with a story.

HL2 expanded on that story, creating a more linear, atmospheric experience. Which it succeeded at.

People seem to like to dismiss HL2 pretty quickly, but forget it has some great segments like the antlion assault on Nova Prospekt or the bridge.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcDyJBjvcc8

>>389631518
Why don't you like the vehicles, sempai?

>>389631697
Good point.

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>>389631468
Come on, man, good chunk of weapons are pretty half-assed in both games. At least shotgun has a better feel in hl2 (still far from perfection that is Doom's shotgun, but non the less).

>>389631750
Those parts were either too linear or killed the flow. The fact that majority of the game takes place on surface doesn't help either, or maybe that's just me because I'm sucker for esthethic underground facilities with acid pools and other hazards.

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>>389630986
>quicksaving is the reason why HL2 story suck
Deep into the autism spectrum
This guy just litteraly took a game mechanic and is justifying something that has nothing at all to do with it
It's like saying the sound design is shit because you have to crouchjump

>>389631170
This. I don't understand what the fuck you underage niggers are talking about, HL1 weapons have always been shit.
>Pistol sounds like ass and takes half a second to fire, yet this equivalent of the wimpy Doom pistol somehow manages to be one of the best weapons in this game for lack of competition
>SMG is only good for the grenade launcher, using the primary fire only tickles the enemy and is suicide against anything faster than a headcrab zombie
>Shotgun is only effective with point blank secondary fire head shots and fires so slowly it's only good against single enemies
>Grenade takes a year to throw
HL2 does all of these better

>>389631748
Damn, I really have forgot the ambient of hl2, good stuff.

>>389625943
But it isn't.

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>>389631824
>Those parts were either too linear
Just as linear as every other part.
>or killed the flow
They're meant to change the pace. You might want to explain further.

>>389631395
>>that bassy 'kablam'
What I find weird is that Doom 3 pistol uses the same sound but it sounds like shit in D3.

>>389631927
It's a stock sound I've heard randomly before, must've been enhanced a little for HL.

HL2 jerks off Gordon just a little too much at times but it's always moderated by how it openly mocks your lack of any real choice and how you're not a free man at all.
It's the difference between what the civilian NPCs think of him and the reality that nobody except the player has accepted.

>>389631170
>HL1's weapons were ass, don't kid yourself.
Even if that's true (and it's not, HL2's main weapon felt like a pea-shooter), gunplay isn't just about gun feel.
Another big issue with HL2 that we haven't brought up is the AI. As primitive as they seem now, the soldiers in HL1 were actually quite advanced and could adapt to different situations, all while communicating with each other. It really felt like fighting a soldier. Compare that to the dumber HL2 Combine.
Add to this the lack of enemy variety compared to HL1, and gimmick segments (e.g. boat sections), and the gameplay seems obviously inferior. Much of those design decisions being due to story, of course.

>>389632069
>the soldiers in HL1 were actually quite advanced

Anything that's scripted can be advanced.

>Hurr, HL1 was good because of the shooting, the most mediocre aspect of the game
I'm too old for this place

>>389631657
>Except that wasn't the aim of the game.
The aim of the game changes from simply running away, trying to escape Black Mesa to getting told you need to get to Xen and kill Nihilanth to save the world.
The same way in HL2 in the beginning you're just trying to get away from the cops and not die, later helping some reistance and saving Alyx/Eli from the Citade.

>>389632067
Character agency is a stupid point of controversy for a linear game.

>>389631465
>It's extremely doable
only thing i can think of is just bhopping around everything, i assume you do that?

>>389632196
No your just too sensible.

>>389631185
>I'd say HL2 has maybe 40 minutes more of cutscenes?
I'll take your word for it.
40 minutes EXTRA is a fucking lot of time to be doing NOTHING. Considering all the down-time already inherent in the real gameplay, adding even more to that starts detsroying the gameplay flow. And all of this time is sacrificed for a pretty mediocre story.
What if you want to play the actual game? Well, you can't. At least the tram parts of HL1 had a function, in that they allowed for loading while also giving the player a spatial awareness of the environment.

At least we got a conclusion to the story

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLyJP_nH5Cs

>>389631605
can't argue with that, sailing over the entire map as someone is telling you to get in the buggy is fun as fuck, surviving the massive drops by landing on the edge of the sea

>>389631405
>There's litteraly no gameplay changes between HL1 and 2
Yeah, except for
>cutscenes every 5 minutes
>inferior AI
>inferior weaponry
>forced tech demo sections
>less enemy types

>>389626879
How many fucking walking simulators are you playing dipshit? Calm the fuck down.

>>389632467
don't forget about the long empty airboat/car sections.

Driving killed HL2 for me.
Loved HL1 just run and gun all game.

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>>389632069
>the soldiers in HL1 were actually quite advanced and could adapt to different situations, all while communicating with each other
The soldiers were literally only scripted to attack you two at a time while the rest barked dialogue like 'Flanking!' and ran to a random destination.

>>389630618
Pong isn't the first sports game you moron.

>>389632069
>HL2's main weapon felt like a pea-shooter
if you're conflating "most common ammo type" with "the MAIN WEAPON I MUST USE" you might be a little confused. re-read >>389627021 >>389627630

>>389632531
>>389632569
elaborate

>>389632467
>inferior AI
The AI of the second game is great, it was just used really poorly.

>>389632340
You're defending the tram ride. You've lost all credibility. We know it was to load. It isn't bringing up spatial awareness if it's a narrow hallway for the most part you idiot.

>>389632616
>Only two soldiers out of every "squad" can attack at any one moment in time, due to the slot-based squad AI system possessing only two attack slots. Soldiers either rapidly exchange slots to achieve massed fire, or are broken up into small squads of just a handful of soldiers each, despite appearances implying larger teams. Similarly, only one soldier can toss a grenade at any one time, and this will temporarily prevent soldiers in the squad from throwing grenades again.
wiki on Combine soldiers

>>389631562
The fuck are you talking about?
So to you the only valid stories are about saving the world?
I'd be happy with a HL2 where Gordon is part of a resistance, but not the fucking saviour. Maybe he makes a small but meaningful contribution to a small community on the edge of survival, or maybe he decides to protect his scientist friends and keep them alive.

Or, get this, leave Gordon out of this and base HL2 around a new character. Then you get to keep the essence of what made HL1 (and OpFor and Blue Shift) so enjoyable, instead of sacrificing all that so you can have a generic "nerd saves the world" self-insert shitshow.

See, it wasn't that hard was it?

>>389632761
Wow, that's pretty weird.

>>389632158
>>389632616
Not that anon, but must say that it's still better than totally braindead combine. Hl2 felt like a shooting gallery more than anything.

>>389632761
>Similarly, only one soldier can toss a grenade at any one time
Literally the only difference and most likely a balance change due to the larger relative enemy count, the HL1 soldiers would all immediately start pelting you with grenades the moment you left LoS.

>>389632824
>Make an AI to work on an arena
>Put all your NPCs in corridors
>It doesn't work
Valve is retarded

>>389631838
That's what the other guy is saying. I'm saying how retarded that is.

>>389632158
The unscripted AI was more advanced than HL2's

>>389632224
>getting told you need to get to Xen and kill Nihilanth to save the world.
The last 10 minutes of the game

>later helping some reistance and saving Alyx/Eli from the Citade.
You meet the resistance literally within the first 5 minutes

>>389632196
No, HL1 is great because of atmosphere mainly. The shooting isn't that great. But HL2's is even worse, along with arguably worse atmosphere.

>>389632991
>You meet the resistance literally within the first 5 minutes
You don't help them within the first 5 minutes though, they help you and then you run

>>389632770
There's one scene that comes to mind in the game where you come across two random assholes trying to traverse the beach. One of them gets killed by antlions and his partner says he was the finest mind of his generation, and tells you to go on having no idea who you are.

It's a clear telling point that to most people in the world, you are just another person trying to survive. But you, being the player, are obviously more capable. It's only until later in the game when the resistance realizes who you are, after having spent most of the time before that point by yourself.

>>389632725
>You're defending the tram ride
It was for technical reasons, you dolt.
Whereas the EVEN MORE cutscenes in HL2 were a design choice, existing for no reason other than to force shitty writing onto the player.

That's the whole reason why they suck. Jesus Christ.

>>389632261
I don't think it's a point of controversy at all, they take an inherent limitation of a video game and turned it into a plot point

>>389633436
t. Martin "the player made me WP all those civvies" Walker

>>389632675
>The AI of the second game is great, it was just used really poorly.
So you agree it was more poorly designed than HL1? Thank you.

>>389632668
>if you're conflating "most common ammo type" with "the MAIN WEAPON I MUST USE"
Even the shitty pistol and SMG were useful in HL1. Making a handful of weapons useless just to make a point is, once agasin, detrimental to gameplay. The whole philosphy of "story is more important than gameplay" on show once again. Also
>it was bad on purpose!
Doesn't make it good.

>>389633283
>>389632340
>>389632467
The tram ride was the 'tech demo' of it's day. It was literally just 'look at this insane shit we did with the Quake engine'. The game has just aged enough that you don't see it as being a tech demo, while it's still slightly obvious with Half Life 2

>>389632616
Watch video about Vortiguant and Hound AI

>>389632631
DOES IT FUCKING MATTER

>>389632616
>The soldiers were literally only scripted to attack you two at a time while the rest barked dialogue like 'Flanking!' and ran to a random destination.
And even that was better than whatever algorithm they had running in HL2.

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>>389631395
I find it funny that the world model is more detailed than the view model.

>>389633508
You should play Minerva if you think the SMG is useless

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I like both games, they are both good and both have issues so it's pretty hard to side with any

>HL

>Weapon variety is really large, but really you mostly use a handful of them because a lack of balance make many of them either powerless or waste ammo way too quickly
>Better enemy variety but a lot of them end up being bullet sponges, still great enemies like the Black ops or Alien Controller
>Entire game is mostly maps with either two small corridors or a midget sized arena, it works well but it makes the entire game claustrophobic, even during outside section
>The AI of the game is pretty basic for most enemies, the grunts are okay but they are still pretty much suicide-bomber behavior
>Few cutscenes, most of them are to learn new mechanic although near endgame there's a long one just for story
>On A Rail, I mean, jesus fucking christ

>HL2
>A lot less weapon variety, it makes you use all of them during the whole game, but at the same time you lack the firepower you want during certain part of the game
>Less enemy variety, it's lacking but at the same time they still fit pretty well to their environment and can still represent a challenge when together (for instance fast zombie + poison zombie, or SMG Combine Soldier + Shotgun Combine Soldier)
>Most of the game are large corridors or large arena, with massive maps during the coast section, pretty nice and outside really feel like outside
>The AI of the soldiers are really great in large arenas but it was used like shit in HL2 because they are all fit in corridors, the rest of the NPCs have basic AI, although they do work in teams pretty well
>A lot of cutscenes and really the only reason I'm not bored of them is that you are still controlling your character so you can still do shit while they are talking, but it's still really weak.
>Airboat section is piss poor because only corridors, the jeep is okay, wished there were other weaponry for it

I'm with that anon. HL2 is much worse than the original. Neither have great gunplay, but HL2's gunplay crosses the line into "almost bad". I don't really like any of the new weapons.

Some anon was defending "savior of the world" storyline earlier in the thread and I guess I agree with him that it kind of works... but it's a big step down compared to the original game. In the original you had merely a plot where you figured what to do, guided by 30 second long interactions with other npcs. Here you have walking and escort sections followed by exposition dumps and setpieces. If it were "cinematic" we could at least skip the cutscenes. Because these don't pay off in a context of a great story (which is merely satisfactory on the most naive level possible), it's all basically dead weight. And these scripted sequences happen, they break the pacing. I don't know what Valve was thinking making the game this way. You have level design meticulously crafted to balance quiet time and action. But then you throw a cinematic scripted story sequence wrench into it and what was supposed to be quiet time becomes so boring due to additional unengaging story bits.

Also, Freeman is forced to be a great messiah. They were able to kind of explain it to make sense in a way, but making you a leader of a resistance after just a few hours of driving through the boring countryside (actual bad pieces of the game) is patronizing. Then you've got a multicultural team of scientits and a half-black-asian waifu they're basically forcing on you even though she's not likable one bit. It's pure wish fulfilment on the worst narrative level. I cringe when playing and it comes up.

HL2 is still an okay game, lets say a 6/10. And the original floats between 7 or 8.

>>389633970
>that was a desert eagle
holy shit i only realize it now

>>389633523
It's even more obvious to me with HL1. Half Life 2's cutscenes were either short, or full of little interactive gimmicks. Meanwhile Half Life 1 opens with 10 minutes of literally on rails cutscenes which have zero purpose other than to let you look around and look at all the pretty things they made the Quake engine do, and another 10 minutes of just hopping through an office complex.

>>389633996
Seconding that suggestion. Play Minerva on Hard, don't quicksave, learn to love the pain.

>>389634086
Make a save after the boring beginning on your first playthrough and you won't have to go thru it ever again. I agree the train ride is stupid, but I don't agree with the office complex. You can bunnyhop thru it in 3 minutes tops anyway.

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did I miss anything?

>>389634159
I know, that's the good thing about Half Life 1. Start at the resonance cascade and there's basically no cutscenes from that point onwards.

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Let's have a discussion about the objectively best HL game

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>>389634207
t. Randy Pitchfork

>>389634207
Agreed! It's so BADASS!

>>389634178
Regular soldiers can use AR2 too
Also Rebels and Medic

>>389634207
best weapons but low-tier level design

Half Life: 9/10
OpFor: 8/10
Blue Shift: 6/10
HL2: 8/10
HL2:E1: 6/10
HL2:E2: 7/10

>>389631786
shotgun in hl2 spread is fucking ridiculous, it's basically a melee weapon

>>389634178
>most of the enemies in HL2 are either enemies you fight once or twice or the same enemy with a different weapon or model.

What are you trying to prove here?

>>389634274
>HL2:E2: 7/10
U wot mate? EP2 is at least on par with HL2. Hitting Hunters with the car is great

>>389634247
Right.

>>389634302
Whoa buddy, why so defensive?

>>389634301
That's kinda the point.

>>389634207
But bro, you don't even save the world! And where are all the sick cutscenes so I can sit back and chillax?

>>389634301
It's better at range than HL1 shotgun. It's quite decent, actually.

>>389634391
>you don't even save the world
You kind of do...

>>389634274
HL2 is a better overall experience, but Episode 2 is a better game

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>>389634178

>>389634367
>Whoa buddy, why so defensive?
He's right, you know

>>389634207
>gearbox
>best anything

It had some neat weapons and fun multiplayer, that's about it

>>389634367
>>389634426
The first half of the game drags it down IMO. The antlion caves just aren't a very fun level, and neither is fighting the antlion workers. Hunters being the only other new enemy type is kind of a letdown. It also failed to address the other problems with HL2 like limited weapon variety, so the gameplay was starting to wear thin.

>>389626072
The magnum in HL2 was ridiculous fun

>>389634472
HL2 had weapon variety problems? lol what? It wasn't as excessive/gimmicky as HL1 but it's by no means restrictive.

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>>389634472
I agree with the anon. Ep1 is the only in the series that can be considered bad and HL2 isn't all that cracked up as it's pretended to be. Still, I want my Ep3.

>>389634416
>You kind of do...

Dude that is EPIC! Hey did they ever make a sequel where you can save the world again?? I would SO play that, for the win!1!!

>>389634564
Are you okay man?

>>389634051
100% agree. Most reasonable post in the thread.

hl1 has ground turrets and land mines
also has those blind tentacles

and listing combine 3 times is a bit of a stretch when they're all basically the same (hl1 soldiers had mp5/shotgun/rifle grenade variants too)

>>389634562
Ep1 isn't bad at all.
While it is too short and doesn't introduce enough new content, it does have excellent and consistently strong level design. For me, the pitch black road tunnels under City 17, the copter fight in the destructible building and the final Strider battle stand up with the best of HL2's setpieces. It also introduces the best enemy type of both episodes, the Zombine.
Consider it the Blue Shift of the HL2 games. Doesn't add much, but it's still HL2 and it knows what made the game great.

>>389625943
HL1 is game first tech second.
HL2 is tech first, client second, game third.

>>389634786
HL2's tech is an integral part of the gameplay. HL1's tech was a cutscene in the first 15 minutes that is at no point relevant again.

>>389634825
If HL2's tech was really well integrated into the game, people wouldn't be complaining about it.

>>389634750
>For me, the pitch black road tunnels under City 17, the copter fight in the destructible building and the final Strider battle stand up with the best of HL2's setpieces.
Not zombie hospital? Striders are really boring.

Zombines are good but Hunters might just be the best Half-Life enemy of all time.

>>389634606
It's alright man! Just took an arrow to the knee L O L

>>389634562
EP1 still has the pitch dark elevator segment and the hospital.

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>>389634934
>>389634750
Fair enough. I just don't like the badly lit attempts at horror in HL2. Doesn't work for me.

>>389634901
The zombie hospital was a good segment, but not something I hadn't seen before.

Striders on their own are boring, but when they're coupled with good level design they're much more interesting. The mad scramble to cross the train station to get to the RPG while soldiers harass you and the Strider blows up the scenery was one of the highlights for me.
Hunters are cool and all but I think they're kind of annoying to fight when you're not in the car. Zombines are always interesting and joyous, especially when they're in the company of other enemy types.

>>389635047
>The mad scramble to cross the train station to get to the RPG while soldiers harass you and the Strider blows up the scenery was one of the highlights for me.
I'm sorry to say but you don't remember the sequence very well. You already have RPG and there are no soldiers, only some black headcrabs. You can also kill the strider before reaching the Infinite Rocket Box, but another one will spawn immediately in its place.

>I think they're kind of annoying to fight when you're not in the car
Well, if by "kind of annoying" you mean "actually challenging and not filler like almost every other HL2 enemy" then yeah.

HL1 had more enemy variety, at least it was more apparent. When you had alien slaves made out of 10 or so polys, you had to make them count. Each enemy had very distinctive visuals, sounds and behavior: human grunts run around and bark over radio, houndeyes make fuck tons of noises and frolic like a dogs, controllers fly around, screech and throw fireballs at you.

HL2 cuts down on unique enemies. I mean sure, >>389634178 shows there are bit more types of hostile NPCs, but among them, scanners are almost glorified prop (only those in last chapters can do something, but they are almost exclusive to two maps), CP, combine soldier and combine elite are more or less same enemy, just with different HP values.

Problem with HL2 enemies is that they all fight almost same. Zombies and antlions close in for melee attacks, soldiers stay back and shoot you, while in HL you had
>hitscan alien with charging attack
>projectile alien with homing attack
>flying alien who could compensate for your running
>soldiers could use smg-mounted grenade launcher for a nasty ambushes
Zombine was step in right direction, but they botched balance and made suicidal enemy also most beefy of them all bar poison zombie. It should have been more squishy, but also more trigger happy, maybe even able to lob grenades. Antlion worker, on other hand, was fucking ass. People say it's bullsquid with another skin, but it's fucking bullshit, because bullsquids charge you for a powerful melee attacks which also send player flying around, while worker does nothing like this.

Honestly, I wish HL1 enemies made a comeback. I liked fighting aliens, gargs were fun mini-bosses (unlike Antlion "Move to invalidate it's existence" Guard), and tentacles were good too, especially once you learn they use hearing to locate their prey. Oh yeah, >>389634178, you forgot tentacles. I think we can consider them enemy too, if we consider tripmines as such.

>>389625943
lel

had to drop this game so hard. What is the point of the rifle its like a pistol with a giant mag and shooting speed. You have to literally expose yourself to kill the bullet sponge enemies and you can't do things like get head shots. Only the shot gun makes sense because you can shoot and take cover before they can do anything about it. Maybe if you could peak corners. fps mechanics don't hold up at all.

>>389634934
>>389635047
>>389634901
>zombie hospital
>shotgun duo with Alyx
>clearing rooms
>music is timed just right where the combat stops and you fall into the basement just as the song is starting to end

So good. I'd relaunch EP1 just to play that part again.

>>389635159
>but they botched balance and made suicidal enemy also most beefy of them all
That's exactly what makes zombine good, you can't just kill them easily like regular zombies.

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>>389635159
there we go. also added snarks.
scanners are definitely enemies. they tell striders where you are and can blind you for a couple seconds, which can fuck you up in a couple levels.

>>389635131
I just finished the game, I remember it fairly well.
There are two spots at which Combine soldiers appear to stop you, The first is when you first go between the freight containers. The second is when you hop between the train tracks and two soldiers drop in front of you. It's at the same time that the strider destroys another freight container overhead, dumping a bunch of explosive barrels behind them.
I don't know about destroying it early, on my difficulty setting 3 rockets wasn't enough.

>>389635159
Zombies were too easy in general. Having a Zombine charge at you with a grenade in hand is a frantic rush to get out the gravity gun and pluck the thing from its talons or get far enough back that he can't hit you. I love Zombine.

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>>389635253
what a shitty reason to drop a game

>>389635420
Oh, that means I goofed up! I replayed it a year or so ago, I think. Blame it on my poor memory.
>3 rockets wasn't enough
Striders don't only take damage from rockets. You need 7 rockets on Hard IIRC, but you can also lob primed grenades with a gravity gun (just make a save before trying), use SMG grenades and AR2 alt-fire. Combine (heh) all of that and you can kill one strider without any additional rockets.

>>389635496
nigga the fps mechanics is like 90% of the game

>>389635549
I thought the two grenade types might have worked, even if regular grenades seemed impractical. Never new about the AR2.

>>389627171
people like you shit on anything

>>389635652
It's pretty easy to test since striders have that animation/sound when they take damage, they kind of crouch and wail.

Also, well, it's the same energy balls you use to kill them in Citadel segment.

>>389635621
>1 weapon doesnt work well
>drop game

good on you

>>389634978
I don't think Lowlife in Ep1 was horror, more like it used lighting to make a new obstacle for you to fight with, since flashlight is limited and inhibits your sprint, "primed" gravgun (I mean, while holding something heavy and ready to brick another enemy) covers part of screen, and flares have tendency to be launched all around, and also you can't carry them around as you can other supplies.
I guess it kinda leans on horror, but main idea was simply lack of lighting.

>>389635131
Huh. I replayed Ep1 just yesterday and wondered what would happen if I arsed to kill strider early with mines and grenades.
Also, I think by annoying hunters he means that they don't let you catch a breath most of time, just attack over and over. I don't remember well, but weren't they devised as new and upgraded assassin from HL1? I kinda wish they were more jumpy, so you had to mind rooftops and elevations more.

>>389635292
>>389635420
Well, I don't say they are bad at all. Main point for me is that they take double barrel in face and don't even flinch (they can even go on with attack, just shudder a bit god damn it. Also, you can shoot grenade out of their hands too, it's quicker, but riskier since they usually just fall on ground, not fly away.

Am I the only one who likes Water Hazard?

>>389635860
They are too tanky, that's true.

>>389635860
>they don't let you catch a breath most of time
Why should they? They're a top tier enemy.
>Main point for me is that they take double barrel in face and don't even flinch
The point of zombines isn't just being suicide bombers a-la Serious Sam's beheaded kamikaze. The grenade is their last attempt at killing you, but apart from it they're also tough and can put on a burst of speed, which combines with their grenade attack to make them challenging. If they weren't tough they wouldn't have an opportunity to use the grenade.

>>389635728
>killing the citadel strider
>not just running past him

>>389635891
water hazard is very good. top notch atmosphere. i love how floppy and slidey the boat is.

>>389636041
>leaving enemies alive
what is wrong with you

>>389635728
>>389636041
I don't remember having to kill a strider in the citadel. I remember the synths walking past underneath, but I don't remember any moment when they were aggressive.

>>389635891
There's no redeeming qualities about Water Hazard, it's only interesting the first play through.

At least Highway 17 has stuff like the bridge and the crane.

>>389631657
>Kind of different from random scientist hiding in air vents from strange Lovecraftian creatures.
You mean that random scientist, that survived battles with alien fauna, US marines, alien soldiers, sexy cyborgs, helicopters, giant snake woodpeckers, 20 feet tall living tanks, angry minivan-sized ballsack and giant flying psychic baby?

>>389636106
There's a long and very high corridor and a strider moves in to kill you from the other end. There are columns of light with energy balls on the sides so you can kill it, there is also stuff you can grab with GG to shield yourself.

>>389636147
The barn was neat, and I still maintain that revolver battle is the best combat encounter in HL2.

>>389634515
yeah because it was basically the same as hl1 magnum

>>389636259
Oh yes I remember now, yeah I just ran right past that fucker. I didn't know you could fight him and I don't see a reason to.

>>389636315
>I don't see a reason to.
It is an enemy. It must die.

>>389636252
Yeah, that's the one

>>389636147
Holy shit dude, if you don't like the airboat just say
"I don't like the air boat"
Don't be a condescending hipster prick going,
"There are no redeeming qualities about--"
Fuck. facts vs opinions. /v/ abuses the English language.

>>389636259
What encounter are you talking about?

>>389636252
This. Things Gordon has done in HL1 surpass stuff he does in HL2.

>>389636373
In a moderately heavily scripted game like Half Life 2, it just made sense to run past an enemy I thought I had lost all opportunity to harm.

>>389636252
>You mean that random scientist, that survived battles with alien fauna, US marines, alien soldiers, sexy cyborgs, helicopters, giant snake woodpeckers, 20 feet tall living tanks, angry minivan-sized ballsack and giant flying psychic baby?
Still less ridiculous than it happening TWICE

>>389636441
he's right, the airboat level is boring after the first play through, although most HL2 levels are

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>>389636441
>What encounter are you talking about?
I think he's talking about this

>>389636617
Most of Half Life 2's levels hold up.
The airboat level doesn't have all the optional areas and clever setpieces that Highway 17 does, which is why it doesn't turn out as well.

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>>389636715
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg8lJMWBbdI

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>>389636951
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVTxM_CzgDU

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Post your favorite weapon from the series

>>389636951
>>389637107
I like that Half-Life uses its music sparingly. It makes each track more memorable.

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>>389637124


>>389637169
Each track gets associated with a particular encounter. It makes each moment that much more memorable.

So Combine etc happened because of the resonance cascade. Resonance cascade was caused by experimenting with xen crystals. So these Xen Crystals originated on the Xen Border world. But nowhere was mentioned where these xen crystals were obtained, why would there be xen crystals on earth later found by the scientists of black mesa? Is this a plothole or explained somewhere? Because without the xen crystals which somehow mysteriously appeared on Earth all of this would not have happened.

>>389637413
GMan was involved.

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>>389637221
>not the gluon gun
>mfw saving energy to delete those bee shooting assholes instantly
>still mfw dumping the lot on nihalanth and cracking his head open just from that

>>389637413
>When he brought in that crystal I knew I... I should have aborted that damned test. I didn't.

>>389637481
I just love the knockback. It's especially fun in multiplayer.

>>389637481
Oh man I barely had any energy to use the tau cannon, why'd they add in the gluon gun? Weapon bloat, mang. Was never able to grasp the damage values of either gun, making rare ammo have less bang.

>>389636441
>What encounter are you talking about?
The one where you get the revolver, fight Metrocops through a small maze of containers while a helicopter blasts you from above, defend in a warehouse from a metrocop/manhack attack, then go on top of some tower and use pulse machinegun to fend off the heli. It's just so dynamic and neat.

>>389636485
>not always trying to kill an enemy at least for half an hour before giving up

>>389637628
especially fun in Half-Life Source when the hitboxes are a meter behind the player

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>>389636485
...are you saying that if the game was less scripted you would have stay put and thought you had to kill it? that doesn't make any sense

>>389636951
I love this part specially in Synergy, I don't know why, but I love it.

>>389628378
>you could project your own personality onto him
I appreciated this in HL1. But they ruined this in HL2 by making the other characters comment on him being mute.

>>389637413
Xen crystals weren't explicitly used for teleportation tech. That's why you were analyzing them in Anomalous Materials instead of Lambda. It stands to reason teleportation is commonplace in Xen, and its crystals are a major component of that. If Lambda could initially form a pre-crystal portal to Xen, the material gathered there could be researched and a more powerful/stable portal could be developed.

>>389637702
>not noting the most efficient way of killing enemies while you play
>vorts, dogs, squid and those floating fags get a revolver from the distance or shotgun up close
>grunts get a crossbow or revolver to the head from stealth or a smg magdump up close or a single grenade when grouped
>crabs get the pistol
>tanks get the rpg
>xen solders get the tau, gluon or crossbow or explosives from out of sight

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This video was comfy as fuck to watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iu4GXUHfU0

>>389638098

So teleportation on a small scale to the Xen Border World was established before? They gathered the material this way?

>>389638089
>other characters comment on him being mute
literally the only instance where this happens in HL2 and episodes is right at the beginning when you first meet Alyx she says "man of a few words, aren't ya"

>>389637807
If you'll allow me to play doubles advocate for a second here, the guy probably assumed that being a story-intensive game, certain enemy encounters in context are more window dressing to be avoided and move on than challenged.

>>389638089
this never really happened, aside from the short moments of dialogue where they sort of pause and in the first moment you meet alyx (where it makes sense for her to notice you being mute because you're meeting for the first time). honestly if you get hung up about this miniscule type of stuff it's pretty ridiculous

>>389638204
>So teleportation on a small scale to the Xen Border World was established before?
Yes.
>They gathered the material this way?
Sample used in anti-mass spectrometer experiment was delivered by G-Man

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>>389637124
I liked the PS2 Deathmatch version of the crossbow, that has explosive bolts.

>>389638359
that's in all versions of deathmatch

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Fucking black mesa is so good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EUbf4jvQ-4

I CANNOT WAIT FOR XEN AT END OF THIS YEAR.

>>389638390
I didn't know. I've only played the PS2 version of Half Life multiplayer.

>>389637413
black mesa had been to xen plenty of times before the start of half life, the experiment just made portals appear everywhere uncontrollably

>>389638306

Thx for clearing that up.

>>389638204
>So teleportation on a small scale to the Xen Border World was established before?
did you even play the game? did you not notice the cages full of xen animals to be experimented on, and all the dead people in hazard suits in xen?

>>389638415
it just looks like a coral reef

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>>389638415
>replayed all of HL2
>playing through mods
>going to do Portal next
>finishing with Black Mesa
>when I never even bothered DLing the mod
fuck yeah.

how does the mod handle kleiner/eli/barney though? and who voices gman? did they get any of the original guys?

>>389638465
No problem, if you have any more questions, go for it.

>>389638415
Did Xen come out already?

>>389638519

I last played half life 1 like 10 years ago.

>>389638597
>how does the mod handle
Its a full game bro
http://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
Idk if they got the original VAs but who ever they got did a damn fine job.

>>389638771
It was fan made that basically ported it from HL1. This is the official which is remaking it in total http://steamcommunity.com/games/362890/announcements/

>>389638673

After Episode 2 the combine are no threat anymore because they cant get back to earth? Epistle 3 just shows that the Borealis is destroyed in the end so the combine cant research Teleport in the same Dimension and that the Combine could never be defeated and it is better to "hide" from them?
Only problem left are the remaining forces of the combine on earth?

>>389639079
Yes, basically Earth is safe for now, unless the Combine find out some other way to get to us/someone from our causes another resonance cascade or something like that.

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>>389639252
Safe, but only for now. You can bet your ass Combine will be coming or be ready once they find a chance to come back.

It feels more compact. I prefer Black Mesa over the post apocalyptic setting of HL2, but that's pretty subjective.

>>389639252

Then there is a chance that Freeman wakes up on a Beach on an Earth succesfully 'hiding' from the combine and a Happy End is possible? The other possibility is that he wakes up and runs into a combine occupied Earth. So its up to the player to decide wether this is a Happy or a Bad Ending?

Sorry for asking so much questions but its nice to hear the opionion of someone who clearly understands the story.

>>389639079
Pretty sure the Combine can come back whenever they want at some cost in time and energy. They've got one way interdimensional warping and two way once they get a Citadel up.
It's probably just a matter of whether they care or not, depending on if they realize there's nothing left to recover on the Borealis and whether they're grudge holding assholes.

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Half-life 2 is utter fucking garbage

>>389639568
Go play Doom you ADHD-riddled adolescent.

>>389639528

But even with the speed of light it can take millions of years to reach other Galaxies. So without same dimensional teleportation they just cant get back in time.

>>389639473
Yes, as of now it's up to you to decide, but don't forget that Laidlaw had written it in a way where he concluded his arcs, but left it somewhat open ended so another writer can continue with his own stuff.

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>>389639629
Good thing Valve doesn't have writers anymore and a great thing Half-Life VR won't be anything but a stupid spinoff. HL3, hopefully, never.

>>389639604
Yeah because seeing this every time you replay the game is an absolute blast.

How do you even breathe?

>>389639679
>Fallout
Is this a joke or am I missing something?

>>389639629

So basically we can all die in peace now regarding the half life story.

>>389639709
new vegas is the true fallout 3

>>389639625
The Combine aren't from this universe. They don't same dimensional teleportation to get here.

>>389639709
I dont get it either, Fallout 3 or NV are not the third game.

>>389639679
>Far Cry 3
Ehhh.

>>389639763
Tictacs and BoS are spin-offs, Van Buren was Fallout 3 but it didn't come out.

>>389639762

but at least they need a portal on the other end (earth) and IF humanity destroyes the citadels and dont let a 2nd resonance cascade happen Earth is safe.

>>389639709
To most people, Fallout 1/2 are basically the same game they've never played, Tactics/BoS don't exist, Fallout 3 is technically the second game. This, NV is the practical third game.

>>389639819
>>389639763
Yeah but its still not the third game
Same goes with Pretty much all the games on that list but Witcher 3

>>389634207
best alien weapons
>dat sewer foxtrot uniform level
>g-man

shit was so cash man

>>389639684
If you replay it several times in quick succession then yes, it can get pretty annoying.
I replay HL2 and episodes roughly once a year and I don't get annoyed by them.

>>389625943
hl1 is a game
hl2 is a techdemo to sell source engine licenses

>>389639967
Well technically FO3 is the third game, but some people don't like it. Can't blame them myself.

>some people actually prefer HL2 despite it being the only game with 'badass sidekick' Alyx present

It's not even a contest. She was insufferable in 2004 and that was even when the graphics were somewhat impressive.

>>389625943
Because they both introduced something new but different.

With Half-Life, it was the seamless level transitions, rather than going through portals in some hub world. This meant that the game was developed as a single, unbroken adventure and that's something that doesn't change with time. The game will always remain as good as it was when it came out.

With Half-Life 2, it was the physics. Which, at the time, were ground breaking mind you. This is a technical innovation, and technology ages extremely poorly. Far more advanced physics engines have been made since and now it's taken for granted that physics function realistically in any game where they exist.

>>389631923
did vinny get that painting?

>>389631657
>Except that wasn't the aim of the game. That wasn't Gordon's motivation. Your motivation was simply to survive and escape, the rest of the story takes a backseat to that gameplay.
No, not it wasn't. At first your objective was "get to surface and ask for help". Then you come across the military who are trying to kill everyone and you run away. After that, a scientist tells you to go to the Lambda Complex to get this whole mess fixed. And that's your motivation through the rest of the game until you do reach the Lambda Complex and another scientist tells you to find the being keeping the portals opened and kill it.
So yeah, Gordon was aiming to save the world, not escaping. This isn't Freeman's Mind, man.

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HL2ep3 was the first time Valve could've made a really amazing setpiece and tie it in with story and genuine emotional catharsis in the series. Yet we never got it.

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>>389640416
>Gman directly face to face with Freeman
>without taking the liberty of relieving him of his government property

>>389640394
Nah, man. You're describing what happened. Gordon was a blank slate. Wanting to escape is no less genuine of a motivation than anything else. Going to the Lambda Complex and doing stuff happened more because there was no way out (as Freeman's Mind correctly points out during the playthrough multiple times) than because you didn't want to escape. Which I'm not claiming you did, just that it's on equal ground with what you're saying.

>>389640239
>Far more advanced physics engines have been made since
no they've pretty much remained the same since half life 2

>>389640239
I don't think Half Life 2's technology has aged very much at all.
The physics plays into the gameplay perfectly well. The gravity gun is versatile and has a wide variety of emergent uses. You can pick up and punt props of course, but you can also pluck Manhacks from the air and launch them into enemies to dice them up. Or you can lob grenades back at enemies, or you can build makeshift platforms and cover... It doesn't feel gimmicky purely because of how much opportunity there is to be inventive.
The lighting technology is also great. I think this comes through best in the tunnels section of Episode 1, when you have to sparingly set fore to zombies with explosives so you can see without your flashlight running out.
The facial animation technology is still as impressive as ever. Most games coming out today have less expressive characters. With the exception of Kleiner's Lab and Black Mesa East, the "cutscenes" are all rather short - and those two instances have rooms full of interactive objects and hidden dialogue, so I think it's unfair to criticize them for being boring when there are a lot of discoverables.

Half Life 1's first 20 minutes were a tech demo, and it was a tech demo that was practically unrelated to the rest of the game. Half Life 2 was also a tech demo, but they actually used it to improve the game rather than being set dressing.

I wish v had told me not to play in hard difficulty. It doesn't make the game more fun or challenging just more tedious. Enemies just become bullet sponges.

>>389640759
Yer doing it wrong. HL2 on hard is how it is meant to be played. You learn to not use the SMG especially in close range. The shotgun and magnum are your new best friends.

>>389640823
I'm talking about 1

>>389640870
I don't remember if I played HL1 on hard or not, so uh, stick with the prod.

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>>389640528
It's a civil war and the government has fallen. There's nobody he could return the property to.

>>389640823
>HL2 on hard is how it is meant to be played.
>You learn to not use the SMG
SMG is actually decently effective. Shotgun is kind of better, though.

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reminder that HL1 and HL2 brought absolutely nothing to the FPS table and innovated completely nothing despite what valvefriends say

>>389626569
>Fewer cutscenes
>cutscenes
>half life

ah...

>>389641727
Fewer situations where you're stuck in a room listening to people talk

in half life 1 you can do double duck and stuff

>>389640239
>Far more advanced physics engines have been made since and now it's taken for granted that physics function realistically in any game where they exist.
Ahahahhaha where?
Technology hasn't progressed since Half Life 2 at all.

>>389641810
uh, that's true.

>>389629649
You type in such a cringey and condescending way it's actually disgusting.

>>389642405
cringe

>>389630618
I don't know why everyone is shitting on this guy over and over. Half Lofe 2 inspired many games that wanted to emulate it. And the focus on story in Half Life 2 was extremely influential across all games in the medium.

This guy isn't wrong, you're all just picking out semantics and attacking minor flaws in his argument. Everyone needs to stop sperging out just because someone has an opinion that is valid and different from there own.

>>389625943
Better platforming
No gimmicks

>>389634562
I just played Episode 1 and Episode 2 for the first time last week, and while the latter blows the former out of the water, Episode 1 isn’t a bad game at all.

HL>HL2>EP2>EP1, I think, but EP2 comes close to HL2 for me. I think I would have liked EP3 more than HL2.

>>389643079
Episodes really improved upon already great HL2. There could've been like 8 episodes now, each better than the last, if Valve weren't fucking retarded faggots.

>>389640206
If I remember correctly, she is mostly present in episodes. In original Half-life, you met and fought alongside her a few times, but most of the game, you were alone. But you are right, she was insufferable. That's what made me enjoy the alone times even more.

>>389644164
What's so bad about Alyx though? I don't have problem with her.

>>389631170
>assault rifle sounds like an aluminum can being tossed around and the "recoil" feels like waggling a Wiimote
>assault rifle
AHAHAHAHHAHAH SOURCEFAGGOT

>>389644164
and in Half Life 1 she's not present at all, which is another reason why it's the better game.

>>389627021
>This is a time-tested idea for weapon balance
That's a fucking awful idea. Every weapon should have its own niche and use, creating things that are intentionally junk is garbage design.

someone post that screenshot with vending machine, tilefloor and neon light please i cant find it

>>389644353
the weapons do have a use. ammo is not infinite. pistol is useful for long-range spam. SMG is okay when you really need to destroy someone in your face, since one magazine is enough to madly spray down a combine soldier (since you'll be missing half the shots, michael j.).
the pistol's rapid pop pop pop as you mash the left mouse is really satisfying. i like it.

>>389644323
>SOURCEFAGGOT
HD models predate HL Source, though, and are enabled by default in Steam version of original HL.

>>389625943
HL1s maps are better, larger variety of weapons, larger variety of enemies, larger variety of environments, enemy AI actually works and isn't meant to be beaten by people who take the same turn into a loop for two hours straight.

The gravity gun destroyed a lot of the potential for HL2 as it's clear that it became a design crutch.

>>389644623
aw fuck
I knew I was getting something wrong but I couldn't place it
guess im the fag now

>>389644531

>>find ceiling traps
>>switch to pistol

every fucking time....

also

>>find ceiling traps
>>feed them a barrel
>>switch to pistol for those 3 shots JUST at the right time

>>389644271
I just can't stand her personality. And then there is that stunt she would have done if Episode 3 was released.

>>389644623
I actually like almost all of the HD versions that Blue Shift came with and made standard.

Except the snark. Classic Snark is best Snark. I was genuinely upset when HL2 had no Snarks or any other great alien weapons.

>>389644271
Forced companion. Cringe-worthy dialogue and flirting despite Gordon being mute. Honestly I wonder how people can like her, as a game-play addition or otherwise.

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>>389644872
>toss a grenade at their tongue
>miss
erry tim

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>>389626072
>That revolver sound

>>389625943
Sven Co-op

>>389626072
>has weapons that don't feel like fucking pea-shooters
nigga what, i fucking love HL1 but half of the weapons are absolute dogshit