Found Episode 1 brilliant myself. Much, much shorter than I was expecting but brilliant nonetheless and, together, HL2 and HL2 Ep 1 are pretty close to perfection in my eyes. The weapons, the levels, the design, the set-pieces, the pacing, the scope, the scale, the cutscenes, the dialogue, the story, it's all beautifully realised and seamlessly woven together. And I'll say it again but, to my mind, it wipes the floor with Halo in just about every way and, unlike Halo, it doesn't try to be cool, it is cool. I've not had this much enjoyment, been so absorbed or found it so difficult to switch a game off at night for a long, long time. Can't wait to start Episode 2.
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I'm finding Ep 1 to be hard going. Not so much difficult - just boring. Just managed to get outside so maybe we'll see improvement.Comment
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Well, the last two chapters of Episode 1 are certainly the best and I think you'll enjoy them.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the music in my praise of the series. It's brilliant and really helps create a unique and evocative atmosphere.Comment
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This is gaming and story telling at its finest, it really is , and is the best gaming pack ever ! , This is perfection , there's just no other words for it .
It feels like you're taking part in a film , at times it feels so real its unreal, you could swear the game is a living and breathing world , I don't think any games comes close to Creating such a atmosphere .
I was showing the game off to a mate , and even he was pretty much drawn into the game and said its Incredible and he’s usually not one for FPS.Comment
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The problem with HL2 is that a lot of it is boring, because in essence a lot of it is Half Life 1 in a different setting. The combat engine is incredibly old and the weapons (at least at the start) are snoozeworthy (pistol - machine gun - magnum - yawn). Having to actually select grenades from a weapon list felt old three years ago. Now it is positively archaic. Which means that unless something amazing is happening on screen, the combat engine can't deliver. In Halo, you can have fun against a group of enemies in a simple straight corridor.
Also, I believe a lot of the appeal three years ago came from the physics (even though Psi-Ops beat it to the punch and the claim from Gabe Newell that 'wood behaves like wood, metal behaves like metal' is complete bollocks) but now the physics are not that special.
It does make it's mark in th big set pieces and this is where Valve excel, however there is always a whole lot of more pedestrian combat to deal with in between. In both Half Life games, there is far to much wheat to chaff. Whether it be the office levels in HL1 or the sewers in HL2, there's big bits of the game that could be cut out and not be missed. HL1 only really gets good when you meet the soldiers - that's five levels in!
If both games were half the length they are, they would be a lot better.Comment
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To echo what's already been said, the atmosphere in this game is something else. Every aspect adds up to create something truly exceptional.
The world in which it takes place feels like nothing else. The architecture, the ambient sounds, the steely grey daylight ... gameplay aside, it's just a great place to just be in. Love the combat too. In most games of this nature I simply plough through to reach each new area. In HL2 I like to savour the fire fights, using cover and other such tactics.
There have been some big games released lately, yet this (a game I completed on xbox) is the only one to drag me away from Warcraft ... not even Halo 3 could do that.
Then there's ep 1, ep 2, etc, etc.Comment
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Episode 1 was great but unlike somebody suggested I'd say you should go straight onto Ep2 after it rather than have a break - it's pretty short.
Loved the bit near the end
Ep2 tonight methinks
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Well, I've completed Half-Life 2, Episodes 1, 2 and Portal over a five day spell so the media blackout can end now. Half-Life 2 was as good as I remember it and Episode 1 was excellent until the last 30 or so minutes.
As for Episode 2 and Portal - it's nothing new to say, but they were the standout games in the package. The sense of adventure in Ep2 had me in the zone utterly absorbed, and although it took a little while to get going, Portal completely blew me away.
So game of the year. Well, so far at least for me. Just really gratifying, satisfying stuff all round.
I'll try and type some better impressions later. I'm looking forward to reading the thread beforehand though.Comment
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Absolutely. For games to seriously challenge a top flight film for entertainment value they need to have the courage to be shorter, and pack the same amount of ideas into a smaller space. Half Life 2 would've been astonishing if it was half as long, as it is, it's a great game, but it is very much just a great game. "Merely excellent" as I once described it and had an entire sidebar in gamesTM dedicated to saying what an arse I was - time has proved me correct.Originally posted by Brats View PostComment
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It isn't your 360. I'm playing using component and noticed the same thing too. A lot of it I suspect is down to the contrast levels. If you choose computer monitor in the options menu then the slightly green, dark sludgy sides underneath the cars and a few other places turn black not too dissimilar to the PC version. I've also had the box crash twice (once in Half-Life 2 at Nova Prospekt and once on Episode 2 late on). Having said all that, I'm just glad to have a smooth, good-looking Half-Life 2. There are a number of extremely small changes throughout HL2 I noticed (the barnicles spewing less stuff like you mentioned, slightly softer fogging due to the HDR on the coast, removed music on the rooftops, less over the top distortion whilst underneath water, vortiguants appearing less plasticky, a couple of striders possibly being slightly harder to kill which makes for a more tense set-piece, the orbital gun losing it's explosion effects) - some for the worse, most for the better. We're talking incredibly minute differences though.Originally posted by Spatial101 View Post
Have to say, the way the PC version's simple, elegant style has been transferred over to the 360 works very well. As well as the longevity and breadth of quality of the five games - I was impressed to discover what is to my mind the best achievements execution on the 360 (in terms of how they're spread over multiple games and allow you to keep track of where you are with them). Throw in the extra stuff you get with Portal after finishing it, and the commentary modes spread over four games and it makes you wonder how they fit it on the one disc.Comment
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I don't write for anyone famous.Originally posted by Blair View Post
I wrote it on my other forum, and someone read my comment and wrote an entire sidebar about what an arse I was (it was the old column where an "industry insider" got to have a rant, if you remember it). Said person now works for Free Radical, and we don't speak.Comment
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May have been asked, but does the 360 version have the option to play the dev commentary?Comment
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Agree totally.Originally posted by Concept View Post
While the game look marginally better on my 7800GT, I'm just delighted that it runs smooth and the controls are perfect, so I can fire it up on the plasma and get lost in the gameplay.
HL2 has aged amazingly. It's still a 10 today, in the same way in was 3 years ago.
Portal has blown we away and I took a 45 minute play of EP2, and the visuals blew me away.
Console owners you have been spoilt!
One thing is for sure, if the PS3 version offers "Save to disk" then that could be a killer, as even though load times are again Marginally slower than my ex-uber PC, they are still too frequent for my liking.
Could be a PS3 win.
Anyway, what an amazing deal, and my god what an amazing game. The music, the puzzles, the combat, the best driving in any fps it's all perfect.
The King is dead, long live the King.Comment
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Not listened to them yet, but yeah there's commentaries on Episodes 1 & 2 and Portal on the 360 version.Comment
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