Half-Life 2 (PC)

[Chadruharazzeb]

Hah, I knew my food analogy would gain relevance.

I'm so so glad I'm nowhere near even half way through this beastie yet. So glad. In fact, to extend my tenure further, I might restard Ravenholm again so I don't piss all my ammo away.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I wish I could have restrained myself and spent more time savouring it like you Spatial.

Unfortunately it was like the videogame equivelant of a rich dark chocolate cheesecake and I gorged on it like a fat bastard.

Now its gone. And I feel empty again.

Don't worry, Metroid Prime 2 has just come out. And MOH: Pacific Assault on PC. Not *quite* Halo 2/Half Life 2 quality I expect, but certainly some fine FPS entertainment all the same.

[marcus]

Guys - can all tech/spec related posts be placed here - http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=31642 - so that this thread can be purely for gameplay discussion from now on. Thanks in advance.

[Spatial]

Well, I've reach Nova Prospect now - for those who've finished it, am I half the way through yet ?


Bug Bait is too much fun to use. Especially twating guards with it and watching as they waft it away, only to be caught unawares by my army of little friends.

And to think up until that point I hated ant lions. Now they're the best things ever


Once thing that made me laugh ( unintentionally ) was that guy stuck on the rocks in Sandtrap and his dead friend Lazlow.

If you save the guy on the rock when the ant lions attack he blathers something about how Lazlow was the finest mind in the world. Is that an injoke or something ? The only Lazlow I can think of is the DJ in Grand Theft Auto

Also that whole section was very Tremors

[Pikman]

****, this thread is 197 pages long. That's impressive.

[Zapp$ter]

****, this thread is 197 pages long. That's impressive.

What's even more impressive is that gameplay discussion didn't begin until about 15 pages ago(somewhere aorund page 185 IIRC)

[Ish]

****, this thread is 197 pages long. That's impressive.

Almost as impressive as the fact that though this has been anticipated for so long by many of us on here those of us who've played it aren't disappointed. Nowhere near disappointed.

Its a special game alright

[Hodge]

Been playing this a fair bit now (currently on the buggy section atm) and am in two minds at the moment over it. The game starts of really well and throws you right into swing of things but its when you get to the hovercraft section it starts to loose it`s pace abit as the section went on for twice as long as it should have imo.

Then theres the handling of the vehicles which i`m not liking that much at all tbh. It would of been far better putting the steering using left and right on your mouse. When that section is over it really starts to pick up again especially when you reach ravenholm. The game to me at the minute seems to be a rollercoaster of high and low points and am just wanting these stupid hovercraft and buggy sections to be over so i can get back to the main game. I must persist though that these parts could of been quite good with abit more effort put into the handling and toning down the length of the sections. Then theres the loading times which are starting to grate on me abit and in this day and age games developers should be trying to put abit more effort into cutting down load times, not increasing them and for me ruin the flow of the game slightly in parts.

As for the plus side the story and interaction with other characters is fantastic and really draws you into the world. The graphics have to be complemented aswell especially the lighting and texturing and almost looks photo realistic in parts. The physics are really impressive aswell and really show there worth when you get to experience the grav gun. Overall at the moment it a good game but it no 10. Perhaps i might change my mind when i get past this annoying buggy section.

[Zapp$ter]

The handling takes a bit of getting used to, but if you were to use the mouse to turn left or right what would you use to aim the weapons on the vehicles?

IIRC the driving is similar to that in FarCry, which I thought was good enough. I did think the water hazard level dragged on a bit, but you get rewarded by what is quite possibly one of the coolest moments in the game. So it was worth it.

[Ciaran]

There no other way you could of done the steering for the vehicles. You need to aim with the mouse and steer with the keys.


IIRC the loading times are about the same as the orignial HL on older hardware.

[Mad Gear]

I've had to stop playing for a bit cos i think i'm not far from finishing it now.
Not sure how long i can last before going back in tho.

I guess there's always hard difficulty.

[Kotatsu Neko]

There no other way you could of done the steering for the vehicles. You need to aim with the mouse and steer with the keys.


IIRC the loading times are about the same as the orignial HL on older hardware.

Perhaps, but what was acceptable all those years ago is not acceptable now.

Just look at Halo 2's load times. Perhaps a little too quick as cut scenes can begin before the game is ready, but by and large it's a far more continuous experience than HL2. And on such dated hardware too.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I've had to stop playing for a bit cos i think i'm not far from finishing it now.
Not sure how long i can last before going back in tho.

I guess there's always hard difficulty.

Except that it isn't hard at all. HL2 difficulty names should be more like 'Push Over', 'Ridiculously Easy', and the super challenging ultimate mode 'No challenge at all'.

I love the game but boy is it easy. Have only been challenged twice - the helicoper attack when on land during the hovercraft sequence (where you have to hide between shipping containers), and the big attack in Ravensholme of the super zombies (just after you get the shotgun).

Other than that it's been crazy easy.

[Zapp$ter]

Yes but Halo2 was designed to run specifically for that specific "dated hardware" and everyone who plays on Halo 2 will have the same "dated hardware".

You might as well ask why more games don't have the small loading times of most GC games. Or how the n64 had no loading times whereas newer hardware does(ps2, xbox etc...). Yes I know they are crap analogies so there's no need to rip them apart

What I will say is that the loading is a bit too frequent. The loading times haven't been that bad to me, but then I'm not bothered by the loading times for most games. I would have preferred the way they did it in FarCry whereby you have one massive load and then you get like 1-2 hours of continous gameplay before your next level and hence your next loading screen.

[Zapp$ter]

Except that it isn't hard at all. HL2 difficulty names should be more like 'Push Over', 'Ridiculously Easy', and the super challenging ultimate mode 'No challenge at all'.

I love the game but boy is it easy. Have only been challenged twice - the helicoper attack when on land during the hovercraft sequence (where you have to hide between shipping containers), and the big attack in Ravensholme of the super zombies (just after you get the shotgun).

Other than that it's been crazy easy.

I'm just wondering, do you save frequently? I usually find that when people complain that a game is too easy they tend to be saving every couple of seconds and then moving on kill a few enemies, save, repeat.