Half Life 2. It's good, but not that great.

[ZenLefty]

Luckily, I got a free copy of this game when I purchased a new graphics card. If I had spent money on HL2, I'd probably be upset.

There are some really wonderful aspects of the game. The paper cups flying in the wind, the incredible detail of people's faces, etc. I like the way bullets create shrapnel when they impact a corner you're peeking around. The storyline is decent, the action is well paced. But other than that, it's just another FPS.

Enter 3D room with lots of graphics. Shoot stuff. Get shot at. Collect ammo and health thingies. Enter next 3D room. Repeat. There's the occasional puzzle to solve (like, find the lever that opens the passage to the next room. Ooooooo, clever.) And, at least up until now, the plot is about as linear as a laser beam.

At this point, it's like Halo with better graphics and special effects, and fewer choices of weapons and toys.

:shrug:

[Gothic Sponge]

1. What about multiplayer?

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

3. Mulitplayer is only *GAAK* Counter-Strike.

I hate Counter-Strike.
But there are some very enterprising people out there making lots of different multiplayer mods for the game. I believe Valve actually included a deathmatch, but didn't make any maps for it or activated it in the game.
Give it about a month or less, and there will be run-n-gun deathmatch multiplayer for HL2.

[ZenLefty]

6. I'm getting the impression I'm a poor judge of such things.

The multiplayer seems to me to be the same as any other multiplayer FPS. :shrug:

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

7. No, you're not a poor judge of these things.

And you've hit on some very valid points in the game. The plot was just a bit too linear at times, and there was little or no deviation from the standard path. Half-Life was the same way. So was Doom 3. Far Cry was more like Deus Ex: Give the player an environment and a goal, and let them figure out a solution that suits their gameplay style.

Maybe Half-Life 2 isn't your style of game. And the market is flooded with a plethora of first-person shooters, so one more might not impress you.

For me, I think what impressed me most is how immersed I felt in the universe. The characters interacted with their environment properly: there was little or no clipping, the lip-synching was dead on perfect (when someone talked to you, they actually were talking to you. The scenes with massive battles (near the end of the game) were nothing short of cinematic, (That's why I loved Call of Duty, too.) and exciting. Much moreso than Doom 3, which featured a superior graphics engine to HL2 (at least in terms of lighting effects. HL2 has little dynamic lighting) but much, much more repetitive gameplay.
I found several different ways of handling tasks, most of them involving the physics engine, and enjoyed solving problems that way.

As I said, perhaps Half-Life 2 isn't your thing. I know I'm getting burned out on FPS games, and I think this is the last one I'll play for quite some time.

[BigBigBear]

2. HL2 vs Far Cry

I find the story in HL2 is better, environments more varied, foes scarier.

Far Cry's graphics are almost as good, the levels require a lot more strategery, the weapons are much more varied, and I like the fact that the vehicles in Far Cry have their own 'health'. I beat the snot out of the jet boat in HL2 and it just kept going - felt weird after Far Cry. Also, Far Cry is a huge game - can't compare to HL2, because I'm still playing it.

HL2 is really an outstanding game, though. Amazing physics, creepy levels, mind-blowing texturing. Some clever levels and puzzles as well.

I'd give HL2 96% and Far Cry about 94%. I've developed some discomfort with shooting actual people after the events of this past spring, so Far Cry was a little TOO realistic for me.

Frankly, I like fairly linear shooters.

[Fleurs du Mal]

4. HL2 is the best FPS I've played in years

Graphics, story, tactics, weapons, were all outstanding. Too bad it's over. Far Cry is close, but no cigar. In response to the original post, Halo...pffft, not even close.

[ZenLefty]

5. Tell me, what's so good about it?

First, I'm sincerely glad you're enjoying the game and think it's outstanding. I'm not knocking you or your taste in computer games at all. I'm just very curious. I guess from my point of view, you're doing the same things you did in Doom II, with better graphics and 3D effects. You enter a room, get shot at, shoot bad guys, collect stuff, and move on to the next room.

What exactly makes this game better? Is it the graphics? The detail in the textures? The fact that debris floats? The ringing in your PC speakers when Gordon gets concussed? Is there a better variety of weapons later on in the game? Do the monsters get smarter?

Some people say the AI of the bad guys is really good, but again I disagree. It seems that if I was shooting at someone the first thing they'd do is duck or dive for cover. In HL2, they just stand there and take it until they receive 2-3 torso shots or 1-2 head shots. Sometimes they run towards me as I shoot them. Should I increase the difficulty level to make them smarter, or does this merely increase the number of bullets it takes to kill them?

Overall, I really do enjoy the game. But it just seems like I'm doing the same thing I've been doing since Wolfenstein. :shrug:

[420inTN]

8. It's the atmostphere...

"What exactly makes this game better? Is it the graphics? The detail in the textures? The fact that debris floats? The ringing in your PC speakers when Gordon gets concussed? Is there a better variety of weapons later on in the game? Do the monsters get smarter?"

It's all of that, and the way everything blends together. It is very immersive. I haven't been that into a game since Call of Duty (which, imho, probably has be best soundtrack/score of any video game).

I will have to say that the first half / two-thirds of the game is the best. I've finished the game today. The "Follow Freeman" sequence/chapter was actually somewhat boring, and the final two chapters/sequences were visually nice, but really easy.

I'm looking forward to Day of Defeat:Source and some nice community mods. With the really good AI in the game, maybe someone can come up with a nice coop mod to imitate Ghost Recon.

Probably my favorite sequence was driving the air boat. There were a few times when I was actually yelling "Yeeeehaaaah!" ;-)