HalfLife 2

[vfxraven19]

Half-Life 2 is awesome... Totally into it, unlike Doom3, which got me bored because of it's repetative shooting zombie after zombie... And Halo2 was awfully short even on Legendary.... I am playing it hard to keep me well occupied.

[Montarvillois]

It rocks but I am stuck here and I am just about to shoot someone (real life...) cause I just can't get passed this puzzle.

Any help is welcome

[VF19]

Pick up a cinderblock and use it to fling yourself off the teeter totter. I dont have the game, so I know I AM wrong.

[Max Jenius]

Pick up a cinderblock and use it to fling yourself off the teeter totter. I dont have the game, so I know I AM wrong.

Close; pile cinderblocks on one end to raise the other end up.

Doom 3 was a different kind of FPS. I don't even really compare the two because Graphics-wise they are very similar. HL2 has better physics and is in a totally different environment. Doom 3 made me feel like I was on Mars running around a base that was getting fizzucked up. They accomplished their goal and I think D3 rocked. HL2 is a totally different kind of game and it rocks in its own right. I'm more excited about HL2 because I'm all about making love to my environment in FPS games.

Doom 3 - Claustrophobic, Dark killing

HL2 - Open, Participation, oh... and killing.

Both kickass games. Its been a good year.

[mikeszekely]

Hey, can anyone tell me, do you need to play the first one to follow the second? I'm certainly going to get Half-Life 2 for the Xbox when it comes out, but as previously mentioned, I'm not mouse-and-keyboard inclined for action-oriented games, and I'd hate to play through a wretched PS2 port of the original.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Hey, can anyone tell me, do you need to play the first one to follow the second?

From what I have personally heard, no... but that is why I bought the collector's edition. So I could replay the first again (with the source engine no less) so I could re-immerse myself in the game world.

Speaking of that, does anyone here have that HL1: Source? If so, how is it? I know it is just HL1 rehash but how well does the source engine "bring the game up"?

[bsu legato]

I too got the collectors edition, but I haven't had a chance to fire up Half Life: Source yet. Maybe tonight I'll delve into it.

[Anubis]

I'm definately going to play through the first one again with HL: Source.

Last time I played it beginning to end was back with my old laptop that had a PII 233Mhz and 2 MB Video Memory. I had a bit of slowdown in Opposing Force Never got around to replaying the game fully after I built my desktop. I bought Blue Shift but never even got around to installing it.

Source will be a whole new experience for me. Half-Life special edition then on to the grand sequel.

When I someday hav the time to do it. I'll buy the game from Steam to same some money, but I know deep down it will stay unplayed for some time, taunting me for a while. That's why I haven't bought Doom 3 yet (though it is on my Christmas list).

[Vostok 7]

OpFor was good. I liked being the bad guy alot

Blue Shift was way too short, but it was good.

Vostok 7

[JsARCLIGHT]

In OpFor you really were not the "Bad Guy" but more or less a different player in the same story. That was one thing that you had to like about HL was that no one was really "good" or "bad"... all the players in the game had their own goals and means of achieving them, just like the real world. The characters were not just the typical stereotypes even though they pretty much were supposed to be just that.

[VF19]

I wonder if it's worth me formatting my HD to play this; I have so much spyware, ugh. Adaware does nothing. Or I could just wait and get an Alienware.

[Max Jenius]

Graphics wise, HL:Source appears to look pretty much identical to the regular version. I must say that I'm disappointed, though I needed a new copy of HL1 anyway plus I haven't gone that far into it(not even at "Unforseen Consequences". One of the cool things about HL Source is that it comes with "tracks" already to go so you can dive in wherever you want(think DVD menu).

Anyway, I'm having an absolute blast with HL2. I just got the gravity gun, that thing is marvelous. The only problem I have is that I can't manipulate corpses with it. I guess Newell got upset when people put pics up with HL2 models in comprimising positions. In any case it was a minor disappointment and I'm enjoying every minute. This game definitely feels like Half-Life, but with a few interesting twists. Its hard to describe how exciting the game is without giving too much away, so I say we make this thread pretty much spoiler free until next week. Cool?

*minor spoiler*

One of my favorite parts happens right off the bat when you first get your Hazard Suit. You go in and put it on and then the Valve theme(from the logo in the beginning of HL1 and HL2) kicks in very cool. Sent a shot of adrenaline through me just knowing what was in store, yet at the same time not knowing.

[Max Jenius]

Hey, can anyone tell me, do you need to play the first one to follow the second? I'm certainly going to get Half-Life 2 for the Xbox when it comes out, but as previously mentioned, I'm not mouse-and-keyboard inclined for action-oriented games, and I'd hate to play through a wretched PS2 port of the original.

No... but to really "get" what is going on, you should probably play through the first one. Half-Life is an amazing game even by today's standards, so I say give it a go on your computer man! It shouldn't be too difficult, plus you'll get better as you go through.

[JsARCLIGHT]

So HL1:Source is pretty lackluster, huh?

How does it compare to say.... the difference between HL1 oldschool and then HL1 with the Blue Shift "Hi Res" upgrade pack? Is there any noticeable difference in the game at all? New weapons? New baddies? New NPC and critter models?

I just got my big heaping box in the mail today and despite the totally empty feeling you get when you open it and all it is is one disc, a teeny tiny book and a crappy "I'm a dork" T-Shirt I really am looking forward to firing this up tonight... but if HL1:Source is not that neat I might just skip it and play HL2 first instead of "reliving the glory days" first.

[do not disturb]

this will be one of the very few games that i'll actualy go out and buy...halflife rocks!

[Max Jenius]

So HL1:Source is pretty lackluster, huh?

How does it compare to say.... the difference between HL1 oldschool and then HL1 with the Blue Shift "Hi Res" upgrade pack? Is there any noticeable difference in the game at all? New weapons? New baddies? New NPC and critter models?

I just got my big heaping box in the mail today and despite the totally empty feeling you get when you open it and all it is is one disc, a teeny tiny book and a crappy "I'm a dork" T-Shirt I really am looking forward to firing this up tonight... but if HL1:Source is not that neat I might just skip it and play HL2 first instead of "reliving the glory days" first.

Like I said, I just rode the tram in, took one look at Barney and his walking animations and got out because I wanted to play HL2. Otherwise, I'm not really seeing anything new. I do intend to play through some more though, the lighting looks better as far as I can tell.

[JsARCLIGHT]

OK this has to be the most annoying install I have ever had to sit through... and it is not even done yet. Steam is not "me friendly" and they are making me mad. Why did they have to do all this authentication, registration, install and so on and so forth crap? Is this all really neccessary? I'm trying to play a game not buy an Uzi here, guys.

Really, really uncalled for IMHO and a real turn-off for us olde tyme non-everything-online people.

[Gunbuster]

LOL! I got the same problem as JsARCLIGHT. I spend a freaking whole day on messing with my network and found out that their server were down. The website staus says they were up and the error message says that it was my network connection. so I'm going to boycott Steam and wait for Xbox version. I can wait because I got tons of games to play anyway. MGS3, POP2, Underground 2 and getting the DS system as well. I’m also playing “A nightmare before Christmas” right now. so F steam

[JsARCLIGHT]

If I had not just dumped $80 down these a-holes (and don't possess an X-Box anymore) I would say F them too.

This has gone from rediculous to just plain stupid. I started installing this piece of crap around 7:15 my time... it is now F'ing 8:30 and I still can't play any of the games because they are "authenticating".

These f***tards just got a nasty email from me... it's not like I was too busy playing their game to write one.

[Akilae]

Apparently the Steam servers are getting slammed... this is what happens when even single player games need to be authenticated online. Alright, who wants to bet on how long it'll take for a workaround to come out soon?

Thankfully, my shipment of HL2 is coming with MGS3 and Vampire: Bloodlines... lots to do till the mad rush is over

[Ladic]

Do I have to be online everytime I want to play HL2 thru steam?

I have Cable Modem, but I wonder how it works for people with Dial-up.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Do I have to be online everytime I want to play HL2 thru steam?

I have Cable Modem, but I wonder how it works for people with Dial-up.

Let me answer that for you: AN F'ING LONG TIME!!!!!

I FINALLY got HL2 to run offline... apparantly if you scream, yell and threaten it so many times the game will finally run offline.

Grand total: I began installing the game at 7:15... sometime around 10PM I finally got to play the f'ing thing, HL1 and Counter Suck are still not working... something about me having to be online to play them. F That. I'm on dialup and I'm not launching a darn browser and tying up my phone line just to play a game.

Oh and HL1:Source is nothing. I feel very, very ripped off for buying the collector's edition. Between this and MoH: PacAss I will never buy another collector's edition anything ever again.

Lucky for Valve this game is pretty nice otherwise I'd be on a roof across from their offices with a sniper rifle right about now.

WORD TO THOSE WHO ARE GOING TO GET THIS GAME:

Buy it in a few months when everyone is not trying to authenticate their came at one time. This little system of theirs is ass... the galactic genius that thought this thing up should be lynched. This is a freaking COMPUTER GAME people not national security and not trying to get a pilot's license... you should not need all these hoops, wait times, and... well... bullsh#t... to play a damn game.

But on the brighter side of the cesspool... my thoughts on the game (the whole fifteen minutes I was able to play it out of a three hour period I had allocated to play the game tonight):

Graphics, sound, play control and general appearance are everything you want and more. The only downside I have seen so far is that the load times every now and then really take you out of the game. Aside from the spanish inquisition needed just to play the damn game it is a nice game.

Oh and don't buy the collector's edition unless you really want that "Lookit me! I'm a DORK!" T-Shirt... by the way... anyone want a shirt?

[Hiriyu]

Yup, Steam bites the big one. Took an hour and a half for installation/authentication/unlock for the standard retail version. I can appreciate being concerned about piracy, but this is just the dog's biscuits.

As for the game itself, so far... Meh. I was much more impressed on the whole by Far Cry when it came out.

[Anubis]

Hmmm, in that case I might wait after all and have someone get me Doom 3 for christmas. Once the bruhaha settles down I'll gladly join up.

[GobotFool]

Graphically I think it Blows doom3 and Farcry out of the water. The facial animation is just so smooth, and the lipsyncing is the best I have ever seen in a game. It's scary how real some of these games are looking these days. In terms of gameplay, I'd place HL2 between doom3 and Farcry. Farcry's gameplay is still my favorite of the 3. In terms of atmosphere Doom3 is tops. But for all around balance between atmosphere and gameplay Halflife takes the cake. All factors combined I think HL2 is my favorite shooter of the year.

[Max Jenius]

hmm... took maybe 5-10 min to authenticate.

What happens is that supposedly if you got it through steam you downloaded an app and it "uncooked" all the HL2 files.

In any case, I'm loving steam. If I get lonesome for some CDs, I can always back up my files and just stick em on a burned DVD.

[ogami]

It seems Steam has major problem and I am not in a hurry to play HL2...

maybe I should wait until Christmas time to buy it?

or Christmas time is a bad time too, since a lot of people will buy HL2 and Steam will overload again?

[JsARCLIGHT]

I hate Steam. It autoloads itself... you cannot play the games without it being loaded... sometimes you cannot even play anything without it being connected to the internet... It's a bunch of big brother bullcrap that is well beyond unneccessary. Just another example of the law abiding having to pay for the crimes of the game stealers by making our legitimate game purchase and play experience a giant hassle just to prevent some douche bag from stealing the game. I myself was not in a massive "hurry" to play these games either but come on! It should not take three hours of hassle filled hunt and peck, mysterious big brother downloading and trial and error attempting to get the thing to launch to install a game... that is just plain stupid.

After playing another round of HL2 this morning before work I can add these extra things to my feelings on it:

- the graphics are the game. So far the game is playing like any other standard FPS, no new genre breaking features or functions.

- the sound effects and vocals repeat way too much. Case in point: when you kill the metro cops you get the exact same "radio squelch" noise every time. When shooting tons of them in a row it gets monotonous.

- the load times are excessive and really take you out of the gameplay experience. I even have what I would call a top of the line PC with a lot of memory and it still takes a long time to launch and load between levels.

... and on another note, anyone know how to adjust the brightness of your aiming reticle? That thing just dissapears on me all the time and I end up having to squint to see it to aim.

[F-ZeroOne]

It could be worse. No, really. Certain of us who grew up with 8-bit home computers might remember a copy protection device called a "Lenslock"...

[F-ZeroOne]

It rocks but I am stuck here and I am just about to shoot someone (real life...) cause I just can't get passed this puzzle.

Any help is welcome

Half-Life 2 uses Real Physics as part of the game engine. You'll find a number of puzzles rely on using objects around you. Just be patient and use a little lateral thinking...

[JsARCLIGHT]

While I never had the "pleasure" of dealing with the Lenslok thing it does not bother me as much as this Steam thing. The thing that urks me at my core is not the wait times... I understand that the servers are flooded and it is taking a long time to authenticate the games... it is the whole "big brother" Orwellian notion that my games must have this manager program running in order to play them. A program that you have to "log into", that is most likely tracking you in some way. I'm not a person who likes to "register" his games just because I don't like being part of some company's info gathering. Don't get me wrong, I purchase all my games and am glad to do so... game makers deserve to get money for their efforts... but when they just get to this point it makes me want to just start pirating games so I don't have to put up with this crap.

This is also not the first time I have had to go through something like this... being the owner of a small tech business I have had to play footsie with companies to license our software tools we use at work. Back and forth with Alias or Discreet trying to get your darn license keys to work is a pain in the ass... and all of it is not in place to help you the consumer use their product it is in place to prevent Danny Dorkhole from stealing their stuff. Honest Consumers paying for the theft, not the criminal... the only way people seem to think "prevention" works.

I am just worried that this is the first step in a new direction and soon everything will be like this.

[bsu legato]

Steam can be a bit of a pain, but it does serve some vital functions as well. The instant updates are usefull, especially if you're playing anything online. There's nothing worse than trying to get into a game only to find you're not running the current version. But more than that, they can move away from different "versions" of games, and instead simply issue little fixes as they are made. And while its apparently slowing some of you down (I registered my HL2 with no problems or delays) I do have to applaud Valve for trying to combat piracy. I'm sure that somebody will eventually crack the game but this shows that they're at least trying to stop it.

And I happen to like my "Lookit me! I'm a DORK!" shirt.

Edited November 18, 2004 by bsu legato

[do not disturb]

damn, so i bought this last night and i didn't even get to play.

5 friggin discs + update download + lots of vodka = fell asleep at my desk.

[Max Jenius]

Orwellian? Dude... seriously.... this is the next logical step from Valve's authentication servers. Steam is convenient... read about a new patch.... *checks steam* ohhhh... I already have it! I'm ready to play.

The only load times that are long for me are the ones at the VERRRRY beginning of the game... then its <20s in the spurts between levels.

[Anubis]

What really irks me is the notion that I have to be physically online to even play the game single player. Way too intusive for my tastes.

Just so I'm not understanding this wrong:

Even if all I want is to play single player, before it will let me play a single player game, even after the game is installed and "activated", it still checks online before starting up my game?

Easy way to not be obtrusive: Use a CD Key to install. Single Player is now fine. For the multiplayer, each CD has a unique ID and only one of these will be allowed on the server at any time. This fixes the multiplayer pirates easily. Some companies already do this, no reason Valve couldn't do this for HL2. Requiring the game to verify me to play for even single player bouts is offensive to me.

I was pissed last month when Norton 2005 came out and it had product activation on it, so I couldn't use it on all my PC's. So I only got Systemworks (acceptable price after rebates), and now use Sygate Personal Firewall (free).

If I can't play Half-life 2 without it checking the server every time, I might say "bite me." I'm real big on software privacy issues. I can even get past product activation (though it took a long time, I can understand that one, and once the software is installed and activated I never see the message again), but every time I play I'm not sure.

At a minimum, this has determined that I will only buy the basic edition of HL2, I'll stick with my old Half life disc+Blue Shift Disc for the first game.