ThunderPeel2001

Ooh, cool! How did you find the placement of Razor then? Works well where I've suggested, I think. Yes, you will learn who they all are in time, but I wouldn't worry about the actual numbering (the show gets very vague about the numbers later on).

Oh man, I love that song. There's obviously something wrong with me, apologies! Edit: Argh. I hate that song! (I made it 180 seconds.)

It's a great movie in lots of ways, masterful even, but it's also flawed. The best stuff is Landau and Houston. (WOW, that stuff is POTENT. REALLY powerful stuff.) The weakest stuff is Allen moaning about the girl he likes, and the priest losing his eye-sight. My main problem with it, though: It's fucking painfully depressing to watch (which is why I mentioned it). The film's conclusion: Life is unfair, unjust and completely without meaning. Despite this some people manage to struggle on to find some semblance of happiness. (A cheery message delivered by the character who couldn't find happiness and committed suicide.)

Natch

Hurrah! I'm glad the dust has finally settled. Looking back, I shouldn't have said, "Don't patronize me". Anyways, Half-Life: It's strengths and weaknesses. I'd still love to discuss them with anyone who's interested in doing so.

True, but on the PC? I'm pretty sure Half-Life still holds the title for the platform (or at least did in 2008).

Yes, you're right. Looking back at what I've just posted, it's essentially the same message I posted just before it. I'll skip out for a few days. Check out this awesome 70's style Portal 2 poster!

Oh, it's there. 5L1tr0PIx20

Come on, man. You didn't discuss the game in your post. The last time you discussed the game was to tell me the bugs I experienced weren't in the original release. Everything else was about how other people see and rate the game ("is it a masterpiece?"), which was in direct relation to you asking why I would bother to try so hard to enjoy it. I'm just saying: I've explained why I'm trying so hard. I'm not being defensive, I just can't think of any other way to answer your questions, and I would LOVE to move on to talking about the game itself. I.e. It's strengths and weaknesses. What you like or dislike about it. I brought up Metacritic exactly once. You told me not to cite it twice in a row. The second time in the most patronizing way in response to a post where I didn't mention Metacritic at all. (Thinking about it: Did you read PiratePoo's post and think it was mine or something?) I said it was the best-selling PC FPS of all time. I got that from the Guinness Book of World Records: Gamers Edition.

Requiem for a Dream was definitely one for me. Brilliant movie, but incredibly harrowing. I also felt pretty raw after I finished watching Trainspotting. I found Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen) to be very uncomfortable, but also having moments of brilliance.

I'm not sure why we're still discussing this. I don't mind discussing the game, but I've laid out very clearly why I want to enjoy it, and what my goals are. They're not going to change and I've already explained them to the best of my ability. Any further discussion is just going to result in us going in circles. As I said before, I value your opinion about the game. Dude, please. Don't patronize me. Secondly, Metacritic has its flaws, but it's not worthless (and if you think it is, this isn't the place for that debate). Lastly, and most importantly, erase the Metacritic sentence from my post, and my point still stands: Half-Life is arguably the most critically-regarded game PC game of all time. It was immediately recognized and championed, and continues to be to this day. Not only that, but it receives the same level of regard from the PC gaming community. Not just in terms of sales (it was officially noted as being the best-selling FPS of all time), but also in terms of overall regard and general love.

Don't Shit Your Pants http://www.kongregate.com/games/Rete/dont-shit-your-pants

I didn't.

There seems to be some sort of communications breakdown here. I like the game more now than I did then. Not only that, but my remaining complaints about the game are the same ones I had back then (I just have fewer of them). Not only that, I'm more than capable of taking a game's age into account (I recently played and completed (and loved) Skool Daze on a Spectrum emulator in a different thread). If there's aspects that you willingly admit have dated badly, it would be more helpful for you to share them. Also, you never answered my question: Are you saying that Half-Life isn't a masterpiece? Finally, I can't help but feel I'm getting crap from you for a) Attempting to enjoy a game and Not enjoying a game you like. It's sad because your level-headedness regarding Half-Life previously in this thread was a revelation to me. You simultaneously took it to task for its faults and praised it for its strengths. It was fantastic to read. Half-Life is so universally praised that it's hard to find any decent, balanced criticism of it, and I was hoping to hear more from you.

Haha! Excellent. It is a wonderful film! I bought it on Bluray and have watched it three times. It still holds up with each viewing. It really is brilliant. I've heard it debated whether it's the greatest trilogy ever made. I can't think of another one that managed to remain that consistently good through all three films. Glad you liked it

Yes. I'm 100% sure. I used to be a games tester and I'm naturally thorough and curious about such things (which is why I bothered to watch videos of how other people solved the things I'd encountered). I can make some videos if you really want to see them. I'm not sure where you were when Half-Life was released, but where I was it was on the front cover of every PC magazine with gushing reviews saying things like, "it's not just one of the best games of the year. It's one of the best games of any year, an instant classic that is miles better than any of its immediate competition". By the time it got into the hands of the average member of the public, it was the stellar reviews, not a vague interest in an unproven studio, that put it there. At least it was for me. I do love the idea of seeing this as an underdog story, though. It's the first time it ever crossed my mind these guys were "first timers". From that point of view, those guys really kicked ass. Wow. I don't know what to say to this. You make it sound as though it's my fault that it's highest rated PC game on Metacritic... 14 years after its release. This thread has a tag that says "Valve are Gods". It was ranked as the greatest game of All Time by PC Gamer every time they did such a poll. It's won over 50 Game of the Year awards. Are you saying it's not a masterpiece? I agree that no game can live up to absurd expectations, but what specifically did I say in my "snipped" post that brought that out of you?

I'm playing HL: Classic. I think it's something you wouldn't even notice if you had enough energy, but if you didn't, then it was "reload and redo this entire section again" time. I've watched a few walkthroughs on YouTube, and they all take damage at that point, or they build the bridge before the water is electrified. (It's during the Blast Pit sequence, if anyone is interested, after you've turned on the power and are making your way back to the monster.) Which reminds me of another bug I discovered: The fan didn't blow me "up". If I hadn't have had a vague memory that it was supposed to, I wouldn't have checked a walkthrough and discovered it definitely was. Another NOCLIP save. And another "oops, you've failed, reload" moment: When you're making your way to turn the power on for the Blast Pit, there's a "lift" that spins around the chamber wall. If you press the button, it takes a second and then spins you to the far side. If, however, you press the button and step back incase it's a trap (like it's going to break or something), then the lift goes off without you and there's no way to recall it. I learnt that the hard way.

AV seems to have ended badly. The "No" campaign was too strong and the "Yes" campaign too weak. The "Yes" folks should have released more leaflets to counter the lies in the "No" campaign's. Of course, it's easy to say that in hindsight. Bah.

Interesting stuff regarding playing it on Hard. I always assumed it was a change in health/damage. Regarding getting "stuck", I don't think I made myself clear. This was a cross between a bug (the crates refusing to move) and poor level design (allowing the user to get themselves in a position which rendered the game incompleteable). It wasn't that I needed to figure stuff out, or sleep on it. Also, I LOVE adventure games. One of my main issues with HL back in the day was how crappy the story was. I'm not a twitch gamer by nature, I'd much rather take my time and explore a rich universe with interesting characters and story. That said, I did enjoy Quake III Arena. Go figure. Finally, I wasn't loving HL until I came across this problem, I just brought it up as an interesting aside about the game's design and my experience playing it. Quite surprising to me, especially for a Valve game which are renowned for their polish. (I bet there's no such moments in HL2.)

Sorry for three posts in a row, but I just wanted to add something separate: I actually got stuck in HL. There was a bit where I had to push metal crates into electricity charged water (great logic, Valve!) in order to jump the water. But try as I might, there was no way to push the crates past a certain point in the water. (Almost like an invisible barrier had appeared.) That spot was just short of where it needed to be, so I couldn't make it to the other side without taking the -36 damage from electrified water... Except I had 34 health. There were no health packs and no scientists around, and so nothing I could do. Quite frustrating! So Gordon Freeman ended up floating over the water. Does everyone else play HL on Medium difficulty?

How do you think HL2 compares to HL for a gamer who has never played either before? Do you think HL has dated quite a lot, or do you think it still holds up for a modern gamer?

I just went back and re-read them. It seems we share the same problems with the game - *high five*. Do my complaints with the game ring true to you, Orv? It's still disturbing to me that we're in such a tiny minority. Sno has done a great job explaining what there is to like and enjoy about the game, and I can appreciate those parts now, which is great, but my complaints with the game still hold most sway, unfortunately. Sno, even though the set-pieces are undoubtedly imaginative, and (in theory) exciting, I find them to be quite dull. That might be because the game has dated, as you have said, though. (For example, I found it far more exciting being chased by a Beserker in Gears of War than I did the big blue monster in HL.) Even though I've got issues with the game, I have enjoyed it far more than I ever have before this time, which has been great.

It's sad to say that my simple desire to learn and appreciate a video game has brought about some unnecessary hostility. If you don't wish to discuss something, then don't. Sno, thanks for your reply. I appreciate what you're saying, but I'd still like to enjoy Half-Life, and understand more about what is possibly the highest regarded PC game of all time. (I wouldn't bother if this was Simon the Sorcerer 3D.) As for "why": Well, I attempted to answer that in my post. If you really wish to understand, maybe you could be more specific about what you didn't get? I'm not sure how else to explain it.

Sexuality isn't a choice, neither is what hair colour you like. However, developing your tastes to be able to appreciate an example of great art is a choice.