LOPcagney

Oh right. Um, so is Saturday an option?

Here here. 4th works best for me too.

Well then, let's set a date. I was hesitant to post anything on the group page because there was no room for comments, but how does the 3rd or the 4th sound?

Wow. I didn't get it at first. I played through most of the game at a leisurely pace, savoring it, but not really drawing it out. Of course I loved every minute of it, it's just so much more original than Half-Life Episode 1 (which I'm glad I got as a freebie). But now, 7 hours in, I'm up to where I suspect the final fight begins. I played through all 7 hours during the weekdays, when I had much too much stuff going on already. But this weekend, I haven't been able to bring myself to sit down and finish it. I love it so much that I can't bear the thought of the final battle not living up to my expectations. If it's anything at all like the end of Episode 1, I might cry. Luckily, from what I've heard, it's the most epic scene in any Half-Life game so far. On a completely different note, I've been trying to think about how they could integrate Portal into Episode 3. Strangely enough, I feel like the aesthetic and level design of Portal was so unique and so tailored to the target game-play that if they tried to just give Gordon the portal gun it would only stifle the level designers. Plus, since the style of play is so different, Episode 3 would either become incredibly easy (see ) or simply not be a Half-Life game. Plus, frankly, I think the bold graphic quality of the portals would simply muck up the beautiful Half-life aesthetic. It would be like a cake made of bacon: Cake is delicious and bacon is delicious, but they have to be enjoyed separately. However, if Half-Life Episode 3 improves upon Half-Life Episode 2 as much as Episode 2 improved upon Episode 1, I doubt we have anything to worry about.

Hmm, yeah, he really bashed Episode 2. I'd like to see what he thought of Episode 1. I thought 2 was a dramatic improvement, maybe even as good as the original. Portal for GotY.

Wow. How desperate must those programmers have been to do that.

Hey, can I get an invite? Steam ID: LOPcagney Profile

Haha, on the contrary, why not embrace this advantage to make a mint and start forcing newcomers to pay for their membership.

Part of me feels this thread is absolutely brilliant, but having played through most of the orange-exclusive content, I've gotta say, my recommendation to anyone and everyone is just to buy the box.

I had exactly, point-for-point, the same experience and opinion. It still felt a little short, but it worked as a game. It was solid and it wasn't overly pretentious or too shallow. I'd compare it to a well-written short story in that it's as satisfying as a full novel without the additional length and content. This is the only 3-hour game in recent memory that I would recommend buying for $20 (which seems pretty steep). I just came away feeling good all over, which is a rare experience these days. I'd say it beats out Episode One in almost every respect, including storyline. Hopefully we'll see a ton of user-created content coming soon. AND Jonathan Coulton did wrote the theme song. What more could anyone ask for?

Favorite classes anyone? Spy all the way. Theres something sick and satisfying about disguising yourself as an enemy, stabbing the tank being pumped by two medics, and then running away and doing it again.

Ah, thank you. I never played FEAR, but of course I heard amazing things. I'm excited about this new perspective-sensitive stuff, if that's what it is. Imagine how much involving a story could be of you only had to face a character as opposed to pressing B to trigger a conversation. Now that I think about it, Half Life 2 had some of that going on, with Alex's "Gordon, stop staring at me" (right?).

Although I admit it had its good moments (like the steam covered room). The point remains nonetheless. Yeah, I had a question about that room.

Absolutely. I watched the

Yeah, I guess I agree with the open-endedness aspect of it. It worked for me. I hacked, cracked, and shot everything I could see. It's just that I felt it belittled the whole character creation aspect. Like, you couldn't really be a "hacker" because you'd only be able to occupy half your available slots with tonics. I don't object to the customization. I half-wish that each category was limited to 3 slots and Gene Banks were made more plentiful so that you could switch everything in and out but it was extremely important to chose skills that complimented each other.

OK. Just beat it tonight and all I have to say is this:

Well, the ending thing was kind of a low point of the review, spoiler-wise. He came way too close to giving something away, and

Haha. Not what I was expecting.

Wow. This is likely the most cinematic FPS I've ever played, and that includes Half-Life 2. You'll know why when you get to the piano bit:

Only as crazy as I am. I thought it fit the kind of Disneyland meets Las Vegas look of the game really well. It intrigued me more than most other aspects of the trailer. I thought: "I have no previous knowledge of this game. People say the first one was good, but how can I tell that this isn't some crappy Sonic rip-off. Well, the music is damn tasteful. This game obviously had enough confidence in itself to play around with the trailer and maybe not use 'generic epic score #5' to hype the game up. This might not be that bad."

Wasn't it designed for the PC?

I agree. Also with the plasmids' introductory videos: "Light fire with your fingertips, incinerate your enemies." (or something) as opposed to showing any ordinarily useful application. They could have put more effort into making the plasmids seem deeper than just 'combat magic for the 20th century. I thought the one for the Freeze plasmid was especially funny. It showed the man freezing his wife and then shattering her. It's almost as if they feel they need to spell everything out for you. I would have much preferred they continue to emphasize the 'living, breathing world' feeling of Rapture and say something like "Forget about time- consuming refrigeration. Freeze your perishable goods instantly!'... or something like that.

PC. And yeah, it's funny. The whole thing was that they made the little sisters look more humanoid to inspire empathy, but in the end, the ones I'm really sorry for are the more alien big daddies. I think it's their indifference towards the player and their disinterest in getting involved in any of conflict. The little sisters whine and send the big daddies after you for no good reason; if the gatherers can regenerate cells instantly, what are they so touchy about? It's the little sisters who are the aggressors and the big daddies who are enslaved by their need for Adam and are forced to grudgingly do whatever the gatherers say. I demand an option to kill the little sisters and rescue the big daddies.

Has anyone else had this problem? As soon as I enter , the walking speed slows down considerably. If I remain my movement goes back to normal, but as soon as I step onto solid ground I'm slowed down. I don't think it's a technical issue, since the frame rate doesn't drop and I can still perform other actions with no perceivable change in speed.