Sign in to follow this  
Guest

Sixteen hours of adoration (A Review of Half Life 2)

Recommended Posts

Guest

Three words.

Believe the hype.

Half Life 2 is, without question, the best first person shooter I have EVER played. The graphics were fantastic. The sound was phenomenal. The story was involving, and exciting. I can't say too many bad things, of what I truly believe, should be 2004's game of the year!

Firstly, one of the major selling points of the title, despite the fact that it is the sequal to one of the greatest titles released in the FPS genre, are the facial expressions. I sometimes feel as if not a word of dialogue needs to be spoken, because the expressions the character's use, say it all. At times, they are so lifelike, it's uncanny. I found this especially when talking with Alyx! Instead of the cardboard characters we see on our screens in some shooters, these characters seemingly have a life of their own. As for some of the battles you will be expected to take part in, well, if you've played it, you'll know what I mean, and if you haven't, you should, because you're in for a treat!!

Then there is the sound. Certainly, as far as I'm concerned, this game stands alongside DOOM III, in terms of creating an atmosphere within a game, which at times, can cause the hairs of the back of your neck to stand up, and at other times, the adrenaline to course through your body. You feel as if you're in a full scale war with explosions going off all over the place, and your comrades screaming as they take a hit, or die right in front of your eyes. You duck for cover, but hear gun fire going off all around you, forcing you to rethink your strategy, and look for a more secure shelter! This is, where I feel, surround sound plays a pivotal role in this game, and aids in your strategy for survival!

The delivery of the dialogue is delightful. The characters act as they should, and put the appropriate tone in their voice when it is necessary. This reinforces my feeling, that these characters are alive!

Also, in terms of story, this game actually has one, and it forces you to go to all manner of different places, discovering all kinds of weird and wonderful weapons and creatures along the way. I don't want to tell you anything, because I feel everyone should come into this game without knowing a thing, but there are a lot of neat touches, which seperates this game from any other of this type I've played before.

A nuance I have though, are some AI issues. My main problem comes from team members, constantly getting in your way! I found myself yelling at the computer sometimes, because they were causing me to get hit, or getting themselves wiped out like a bunch of lemmings! :bomb: But even with the complete stupidity they give off, you still can't help but to be forgiving toward them. :chaste:

This year, has seen the introduction of some awesome games. Ninja Gaiden, World of Warcraft, Chronicles of Riddick, San Andreas, Far Cry, Halo 2 (for multiplayer) and even DOOM III. But IMO, it would be criminal for Half Life 2 not to receive the accolade, because of what it has introduced to us, and what it has paved the way for. This is an experience that has to be experienced.

I've yet to try the deathmatch on HL2 yet, but with some of the weapons available to you, the possibilities are seemingly endless. I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

If you have the capacity to play this game (hardware, time, funds), then make sure you pick it up! Half Life has once again set the tone, for which all other FPS games should breakdance to.

:buyme:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I finished Half-Life 2 at exactly midnight on New Year's Eve: my first ever anti-social New Year's Eve. You know that movie that you probably saw before the game's release, in the sewers where Alyx joins you and a combine soldier gets speared in the back by those rising blue tentacles? I can't remember that hapenning at all in the game, or ever seeing those blue tentacles. Did I play through that bit too drunk to remember? I'd hate to have forgotten entire sections like that!! Ah well, I'll play through it again in a month when I get a better graphics card.

Also, how do I do one of those neat little spoiler boxes like all the clever people overuse?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

d3_c17_10b0000.jpg

Have any of you gentlemen seen this little stencil? Note the top left, the rest of the screen is there so that you may locate this image if you so desire. I just noticed it while playing through the game the second time.

I can't get over how much City 17 looks like Belgrade... It is uncanny!

belgrade.jpg

skupstina.jpg

Imagine the citadel behind this thing.

parliament1.jpg

This is the strider battle in front of the parliament above... maybe...

belgrade-report-1022-6.jpg

Imagine that is a horse up there... instead of a naked guy... with a pigeon...

hotel_moskva%20belgrade%202.jpg

Only with less vegetation...

belgrade%20scene.JPG

These buildings are mostly orange... in real life...

YU_Belgrade_3.jpg

YU_Belgrade_1.jpg

hpnb.gif

Hmm... This part of the city doesn't need aliens to look awful... what the hell, this image is animated?!

belgrade1b.gif

belgrade2b.gif

I believe these two are from the bombing in '99...

chase.jpg

And here we have the members of the resistance beating up a combine soldier... or not...

Looking for these pictures I stumbled upon this map and realized that there is a pretty big boulevard downtown Belgrade named after George Washington... but then again, this is a fairly old map since there is also a street named after Tito... Perhaps they changed the names around since last I went through there (I used to live in 77a Svetozara Markovica, 77a fell somewhere between Vojvode Milenka and Birchaninova fairly close to the big EMBASSY square... that is the US embassy)... After a little bit of research I discovered that the George Washington street has indeed been renamed to Queen Mary's street -- which Queen Mary it is, I don't care to find out...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My monitor is messed up and is too dark. I adjusted the gamma settings not too long ago, but apparently I didn't do it enough because I couldn't see the stencil you were talking about. How visible is it on a normal monitor, so I know how much more I still need to correct it?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not sure about those text boxes, but the blue tentacle thing was removed when they realized that while it was really cool to watch, it was impossible to fight back against when it came after you. It does not exist anywhere in the game. Kind of a pity. They could maybe have done something similar to that giant plant thing that you incinerated in the original HL. Oh well.

On another note, it's kind of disquieting when you realize that even though you've been coming to this site since it came into existance, you still haven't created an account yet. Oh well, it's all better now. I feel like a more complete nerd than ever before. Ahhh....

-Miffy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

eep, apparently a lot happened while I was writing that last post. Hmm... yeah, that's pretty freakin' uncanny there. Kinda spooky. And the image is pretty well defined on my monitor, I don't know what the problem would be. Oh well. Time to go consider the geo-political ramifications of... stuff. Yeah. bye.

-Miffy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Amazing photos Kingz!

For those that have finished the game, there is a spoilerific site called the Half Life Saga Story Guide. Basically a timeline and an accumulation of all the snippets people have deduced from the games.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My monitor is messed up and is too dark. I adjusted the gamma settings not too long ago, but apparently I didn't do it enough because I couldn't see the stencil you were talking about. How visible is it on a normal monitor, so I know how much more I still need to correct it?
It is pretty dark. I noticed earlier that Half-Life's screen captures tend to be somewhat dark.

Oooh, I also wanted to point this little thing out but forgot while looking for pictures of Belgrade:

breen.jpg

This is Miroljub Labus, the leader of the Serbian party G-17 Plus; he was a good candidate for president a few years ago but then the prime minister was assassinated and this fellow lost his mind.

_38278979_lab.jpg

And this is Wallace Breen.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok, the Breen/Labus thing is God-awful freaky.

And I saw the G-Man(?) with the umbrella in the rain a few times throughout the game. First time I saw it I just stood there and stared at it for about 5 minutes.

It really is quite a cool image.

Edit: And who's to say what City 17 is or isn't? It could be any real city because the Combine just renamed them all because apparently the names we chose when we built the fuckers suck.

Or maybe they're efficiency freaks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ok, the Breen/Labus thing is God-awful freaky.

Edit: And who's to say what City 17 is or isn't? It could be any real city because the Combine just renamed them all because apparently the names we chose when we built the fuckers suck.

Or maybe they're efficiency freaks.

I reckon it's to crush the human spirit. The combine also seem to be trying to erase human history ("the stuff in the water that makes you forget" etc).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Edit: And who's to say what City 17 is or isn't?
It sure as fuck ain't Juarez...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I finished it today. Man, it sure leaves an impression. I really didn't want this game to end.

They sure cut out a lot of stuff I've seen in the early video footage, including the aforementioned blue tentacle thing.

And what a cliffhanger ending. Damnit. I want to know what happens with Alyx and Eli and the rest. ;(

--Erwin

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It is pretty dark. I noticed earlier that Half-Life's screen captures tend to be somewhat dark.

Oooh, I also wanted to point this little thing out but forgot while looking for pictures of Belgrade:

breen.jpg

This is Miroljub Labus, the leader of the Serbian party G-17 Plus; he was a good candidate for president a few years ago but then the prime minister was assassinated and this fellow lost his mind.

_38278979_lab.jpg

And this is Wallace Breen.

hemingway.jpg

:erm:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Sign in to follow this