miffy495

The great Valve re-play

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Still... Going to be completely honest here, Blue Shift is kind of a bummer. As i remember, it tried to be a little more low-key and atmospheric, but it ends up feeling like an amateur level pack more than anything else.

I played what (according to a real quick glance online) is apparently 2/3 of Blue Shift tonight in what Steam tells me is 108 minutes, so just over 1:45. Man, people weren't kidding when they called this short. Kind of a blessing though, given that the last half of a chapter is a fucking escort mission. There have also been a lot of sequences where all it feels like they're having me do is dump on soldiers for a while. Haven't run into a single assassin or black ops guy yet, and at 66% of the way through the game the strongest alien I've seen so far is a damn Vortigaunt. I get that Blue Shift was a Dreamcast bonus thingy, and so probably not intended to be up to the same calibre as Opposing Force when it was developed, but man. Also, after finishing OF, this game is unbelievably easy. Like, holy shit is this easy. Without being surrounded by teleporting in alien shock troopers for 15 minutes at a time and somehow surviving it to fight off a helicopter with 19 HP left, I just am not feeling it.

On the other hand, it's more Half Life. It's still good, it's just not nearly as good. Let's just say that knowing what I now know, I probably wouldn't pay the $5 that Steam is asking for this game by itself. Maybe that's a bit harsh. It's probably worth $5. Yeah, I'm getting $5 of enjoyment from it. Still considering some of the other stuff I've bought on Steam for $5 or less, how my brain thinks of $5 worth of game has changed over the past couple of years.

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I played what (according to a real quick glance online) is apparently 2/3 of Blue Shift tonight in what Steam tells me is 108 minutes, so just over 1:45. Man, people weren't kidding when they called this short. Kind of a blessing though, given that the last half of a chapter is a fucking escort mission. There have also been a lot of sequences where all it feels like they're having me do is dump on soldiers for a while. Haven't run into a single assassin or black ops guy yet, and at 66% of the way through the game the strongest alien I've seen so far is a damn Vortigaunt. I get that Blue Shift was a Dreamcast bonus thingy, and so probably not intended to be up to the same calibre as Opposing Force when it was developed, but man. Also, after finishing OF, this game is unbelievably easy. Like, holy shit is this easy. Without being surrounded by teleporting in alien shock troopers for 15 minutes at a time and somehow surviving it to fight off a helicopter with 19 HP left, I just am not feeling it.

On the other hand, it's more Half Life. It's still good, it's just not nearly as good. Let's just say that knowing what I now know, I probably wouldn't pay the $5 that Steam is asking for this game by itself. Maybe that's a bit harsh. It's probably worth $5. Yeah, I'm getting $5 of enjoyment from it. Still considering some of the other stuff I've bought on Steam for $5 or less, how my brain thinks of $5 worth of game has changed over the past couple of years.

Do yourself a favour and download Blue Shift Unlocked. The steam version is broken, to the point where it was unplayable, the mod makes it run as a HL1 mod.

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Yeah, I remembered you telling me that last week over Steam chat. I actually haven't had a single problem yet though, and at 2/3 of the way through the game, I've just got my fingers crossed that the 45 minutes or whatever that I have left to go will work. Hell, even the loading screen is now just the word "loading" over a frozen shot of the game, as it should be. No idea why OF had that stupid loading box when I played it now and Blue Shift doesn't.

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...and it's finished. No issues for me with the Steam version. Beat it just fine. Also, it was super easy. I had not a single combat-related death. It was all from falling in coolant or other such stupid jumpy stuff. I suppose it was a decent game. My Steam play timer says 3 hours, which is a bit sad. On the one hand, I'm glad that I finally played it, as I never had. On the other, it's sort of a bummer of a game to be bearing the name Half Life. Kind of just felt like it was slowing down my progress through the real Valve games. Nonetheless, I'm still feeling motivated and ready to start on HL2, the episodes, and both Portals. I know for a fact that all of those are fantastic, so exciting times are ahead! Don't know if I'll have as much to say while playing through those though, as they're more modern and everyone has probably played them relatively recently. Still, jazzed to soak myself in HL2.

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Do yourself a favour and download Blue Shift Unlocked. The steam version is broken, to the point where it was unplayable, the mod makes it run as a HL1 mod.

Huh? I had no problems when I played it.

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Huh? I had no problems when I played it.

G5al73UF478

It's pretty widespread, if it happens it's unavoidable. I also encountered other problems, such as falling out of the tram.

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Well, I tried giving Half-Life another go. I can appreciate how immersive it tries to be, and how that separates it from a more traditional shooter (it really does, in hindsight, feel very unique). I got as far as the giant blue monster that you have to kill with the electricity generator (right before the tram bit, and after the blast pit with the "hearing monsters").

But I still didn't enjoy it, and I can't even be totally sure why. I think I just don't enjoy the world of Half-Life. I don't enjoy the "puzzles" it presents to me. I don't get any satisfaction from killing baddies. I don't get any satisfaction from spending 20 mins taking the "long way round" to get to the other side of a door I can't open. I don't enjoy having to make annoying jumps, or pushing crates, or breaking crates. I don't even enjoy the "tone" of the world. It's not funny (to me) and the world itself has little or no personality (I get so sick of corridors).

I find that there's no real sense of progression, either. I feel like there's no sense of getting closer or further away from a perceived goal. (I never got a sense of excitement when I finally made it outside, or one of disappointment when I was forced back underground.) Even the "set-pieces", which sound good in theory, are very boring to me as I play them. And taking out each new "wave" of bad guys makes me feel little or no satisfaction, either. Especially if I get hosed and reload until I do well enough to continue.

I appreciate that it has plenty to praise. Plenty of things which set it apart from the average shooter, even now. The idea of one "giant" level is pretty amazing, plus the idea that everything is unfolding in "real-time", as you try to escape, is compelling and unique, but I can't get away from the fact that I don't get any sense of enjoyment or satisfaction from playing Half-Life.

I wish I could figure out exactly what it is that I don't like about it (as it seems I'm pretty much in a minority of 1, and I'm not even sure that fans of the game appreciate my dislikes -- even if they think the pros outweigh them).

Any ideas?

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Maybe you are approaching t as an FPS (where it went up against the likes of Quake, Unreal, Battlefield) rather than as a First Person Survival Horror, with action elements.

Granted the survival horror part was downplayed in HL2.

From what you said, it seems like the main issue you have is with the pacing.

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Any ideas?

All the problems you have with the game are so general, i can't think of anything to tell you that might help you enjoy it more.

You're basically saying "Yeah, i see all the cool things this game does, and none of it works for me." You don't seem to be missing anything, exactly. Are you bad at shooters? Do you feel like you're missing the gameplay fundamentals? Heh, I don't know.

I mean, but whatever, so Half-Life doesn't really "work" for you. It sounds like you gave it a chance in earnest and it still didn't really click.

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Maybe you are approaching t as an FPS (where it went up against the likes of Quake, Unreal, Battlefield) rather than as a First Person Survival Horror, with action elements.

Granted the survival horror part was downplayed in HL2.

From what you said, it seems like the main issue you have is with the pacing.

This is a good point, actually. That first Half-Life is structured a lot like a survival horror game. Though i think elements of that do strongly persist into the sequel. (A lot of the cliff-side explorations of abandoned dwellings, and really just the entire Ravenholm sequence.)

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Here's how I see things: Everybody, whether they like or dislike something, should be able to understand why someone else likes or dislikes something.

So if I love Star Wars, I should be able to appreciate that some of the dialogue is corny. And if I hate Star Wars, I should be able to appreciate what others see in it. Why? Because there are worthy things about that film (e.g. John Williams's score, the special effects, etc.), and if I refused to see them I'd be just another YouTube commenter spouting mindless hate into the universe.

I generally find that the only reason why people dislike things is because the flaws (and everything has flaws) outweigh the good things for them. Likewise, if someone thinks something is good, they are usually very aware of a thing's flaws, but they don't care, because the positive attributes more than make up for them. (For example: Even the most ardent Star Wars fan would hopefully acknowledge its clunky dialogue; they're just not bothered by it.)

You may agree with that, but you may wonder why should anyone would go further, and attempt to like something that they struggle so much to enjoy?

I'll answer that with a question: If I don't like Citizen Kane, does that mean it's a bad movie?

The answer is, I hope you agree, "of course not".

So (if what I said before is true) if I can't enjoy Citizen Kane, it's either because: a) I fully appreciate its strengths, but its flaws are too much for my personal tastes, or B) I don't fully appreciate its strengths, so its flaws overwhelm my experience.

If the case is B), then I have failed. My palate is not sophisticated enough to be able to appreciate its positive attributes, so I should try harder to find them -- because they definitely exist. It's my own personal failing if I can't see them.

If it seems like the case is a), then I'd like to know that I fully understand where its strengths are, and its flaws are, so I know it's not B).

With this in mind, I'm still trying to understand where Half-Life's strengths and flaws are. It's not often that I encounter something as universally revered as Half-Life (and, man, is it revered -- it's practically the Citizen Kane of games, at least in terms of critical response) and be completely unable to appreciate it. It's something that's bugged and irritated me since it was first released -- not least because I want to have the same awesome experience that everyone else is enjoying (dammit)!

This time around has been a massive progression for me, thankfully though. For the first time I can see some of its positive attributes. I did pick up on the "survival horror" tone, and I definitely (for the first time ever) appreciated the "all in one level"/"real-time" game design, too. But I've apparently still to hit upon the flaws that we all can agree on.

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Well, I tried giving Half-Life another go. I can appreciate how immersive it tries to be, and how that separates it from a more traditional shooter (it really does, in hindsight, feel very unique). I got as far as the giant blue monster that you have to kill with the electricity generator (right before the tram bit, and after the blast pit with the "hearing monsters").

But I still didn't enjoy it, and I can't even be totally sure why. I think I just don't enjoy the world of Half-Life. I don't enjoy the "puzzles" it presents to me. I don't get any satisfaction from killing baddies. I don't get any satisfaction from spending 20 mins taking the "long way round" to get to the other side of a door I can't open. I don't enjoy having to make annoying jumps, or pushing crates, or breaking crates. I don't even enjoy the "tone" of the world. It's not funny (to me) and the world itself has little or no personality (I get so sick of corridors).

I find that there's no real sense of progression, either. I feel like there's no sense of getting closer or further away from a perceived goal. (I never got a sense of excitement when I finally made it outside, or one of disappointment when I was forced back underground.) Even the "set-pieces", which sound good in theory, are very boring to me as I play them. And taking out each new "wave" of bad guys makes me feel little or no satisfaction, either. Especially if I get hosed and reload until I do well enough to continue.

I appreciate that it has plenty to praise. Plenty of things which set it apart from the average shooter, even now. The idea of one "giant" level is pretty amazing, plus the idea that everything is unfolding in "real-time", as you try to escape, is compelling and unique, but I can't get away from the fact that I don't get any sense of enjoyment or satisfaction from playing Half-Life.

I wish I could figure out exactly what it is that I don't like about it (as it seems I'm pretty much in a minority of 1, and I'm not even sure that fans of the game appreciate my dislikes -- even if they think the pros outweigh them).

Any ideas?

You have no soul?

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Helpful.

Welcome to the real world. People have different tastes. If something is good then not everyone needs to like it, if something is bad not everyone dislikes it. I like blondes, you like redheads; I like women, some guys like men, neither choice is wrong.

If you don't like it ignore it, the same thing which should have happened with a certain song about a day in the week.

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If something is good then not everyone needs to like it, if something is bad not everyone dislikes it. I like blondes, you like redheads; I like women, some guys like men, neither choice is wrong.

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.

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*snip*

I think we have some similar ideals.

I would simply state it as - I feel that somebody should try to actually understand something before they decide they don't like it. I've personally frequently found that when somebody reacts strongly and negatively to a game, it's because they've missed some crucial element. The purpose of a game mechanic has elluded them, or they lack the proper context for the experience. In Half-Life's case - It's dated-feeling game, but had many important and ground-breaking firsts. (Example: At the time, nobody was doing such elaborate scripted set piece events like Half-Life has. Not just the story sequences, but the blast chamber monster and the battle with the invincible giant the tunnels.)

Sounds to me, though, like you've done your due diligence in trying to understand a widely respected game.

So what's left?

Well, you don't like Half-Life.

video games aren't like movies. video games are such a broad and strange medium, we don't divide games by their thematic content, but by how they fundamentally function. video games are also inherently mutable, they are changed by what the player brings to them. There simply isn't this one single experience you're trying to fish out, everybody will perceive it differently. This isn't like the way people can perceive the unspoken language of movies in different ways, it's not people experiencing one thing subjectively, it's people experiencing many similar things subjectively.

What works for somebody won't work for everybody.

At the point you've given the game a fair chance and determined you still don't like it, i don't really understand why you should continue to beat your head against it.

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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.

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I think it's worth trying, in order to be sure whether or not you like a game.

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I explained over 4 or 5 posts that I dislike the Half-Life series with great intensity, TP, so you're not alone.

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I have no interest in playing a Half-Life game that was released before Half-Life 2, so meh.

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It only took me a week of semi-casual playing to beat it and both expansions, so it's not like it's the biggest investment of time or money. Still, fair enough.

Got through the end of Water Hazard in HL2 today. Nothing much to say really. It's still awesome? Blowing up that damned helicopter is still invigorating? Really don't know what to tell you. I think that my progress posts may become very boring shortly as it'll just be "man, this game is still good." Still, good to see other discussions have started up now, so maybe the thread has life of it's own! Yay!

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My favorite part of HL2 was always the cliff-side explorations, just a big leisurely chunk of the game that you can take mostly at your own pace.

So mellow and creepy and gorgeous.

Poking through all those abandoned homes filled with headcrabs.

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I explained over 4 or 5 posts that I dislike the Half-Life series with great intensity, TP, so you're not alone.

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.

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Got through the end of Water Hazard in HL2 today. Nothing much to say really. It's still awesome? Blowing up that damned helicopter is still invigorating? Really don't know what to tell you. I think that my progress posts may become very boring shortly as it'll just be "man, this game is still good." Still, good to see other discussions have started up now, so maybe the thread has life of it's own! Yay!

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?

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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.

NOCLIP saved the day.

Does everyone else play HL on Medium difficulty?

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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

Does everyone else play HL on Medium difficulty?

I played all the HL games on hard, they're better games that way, unlike others which only ramp up enemies' health and ramp down the player character, the AI is actually improved and makes the games more interesting.

I think this probably gets to the core of why you don't like half life, not the tone, not the story, not the set pieces, it's getting stuck.

Did you say you also got stuck on HL1 back in the day, which left a bitter taste in your mouth? It's telling that you started enjoying the first one more this time, but then got stuck. It took me a couple of months to get through HL1 playing it at lunchtimes in college, it was a bit like an adventure game trying to figure out some of the things, sleeping on it.

The thing is, I see this as a positive, whereas it seems you see the same thing as a negative. Frustration and learning to overcome it has always been something that I think games as an art form, uniquely, have to offer.

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