Is it just me or is every PC gaming publication going absolutely nuts over this game? Is there any thing truly revolutionary about this game? The physics engine isn't that inspiring ( it is cool however, especially with the gravity gun), and terribley over used (with puzzles), while the graphics are the only real strong point.
Is there even a decent plot? Not at the beggining, and it sure takes a while to get to the end. The gameplay is tedious, as the guards look, act and fire the same.
The AI in half life 1 at least were advanced for their time, in this game they seem the exact same. The weapons aren't anything special (with the exception of the gravity gun).
The installion is a major pain in the ass, and downright impossible without an online connection.
An 80 % game at most, this isn't the timeless classic it's cranked out to be.

[ 12-30-2004, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: Sir Degrader ]

Best Single Player FPS I've ever played. Why? Atmosphere, AI, realism, HL1 references, Big Brother...
If you just run and shoot, what is teh AI supposed to do? Shoot, what else. They duck behind cover to reload, they attack in teams, and the bastards are really precise on higher difficulties. If, on the other hand, you try to use some advanced tactics against the AI, then it really comes to shine. If they are set to hunt you, they will hunt, they will search and the will kill. What more do you want from an AI, to sit down and have a cup of coffee? The game is really all that.

lol, that would be handy [img]tongue.gif[/img]

The game is revolutionary. No doubt about that. It's better then Doom 3. Doom failed miserably, becuase everyone expected to what HL2 is IMO. But the funny thing is that Leslie is playing BG more then HL.

Well I think the game is pretty revolutionary in a number of areas, a lot of them derived from the physics engine.

The plot is on par with HL1 IMO, not novel quality but good for a first person game.

How far are you along? The guards are just one of the opponents you'll face. The AI varies between fairly uninspired (guards) to pretty durn good (the flying aliens, the fast head crabbed monsters in Ravenhome and the tripod dudes). Watching the tripods manuver to get a shot at you when you're hiding is pretty impressive, they can figure out how to get under and around obstacles and none of it is scripted.

As far as being too long... the only gripe I had was that the game was too short, I finished it in 3 days.

The traditional weapons aren't anything special, but the grav-gun is the coolest weapon I've ever seen in a game, especially once you get into the combine. Combined with rag-doll and the insane level of interactivity and just about anything can become a weapon.

The level designs are IMO the best in any shooter that I've played... and I've played them all. COD has some very cool levels, and the Unreal franchise had a couple too, but HL2 had a TON of them, the bridge, Ravenhome, the airboat, the crane, and many more.

The installation thing is a matter of system capability. I told steam to pre-download the game and installation was about as painless for me as any game I've ever played. When I wanted to play the game on a different system I installed steam, copied the download directory from my other system and had the game running in minutes. Of course if you don't have a fast computer and broadband their approach is going to be a big PITA, so I can understand that complaint.

There's no such thing as a "timeless" game, they all look dated after a year, so that's not an issue IMO.

Sure there'll be better first person games in the future, but there's nothing close on the market today.

I'me running around a haunted village Ravenolme (sp). Please tell me the game gets better.

BEST FIRST PERSON SHOOTER EVER! HALF LIFE2 = GODLIKE AS WELL AS COUNTERSTRIKE SOURCE GAME WAS AWESOME FOLLOWED FROM HL1 EXACTALLY, GRAPHICS GODLY, AI GODLY, FUN LEVEL GODLY, ENVIORMENT GODLY. THERFORE GAME = GODLY. They put six years of devolpment into the game how about a lil credit.

Aarrrrrgh, all the people that put HL2 > Far Cry. All the game sites place HL2 as THE best FPS shooter for 2004. Man, I recently removed Far Cry from my pc because I'm completely through with it (in case im not making myself clear here: I've been playing Far Cry since it came out and now I decided to uninstall it. I didn't even last that long with VTM:B and I'm all RPG fan!!). That game came out May (or March?) this year. I actually traded HL2 in for TCOR:EFBB and was blown away by the sheer beauty of it. Plus that game is more original in gameplay then HL2, still, the atmosphere and graphical prestige from Far Cry isn't toppled by it.

[ 12-30-2004, 06:33 PM: Message edited by: Zuvio ]

This game is definetly a very good game, but IMHO,

1) The water craft level wasnt long enough, and the buggy level was too long. I have a save where there was a fork in the river, and i took the path to a headcrab infested bungalow, and i must have hit something triangular because next thing i knew i was on TOP of the bungalow. LOL

2) The graphics were incredibly good, the monster design and the Combine Technology design were top notch.

3) The one thing i had a gripe about, was that when you got the shotgun in Ravenholm, look to the right of Yuri Gagarin(thats what i call him :D ), and it looks like Ravenholm is a box.

4) Dog is a BEAST! THAT THING CAN TAKE DOWN ANYTHING! Anyone who has reached AntiCitizen One knows what I'm talking about.

5) The Gravity Gun was cool and original, and was implemented at every turn( a good thing).

6) This out performs Doom 3 in every way. The level dwsign blows Doom 3's away. Doom 3: The level designers must have had a fetish for quadrilaterals, because you where either in a rectangular room, a square room or a hallway. if you weren't in one of the afore mentioned things, you obviously got there by one. HL2: The level design was open, the draw distance was unbelieveable, (but not a good as Far Cry's). The design for 'Anticitizen One', 'Follow Freeman!', 'Dark Energies', and 'We Don't Go Into Ravenholm...' were open stunning, and Ravenholm was scarier than all of Doom 3 together. On the plus side, HL2 will run full specs on lesser graphics cards, and look better than D3. My bro got a 9600XT for X-Mas, and it goes full specs on HL2. It won't even run Doom 3.

Far Cry was good... but it's graphics weren't up to Doom3 standard much less HL2.

Have only played EFBB on a buddies system... looks cool but nothing earth shattering tech wise.

JMO but HL2 is way beyond anything on the market today.