Half-Life 2 Review

By Kristan Reed Published 18 November, 2004

Moves the goalposts. With a gravity gun.

Version tested: PC

Order yours now from Simply Games.

It's 8.19am on November 16th 2004.

The rising vapour from a half consumed cup of tea forms into an upside down Y in a circle, or at least that's what it looks like from the perspective of someone who's been up since 5.30 AM getting everything ready. Steam has just finished its file validation process for Half-Life 2; the tedious, heinous, torturous delays and drip feed of information is almost over. Six long years. Six years since we finished the first wondrous, eternally memorable game. A time before Xbox, Game Boy Advance, PS2, Dreamcast. A time when Voodoo 2 was king. A time before Eurogamer was even a foetus.

We check the forum to while away the minutes. Predictably it's awash with eager, like-minded souls, posting their progress with the validation (or lack of). We weren't told about this! Why can't it just work? Why the inexorable torture? We own the game, let us play it dammit! 18%. More postings. 29%... Nggggggh... 59%... 82%... A long pause. What's going on? We don't get to see anymore. Before the magic numbers up to 100 can appear, we're presented with a black screen. Uh oh. Not of death, thankfully. Of life. Half-Life. 2.

Route Kanal surgery

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 1

At this point the Internet is quite possibly melting as hundreds of thousands of devotees all around the world simultaneously stress Valve's servers to breaking point. We haven't seen the likes of it. It's truly a momentous, agonising wait as we cross fingers and toes that Valve hasn't screwed up and underestimated demand; we were fearful, but like something approaching the Space Shuttle launches of our youth over two decades past, we have lift off.

But not everyone has such a smooth, seamless ride. As we rocket into the stratosphere we can just about make out the crimson faces of those left behind, venting furious, jealous, indignant anger at Valve for managing to mess up their dream journey, furious that even retail boxed copies fail to authenticate. It's a moot point, and a discussion that's still raging.

But after the roar of take off, a serene silence gives way. The G-Man looms large and loud and it takes somewhere in the region of two seconds to realise what all the fuss is about. Another stylish intro. A quickening of pulse, a shallowing of breath. A downtrodden yet magisterial air as another commuter journey begins. An atmosphere to savour. An oppressive beginning that gives a small taster of what we're about to experience; a world we have been trying hard to imagine for months, years. Blocking it out of our minds, trying not to spoil it for ourselves, yet filling time and column inches with games barely even worthy of the name, rushed out into the market only to let us down and chip away at our eternally optimistic resolve. Valve's approach was different. Valve's purpose was to take things forward whatever it took, however much it cost, and seemingly no matter how many people it pissed off along the way. And now the future is here.

Dr Freeman I presume

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 2

If Half-Life 2 achieves one single thing, it's to put into sharp focus how far gaming has come, and more specifically how far behind some of its competitors in the FPS genre really are. Some doubted that the Source engine could match the technical brilliance elsewhere, but it has not only surpassed anyone else's achievements, it has done so without forcing people to invest in ludicrously expensive hardware. Reports persist from amazed gamers with mid-range set ups that have been blown away by how well the game runs on their systems. That Half Life 2 looks more convincing, more understated, more realistic, more interactive and definitely more stylish than its peers yet manages it with far lower overheads is not only an impressive feat, but commercially a masterstroke. Not letting a fair chunk of your loyal customer base play the game because your content delivery system can't cope, however, isn't - although some would argue that the fact that a hacked version of the game didn't appear until day of release meant that the ends were worth the means. To an extent we'd have to agree; how much more money was earned as a result of slowing down the hackers we'll never know; but a hunch says it's a lot.

But we don't want to get bogged down in the relative merits of Steam, the shoddy packaging of the boxed version or any of the periphery issues that have clouded this momentous launch (the forum's choked with enough vitriolic bile to melt Gabe Newell's face as it is). We're here to talk about the game. And what a game. 14 chapters, 18 or more hours (skill/approach dependent) of almost relentless, fat free entertainment that's the gaming equivalent of watching several blockbuster action movies back to back. If this game isn't worth the asking price, we don't know what is.

Sometimes we like to utter a few sentences on the back story to give you a flavour of what to expect, but Valve being Valve has elected to keep things as enigmatic as possible. It's not possible to know this by just playing the game (and there's no manual anyway), but apparently the game takes place 15 years after the Black Mesa incident. No one knows (or even hints) what has happened in the intervening years, or why you're on your way to City 17, or what role you're supposed to perform once you get there. Suffice to say it's a grand city under an oppressive police state rule, with scary looking Tazer wielding-grunts (known as the Combine) armed to the teeth should anyone step out of line. It's part Big Brother, part Matrix with Eastern European architecture lending the setting an impossibly beautiful backdrop almost totally at odds with the climate of fear that perpetually pervades the environment.

A man of few words

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 3

Although this is 'the future' we're dealing with, it's a more realistic vision of the future, blending the more pleasing elements of the architecture of past with the cold sky scraping steel monoliths of the future. This isn't A.N.Other Blade Runner rip off, with neon skylines and hover vehicles. It's something distinctly fresh, and believable, all rendered with craft, life, logic and intelligence. If the devil is in the detail, then Half-Life 2 is Satan in a party hat, kicking back with a beer and engaging his fiendish accomplices in a toast to the future. Cheers.

The moment you start wandering the game's first locations a feeling of arriving somewhere special kicks in and barely lets go until the credits roll 13 chapters later. As if to deliver a cheeky nod about being in a new playground, Valve even drops one in the game's opening location, almost entirely pointlessly, other than to remind us all that's what this is all about. It's not about re-inventing the wheel, but pimping up that wheel with spinning hubcaps, bass boxes, neon strips and gadgets that would humble even Bond himself.

But Freeman is no double-O. If anything, he's the most personality-free zone in the history of gaming. Once again he never speaks, you never see him (not even so much as a reflection) yet everyone greets him like the ultimate living legend. Not bad for a "man of few words". If he ever uttered a thing our hearts would probably stop with the shock, but somehow the game gets away with pulling the same silent narrative trick of the original, engaging you this time with characters of far greater emotional depth than any FPS has dared to venture. All of this comes, as the original pioneered so successfully, from a combination of scripted set pieces that you watch silently unfold and various events that kick off with your arrival. By necessity and by design it's another story-lead on-rails shooter, and can only stray outside of those barriers to a minimal extent. To some this may come as a slight disappointment when it transpires that there is generally only one way to solve whatever your current dilemma is, but where Half-Life 2 succeeds beyond any doubt is in its ability to consistently and repeatedly create richly diverse and believable environments that enrapture the play experience with a suspension of disbelief that makes the thrill ride just as enjoyable as we expected to be.

Just like any game there are high points and low points, but when you bask in the warm glow of completion there are so many high points to recall it seems almost pointlessly pig-headed to find serious fault with what you've just experienced. If you can seriously come away from Half-Life 2 disappointed, then ask yourself which first-person shooter is better, and why? For the vast majority of us, the overwhelming emotion will be the pure joy of having experienced something that sets new high marks in so many areas as to reaffirm your belief in the ability of game developers to push things forward.

No Phantom Menace

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 4

It's probably fair to note that, with the exception of The Chronicles Of Riddick, no other game connected to the FPS genre released in recent years has done more than make things prettier. Even Doom III and its magnificent later levels were essentially a retread. Far Cry had the right idea with its approach to freedom (and arguably leads the way in that respect), but it lacked style, and the atmosphere failed to engage. The important point to make is that Valve hasn't just spent the last five or so years making a pretty sequel. On so many levels Half-Life 2 nails just about everything you could want from a sequel; the best things we can think of it that it still feels like Half-Life. It stays true to the essence of Half-Life, while at the same time improving on most of the various components that made the original such a landmark gaming experience. Before we launch into a breakdown of what we mean by that, the overriding point is that it's fun all the way through. Regardless of what we think of the art style, or the storyline or the weapons, or the physics or the myriad of issues surrounding the game, it's the most intensely enjoyable assault on the senses we've played this year. Probably ever. At the moment, it doesn't get any better than this.

One of the things that made Half-Life stand out was the narrative technique, not to mention the outstanding voice work and subtlety coherent journey, that gave the gamer only as much information as they needed to get to the next part of the game - tricking the gamer into believing they had to escape impending disaster, and then slowly unravelling a hugely entertaining conspiracy. This time around it's not quite so limited with the player often tasked with traversing vast distances, taking in hugely varied terrain and locations as opposed to keeping the player tethered to a base of operations. But while it's true that a relatively small part of Half-Life 2 takes place within the central core of City 17, the sense of variety and freshness is extremely welcome. In terms of the actual story, it's probably even less clear as to why you're there or what you're ultimately supposed to be doing than before. Along the way it takes in familiar themes of escape, rescue, betrayal, revenge and, of course, redemption.

On the surface there's nothing inherently unique or special about the story - how many times have we seen those narrative themes used? Probably in every single game at some stage, in truth. But yet the incredibly lifelike detail and unparalleled attention to detail in the facial and body animation bring the characters to life like no game has ever even come close to doing. Six years ago there were a handful of facial models, bags of imagination and some great voice work; now we've got a huge cast list who all have plenty to say (with impressively accurate dynamic lip synching) and do so with such an impressive array of visible emotions that infuse the game with a head-turning credibility that will change the way people view games forever. The narrative possibilities within gaming are still in their infancy, but Valve is most definitely leading the charge with technology that takes a gigantic leap forward in making games that barely even look like games anymore.

The emotion engine

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 5

In terms of the way the rest of the game looks, it's hard to even begin to emote how impressive it is. On an admittedly unnecessarily large screen, the visual spectacle is almost too much to take in. It took this reviewer far longer to finish the game than most other people, it seems, but you can blame a lot of that tardiness on the amount of time spent picking up a perpetually flopping jaw from the floor. And the beefier the kit, the bigger the screen, the more deliciously exquisite the scene becomes. But regardless of screen size it can't be overemphasised how spectacular the whole thing looks, with a physical presence to the environment that's no longer restricted by the box-like level designs of old; a majestically constructed environment that above or below ground, inside or out, hits new heights of artistic excellence that make every potentially mundane step of your journey an eye-popping feast to savour.

And this physicality we spoke of extends so much further than mere eye candy. For the first time the promise of advanced physics actually means more than watching a barrel roll down some stairs or an unconvincing rag doll animation. For the first time it's truly part of the experience, and it's all the better for it. [Potential spoiler alert: If you don't want to read about a new weapon in the game then skip to the next paragraph.] It's a new toy in a new playground, where the toy is the Gravity Gun and the playground is what you see. If you haven't seen any of the numerous official videos doing the rounds over the past 18 months then essentially it gives Freeman the incredibly useful ability to pick up and throw inanimate objects otherwise too heavy to haul around, namely barrels, radiators, furniture, saw blades and even bombs. At first this appears to be a means to floor opponents in a slightly more impressive fashion than just shooting them, but soon it becomes an essential part of getting around levels, allowing you to negotiate deadly environmental hazards that you might not necessarily want to walk over without constructing something first.

Mercifully, the puzzle element of the game is but the tiniest fraction of the overall picture, and when it does arrive serves as a bit of a breather from the often relentless combat you find yourself engaged in. Only on the fourth chapter does the puzzling stand a chance of holding players up for long (and dear god did it hold this reviewer up, as the forumites will acknowledge), with at least three occasions where having your wits about you is every bit as important as your aim. Once or twice thereafter your brain is called into action, but for the majority is action all the way, with only the merest sliver of platforming negotiation necessary, you'll be relieved to hear.

Combat rocks

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 6

So what of the combat and its partner in crime, AI? Well, it's fair to say that we enjoyed it immensely, being pitched perfectly in terms of difficulty (on Normal) neither being too easy or too troublesome that it becomes a quicksave fest. Some elite players out there have reported they found it easy, but this is coming from the type of people that perform headshot kills in CS while asleep, so don't listen too much to them. Mortals will delight in the AI for the most part - while it's true that most of the time enemies show rather too much of themselves to be truly convincing adversaries, there's a fair amount of ducking, dodging and outmanoeuvring to light up the scene and make even the most tame encounters into something never less than enjoyable. Frankly we'll never ever tire of hearing the ZX Spectrum load noises that emit from the Combine's masked bodies as they shuffle loose the mortal coil.

Other nasties abound, naturally, with only the dreaded Head Crabs and their shag buddies returning for a second bow, but without giving anything away or wishing to spoil the surprise, they really do never let you down. If there's one tiny criticism it's that there aren't actually all that many different enemies and that you've seen virtually all there is to see on the weapons/enemy front by the time you're halfway through. Personally we'd have thought a gradual, consistent, yet varied introduction of new things to fight and new things to fight them with would have been a good plan, but then, having said that, just when you think things can't get any more insane Valve go and spring a few things on you towards the climax just to make you realise that you're in one hell of a battle...

Anticitizen four

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 7

In terms of buddy AI, much has been improved upon, but it's still a little two-dimensional at times. Barney's role from the original has been vastly elevated since his generic security guard position last time out, but the willing army of helpers who greet Freeman with a hero's welcome periodically in the latter stages of the game are all too happy to cop a bullet in the name of freedom. Rather than merely being a bunch of generic resistance fighters, though, with the same faces, each one looks unique in its own right and in a style not dissimilar to Call Of Duty will help out in firefights, with one of the four-strong squad performing ammo replenishment duties and another doling out medipacks, although all of them prove to be ultimately dispensable. Slightly uselessly you can 'command' them in the loosest sense of the word, being able to direct them to head to a point determined by your sight reticule. But apart from perhaps shielding them from the line of fire there appears to be no reason to do anything other than let them follow you around in the hope that they might take out one or two Combine soldiers. To be fair, not many people would have wanted HL2 to be Rainbow Six anyway (although a squad shooter in the HL universe would be an amazing prospect), but it would have been interesting if the straight up all action shooting emphasis could have morphed into a few missions requiring a more careful, stealthy approach. There is a world to save, after all; you'd think the resistance would want to be a more careful bunch than to just wade in and cop bullets just like that, but like lemmings they drop dead time after time. It's possibly the only thing in the entire game that chips away at the suspension of disbelief. Shame.

However, one of the more remarkable things about Half-Life 2 is that even after all these years when the genre's effectively been 'done to death' (or so it seemed), Valve has still managed to supplement the consistently excellent combat with a satisfying selection of original ideas that although largely borrowed from the first game still don't feel tired. Of the new weapons, the Gravity Gun is almost unlimited in the amount of fun you can have with it, while the Combine Assault rifle and its hugely entertaining alt-fire is most definitely the traditional firearm of choice - possibly one the best weapons ever to feature in a videogame with its almost instant reload and wonderfully powerful feel. Could Valve have put more new weapons in? Yes, without a doubt. It's a mystery given how long the game is that more isn't added to your bulging arsenal, but we're only saying this upon reflection. At the time it's not really an issue; what you have is certainly more than enough, and very little of what you carry around with you isn't vital at some stage. Even the raggedy-arsed pistol has its uses thanks to the ability to spit out a surprising amount of bullets in no time with an epileptic trigger finger.

Vocally speaking

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 8

As you'd expect from Valve, the sound effects and general ambient audio is probably the best there is. Apart from the ongoing issues many users are experiencing with stuttering audio (something Valve has acknowledged and is working on fixing) the main characters don't quite have the vocal charm of the original, but still hit the mark, while the immensely atmospheric radio chatter and occasional snatches of conversation from both buddy AI and enemy patrols lend HL2 the kind of atmosphere we've been craving from so many games, yet appear to be beyond the capabilities of most developers.

With the level of filmic ambition and quality lavished upon the game, it's inevitable that certain eternally unimpressed people will be going all out to tediously pick apart various elements in an attempt to take something away from Valve's achievements - and yes, looked upon under a microscope you'll start to see the little elements that could have been improved. For some, it's merely a question of gameplay preference with some expressing tiredness for scripted FPS after years of being saturated in them. For others it's technical odds and sods that still remind you you're 'only' playing a videogame; the somewhat forgiving AI, the lemming-like buddy AI, the continued use of scripted, restrictive environments, the slightly irksome physics puzzles.

Yes, Half-Life 2 is not the perfect game. No game is, especially one that tries to take on the ambitious task of simulating elements of the real world, but once you take Half-Life 2 in the context of what it is and what it excels in, as opposed to what you thought it might be or could be, then it's startlingly clear that we're dealing with the game of the year. Never before has a game shouted 'ten out of ten' to us from the opening seconds to the last, and if this is a sign of what's to come in the next generation, then we're not likely to be changing our hobbies any time soon. If there's another game out there capable of evoking such consistently bewildering and dizzying excitement then we're not aware of it.

10 / 10

Rob's take on Life

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 9

It's a rare game that can survive its own hype. By the time the familiar Valve logo appeared, we were already exhausted. A year - no, a year and a half - of non-stop rumours, and reports, and accusations, and recriminations, and Gabe Newell's soundbites on every website in the world.

It felt like we'd run a marathon with this game already, gone ten rounds with it in the ring. The game itself, it seemed, no matter how good, would just be the punctuation at the end of the world's longest and most tedious sentence. Whether it was a full stop, an exclamation mark, or a question mark (or, if this was to be anything like Halo 2, a semi-colon hanging in space with no sign of the sentence being completed any time soon - but I digress) wouldn't really matter. We'd remember the botched launch, the hacking, the lawsuits and all the ranting about Steam for longer than the game itself. History would repeat itself.

We're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about the game. It's just hard to talk about the game without talking about the hype, about the delays, about all the things that have hammered Half-Life 2 into our consciousness in a bad way for the past year and a half.

It's just as well, then, that somehow that all evaporated in the seconds between the Valve logo going away and the first menu screen appearing. In the background, City 17, rendered in real-time, with birds flying, troopers walking the streets, and telegraph wires swaying gently in the breeze. In the foreground, it just says HALF-LIFE. It's here. It's on our screens. Despite ourselves, there's a tingle of anticipation, like a virginal first date. We've seen the pictures on the Internet, we've talked about it for years, but tonight is the night. We pray that Half-Life 2 doesn't have a headache. Or an STD.

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 10

After a cryptic and spine-tingling introduction from the G-Man, we start on a train. This is familiar ground, but yet unfamiliar - Valve, it transpires, is toying with our assumptions. The train ride lasts seconds, and then we're dumped in a cavernous railway station; the iconic Half-Life train section is in here, all right, but you won't see it for many hours yet, and when you do you'll appreciate it all the more.

What strikes us first about Half-Life 2?

Strangely, it's not the graphics. The graphics are stunning from the outset, certainly, but Valve keeps its powder dry, treating us to more and more sumptuous vistas as the game progresses. Little details like dust motes in the light which streams through high windows and rippled reflections off polished floor tiles might catch your eye, but they seem so natural that only a graphics fetishist will stop to stare. You feel almost guilty about this; those effects probably took ages to program and design, but you wander through them, simply accepting them as being one of the myriad ways in which Valve's world is brought to life. There's a truth about beautiful graphics here; the best special effects are the ones the audience doesn't notice.

No, what strikes us first is the characters. The faces, to be precise. The bearded, fatherly face of Dr Breen beaming down from a huge screen in the railway station, lecturing the oppressed people of the city on the masterplan of their alien "benefactors", each phrase accompanied by a finely judged expression, an utterly realistic inclination of the head or motion of the hands. The resigned expressions of the passengers who shuffle through the station, who look up to observe you as you approach and then slump back down again as you depart. The cheerful visage of the first ally you'll encounter, Barney - remember him? - as he talks, smiles, winks, and runs the gamut of facial expressions from laughter to terror.

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 11

They all seem real. They all move like real people; they can walk sideways, and backwards, without looking like ice skaters. They turn to face you when they talk, they look back at you over their shoulders as they walk ahead of you. Their faces express their emotions more clearly than any dialogue ever could. There is a moment, later in the game, where you join a firefight in a warehouse and clear out the attacking troops. The drawn, pale faces of your fellow fighters, who have been defending this location for hours, their numbers thinning with every wave of enemies, rob your victory of any jubilance. You walk over to the injured man they are attending, and they look up at you, wordlessly. It's a moment of revelation. Games can do this. They can use the most subtle storytelling tricks in the Hollywood book without having to drop into letterboxed cut-scenes, and then they can invent some of their own that go far beyond what any director has ever imagined.

After your early encounter with Barney, you wander the streets and buildings of City 17; soak up the atmosphere of the place, such as it is. Then it all kicks off; there is a headlong race through a tenement, a rooftop chase, a heart-pounding opener to the action of the game as you run, without HEV suit or weapons, from a veritable army of pursuers. You'll have your suit soon, and we challenge you not to shiver when the Half-Life music plays as you don it, and from here on, the action doesn't let up. Nearly twenty hours of finely balanced action, in fact - not too many weapons, but certainly not too few. Not too many different enemy types, but certainly not too few. Puzzles which are surprisingly intuitive and genuinely fun to complete. Characters - both friend and foe - that act and move realistically. Vehicles that tread the fine line between being too solid to be fun, and too loose to be controllable, and come out feeling just about right.

The puzzles are worth a mention in their own right; Half-Life 2 has, after all, got the most impressive physics ever seen in a videogame, and it's not afraid to flaunt them. You can lift, throw and push just about anything in the game; so can your opponents, although disappointingly they don't use this ability as often as you might like, which can make their AI seem disappointing. Certainly, the game cheats a little; it sets up opportunities for you to drop heavy things on the heads of opponents with unabashed glee, but then again, that doesn't stop it being insanely satisfying when you run into a room and evaluate the situation in time to knock out just the right supports and take out your enemies in a sea of explosive barrels, falling logs, or collapsing floors. The puzzles, meanwhile, are less a matter of lateral thinking, and more a matter of remembering that this game world performs like the real world; play with relative weight and buoyancy and you'll have the solution to most problems in your hands.

'Half-Life 2' Screenshot 12

With twenty hours of gameplay, variety is the spice of life. There are sections on foot and sections in vehicles, certainly, but it doesn't stop there. Valve has heard of genres, but it doesn't hold with the concept. Why should Half-Life 2 be pigeonholed as a science-fiction FPS game? Leaving aside the vehicle sections entirely, the game hops effortlessly between genres, touching upon almost the entire set of FPS varieties which have emerged in recent years, and proving itself the master of each and every one. The lone gunman science-fiction sections are present and correct, of course; but the game is equally capable of doing a fantastic job of the horror genre with a set of headcrab-zombie filled levels in a desolate village filled only with the howls of the victims and the raving of an insane priest, or of showing up the entire Call of the Men with Medals of Honoured Duty of Valor genre with a stunning set of levels where you lead a combat squad around a war-torn city. Why stop there, though? Valve didn't; they invent whole new gameplay sections that no other game has ever done. We challenge anyone to resist the urge to howl "Fly, my pretties!" in the assault on the prison complex (for reasons which we'll leave it up to you to discover), while cackling with glee at the weapon handed into your disposal - and the havoc it wreaks on the most basic concepts of FPS gameplay - in the climactic final sections of the game is practically mandatory.

Half-Life 2 is everything that Valve promised, and then some. Certainly, it is buggy; we experienced altogether too many crash bugs for our liking (although Kristan and the unusually silent Tom report no such issues), and graphical and sound corruption was an issue. The load delays are also disappointing, after Half-Life got this all so fundamentally right; but these are minor flaws. Crashes to the desktop merely gave us a chance to tell someone else on the Internet how amazing the game is, grab another coffee and perform some RSI-reducing exercises on our painful wrists. Not that we're suggesting they're a useful feature, but in any other game they would have given us fits of rage. Half-Life 2 is like digital Ecstasy; it can stand on your feet and elbow you in the ribs, but you'll still smile like an idiot and give it a hug.

Standing back and looking at it after having finished the game, there are just too many memorable moments to mention, and far too many of them would be spoilers anyway. Suffice it to say that Half-Life 2 has astonished us from start to finish. Valve has done to the FPS genre what restaurants in Chinatown do to ducks; shredded it, smothered it in a delicious sauce of their own devising, and served it up in a way which you simply couldn't have imagined when looking at them in the pond. The storytelling and character development is subtle and sublime, the gameplay varied, tense and exciting, the graphics stunning beyond belief. The best FPS game ever made? Oh yes, oh yes indeed. While the rest of the world is still scrabbling to catch up with the original Half-Life in many ways, Valve have just moved the goalposts again - and changed all the rules of the game in the process.

Order yours now from Simply Games.

10 / 10

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Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (207) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mad_caddy #1 7 years ago

    better than Halo 2 then :-)
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 14:15

  • renzo #2 7 years ago

    Those 'System Requirements' sound too low. Did you get them off the box?

  • renzo #3 7 years ago

    *prepares bait*

    Of course it's better than Halo 2!

  • krudster #4 7 years ago

    It relegates Halo 2 to 8 territory tbh.

  • AtomicBanana #5 7 years ago

    that doesn't make sense to me tbh.

  • krudster #6 7 years ago

    Yes, the system specs are off the box, but plenty of people with mid range systems are reporting the game runs very well indeed.

  • renzo #7 7 years ago

    *grabs some of krudster's bait*

    Yours is sooo much better! :D

  • gamingdave #8 7 years ago

    Those system specs suggest even my laptop could run it! Mind im tempted for this to be the "excuse" for me to build a shuttle.

  • renzo #9 7 years ago

    So a P4 2.8Ghz (OC'ed to 3.2), GeForce FX 5900, 512MB RAM should be able to run it at a decent frame-rate and resolution, right?

    Reason I ask is because Doom3 runs a bit iffy on my system. Is this more/less intensive?
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 14:24

  • krudster #10 7 years ago

    What I'm saying is if I'd have played Halo 2 after HL2 I'd be more inclined to give it an 8 (for single player). It's just not even in the same league now - still the best you'll get on console, but if we're rating them side by side, then yes, Halo 2 doesn't look quite so impressive anymore. That's progress for you.

  • krudster #11 7 years ago

    With that spec it'll run fine, no problem *at all*.

  • Lutz #12 7 years ago

    I'd rate Halo2's SP an 8 anyway Krudster, but I don't think it'd be far to do a cross console comparrison...

    Good review though. As someone who didn't "get" half life 1 I'm looking forward to this.

  • andrewfromdoncaster #13 7 years ago

    Did it take longer to play or write the reviews? Jesus, there's a lot a words in there. Shame i can only play Codename Gordon for some goddamn reason.

  • krudster #14 7 years ago

    You did notice there are two reviews of it in there, right?

    Took 4 hours to write, 24 hours to play.

  • Blerk #15 7 years ago

    It sounds really, really great. But there's no bloody way I'm spending all that money on a PC just to play this. :-/

  • UncleLou #16 7 years ago

    Great reviews, you two, one can feel your enthusiasm in every sentence, a joy to read!

  • Thamuhacha #17 7 years ago

    I'd love to play this. But will realistically have to wait for the Xbox version. And hope they can transfer their 10 out of 10 skills to the control system.

  • Tiitiz #18 7 years ago

    I'm on chapter 12 and I ain't loving it as much as this makes out.

    9/10 for me so far. Last 3-4 chapters may change my mind to a 10 you think?

  • Sid-Nice #19 7 years ago

    This game is better than the overrated Halo 2, but to me 10 means perfect. It's understandable with so many PC's with different specifications, that you'll have sound problems and the odd graphical clitch. But I have to say this game is brilliant and it certainly is the best in this genre. I'd hate to see the game running on these System Requirements:
    1.2GHz processor
    256MB RAM
    32MB, DirectX 7 compatible graphics card
    4.5GB hard disk space
    Internet connection required.
    :)

  • bionutz #20 7 years ago

    Boah! 10/10! This is (slightly histerical) unbelieeevable! Must buy ... now!

  • andrewfromdoncaster #21 7 years ago

    " You did notice there are two reviews of it in there, right?

    Took 4 hours to write, 24 hours to play."

    Oh yeh, when it started back with the bit about the hype. But it is a very good review. I like it when i can tell you enjoyed it rather than putting out a load of bollocks that sounds like marketing soundbites, that can be found on other sites

  • towser #22 7 years ago

    I'm playing it at the mo (have got to Ravenholm) and have to say I agree with every word in the review. It really is a mind numbingly good game. Only 3 more hours of work left and then back to it!

  • pjmaybe #23 7 years ago

    Fucking superb review both, and ultimate respect to Kristan for mentioning those "red faced individuals left behind"... ;)

    Superb and agreed on the ten. But I'd have given the delivery and validation process a resounding '0' just from my own personal experience though of course that's just me and a few others...

    Peej
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 14:42

  • kebab #24 7 years ago

    now imagine what HL3 will be like - holodeck anyone?

  • Mr_Sleep #25 7 years ago

    "so don't listen too much to them"

    Ah ha! Spelling mistake!

    Could this not turn into one of those idiotic "oh you gave it 10 out of 10" threads, that was extremely tiresome.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 14:44

  • steven #26 7 years ago

    Sounds excellent, a 10 is rare here so it MUST be special, now how about a PC to play one? Think think....

  • Lutz #27 7 years ago

    Slightly off topic...

    Aside from Half Life 2 and ICO, what other games got a 10 on EG?

  • Garwoofoo #28 7 years ago

    The audio stuttering problems are currently preventing me from playing this. It's the only game in the last five years or so where I've had significant technical problems that I've been unable to resolved. Very, very unimpressed.

  • AtomicBanana #29 7 years ago

    '24 hours to play.'

    Jesus! Twice as long as it took me to complete :o Studying every rock were we? :D

  • bionutz #30 7 years ago

    well simply games doesn't ship to germany, too bad for them, goto amazon.co.uk...

  • tonynibbles #31 7 years ago

    TEN OUT OF TEN!!??

    WAS THERE EVER ANY OTHER SCORE!???

    Best game ever. Everything about it is well done.
    You can tell that the whole game, apart from being amazing, is just 'well built'.
    Hence, the system specs are so darn impressive. Makes D3 look like the pile of **** that it is. Sloppy.

  • Eighthours #32 7 years ago

    So.... any chance of a semi-mythical Xbox version even having a chance of running this game effectively??

  • Shinji #33 7 years ago

    Jesus! Twice as long as it took me to complete :o

    Wow, you were really bombing through it. I played it on hard, since I usually find single-player FPS games too easy, and it took me about 18 hours to finish. Kristan is rubbish at games, admittedly, but the concept that someone shaved six hours off MY time without really missing a lot of the scenery on the way is tough to credit ;)

  • krudster #34 7 years ago

    I'm truly amazed how anybody could fly through it in 12 hours - that's a truly incredible feat, even taking into account knowing the solutions to the puzzles and suchlike. Bow down to your mighty skills!

  • steven #35 7 years ago

    "Aside from Half Life 2 and ICO, what other games got a 10 on EG?"

    Super smash bros melee and Metroid Prime i think?

  • steven #36 7 years ago

    "So.... any chance of a semi-mythical Xbox version even having a chance of running this game effectively?? "

    Well according to Doug Lomabrdi, it is running well and fine on the xbox, what i heard is that far away gemetry that would not appear on the low-res TV as compared to PCs are being filtered out for smooth running.

    However, expect the same physics, lower-res textures and probably 30 frames per second at most.

  • Shinji #37 7 years ago

    I know Deus Ex did, because I gave it to it, and Soul Calibur II as well (I'll defend that one to my dying day. And will probably have to, too.)

    I rated Wind Waker a 10 but that was a second opinion review so it doesn't count.

  • Khab #38 7 years ago

    Slightly off topic...

    Aside from Half Life 2 and ICO, what other games got a 10 on EG?

    Metroid Prime.

  • krudster #39 7 years ago

    /realises he has to play Killzone next week...

    Oh ho ho.

  • Lutz #40 7 years ago

    Half Life 2
    ICO
    Soul Calibur 2
    Metroid Prime
    Deus Ex

    A good quality list of games there. One thing I do like about EG is you don't flaunt that 10/10 very often, so when you do, you know it's special...

  • kebab #41 7 years ago

    dont forget Windwaker!

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #42 7 years ago

    This game is AMAZING! I wish I'd had time to play Halo 2 for more than an hour, cos I can't see myself going back to it any time soon..

  • Dizzy #43 7 years ago

    >better than Halo 2 then :-)

    Halo 2 SP vehicle sections are way beyong what HL2 offers. HL2 is really a pretty killer FPS game, but on PC farcry still does a lot of stuff better. Super game? Yes... best FPS... not IMHO. A 9/10. A nice combination of best-of in the FPS genre.

    Tha AI is very scriped as well. While cool, it just doesn't offer the same dynamism as H2 (as an example). HL1 pioneered AI, and now has fallen a bit behind some of the competition.
    Edited by 2 at 18/11/04 @ 15:16

  • Tiger_Walts #44 7 years ago

    Burnout 3 got 10 too.

  • krudster #45 7 years ago

    Blimes, if Roop is spooging over it, you know it's special!
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 15:06

  • #46 7 years ago

    I'm so glad that you didn't let Valves snobby behaviour, in terms of not letting you have the code before release day cloud your judgement. I also find it quite amazing the number of other reviewers who have not given the game a straight ten. Because that is exactly what it is and Eurogamer should be respected all the more for seeing that and awarding the game a straight ten, which other brilliant games have not been able to reach. A ten is a very rare thing for EG to award any game, but when you've just been shown the future of games how could top marks not be awarded. Eurogamer, superb reviews. Valve, superb game.

    Quotes from the reviews:

    "Other nasties abound, naturally, with only the dreaded Head Crabs and their shag buddies..."

    > lol

    "but then, having said that, just when you think things can't get any more insane Valve go and spring a few things on you towards the climax just to make you realise that you're in one hell of a battle..."

    > I can't wait to play the later chapters.

    "Of the new weapons, the Gravity Gun is almost unlimited in the amount of fun you can have with it..."

    > That gun is unbelievable. And the tutorial when you're first introduced to the gun is brilliant too

    "Never before has a game shouted 'ten out of ten' to us from the opening seconds to the last, and if this is a sign of what's to come in the next generation, then we're not likely to be changing our hobbies any time soon"

    > Definetely a TEN.

    "but yet unfamiliar - Valve, it transpires, is toying with our assumptions. The train ride lasts seconds, and then we're dumped in a cavernous railway station"

    I was expecting to be on that train for longer. I spent 1 hour in the train station.

    "Valve has done to the FPS genre what restaurants in Chinatown do to ducks; shredded it, smothered it in a delicious sauce of their own devising, and served it up in a way which you simply couldn't have imagined when looking at them in the pond."

    lol


    Should I utter the words "Half Life 3".

    PS: What's that sound. The sound of other FPS developers shitting myselves to catch up. Perhaps the good people at Valve will license you the engine...
    Edited by 2 at 18/11/04 @ 15:11

  • krudster #47 7 years ago

    Bleh. Wondered how long it'd take before the Far Cry defenders would emerge. Come on dude, Far Cry's a lovely game but isn't even in the same league in too many ways that matter.

  • steven #48 7 years ago

    Am I the only one aware that Super smash bros melee also got a 10/10?

  • Clive_Dunn #49 7 years ago

    Well I've probably played for 10 hours now and I've only just finished the airboat section.

    I'm in no hurry, the first run through is always the one you remember in future years. I'd like to drag out my first time as much as I can ( matron ).

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #50 7 years ago

    ... Exactly, I don't even like games. :p

  • krudster #51 7 years ago

    Given that even *I* rushed as much as I could bear, I reckon some people will stretch the game out to 30-35 hours.

  • Xensor #52 7 years ago

    Krudster - please tell me you tested the minimum specs as recommended by the box and that it was good! My pc is old and crusty -

    athlon 1.3ghz
    768mb pc-133
    9500pro
    SB Audigy

    Should i even bother? Or just hold my head and sob like a baby???

  • Lutz #53 7 years ago

    I reckon this game must be amazing, the EG staff is in the comments section in full force, rather than the odd post!

    All we need now is mugs and we're sorted! ;)

  • Eighthours #54 7 years ago

    /realises he has to play Killzone next week...

    Oh ho ho.

    I'm really rubbing my hands at the prospect of that review, and preparing moron-proof flame-resistant gloves to put out the fires that the inevitable slag-off session is going to cause among PS2 fanboys.

  • Peekaboo #55 7 years ago

    Colour me surprised...........Even the Jizz fest love ins of Gamespot and IGN didn't award a perfect score, especially considering it's merely an evolution as opposed to a revolution and seems to be a bit loose in it's story telling and disjointed in feel due to load times. Awesome game, yes, perfect, no. And to not even consider the install problems and down grade due to them..........Poor.

  • #56 7 years ago

    I probably shouldn't mention this, seeing as I'm still only half way through Half Life 2, but who's up for Half Life 3.

    Valve spent alot of the time working on the new engine and the physics, didn't they? Therefore there is no reason why we might see Half Life 3 in the very near future, using the brilliant engine they have now developed...
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 15:23

  • Shinji #57 7 years ago

    to not even consider the install problems

    Problems with Steam don't affect the game itself. If I was reviewing a movie, I wouldn't knock marks off because the cinema fucked up my ticket booking.

    (Also worth pointing out that I didn't actually experience any problems with Steam. We review based on our experience of the game, not based on our experience of, er, internet forums.)

  • Jaytee #58 7 years ago

    I'm SOOOO hoping this will run on my machine (Dell Inspiron 8600 Pentium M 1.4ghz, 512mb Ram, Geforce GO 64mb).

    It ran FarCry well, but suffered with Doom 3 :/

    Anyone here got HL2 running on a laptop?

  • Blerk #59 7 years ago

    Am I the only one aware that Super smash bros melee also got a 10/10?

    That was just an accidental typo, though. It should have received 1/10.

  • #60 7 years ago

    Xensor nice graphics card. I have the Radeon 9500 Pro too.

    Processor Athlon Xp 2400
    Memory: 512Mb DDR

    Runs smooth with decent settings.

  • luisalis #61 7 years ago

    Better than Gradius V then...

  • kalel #62 7 years ago

    It is definitly too early to start talking about HL3, but seeing as you did, I hope, and also don't think that they will do it with this engine, if at all.

    Same again for me. Do a couple of expansions packs with this engine and spend years developing, planning and tuning a sequal. I just hope I don't have to wait that long for another game of this quality, although I expect I will.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 15:24

  • Bitkari #63 7 years ago

    decrypting was painful.

    my heart stopped at 82%.

  • krudster #64 7 years ago

    The thing is...neither myself, Rob, nor Tom had installation problems. Should we pretend to have had problems? It was....flawless. What can I say? I'm sorry so many people have had issues, but that's PC gaming all over.

    We've made it clear the game isn't perfect, and a 10 should never be an interpretation of the game being perfect (otherwise no game would ever be worthy of it). Personally I do consider it to be revolutionary in several ways.

  • Jaytee #65 7 years ago

    Nice one teamster, thx.

    I've been led to believe that the 1.4ghz Pentium M is equivalent to a 2.6ghz (ish) desktop PC, so here's hoping =]

    I read on the PlanetHalflife forums that people with 1.2ghz machines with 256mb ram and Geforce Ti200's are running the game fine on lower settings; if this is the truth then Valve deserve a Nobel :)

  • Stilicho #66 7 years ago

    Has anybody actually had a look at the Source version of the original Half Life? Is it worth getting? Rumour has it that there is no graphical improvement and it actually looks worse than with the Blue Shift hi-res texture pack.

  • krudster #67 7 years ago

    Yes I looked at it. No, it's not worth bothering with. It's a world of lies, it's barely even noticably different, which I'm amazed about.

  • Jaytee #68 7 years ago

    "Has anybody actually had a look at the Source version of the original Half Life? Is it worth getting? Rumour has it that there is no graphical improvement and it actually looks worse than with the Blue Shift hi-res texture pack. "

    Haven't seen it myself but have spoken to people who've played it. General opinion was 'mehhh, it's ok'....it does look nicer but it's not a BIG leap (water effects were mentioned however as 'beautiful').

    One advantage I gather is that you *can* begin playing from any chapter in the game.

  • BravoGolf #69 7 years ago

    /resists typing in "Dell.com" :)

  • Macross #70 7 years ago

    Gah, those reviews where exactly spot on, good points and bad :)
    exactly the exalting gushy jism that has been spewing forth from my mouth to all my chums who foolishly handt got it yet or hadnt taken time off work to play it :p

    This game had to have a 10 as it is waaay better the halo 2 single player which got a 9. (which i also have completed and didnt enjoy as much)

    Also it's just simply worth the score. Spot on reviews chaps, nice one. Well I'm off to burn down the Gamespot offices catch you later!

    PS. Maybe its cos i have a gig of ram but i had no sound stuttery problems at all times bar when the game autosaved.

  • DB2k #71 7 years ago

    I am glad Kristin reviewed this. I much prefer his reviews to the short "reviews" some of the other newer employees here write. No offence intended and I'm not naming names but some of the other reviews just misso ut so much in games. I have played this game for 15 minutes and whilst graphically its no Pixar film.. the attention to detal is brilliant. The faces are also pretty great. I can easily see why this is a top marks game. I look forward to getting more into it.

  • Macross #72 7 years ago

    yeah i had a quick butchers at the half life source, seems like everything art related is exactly the same and only things handled by code such as lighting etc look nicer.

    vaguley dissapointed as i was hoping (against all odds :p) that it would have received a counterstrike: source like makeover.

  • Clive_Dunn #73 7 years ago

    I'd have to say that "graphically its no Pixar film" gets a rare 10/10 for stupidity.

  • steven #74 7 years ago

    "That was just an accidental typo, though. It should have received 1/10."

    Hey! Oi! Over here!
    10/10 okay? Now go play some of it with 3 of your mates... its fantabulous... Now... How can I play Half-Life 2...

  • steven #75 7 years ago

    "If only every game looked like a Pixar film... "

    No game yet plays or even looks like a Pixar film but Hal-Life 2 is certainly one of the closest yet.

  • Blerk #76 7 years ago

    10/10 okay? Now go play some of it with 3 of your mates... its fantabulous...

    I did, it isn't. In single-player it's dire. In multi-player it's 'not quite as dire'. Quite how it managed to get 10/10 I'll never know. Mentioning it in the same breath as Half Life and its ilk seems almost blasphemous.

  • [maven] #77 7 years ago

    They only thing that's really annoying me now, is that my copy of "Halo 2" will arrive tomorrow, i.e. after having played HL2... :S

  • HankScorpio #78 7 years ago

    So people talking about running it on a laptop - do you think my Vaio 2.8G Celeron with 564 RAM will run it? The problem is the gfx card is a Radeon IGP 345M, from what I recall its an onboard card, would that let me down? Even if I could play it on low settings I'd be quite happy ...

  • sharpkiddie Verified Lead Developer, Eurogamer Network #79 7 years ago

    "Given that even *I* rushed as much as I could bear, I reckon some people will stretch the game out to 30-35 hours."

    Yeah, I keep trying to build steps and houses out of the bits I find lying around :-) At this rate, it's gonne take me months to finish...

  • UncleLou #80 7 years ago

    People are exaggerating the requirements of Doom 3. I played a few levels on a humble Xp 1800, Geforce 4 system, and it ran absolutely fine. Now Far Cry, on the other hand...

    /curses the mouse lag

  • krudster #81 7 years ago

    I see the Halo 2 community is upon us already!
    /dons flame reTARDant jacket...

  • Macross #82 7 years ago

    "10 out of 10? What a joke!

    This game is shit compared to halo 2!"

    ROFL funniest thing I've read all year :)

  • NAC #83 7 years ago

    Game of the year? Oh Yes!!!

  • steven #84 7 years ago

    "I did, it isn't. In single-player it's dire. In multi-player it's 'not quite as dire'. Quite how it managed to get 10/10 I'll never know."

    So what EXACTLY was wrong with it at least be specific with what was wrong?

    "Mentioning it in the same breath as Half Life and its ilk seems almost blasphemous"

    They are not MEANT to be compared i mean a party game versus an intelligent FPS. But they have one thing in common and it is FUN! :)

    Oooops off topic.... still thinking of how to play Half-Life 2...

  • petebritish #85 7 years ago

    So exactly what spec machine was the game reviewed on?

  • steven #86 7 years ago

    "This game is shit compared to halo 2! "

    At least back up your claim with hardcore evidence or lesser 'reasons' for those claims instead of stating your opinion as a fact...

  • krudster #87 7 years ago

    Review system: 3.4Ghz P4, 1 GB RAM, ATI Radeon 9800Pro 128MB.

  • barchetta #88 7 years ago

    Mac version anyone?

  • Universal_Hamster #89 7 years ago

    I loved Halo 2, was ready to give it 9/10, and then I played HL2. Now my score is more towards 6/10. HL2 has showed just how much the FPS genre has been stagnating. For me to catalogue all the things that are exceptional about it would take a post longer than all comments already here put together. Sure, the install procedure is terrible, (Owning HL2 is like getting to go to heaven, but having to undergo a painful body-cavity search first.) but everything else reeks of quality. Im 10 hours in with not a single moment boring me, or even annoying me slightly. (Totally unheard of for me, as I am easily annoyed with games.) I just hope that the xbox version can somehow translate the action properly, as its a very fast, precise game, and the controller may not be able to cope properly.
    And finally, it runs almost perfectly on my £650 PC, bought over a year ago. (That was when I thought HL2, Doom3, Far Cry and Rome Total War were about to come out!)

  • HankScorpio #90 7 years ago

    cheers for the help, but is there any sort of stress test I could check that my gfx card could cope? It's pretty shit I'm sure its not meant for gaming ...

  • steven #91 7 years ago

    "I just hope that the xbox version can somehow translate the action properly, as its a very fast, precise game, and the controller may not be able to cope properly. "

    If auto-aim is used and a control scheme similar to Halo 2's it should be fine... the PS2 conversion proved that Half Life can work on consoles and from what I have heard Half Life 2 uses the same control scheme as the original. The question is when is it out? I want to play HL 2 now ....

  • RedboX #92 7 years ago

    I have a p3-1Ghz, with 512meg and a 128m Ti4600, and it runs quite well, it defaulted to 800x600 with the detail settings at medium.

  • Nemesis #93 7 years ago

    At Nemesis Towers, Halo2 has been put on the shelf quicker than a poor spinster.

    Whilst Halo2 gives you more of the same, Half-Life2 gives you reminders of the past. Then it moves on. Stuff like the recharge sounds, HL1 characters, fonts, colours. It's somehow managed to capture the feeling of HL1 without falling into a boring routine. It's very very well done and I love it so far. Best game I've played in a long long time.

    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 16:44

  • krudster #94 7 years ago

    Is anyone else amused how on earth the spoogetastic Gamespot managed to give this 9.2 and yet Halo 2 9.4?

    Shurely shome mishtake?

  • countlippe #95 7 years ago

    LOWER THE TEXTURE QUALITY TO CURE THE SOUND SKIP PROBLEM!!!

  • Jaytee #96 7 years ago

    Regarding performance on Half Life 2, FarCry and Doom3: it's weird, as all my friends have complained how much of a system hog FarCry was and how badly it ran on their machines...it ran great on mine.

    Unlike Doom 3, which was abysmal; I'm wondering if Doom 3 is doing something my gfx card just didn't like at all (probably just the fact that it only has 64mb onboard is the biggest issue).

    But thanks for the promising words concerning HL2 performance, sounds like I should be good to go on even medium settings, which will be fine for me :)

  • #97 7 years ago

    HALFLIFESUX wrote:

    "10 out of 10? What a joke!
    This game is shit compared to halo 2!"

    I can only assume that you are a Xbox fan with a crappy PC setup unable to run Half Life 2 and you are sat there in a fit of jealously. However if you have actually played Half Life 2, which I doubt from your stupid comments. Personally I don't see why Half Life 2 and Halo 2 should be compared, apart from the fact that many people compare every new game to Halo Anyway Halo 2 from what I can gather is a brilliant, brilliant multiplayer game with a not so decent "short" single player mode. Half Life 2 is all about single player, although today there are reports of a multiplayer HL2 aspect. Half Life 2 shows the future of gaming, the ingame physics have never, never been done to that extent before and help to create a whole new gameplay experience, the graphics are stunning and the overall gameplay will blow you away. It is fun from start to finish, unlike Halo 1 and Halo 2, which I believe has repetitive parts?

    I don't even know why I'm comparing the two, they shouldn't even be compared to each other. Half Life 2 gets 10 because it deserves it, nuff said.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 16:58

  • krudster #98 7 years ago

    It's not so much of a question of whether you'll like HL2, more a case of *how much* you'll like it.

  • Artemus #99 7 years ago

    HALFLIFESUX wrote: "10 out of 10? What a joke!
    This game is shit compared to halo 2!"

    Someone let the baby out of the pram.

  • #100 7 years ago

    Krudster Wrote:
    "Is anyone else amused how on earth the spoogetastic Gamespot managed to give this 9.2 and yet Halo 2 9.4?"

    /Removes Gamespot from favourites list. They obviously haven't got a clue or their rating system is f*****

  • Shinji #101 7 years ago

    The whole thing about the story is something I should have addressed in the article, I guess, but I didn't realise that so many people don't get it.

    And I honestly think that's what's going wrong here - you don't get it. The game doesn't come straight out and say "here's what's happened" in dialogue, it doesn't present you with a handy JRPG style plot in text boxes, and therefore you feel that it doesn't have a story.

    Speaking as someone who mostly plays games for their storylines.... I loved Half-Life 2's approach. It requires you to engage your brain, to find out for yourself what's going on, and to draw conclusions from evidence. Throwaway comments gain massive significance as you work out what's been going on; listening to snatches of dialogue in Breen's broadcasts, reading pieces of newspaper stuck to walls, drawing conclusions as the state of the world around you is revealed.

    It's a rich, fascinating world, and one in which I hope Valve tell a hell of a lot more stories. The lack of anyone to hold your hand and point out the story bits to you shouldn't stop you from being able to appreciate that. Stories don't have to be in your face; remember that a picture tells a thousand words, and wonder to yourself how many words can be conveyed by an interactive game world.

  • krudster #102 7 years ago

    Quite.

    I banned myself from reading anyone's review before writing mine, but had to chuckle at GS' review, particularly as it whines on about the story or lack of. Surely anyone who played and enjoyed and understood the original would have *expected* the same approach, and that's what we got, right here. I love the mystery and enigma. I personally can't wait for the inevitable expansions that gradually fill in what happened to Barney and Alyx while you were off gallivanting...

  • steven #103 7 years ago

    "Is anyone else amused how on earth the spoogetastic Gamespot managed to give this 9.2 and yet Halo 2 9.4?

    Shurely shome mishtake?"

    Reviews done by different people so cannot be directly compared. Still though Halo 2's single player is lacking somehow, it's multiplayer more than makes up for it so it is still a superb game that can be preferred by some.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 17:20

  • CrunchinJelly #104 7 years ago

    How can a game with no multiplayer get 10/10?

    Meh? Meh? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh...

  • krudster #105 7 years ago

    A fine theory until you realise that CS Source was included in the HL2 review. 9.2 for HL2 and CS Source? Come on!

  • medulla oblongata #106 7 years ago

    Exactly Krudster, £30 for the GOTY and CS:S which is one of the best online FPSs ever, this is quite a stunning offer.

    And the whispers of HL2MP?

    stuff of dreams.

  • krudster #107 7 years ago

    No Christian takes on those?

  • steven #108 7 years ago

    "A fine theory until you realise that CS Source was included in the HL2 review. 9.2 for HL2 and CS Source? Come on!"

    They made their complaints pretty much clearly and justified their 9.2 though i expected higher. But Krudster CS Source is dated, just the original CS with fancier graphics which is unexciting and is a bit dated compared to Halo 2's multiplayer which has an overwhelming number of modes and possibilities

  • Peekaboo #109 7 years ago

    Problems with Steam don't affect the game itself.

    Erm they do if you can't play the thing........

    I appreciate you guys never had any problems and are taking the package as game only but I had the same issues when you reviewed Far Cry, the map creation package wasn't included in the scoring even though it's a part of the game for many..........Bit uneven, not saying it's not a great game, because it is, but with all the hassle and the fact that it's not that great, it's not a ten.

    In my opinion off course ;)

  • Peekaboo #110 7 years ago

    "I banned myself from reading anyone's review before writing mine, but had to chuckle at GS' review, particularly as it whines on about the story or lack of. Surely anyone who played and enjoyed and understood the original would have *expected* the same approach, and that's what we got, right here. I love the mystery and enigma. I personally can't wait for the inevitable expansions that gradually fill in what happened to Barney and Alyx while you were off gallivanting... "

    You know, some would say that they weren't getting a complete game due to that and that it dampens the experience etc......... ;-)

  • Peekaboo #111 7 years ago

    "We've made it clear the game isn't perfect, and a 10 should never be an interpretation of the game being perfect (otherwise no game would ever be worthy of it). Personally I do consider it to be revolutionary in several ways"

    Perhaps then your scoring system needs work as you gave it the 'perfect' (According to Eurogamer scoring) score..........

  • UncleLou #112 7 years ago

    How can a game with no multiplayer get 10/10?

    Meh? Meh? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh...

    What has multiplayer (or the lack thereof) to do with a score? Sorry, but that has to be the silliest thing I've heard in a long time. Do you also downrate MMORGPs because they have no single-player part?

    Meh indeed.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 17:37

  • AnotherMartin #113 7 years ago

    A great couple of reviews for a great game.

    Once again good work EG!

    I've been taking my time (as I tend to with these kind of games) messing about and just generaly site seeing (that is when they leave you alone!) and I've just got the G-Gun and been having fun with saw blades and the like so i think my progress will slow even more as my playing about goes up.

    I haven't as yet really replayed any of the bits and that's my only concern really, not sure how well some of the sections will stand up to repeated play. But still, what a game!

  • krudster #114 7 years ago

    Personally I think the whole single/multiplayer thing has rendered the ability to review a game accurately virtually redundant. Sometimes it's not even possible to review the MP side accurately, and in other cases it could be someone's entire reason for buying it, while others won't even touch it. So long as we're honest about whether we've not touched MP I don't have a problem posting single player only reviews. On another issue, we simply don't have the manpower or time to spend 20 hours with single player, then another 10 really caning multiplayer, it's not realistic.

    Unfortunately for us, often the most vocal comment posters are the online gamers who slaughter us if we don't write an entire thesis on this often minor part of the game. Argh indeed.

  • Eighthours #115 7 years ago

    Regarding Gamespot's reviews, perhaps they view the requirements to get a PC score of 9.5 or more are higher than that required to get an Xbox score of 9.5 or more, based upon the fact that PC games SHOULD look and run far better due to the superior hardware.

    Jesus, I'm making excuses for Gamespot......

  • steven #116 7 years ago

    EightHours that only applies to graphics though.

  • mcmonkeyplc #117 7 years ago

    Time for bungie to move the goal posts more me thinks.

    /waits for xbox version.

    Bungie should be given the task of converting this!

    You know it makes sense!

  • Kraftwurm #118 7 years ago

    Serious question: How do you folks know how many hours you need to play such a game throgh?

    I mean, do I miss something here or am I the only one that actually NOT plays a game through in one session? I mean. Hey.. I play a few hours, then I go an do something else (*cough*), maybe another hour and a half afterwards or maybe just tomorrow or tomorrow not, or... Know what I mean? No way to have just a romotely exact number of hours at the end.

    I mean, ok. You guys that do it for a living. Maybe. But the rest of us? Or as I said - is it just me that seems to be not THAT addicted to games.

    PS: I love EG for giving ICO a 10. And yes, HL2 deserves a 10 too, as far as I can tell after ... uhhm... SOME hours of play. :)

  • Killerbee #119 7 years ago

    Excellent reviews both!

    I was intending to put this off until after the Christmas rush, but with Doom 3 recently completed maybe I'll think again...

  • davyuk #120 7 years ago

    This is definately my GOTY. What was I thinking when I hung around Gamestation for Halo 2 at midnight? Half Life 2 exceeds on all levels. Well done Valve.

  • Roamer #121 7 years ago

    Blerk:
    I did, it isn't. In single-player it's dire. In multi-player it's 'not quite as dire'. Quite how it managed to get 10/10 I'll never know. Mentioning it in the same breath as Half Life and its ilk seems almost blasphemous.

    Super Smash Bros is the greatest thing to hit any console, multiplayer-wise. Unlike Tekken and the like, it is only based on skill; no button-masher ever beat an experienced smasher. It's probably the deepest fighter ever created, and it's still a very accessible game for newcomers. Of course, the frantic multiplayer experience that is Smash might not appeal to all gamers. Still, one of the few deserving 10/10 games ever.

    Concerning the comparison Half Life 2 vs. Halo 2, I think the scores reflect the fact that people expect less of a console fps, hence the discrepancy in the scores. If Halo 2 was released on the PC, it would probably get a 6 or 7/10.

    I am a little disappointed that Half Life 2 got such high marks, considering its lack of innovation, but I guess the genre has reached its peak. I'm looking forward to Vampire: Bloodlines now, and I hope the minimum specs will match those of HL2 so I won't have to upgrade my comp.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 18:30

  • bungalooBunny #122 7 years ago

    Enough whining... This gotta be the best game ever! 11/10

    And yes, it is better than Halo 2, or any other FPS for that matter.

  • Macross #123 7 years ago

    "I am a little disappointed that Half Life 2 got such high marks, considering its lack of innovation"

    compared to the rest of the fps games over the last few years this game is edison, einstein and the write bros. in pure game form.

    and admittedly it hasnt innovated massively, but where it hasn't innovated, it has evolved.

    I'm very disapointed with halo 2 single player in retrospect. But i still love playing it with my chums, I really really look forward to HL2 deathmatch as HL dm was one of my first ever multiplayer games! and ti was good.

  • AtomicBanana #124 7 years ago

    'Wow, you were really bombing through it. I played it on hard, since I usually find single-player FPS games too easy, and it took me about 18 hours to finish. Kristan is rubbish at games, admittedly, but the concept that someone shaved six hours off MY time without really missing a lot of the scenery on the way is tough to credit ;)'

    Hmm yeah.. I was quite bombing through it :o looking at the guide I got with the collectors ed it doesn't look like I've missed out on too much. I will of course be playing it again ;) But no, I didn't hang about, I'm a sad pathetic uni student who had the whole day to play it, and I did - played it 8 till 8 (ish!) and only died a handful of times.

  • Peekaboo #125 7 years ago

    Blerk:
    I did, it isn't. In single-player it's dire. In multi-player it's 'not quite as dire'. Quite how it managed to get 10/10 I'll never know. Mentioning it in the same breath as Half Life and its ilk seems almost blasphemous.

    Super Smash Bros is the greatest thing to hit any console, multiplayer-wise. Unlike Tekken and the like, it is only based on skill; no button-masher ever beat an experienced smasher. It's probably the deepest fighter ever created, and it's still a very accessible game for newcomers. Of course, the frantic multiplayer experience that is Smash might not appeal to all gamers. Still, one of the few deserving 10/10 games ever."

    Have to say I agree with Blerk, the gotta collect em all thing leaves me cold........

    Edit -Not too mention the rather insipid fighting
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 20:10

  • Trowel #126 7 years ago

    Umm, I'm probably close to unique on this thread - or 'special' some might say.... :/ - but I've somehow managed to go without having played either Half Life or Halo... I blame too many hours playing SSB:M Edit: insert missing joke symbol

    Luckily I find myself in the position where (a) my flatmate has bought himself a new PC just recently (some might blame Google: Images for the corruption of the old hard drive....), and (b) some careful eBaying saw a Crystal Xbox 'with extras' become the new thing to break a foot on in my living room.

    All I need now is a P45 tomorrow afternoon and I might have enough free time to catch up with you all. And thats where too many hours holding a purple controller gets you (and now I've forgotten if I'm talking about my GameCube or Google ...)
    Edited by 2 at 18/11/04 @ 20:11

  • Roamer #127 7 years ago

    The collectible thing isn't a big part of the game, though. Even if that part of it wasn't in Smash, it'd still be one of the best games ever made.

  • krudster #128 7 years ago

    Err, sorry, five year old PC? The Xbox came out 2.5 years ago in the UK, and if I'm not mistaken PCs existed back then that HL2 can run on now.

  • code:ninja #129 7 years ago

    Now I remember why I bought my PC.

  • Shinji #130 7 years ago

    I am a little disappointed that Half Life 2 got such high marks, considering its lack of innovation

    See, I just don't get this. I lost count of the number of times that Half-Life 2 did something, or more importantly, allowed ME to do something, which I've never been able to do before in a videogame. And then people say it isn't innovative... I just don't understand what on earth these people WANT from the game. I suspect that until we get a game which extends a pair of silky smooth lips from the bottom of the keyboard and gently fellates the user while playing, some people will continue to whine about the lack of innovation...

  • trump #131 7 years ago

    10?
    not very good then i guess

  • AtheistBob #132 7 years ago

    HL2 is innovative yes, I think a lot of criticism comes from the execution of the innovation.

    If the amazing facial/body language animation system is Al Pacino, then HL2 is your loacal primary school christmas production...

    I would personally rate the game 10/10 also.

  • yegon #133 7 years ago

    Upto Chapter 11 , its very good but not without flaws that people seem utterly blind too i.e. the AI ain't great, its incredibly linear, the vehicles are ok without being amazing and it feels pretty scripted imo. I may change my opinion when I've finished it, who knows.

    Tbh, I've very very surprised that I enjoyed Halo2 a lot more (on the great levels that is - Halo2 is not without its own flaws of course:).

    And before the PC l33t start getting on their high horses I've been PC gaming as long as it has been possible, and am happily a PC *&* console gamer. Its all taste people, HL2 may be YOUR best game ever, but it ain't mine by a margin. In fact, much like someone said earlier, I personally prefer the combat, exploration and AI of Far Cry.

    I DO love it though...
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 21:14

  • Lothar Hex #134 7 years ago

    A 10/10 game it dosen't sound like, 9/10 definatly, but a 10/10 with some of the flaws people have told me seems a tad overboard.

    Still this is only two peoples opinions.

    As for the Half Life 2 Halo 2 thing. CAN WE JUST SHUT UP ABOUT IT? SOME PEOPLE LIKE HALF LIFE, SOME PEOPLE LIKE HALO, SOME LIKE BOTH, SOME LIKE NEITHER! CAN WE STOP PISSING ON EACH OTHER FOR GOD'S SAKE?
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/04 @ 21:28

  • urban #135 7 years ago

    i was hoping it would get 10/10 :D

  • DarkEula #136 7 years ago

    I am a little surprised at the review and the score. The AI is pretty bad if you don't take the expected path, and start exploring. What's up with the NPCs "rushing" you when you are just looking around. Also, the "side-kick" AI is just plain annoying.

    Everything else is incredible, but AI is a very limiting factor.

  • Celeborn #137 7 years ago

    Also people, stop getting hooked up on the final score so much. Whats most important is how the review reads; and it reads that its a damn brilliant game, and the best of its genre, IN THE OPINION OF THE REVIEWER. Now, considering that on their opinion it is the best game of its genre ever released, doesn't that deserve a 10 score?

    A 10 shows that a game is really really special, despite its flaws. San Andreas was special, but its noticable flaws were a little too much for it to get a 10. Doom 3 was special, but it didn't do anything new to the genre: mearly updated Doom to this generation of machines. Half Life 2 is special, but its flaws are too minor to take away from the overall brilliance of the game.

    No, 10 doesn't mean a perfect game, and no, it doesn't mean everyone will love it the same and agree, but then peoples tastes are different. And playings games on a console and on a PC are different: and some have a preference: showing why some feel Halo 2 is better, and some Half Life 2. Thats a fact of life, and a fact of game reviews :)

  • beep #138 7 years ago

    Before the magic numbers up to 100 can appear, we're presented with a black screen. Uh oh. Not of death, thankfully. Of life. Half-Life. 2.

    Yeeeeuuucccchhh!!!!

    Cheesiest review intro. Ever.

  • GitSomE_UK #139 7 years ago

    After the hoo hah with Steam it was well worth the wait.

    HL2 has so much going on in there it's impossible to list everything I love about this game.

    I'm up to Nova Prospekt and some of the firefights I've been in are amazing. This definately deserves the title of game of the year.

    Like it or not HL2 has raised the bar for others to follow.

    As for those who rush through the game, as Swiss Tony would say "Playing Half Life 2 is like making love to a beautiful woman, you take your time, you enjoy the view, you make sure your weapon is fully loaded and make sure your magazine never goes dry".

    Excellent review EG !
    Edited by 1 at 19/11/04 @ 01:35

  • Roamer #140 7 years ago

    Well, when it comes to innovation, I think it's important to distinguish between innovations in gameplay and innovations in presentation. If you see gaming as an art form that focuses on story and creating believable gaming universes, then I guess that the facial expression system could be seen as an innovative feature.

    The problem I have isn't with Half Life 2, I think the genre has pretty much grown as much as it can in terms of playability (although the anti-grav gun is an interesting little gadget). I'm just tired of playing a game, and then three hours later feeling like I've played it a thousand times before. Maybe I'm just tired of gaming, I keep buying games now and then and instead of playing them through I play some of the old classics instead :)

  • Roamer #141 7 years ago

    Yeah...

    Actually, it's three o'clock here. Thanks for the reminder though, I really need to get to bed now.

    On topic : I think Half Life 2 looks great!

  • Scimarad #142 7 years ago


    "Half Life 2 shits and pisses all over Halo 2, and that is a fact. "

    I bought Half Life 2 and yet strangley I don't suddenly think Halo2 is crap - Could it be...yes! I think it is! I AM CAPABLE OF LIKING 2 TOTALLY SEPERATE GAMES!! How can this be possible, it's a miracle I tell you!!

    On a more serious note, the texture glitches you get on Halo 2 are thrown into perspective by the installation issues (I had to download the whole thing twice before it would get past level 2!) and audio problems you get on Half-Life 2. On the plus it runs INCREDIBLY well on my 1.7gig Athlon...

  • masterson #143 7 years ago

    "Half Life 2 shits and pisses all over Halo 2, and that is a fact. "

    More of a metaphor really.

  • Aga #144 7 years ago

    I guess the reviewing job on this one fell to the first person to get it working from Steam?

  • deepmenace #145 7 years ago

    i luv it. its like a software pc upgrade.

    my brother asked me how much i paid for my new gfx card?

    can i install it in other games ? :-)

  • JDub #146 7 years ago

    As a PC non-owner, what's the cheapest price of admission to HL2 running? Is a 1.2Ghz really gonna cut the mustard? :)

  • mustardkid #147 7 years ago

    saddend but not surprised by some of the nit-picky comments here. HL2 is an awesome game and to suggest otherwise is churlishness of the highest order. I'm a fan of both of the recent contenders to the pc fps crown. i will freely admit that doom3 has better (hardware melting) visuals and far cry does the open play area with more aplomb, and has AI that is debatably better. But what sets HL2 above these titles is the gameplay experience that it offers. the other games excel at what they do best but neither offer the variety of experiences that make up HL2. Each area seems to offer a fresh challenge or idea and the game never feels repetitive. sure the npc AI isn't always tip top - but you gotta admire the way the *spoiler * combine soldiers think their way round yr turret placements in nova prospect. the stuttering audio when an autosave is made is a trivial annoyance when summed up in the context of such a great game. The way in which the plot is delivered in game as opposed to using cut scenes should also be applauded. i really like the way that details are gleaned from the environment and inhabitants rather than being spoon-fed the plot. so stop picking holes and just enjoy the bloody game - this is after all ment to be what we do for fun yeh?

  • drumbaby #148 7 years ago

    ""Everything else is incredible, but AI is a very limiting factor."

    tend to agree. big letdown. i had hoped that valve would set new standards in that department as well. "

    I also agree. Half Life # 1's A.I. was revolutionary for 1998 (?). It took a B movie style story and told it with brilliant pacing, and the game's innovation was its sophisticated A.I. and how it brought firefights to life.

    Half Life 2 seems to have a better story with equally impressive pacing, but its A.I. is pretty unimpressive in the battles. But its innovation comes from physics-based interactivity, and the way they integrate that into the well woven story.

  • drumbaby #149 7 years ago

    "so stop picking holes and just enjoy the bloody game - this is after all ment to be what we do for fun yeh? "

    Apply that argument to every game every made then, regardless of quality...I mean, they're ALL meant to be fun, yes?

  • mustardkid #150 7 years ago

    yeh but this game is fun and high quality, im not talking about moaning about a shit game here, this is looking for holes in a great game and as such its pretty sad. theres a large element of saying white cos everyone else is saying black here.

  • mustardkid #151 7 years ago

    focusing on the positive:-

    is anyone else addicted to using the zoom on peoples when theyre telling you stuff - i cant help it, i have to reload cos ive been looking at the facial animation or clothing textures and not paying attention to what they are saying.

    anyone else notice the homage to unreal?

    i also like to think that the melons are a cheeky dig at metal gear solid2's "revolutionary" physics engine

  • blackwood #152 7 years ago

    I'm running it on a P4 1.8, 512 RAM and a GeForce 3 Ti200... and it runs ok... there are some slowdowns here and there, but none to ruin the experience.

  • Hicksy #153 7 years ago

    Did anyone else feel the familiarity between Ravenholm and the Neil Manke "They Hunger" mods of HL1?

    I was chuckling away to myself wanting the madman to be called Neil

    I'm sure it was a tip of the hat by Valve!

  • drumbaby #154 7 years ago

    "this is looking for holes in a great game and as such its pretty sad. theres a large element of saying white cos everyone else is saying black here. "

    Oh yeah, differing opinions are a terrible thing and should be stamped out immediately.

    ;)

  • space_ace #155 7 years ago

    funny there is a talk of sound problems.
    i had none, and my favorite part of the game is the sound! it's amazing!

    anyone else stopped and looked at the birds flying? :)
    Edited by 1 at 19/11/04 @ 10:21

  • drumbaby #156 7 years ago

    I had to turn my sound down to medium, because it kept freezing/ stuttering the game. Graphics are running maxed out at 1280x1024 though, no slowdown at all.

  • #157 7 years ago

    Regarding SSBM:

    Blerk:"I did, it isn't. In single-player it's dire. In multi-player it's 'not quite as dire'."
    I spent a few HUNDRED hours playing SSBM. It is PERFECT gameplay wise. In the beginning, I was exactly the same opinion as you are, Blerky - but I changed my mind when I saw a few movies that showed other people playing it.

    The most accessible and deeper fight system at the same time. Plus, you can play it for five minutes and then go away - perfect for those without too much time (like me).

    "Have to say I agree with Blerk, the gotta collect em all thing leaves me cold......"
    You really do not have to collect them. They add nothing, they are there just for fun and nothing else.

  • fireclown #158 7 years ago

    Mustardkid - homage to Unreal? missed that.

  • mustardkid #159 7 years ago

    "Oh yeah, differing opinions are a terrible thing and should be stamped out immediately"

    Gah ... there is a distinction between having a valid opinion and whining about what is minor detail when placed in the context of the broader picture.

    now feel free to sum my opinion up at its crudest level then use it against me ...... again.

    @rdexter sorry to hear about yr sound probs, i do get a stutter but only when the game saves during a dialogue bit ... bummer

  • mustardkid #160 7 years ago

    Mustardkid - homage to Unreal? missed that.

    corridor. lights go out sequetially bringing the darkness ever closer. one of the first "oh god what now" bits from the original unreal

  • #161 7 years ago

    Right... That's me sold... I still can't believe this quality is free (I'll be sure to click some of your ads every so often).

    Eurogamer team.. I salute you!

  • El_MUERkO #162 7 years ago

    @Lutz I think PES3 got 10 out of 10?

    @Blerk Buy a PC you noob!

  • partialrogue #163 7 years ago

    Great review EG - for both of the big releases this/last week!

    I love Halo 2 - but agree with all your neg comments - and will no doubt love HL2 as well.

    To be honest I think both these games show what a dog Doom 3 was really...

  • #164 7 years ago

    So, Christmas presents to myself this year (as I have these systems);

    XBOX, H2
    PC, HL2
    PS2, GTA:SA and Singstar Party

    Dammit... I wrote so much but it got chopped because I put a Chevron in the post!
    Edited by 1 at 19/11/04 @ 11:35

  • partialrogue #165 7 years ago

    @rdexter

    I hear you. D3 had great atmosphere and very creepy but I couldn't get over the fact that all demons spawn in the same place each time - made it easy to pull out the chainsaw and wait for them to run onto it the next time.
    Hell was easily the best level for me - but maybe I should have upped the skill level...

  • space_ace #166 7 years ago

    pc nerd- get real
    hl2 is the promise of quake, fulfilled. it didn't come out of nowhere, it's just evolution

    i had so much excitement with hl2, as with the hype before quake in '96

  • The-Bodybuilder #167 7 years ago

    erm, isn't the '10' score reserved for games that redifined thier genre? like the original half-life? or metroid prime (if you count it as an FPS).

    HL2, to be fair does not revolutionize anything. although what it does is very very (very) good, thier is nothing truly new here.

    and multiplayer? EG seems to just rank it high because its counter-strike source, but what about the fact that it is just a remake of an old multiplayer game? what about the fact that no new player can ever get into CS:source, simply because they will last no more than 5 seconds?

    i hate to say this, but IMO H2's multiplayer wins handsdown. the amount of stats that can be viewed on bungie.net (something EG disregarded) is untouchable, and when you consider that anyone can pick up the pad and play (even a year from now) it stops newer people from being left-out (unlike CS).

    then thier is the missing plot (as step back from the original) and the AI (a step back from the original is in it delivers nothing new, and is not even better than the AI in H2).

    but why i'm i not suprised? The first thing i noticed about this site is how PC-driven they are (from reviewers to members).
    this may be due to the high amount of mature gamers here, who play PC more than consoles. but right from the start, it was written in stone that EG would give HL2 a 10, not becaused it deserved it (it deserves a 9), but becuase they have been so hyped about this game (as much as they tried to hide it).

  • drumbaby #168 7 years ago

    "Gah ... there is a distinction between having a valid opinion and whining about what is minor detail when placed in the context of the broader picture. "

    There's also a distinction between absolutely loving a game to bits (while still being able to see and point out its faults), and 'whining'.

    That seems to be the broader picture you're apparently choosing not to see.

    Feel free to see that however you like.

    ;)

  • Speaker DeFruitas #169 7 years ago

    Well Krudster, can't say I know too much about the game, and all I can leave you with is the simple thought that, 'A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words'. And if that aint good enough then 'they deserve to go down'.

    Be in touch...

  • pjmaybe #170 7 years ago

    "At Nemesis Towers, Halo2 has been put on the shelf quicker than a poor spinster. "

    What he said, cept at Maybe Towers. In fact even the mighty GTA has been passed up all week for HL2. That's testament in itself from me as A) I usually hate FPS and B) I love GTA to bits.

    Peej

  • drumbaby #171 7 years ago

    "Compare it to HL2? don't know if that's possible. it's two very different takes on the same subject. both are done excellently in their own way IMO. "

    Amen. One game mixes up the scenarios, changes pace and locale like a well directed film. The other attempts to scare the bejesus out of you from beginning to end, and even if it only 'nearly' succeeds, that's no mean feat for the time it lasts and its narrow mandate.

    Comparing the two is almost like saying you were expecting one to be like the other, when to me they were so NOT going to be anything alike. I'd be genuinely surprised if anyone ever thought DOOM 3 was going to be anything more than a superbly polished corridor shooter designed to scare. Likewise I'd be surprised if anyone expected HL2 not to build on the superb legacy of the first game.

    There's been ample preview footage of both games for the end results to hold no surprises, other than how well both games succeeded in achieving their aims...Which I think they both did. I loved DOOM 3, but not for the reasons I'm loving HL2.

    And vice versa.

  • EVERYGAMER #172 7 years ago

    Its a nightmare I'm trying to juggle GTA:SA, Halo 2 LIVE Sessions and HL2 I can't cope. I don't even have any holiday left to take.

    Agree with the review. Personally I would'nt compare Halo2 and HL2

    The only problem I have with HL2 and it is minor but the loading times really break up the flow at points

    SPOILER.................................

    Like the hover boat section where your pelting along dodging mines shooting those Combine copters then bam loading.

  • krudster #173 7 years ago

    Wow, Mr Speaker Defruitas accessing Eurogamer from Tanzania? Jebus! Think 'Win Norwich', bear!

  • Speaker DeFruitas #174 7 years ago

    Aha! Are yer gooin ter Southampton?

  • mustardkid #175 7 years ago

    james innes??

  • Speaker DeFruitas #176 7 years ago

    er.... freaky!

    Youngs?

  • mustardkid #177 7 years ago

    "There's also a distinction between absolutely loving a game to bits (while still being able to see and point out its faults), and 'whining'."

    and theres a distinction between pointing out the faults and exagerating them ..... is the AI really a "big letdown"??


  • mustardkid #178 7 years ago

    yeh nail on head mate hows tanzania ?

  • Speaker DeFruitas #179 7 years ago

    Tanzania hot and dusty and in need of some rain, but things are cool. Will be back in our Fine City for Christmas - with the missus, you know how it is! Nice to be able to say that...

    Yeah, Krud will fill you in with my e-mail - get in touch. Are you in Norwich? How's life in the operating theatre?

    Don't really want to turn this public forum into a private message. So take it easy, enjoy your new game, and be in touch.

    I've enjoyed my first visit to Eurogamer! Met up with 2 old friends!

  • lemonfist #180 7 years ago

    Thumbs up to Kristan and Rob for two excellent reviews. Spot on and very, very well-written.

    Once again Eurogamer makes Gamespot, IGN and Gamespy look like amateur websites run by kiddos.

  • mustardkid #181 7 years ago

    cool james i'll be in touch

  • drumbaby #182 7 years ago

    "and theres a distinction between pointing out the faults and exagerating them ..... is the AI really a "big letdown"?? "

    Some people, often the same people who still love the game despite having criticisms to make, happen to think so, yes. Imho it's not in line with the rest of the game's excellence. Pardon me for voicing that bit of heresy on a public forum and all.

    Clearly, you think having that particular opinion is somehow 'exaggeration'. The same way, I guess, anyone happily overlooking fault X with quality game Y thinks the very mention of said fault is 'exaggeration'. Fine. Hopefully you won't leap on everyone's dissent with quite the same thoroughness though.

    I don't know, such opinions about a game's faults to me are just that, opinions- and trying to police them is a futile exercise at the best of times. Stranger than that though is suggesting that anyone who's not in line with your opinions must be somehow petty, not capable of enjoying the game in the correct spirit, or perhaps even exaggerating.

    Ah well. Only an another opinion I guess. :)

    Edit:

    If it's any consolation, this is my usual reaction to any post HL#1's shooter's A.I. and isn't reserved for HL2 in an attempt to be sensationalist or contraversial.

    RTCW, AvsP 2, Far Cry, DOOM 3....you name it. The advances in everything other than A.I. in fps games has been pretty radical.

    Maybe there's other A.I. jaded gamers like me out there too?

    :)
    Edited by 1 at 19/11/04 @ 15:31

  • mustardkid #183 7 years ago

    @drumbaby - i'm not policing your opinion at all - merely disagreeing with it - but i suspect that even if valve could deliver the type of AI that you are hankering for, they wouldn't. the combine troops - the most "intelligent" of the baddies are disposable cannon fodder so any cleverer behaviour than they already exhibit would be out of character. and as for gordons "squad" - they arnt much more than a narrative device - providing the illusion or a huge running battle - which i feel they do adequately. making them more intelligent would weigh the odds in the players favour too heavily and alter the dynamic of the game. we're talking ghost recon territory here - and thats not what HL is all about. Valve have worked to their remit and delivered the goods in style. if thats a big letdown then i guess deus ex 2 must have left you suicidal.

  • medulla oblongata #184 7 years ago

    Yeah, Keep telling yourself that mate *rolls eyes*

  • Subquest #185 7 years ago

    My lord, these top games really do attract the donkey to the forums, don't they? Half Life 2 pisses on this, Halo 2 shits on that! Jeez guys, go get a hug from your mum...

    Anyways, I'm pleased to say my trusty radeon 9700 pro and middling athlon 2400 have served me well through this latest generation. Last year I was having doubts but then when Far Cry came along (from like out of nowhere!) it gave me hope. Despite the naysayers, I loved Doom3 for it's spiffing gfx and for giving me the heebee-jeebees, but as with consensus here, HL2 takes the whole packet of biscuits. By my reckoning I'm about half way through, and it's just oozing molten fabulousness. The gravity gun makes me feel like a JEDI!!! (if that's not a ringing endorsement - what is?)

    Despite this, still very much looking forward to and Halo 2 and particularly GTA:SA when they inevitably find their way onto the PC next year.

  • Lemon Project #186 7 years ago

    Got home from work today and found myself choosing between San Andreas, Halo 2 and Half Life 2. Pretty decent quandary. After playing the first few levels I'm beginning to see where the perfect scores are coming from. I am playing HL2 agape. It's incredible in every way. I was initially put off by the intrusive load times but they're either improving or I'm caring less the more I play.

  • yegon #187 7 years ago

    >>>Anyways, I'm pleased to say my trusty radeon 9700 pro and middling athlon 2400 have served me well through this latest generation.

    Same here. I'm pleasantly surprised how I can STILL play the big games at 1024x768, max detail (albeit no AA/AF) at decent framerates. When I have to move down to 800x600 only only then will I consider upgrading.

  • Tiger_Walts #188 7 years ago

    I can't wait for the mods. The amount of stuff Source supports means so many existing FPS flavours can be emulated. A BF1942 clone? Yup, Source allows multiple players per vehicle each with mounted guns. The maps will be big enough if you scale them down too.

  • drumbaby #189 7 years ago

    "if thats a big letdown then i guess deus ex 2 must have left you suicidal. "

    So, my disappointment with something that you can accept/rationalise away somehow matches someone having suicidal tendencies?

    Do you normally react to people's differing opinions with this level of melodrama?

    By the way, I can't seem to recall saying that I've ever played Deus Ex 2. But I'm guessing that its A.I. was even worse than HL2's for you to mention it?

    Edit:

    The only thing that's actively stopping my enjoyment of the game (and it isn't the A.I.) is the way HL2 gives me motion sickness. It's weird, I can play most fps games on PC for hours before anything even remotely approaching it begins, but with HL2 all it takes is about 40 minutes to an hour, and I'm nearly fit to blow chunks. Then for 40 odd minutes after I don't feel it's wise to go near it.

    The only other games that do this to me are fps games on console (except the 2 Killzone demos funnily enough) and I remember Serious Sam on PC did before it was patched (they 'cured' the lateral movement).

    It's either the driving/ boat bits that are doing it, or that realistic body roll movement when you use the crowbar. It can't be normal movement as far as I can see, because there's no visible view-bob.

    I know another couple of people that also get it from HL2, but not as quickly as I am...I'm hoping I develop a tolerance for it, and soon.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/04 @ 15:15

  • AOFanboi #190 7 years ago

    The Eurogamer forums semm to have been overtaken by mindless zombies - that's why I ignore non-registered posters.

    Speaking of the high marks awarded to SSBM and MK:DD!, they <em>are</em> worth 10s for a Nintendo fan. However, for someone not in love with the Nintendo universe and its characters, the value will be less. (Same probably goes for Mario Tennis and other games of that ilk.)

  • Roamer #191 7 years ago

    Speaking of the high marks awarded to SSBM and MK:DD!, they are worth 10s for a Nintendo fan. However, for someone not in love with the Nintendo universe and its characters, the value will be less. (Same probably goes for Mario Tennis and other games of that ilk.)

    Well, I beg to differ - Smash Bros focuses on pure gameplay value, and the game would be just as good if it was based on another license. However, I think that someone who dislikes the Nintendo characters would be less inclined to love the wonders of Smash Bros.

    Sorry about the off-topic posts :)

  • Celeborn #192 7 years ago

    Drumbaby: I have sympathy for you, as I suffer from the motion sickness too. As with you: im finding im having to play in 30-45 minute bursts or else i just feel so ill :/ I don't remember having this much in HL, or TFC (which i used to play loads). However, games prior to that such as the Quakes of the world I was terrible with; and I always put it down to so much quick movements and the drab brown colours. With Half Life 2: I think that all the shadows plays a big part: you are constantly going in and out of dark places into light places (well, im not that far in all, 4th chaper I think) - and this constant changing is whats making the motion sickness come on quite badly.

  • penhalion #193 7 years ago

    Ok finished HL2 after only 8 - 10 hours of play! What is going on here? I though it had some 40 hours of play in it. And without spoiling anything because this isn't in the game so it can't be a spoiler!

    What am I talking about, why the blue snake like creature that spears the combine soldier while gordon and eli's daughter trudge through the sewers of course. It appears in one of the promo videos.

    What gives with that. Why was it removed from the game (if it was ever really part of it!

    I should also say that while the game is good (while it lasts), it feels as though 50% of it is missing! The ending makes zero sense at all. This seems to be a trend in recent so called AAA titles. Halo 2 does exactly the same thing (yes I finished that on heroic in about 8 hours too! And guess what no ending or even a vague ending except you start to realise your playing noah's ark (anyone who finishes halo 2 will get what I mean if they are bright enough)
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/04 @ 21:37

  • Dom's ass #194 7 years ago

    motion sickness??? come on girls

  • Subquest #195 7 years ago

    Dragul - Doom3, in comparison with HL2 (and every other game ever, in fact) is just that little bit juicier graphically. The difference isn't that great, to be fair, but it IS perceivably better in terms of visual goodness. Doom3 has somewhat spoiled me as far as gfx go, in spite of what people might say about the game itself. But then, I loved it personally...

    My 9700 pro only just managed it, tbh - and it's probably why your mobile graphics chip is struggling.

    EDIT: By all accounts, your system might be OK for HL2 - it seems to be less demanding but still "ferkin' lervly"..
    Edited by 1 at 21/11/04 @ 02:44

  • medulla oblongata #196 7 years ago

    For a game of this quality I'm suprised it keeps as fresh as it does for as long as it does.


    When I was most engrossed in this game, everytime I would have a break for 30 minutes or so, I could not cthink about anything other than HL2 and had to go straight back to it and play.

  • medulla oblongata #197 7 years ago

    Maybe your right...only GTA:SA just about scrapes a ten for me....eeee....Actually compared to HL2 it's going back to a 9.


    Stalker is looking like great fun, I can't wait for that.

  • mustardkid #198 7 years ago

    "but then, garavity gun seems to have no effect on people whatsoever"

    heh heh heh ..... have patience.

  • ThwartedEfforts #199 7 years ago

    drumbaby: get the motion sickness here too. It affects a minority - but still a large number - of people. Don't play for more than 30 minutes at a time. Don't even think about the game when you're tired. Drink more water (no, really). Drop your resolution to make the frame rate higher. Sit back from the screen and refocus on the furthest object you can see every now and then. And don't play it eating greasy food :)

  • Royal Fool #200 7 years ago

    HL2, yes you can. Maybe not at top performance but it's certainly playable for you.

    And to be honest, the game looks good no matter what graphical settings you use. Awesome.

  • JoeBlade #201 7 years ago

    I've actually had an activation code for HL2 in my possession for ages (came for free with my last video card) but wasn't very tempted to use it at first, having been tired of the whole FPS genre for quite a while and all. The reviews here convinced me to put it to use though and I must say I'm most glad they did - and especially glad I hadn't trown away that code :-)

    I can only say it's undoubtedly one of the most amazing games I've played in recent years; I'm enjoying it immensely. I haven't gotten very far yet as I had to get grips on the controls a bit - considering I hadn't played an FPS in so long. Still, what I've seen up till now is nothing short of incredible.
    What I find most exceptional is how the game manages to strike such a perfect balance between plain old shoot-to-kill, puzzles, arcade-style sections and whatnot. Difficulty is spot on as well for me, even on normal it's challenging enough to be fun yet easy enough as not to be frustrating (but again, I'm no shooter specialist so some may indeed rush right through even on hard)

    A big thumbs up for Valve!

  • crofty13 #202 7 years ago

    ITs ALL A LIE!!

    I had to drag my fucking PC to an internet cafe to get the game unlocked!! 2 hours and the thing was still only 50% through decripting 4gigs worth of game data! its a total fucking con. Half life 2 maybe good but noone is buying this piece of shit because the greedy fucks at Valve have fucked the game by making login on stream and unlock it!

    Don't believe me well look at www.game.uk.com, its number 7!!

    I hope VUgames now fucks Valve over cos this is a fucking joke, pay £30 for a game you can't play and you don't even get a fucking manual!

  • crofty13 #203 7 years ago

    And its NOT better then Halo2, Halo2 actually fucking works without you having to go onto Xbox live and download the actual fucking game! oooh and a manual, in colour!! Microsoft you are spoiling us! ;-)

  • medulla oblongata #204 7 years ago

    I know it must be hard for people that had a hard time getting this game working to try and disassociate Unlocking it Via steam and the actual game itself.


    Oh maybe this game does suck because I heard some chump on a website had to take his computer to an internet cafe to get it working, wow it must be a pile of shit.

    please, thats not our problem.

  • medulla oblongata #205 7 years ago

    Exactly, As i've stated before, we live in great times where for around £100 you can play a game of Halo2s quality.

    You could only dream of games like Halo2 a few years ago.


    Hl2 is still untouchable IMO.

  • drumbaby #206 7 years ago

    Thwartedefforts: thanks....I have dropped the resolution to 1024 and the motion sickness thing seems to have been reduced a lot. I'm glad because I've had the time to play it this weekend for a change, but not the inclination. But now it doesn't make me want to blow chunks I'm hoping to make a big dent in it!

    :)

  • drumbaby #207 7 years ago

    DOOM 3 also had this...like a lot of shots in the trailers of barons angrily picking up zombies and smashing them against walls on their way to you, and invisible forces whizzing around rag doll corpses...They didn't figure in the final game either.

  • Subquest #208 7 years ago

    Play Far Cry - that was pretty damn hard...

  • #209 7 years ago

    Penfold, did it really run that well on your system? I have been holding off on buying it for fear it would look like sh*te, and my specs are VERY close to yours.....

    1.33 ghz Athlon
    512 Mb RAM
    Geforce 3 ti200

    So you reckon it plays well then? If anyone else can confirm a decent frame rate/good visuals on these specs, I might just be forced to buy it!

    Mapster.

  • #210 7 years ago

    Penfold,

    Cheers mate, looks like I might just have to pick this up. I did of course love the first one, and was beginning to feel a bit, well, kind of "left out". Your words of comfort mean I shall have to visit the games shop, credit card in hand and pick this up. I'll also post here how the game runs for others that have low spec machines to have a peek at.

    Oh no! Just remembered Metroid Prime 2 is out this week aswell, I am gonna be so broke :(

    But at least I'll be happy! :)

    Mapster.

  • zebedee #211 7 years ago

    For stuttering gameplay try the following:

    right click half life 2 icon from steam and click on launch options and add this
    -heapsize (half of system RAM in MB)

    I've got 1gb of ram so for me it's -heapsize 512000

    Or try

    In the HL2 cfg folder make a text document.
    Then rename it to autoexec.cfg

    Then add cl_smooth 0

    You can also add the following to the autoexec.cfg too:

    cl_forcepreload 1
    sv_forcepreload 1

    Worked like a charm for me - the stuttering disappeared and framerates improved noticeably. Seems like it forces more of the sounds to cache in your RAM rather than streaming from the HD.

    Hope that's helpful to some of you other monkeys without Alienware machines 8)

  • mad_caddy #212 7 years ago

    well i tried to avoid all reviews, all articles and approach HL2 and let the game do the talking

    consequently it has completely blown me away, i didnt have any problems with steam even witha 56k modem, i've never been so stunned by a game, the loading times are an ideal moment to go and either
    a. reboil the kettle
    b. drink my now cold tea
    c. light a cigarette, before i promptly put it down and let it burn to nothing AGAIN!
    d. nip to the toilet
    e. wipe the drool from my chin

    Best game i have ever played, well worth every single second of waiting!

  • any1 #213 7 years ago

    it's funny, i think i have seen more halo 2 talk here than on the Halo 2 review comments.

  • drumbaby #214 7 years ago

    Did someone say Half Life 1.5?

    If you remove the improved online and tweaked graphics from Halo 2, I guess you're left with Halo 1.297 recurring?

    Let's just remove everything from a game that helps make it good, or better, and see what we're left with, right? ;)

  • Dragul #215 7 years ago

    You guys need to try Clive Barker's Undying, it has got one of the best story in Game history, its like you're reading a great book!... well, and you are...

    Undying story is as good as HL story...

  • stephen #216 7 years ago

    Eli = Morgan Freeman.

  • WoodenSpoon #217 7 years ago

    It was cut. Loads of stuff from the trailer vids was.

  • crackbot666 #218 7 years ago

    HL2 = FPS = Flipping Physics Snoozer

    I wanted to shoot things, not fling them around the place.

  • drumbaby #219 7 years ago

    I'm not as enamoured with HL2 as I thought I'd be...Heresy, eh?

    HL2, the good:

    Nice graphics, good sound (when it's not stuttering), clever physics implementation, strong art design, expressive NPCs and good NPC charcterisation, deep story, some good puzzles.

    HL2, the bad:

    Levels too linear (HL1 often had hub based design, HL2 = beeline to end), very average A.I., limited NPC interaction, often feels too scripted, vehicle-bits feel like 'padding', game takes too long to really get going (Nova Prospekt for me), some physics puzzles seem too contrived, abysmal load times.

    I preferred the first HL game by far. I also enjoyed DOOM 3 quite a bit more than HL2.

    Let's hope someone takes the Source engine and marries it to decent A.I. and improves NPC interaction a little. HL2's expressive automatons got stale pretty quickly for me.

  • Porter #220 7 years ago

    I loved the single player, i liked counterstrike source(very addictive) and feel like i have spent the money on the best Single player game i have ever seen. Game play may be a little lighter than say Halo2 which everyone keep bleating on about but this eye candy is in some cases unbelievable, i kept taking screen shots..

    I didnt like HL single player as my PC was a mid system unit and it felt ok but only ok. This one blowed me away. Its teh first and only game that actually made me think before entering a room and that to me is the sign of an atmospheric game - how many people wanted more of the game at the end? Thats how Valve leave you - wanting more.

    Counterstrike was great also and just needs some of the new maps to get built up and for people to start skinning again to make it complete. Would love to see also AI bot supported on CS:S to make a co-op game. Now that could be fun...

    But for me this is 10/10 and money well spent...