Half-Life 2 Comments by Kristan Reed

"I'm in a minority saying this, but I really did enjoy Doom 3 much, much more"
Me TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I havent played it on the xbox, but having palyed it on the pc and having read the review I have to say I think the gravitygun is higly overrated. To me it was only fun for about 15 min. As for the Ravenholm, thats the lamest level in hl2, it almost ruins it. Its just so weak, the second it ended I started enjoying hl2 again. To me route kanal is much more enjoyable, and it fits very well in the hl2 environment.

I also have to say that the ending, to me, its perfect.

Picking up some points above, I too thought Doom3 had the better GFX - despite the darkness, the lighting was exquisite. HL2 is a better game though, people above who wear thin with the grav gun after 15 mins have no soul. I'm also with the minority who thought the ending was spot on.

Gah! I hate review scores... I wish I could do my own ratings...

ps. the sign-in area at the top of the page goes a bit screwy in Firefox if you're not signed in... but I'm sure you knew that already.

I'm enjoying this soooo much more than the steamridden PC version. No jerkies, no 3 minute loading screens ( although they're still as frequent, they're nowhere near as intrusive). Still got the MOST irritating pace breaker in any game ever made tho ... "Quick! They're coming! Head for the stairs! Quickly! .... LOADING"

Very much agree with the well balanced criticisms of the game in PC form ( and hence, mostly in xbox form too ). Exactly the sort of thing I got barbequed for 12 months ago, when I dared criticise it on my usual forum. Also I was a bit peeved that halfway through the game they seemed to get bored with using the physics engine to solve the puzzles and just ditch puzzles altogether.

Agree with the linearity comments too, but reckon that linearity can work well when the pace drives you forward fast enough ( ie without hundreds of loading screens ).

It's a great game, just don't expect it to do for gaming what the first one did. Nothing ever could.

/Comes out of hiding

Glad to see one or two people agree with me! I just thought Doom 3 was more stylish and the environments (though admittedly samey) were a lot more interesting to look at. HL2 had far too many plain, grey, flat walls in it, whereas Doom3 had things like pipes and server boxes dotted around its environments.

The one area HL2 really excelled was in the facial animations - the people you meet in Doom3 do not look realistic, but (although we're not at Final Fantasy: Spirits Within levels of realism yet) you could at least believe the people in HL had some character to them.

Don't get me wrong - Half-Life 2 is a very, very good game and I enjoyed playing it a lot. Just not as much as Doom 3. :)

Doom 3's characters looked like they were made of plastic. Something I'm glad they fixed in Quake 4.

A question: did you feel the "unrealised potential" when you were reviewing the PC version? Did you notice the painfully long and boring low points of the hovercraft and jeep levels? Looking back, do you still feel that it deserved a 10?

I'm just curious, is all. Has your opinion changed?

Is using the gravity gun as good as picking people in and hrowing them into exploding barrels like in Psi-Ops? If so, I am getting it !

I've had massive problems with bad fps, and I'm not the only one.

Ive never played the PC version of HL2 but have has the Xbox version since Friday. Ive just got to the 'jeep' bit and so far its been an absolute joy. Framerate issues are negligable imho. Runs sweet on my standard uk launch day xbox. i really cant see what the fuss is all about re framerate problems - its completely playable and looks fantastic!

And for only £23 delivered from Tesco thanks to their special deal a few weeks back its even sweeter!

I don't think I have had anymore fun in a game than I hace throwing saw blades with the gravity gun. It will never ever get old.

I’m mid-way through the jeep section now, having just used the magnetic crane to hoist it onto the docks…

It’s a superb, set-piece driven action adventure. Comparing it to Halo seems a little pointless, but I think I still prefer Halo’s emergent, combat driven gameplay to this story-telling linearity. Probably because I’m an old-school gamer and appreciate a harsh technical challenge rather than ‘just’ an experience

That said, what an experience. Atmospheric, fraught, relentless… superb characterisation and dialogue as well. The single player game really deserves to be played by more people than high-end PC owners and Xbox owners - it’s like an unashamed, classic action movie, as far removed from ‘hardcore’ gaming as anything I’ve played this year

"If multiplayer isnt included a point should be ticked off, just because. Doesnt matter if its good or not. The 5-10% of xbox live players says so."

I know what you mean. It annoys me when games get points knocked off for not having multiplayer.

Fact is, only a few games ever become popular on Xbox Live - the few that were lovingly-crafted as multiplayer experiences. That means Halo 2 for shooters, PGR2 for racers, etc. Most games with an online mode never become a success on Xbox Live, because they can't match the dedicated craft of the most popular ones.

So why should developers waste their time, resources and budget cobbling together a multiplayer mode, when they could dedicate themselves to the single-player experience?

If Half-Life 2 had a quick little deathmatch and CTF mode cobbled on, you know damn well you'd pop onto Xbox Live for a few minutes, see that all your friends are still playing Halo 2, then never use Half-Life 2's multiplayer again.

And the reason Counterstrike: Source isn't included is because Counterstrike is a seperate Xbox release. It would be nice and charitable of them to include it for free with HL2, but it's not a relaistic business model. They have thousands of copies of the retail Xbox game Counterstrike on shop shelves, and they want it to make money.

What gets me is that the game won't allow me to have to controls how I like 'em:

Left stick: Move/Turn

Right Stick: Look/strafe

Why is it so difficult to include this option?

@Beanie... 'legacy' controlls? Madman!! ;)

It really hacks me off when FPS games don't include southpaw and legacy in their controller setup screens - as a left hander it ruins a game outright for me and I can understand that it must do the same for people who like to use look/move on the same stick.

Just rented out King Kong on the Xbox, which has no southpaw or legacy style controls so don't waste your money there..

/sulks

It's probably a daft question but why can't available controller styles be mentioned on FPS reviews?

Farcry is another one...

Hmm... I guess when the PC version came out everyone was SO hyped up about it they wanted to 'play' with it more at every opportunity. I have a Mac so no PC HL2 for me! Instead, this evening on my Xbox I found the first few minutes of City 17 to look nice but essentially feel empty - basically something to get me accustomed to the movement controls while the credits played. Walk around listening to people and broadcasts? I listened to the first one but got the impression it was going to loop all over this zone and stopped listening to people after the first few, then just got on with it. Got very scared as Combine footsteps behind me chased me up onto the roof, then after that it's so far been a very slick, nice looking FPS with some involving and convincing setpieces... Just been racing through it really so far. Don't see what's to play with and get excited about yet, but then I've not finished the Water Hazard chapter so maybe the real fun is still to come?

I also think that playing on a console in the front room removes you from the all-involving, more intimate experience one tends to get with a much closer monitor and PC?

" It's probably a daft question but why can't available controller styles be mentioned on FPS reviews?"

I second that. For many left handed gamers its more important than multiplayer or widescreen support. The control system is fundamental and if half the gaming public can't use the thing (yes I said half, not now but soon, look into it) that is crucial information to have.

Can anyone answer the widescreen support question BTW. I'm right handed myself :)

Quite, jesus, does anyone actually *care* about the 400th deathmatch clone anyone?

Yes, frankly. I own the PC version, but would state that the immediacy and accessibility that Xbox Live provides when it comes to the multiplayer experience make it far more compelling than sitting down to a bout of the PC equivalent. Whilst the same can't be said for an experience like Battlefield 2, the simplicity of HL2 Deathmatch is ideally suited to the Live environment. I would have loved to have seen this version shipped with online multiplayer as that, for me, was the clincher in complementing my PC copy of Doom 3 with one on Xbox.

@kangarootoo: yes, there's widescreen support. I think it checks to see if you're Xbox is set to widescreen and alters the screen width accordingly.

Agree with jack_klugman on the multiplayer issue. For most games I couldn't give a monkey's about online multiplayer, but the simplicity and immediacy of HL2 Deathmatch strike me as being perfect for Xbox Live.

Owen B: it's worth taking your time and looking around a bit to soak up the atmosphere and the little narrative touches. Hearing the ghostly sound of children playing in the playground in City 17, seeing the photo of all the Black Mesa scientists on the wall of Kleiner's laboratory, with Breen's face blanked out. Breen's broadcasts are well worth a listen for getting a sense of what's going on, and they change with each location. It's the details that make this one of the best games ever for me.

EDIT: also wanted to mention the framerate thing that everyone seems to be talking about. It seems rock-solid to me. There's a tiny bit of lag when a new area loads, but that's it. I think reviewers may have got a pre-release version, and a lot of those moaning about frame rates on forums have got their copy off bittorrent. Load times are quick too, but there are a lot of load zones.

Yes, I noticed the blanked out face in the photo. Wondered who it was... Thing is, I've not even played Half Life 1, as I thought the PS2 version looked, well, shit.

Should I go and get it and play it first so I get what's going on here, as I feel I'm missing a LOT of plot. For a start, who the HELL am I? Why am I some kind of hero? Who are the cops in robot masks? What are the frozen chickens trying to jump on my head? When is it set? Why is everyone in curfew mode? I don't get it... :(

Should I go and get it and play it first so I get what's going on here, as I feel I'm missing a LOT of plot. For a start, who the HELL am I? Why am I some kind of hero? Who are the cops in robot masks? What are the frozen chickens trying to jump on my head? When is it set? Why is everyone in curfew mode? I don't get it... :(

Playing the first game *would* provide answers to some of these questions. However the history of City 17 and the origins of the Combine are touched on exclusively within HL2 (even if only through inference and very occasionally). Freeman's notority and fame within HL2 is entirely based upon his actions within the first game, though it should be noted that the characters he interacts with in the sequel do not feature directly in the original - they are instead based on the fairly generic NPCs you encounter from time to time.

I've not even played Half Life 1, as I thought the PS2 version looked, well, shit.
Should I go and get it and play it...

Yes. But be forgiving.

"I've not even played Half Life 1, as I thought the PS2 version looked, well, shit."

Well, that's the best it can look, since the PC version came out in 1998. The PS2 version actually improved the graphics a little. You have to accept that a game from nearly two generations ago is going to look like that.

All the combine stuff and the present situation in HL2 is new to this game, so playing HL1 won't explain it. However, it explains who *you* are, why you're employed by G-man, where aliens like the headcrabs came from, and your friendships with the scientists. Plus it's still a damn good game, however primitive it seems today.

Much better put than I managed, squeakyg. LISTEN TO THE MAN!

I should qualify that I thought not that the game graphics of Half Life on PS2 looked shit, but that the game itself did. I played the multiplayer on a friends PS2 and the controls were hideously twitchy. I guess it might be worth a look on sale in Game though...

Finally got myself an xbox and this and halo2 are my first games. I've played through about half of the game already on a smart PC but this is still great.

Doom3 next for me!

-ps the doom movie isnt totally terrible (saw it tonight and its enjoyable in a brainless kina way)

this is a great version of hl2 also the ONLY console version awsome stuff.i do however think that doom 3 converted "better" to console than hf2 did.........

\o/