BigsWickDagger
Spaceman
Are many of you looking forward to the impending release? I thought the first one was really good, best FPS I'd played in a long time.
Half-Life 2
- Thread starter BigsWickDagger
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I would be looking forward to it, if I had a PC with enough oomph to cope with it. 
I played the original and loved it - enough to get the Opposing Force and Blue Shift add-ons.
My most recent first-person was Call Of Duty and my PC can cope with it.....just.
Then again, its not that bad because it IS only a laptop.
Perhaps I should go ahead and fork out for a dedicated PC games machine?....but then again, that's what my Playstation2 is for.
Ahhh...decisions, decisions
I'm a bit stuck in the middle because I love the keyboard/mouse control system but hate the idea of powering up a PC and making sure its got the oomph to cope with the latest stuff.
I love the ease of sticking a game into a machine and it works, straight off, no hassles but hate the idea of playing first-person shooters with a pad.
The ideal compromise so far? - I found that Unreal Tournament 2003 for the Playstation2 had keyboard/mouse support which was superb because then all I had to do was plug my generic bog-standard usb keyboard/mouse in and away I went!
Must admit though, from all the vids and the E3 demo clip that you can get off the 'net, Halflife2 does look very interesting...but interesting for me to fork out for a new kick-ass PC?....not sure.
I played the original and loved it - enough to get the Opposing Force and Blue Shift add-ons.
My most recent first-person was Call Of Duty and my PC can cope with it.....just.
Then again, its not that bad because it IS only a laptop.
Perhaps I should go ahead and fork out for a dedicated PC games machine?....but then again, that's what my Playstation2 is for.
Ahhh...decisions, decisions
I'm a bit stuck in the middle because I love the keyboard/mouse control system but hate the idea of powering up a PC and making sure its got the oomph to cope with the latest stuff.
I love the ease of sticking a game into a machine and it works, straight off, no hassles but hate the idea of playing first-person shooters with a pad.
The ideal compromise so far? - I found that Unreal Tournament 2003 for the Playstation2 had keyboard/mouse support which was superb because then all I had to do was plug my generic bog-standard usb keyboard/mouse in and away I went!
Must admit though, from all the vids and the E3 demo clip that you can get off the 'net, Halflife2 does look very interesting...but interesting for me to fork out for a new kick-ass PC?....not sure.
BigsWickDagger
Spaceman
I know how you feel. I had to make many upgrades to my PC for Doom3. But, having done that, it should be good to go for a while.....I hope. The system requirements for Half-Life 2 don't appear to be too demanding either.
So what's this about Half-Life 2 and having to go on-line just to authenticate it?
That implies that should I ever un-install the game (for some crazy reason like, I dunno, getting 4Gig of disk space back perhaps
) and re-install in the future, I would have to go online and get it authenticated again???
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4019095.stm
That implies that should I ever un-install the game (for some crazy reason like, I dunno, getting 4Gig of disk space back perhaps
) and re-install in the future, I would have to go online and get it authenticated again???http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4019095.stm
TheRedDuke
Spaceman
Half Life 2 is great in that it doesn't require a top of the line system to play it, although if you want all the cool water effects, body counts and particle effects, you need the best of the best. I'm pretty sure my 1 year-old rig can stand up to it.
Mine reserved copy shipped yesterday...yahoo!
Mine reserved copy shipped yesterday...yahoo!
BigsWickDagger
Spaceman
Percy said:So what's this about Half-Life 2 and having to go on-line just to authenticate it?
That implies that should I ever un-install the game (for some crazy reason like, I dunno, getting 4Gig of disk space back perhaps
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4019095.stm
Hmmm.....I guess I can understand why Valve is being extra careful. They might be a touch paranoid after everything they went through to get this thing to print! I'm going to wait a while before going full-bore into the game, until some of the interest and hype starts to die down. Besides, I need to finish Doom3 first.
Quarto
Unknown Enemy
No, you won't. An online authentication system is nothing that five minutes of searching on the internet can't fix. I'm surprised that Valve has bothered wasting its time with such stupidity - you'd think that a computer games development company would be computer-literate enough to realise that money spent on anti-piracy protection is money flushed down the drain.Percy said:That implies that should I ever un-install the game (for some crazy reason like, I dunno, getting 4Gig of disk space back perhaps
(however, I suppose they do get something out of it - oddly enough, images of angry gamers that have bought the game but cannot play it for some reason, drive sales upwards - something along the lines of "Oh, wow, that game is so cool that there's more demand than supply for it... I'd better get it quick!")
I never saw what the big deal about halflife was most of them mods were either ports of earlier mods done just as well originally (TFC) , were just like other games but with worse features and graphics (NS and CS) or just sucked...actually all but maybe half-a-dozen sucked. The regular multiplayer was decent but nothing special. And the revolutionary amazing single player was really just a bunch of poorly done jumping puzzles complemented by idiotic puzzle bosses that made you flip switches and lame guns and enemies. Besides that it was totaly linear with only one stradegy really working in a given situation. In my mind there are 4 main ways to make a good FPS.
1. Blow the shit out of everything ala doom. Should include large and crazy guns, lots of enemies at once, and huge bosses that took a bazzillion shots to kill. Halflife had none of these things.
2. Explorer/Puzzly like Metroid Prime. Should have clever, well though out, non repeptitve bosses and puzzles. Halflife had repetitive poorly done ones.
3. FPS/RPG like Deus Ex or the System Shocks obviously halflife has no inventory, conversation, or charecter custimization so not this
4. Themed FPS. This is an FPS built around a certain theme which is carefully and well done like Theif's stealth. Halflife tried to do multiple things and failed at all of them.
1. Blow the shit out of everything ala doom. Should include large and crazy guns, lots of enemies at once, and huge bosses that took a bazzillion shots to kill. Halflife had none of these things.
2. Explorer/Puzzly like Metroid Prime. Should have clever, well though out, non repeptitve bosses and puzzles. Halflife had repetitive poorly done ones.
3. FPS/RPG like Deus Ex or the System Shocks obviously halflife has no inventory, conversation, or charecter custimization so not this
4. Themed FPS. This is an FPS built around a certain theme which is carefully and well done like Theif's stealth. Halflife tried to do multiple things and failed at all of them.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
I liked the elaborate Half Life addons -- where you switch characters but see the same events unfold from four different perspectives (regular, army guy, security guard and *girl*). It's like a bad independant film.
I'd like to play HL2, but I probably won't. I don't have a computer that'd play it anymore... and I don't plan on upgrading until a new Wing Commander comes out.
I'd like to play HL2, but I probably won't. I don't have a computer that'd play it anymore... and I don't plan on upgrading until a new Wing Commander comes out.
Maj.Striker
Swabbie
Banned
Bandit LOAF said:
Hoping against hope?
BigsWickDagger
Spaceman
Disco Boy said:
Eh, to each his own, I guess. I hadn't played a good FPS for a couple of years when I got Half-Life. I'd give it high marks. The game play was smooth, the story was interesting enough, and the graphics were great- it really felt like you were running around out in open space in places, unlike other FPS I've played.
Disco Boy said:
I thought the boss you fought near the end of the game, the giant baby-looking dude, was tough. Escaping his attacks, timing your jumps, and getting enough shots off into the top of his head (when it opened for those few seconds) kept me pretty busy. The .357 rocked!
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Maj.Striker said:
I help run a Wing Commander website that updates every day -- I've got to believe in my heart of hearts that there will be another game someday.
Well folks, I got my copy on Tuesday (release date).
It's, simply put, the best FPS (or overall game for that matter) I've ever played. From the get-go it grabs you and doesn't let you go. I don't know where to begin so I'll begin from the beginning.
(Don't worry, no spoilers)
You spend about the first 30-45 minutes weaponless. And the best thing about it, you really don't care. You're looking around wetting your pants at the beautiful Source engine, exploring, being introduced to characters, etc. When you finally get your first weapon, it dawns on you, "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to kill people."
The world is so interactive. I came across a playground area with cinderblocks laying around. I decided to pick one up and put it on the end of a see saw. Then I proceded to jump on the other end...yep the cinderblock on the other end jumped up realisticly and not too high because weight has been so well implemented into each object. Pick up a bottle, throw it against the all, and it shatters. Pick up a barrel and you can barely throw it. Crates shatter if under too much pressure (ie jumping from a window onto a crate.) The wood pieces from the shattered crate break down into smaller pieces as do those pieces.
You thought you were having a ball...
And then you get the manipulator later in the game. Basically a gun where you can pick up objects and throw them. So, pick up a saw blade with the gun and shoot it at a zombie. The zombie cuts in half. Or pick up a can of paint with the manipulator and shoot it at the zombie. The paint splatters on the zombie. Way cool. Or if a combine soldier throws a grenade at you, use the manipulator to pick it up and throw it back at them, do it quickly though.
The graphics...
I'm still picking my jaw off the ground. Faces of humans have some 40 muscles in their face. This makes lip-synch nearly perfect and allows emotions to really shine through. The water...oh the water. If you thought that Far Cry's water was beautiful (and it still is), then prepare to see the water in this game. Particle effects are amazing. Technically this game is superior to anything currently on the market.
So we know how great the game is technically....how's the story?
Like the original Half Life Gordon does not talk and there are no cut scenes (at least traditional). The whole game plays out in front of you in one massive level. You start out in a city and you wind up traveling miles away to a hideout base and then to a prison way out of the way and this and that all while never missing a beat. You play through it all. I'm not done with the game and so I don't know the full story. But, I'm a good ways into it and I still don't know much which is cool how everything remains a mystery and the way you figure out the story is by hearing things via overheard conversation, communiques over enemy's radio, or by propoganda on the wall. It is very reminicsent how in the orginal Half Life, you weren't given a briefing or anything on what's going on or what to do. You're basically running for you're life trying to figure out what's going on.
Drawbacks....is it possible that there are any? Very few...
The main complaint: is the lack of multiplayer. Or "new" multiplayer. Every game package, whether it's regular, collectors, bronze, silver, or gold (the latter three being able to be downloaded off of Steam), comes standard with Counter Strike: Source. Basically the same game, but with the Source engine. But with limitations. Yes, there are ragdoll physics (which by the way, Half Life 2 finally perfect ragdoll phyiscs in single player game) and yes there are things to pick up. But nowhere near as many things to do as in HL2. The models are completely redone but not as up to snuff as the HL2 models as well as textures, particles, etc. But, graphically it competes with any other FPS.
Second main complaint: A little shoddy AI. Alien AI is perfect, as in not being as smart so they decide to swarm you. But human enemy AI has seemed to cause some complaints. I have no complaints as I generally like a fairly easy game. But from gamers who want a challenge, they have comlaints and it is evident about what they are complaining. Human enemies seek cover, but they don't do things like issue charges, or drag a fallen comrade off with one arm will using the other arm for fighting. Stuff like that you'd expect, but it's not hear. It, however, at no means takes away from the sheer brilliance of the game.
Third main complaint: Audio bugs. I have no problems at all with the audio, but others have. Oh well, a patch will fix it for those poor souls.
Fourth main complaint: Having to activate the game through Steam. Steam is a great idea, but with millions of people trying to get activate their account at the same time, you know that it's gonna cause trouble. I didn't have too much trouble with it. It did take me a while to get logged in though....
How beefed up does you're system have to be?
Minimum requirements: 1.2ghz, 256 mb RAM, DirectX 7 compatible Video Card
Recommended: 2.4 ghz, 512 mb RAM, DirectX 9 compatible Video Card
On my main gaming rig I have a 2.8 ghz HT, 1 gb RAM, 9800 Pro 128mb, Audigy 2 and it runs flawlessly at 1024 x 768 with everythin cranked. The Source engine is meant to run on lower systems and quite well at that. I have yet to try it on my other rig (2.26 ghz, 512 mb RAM, G4 Ti4600, and Santa Cruz) which should run pretty well.
Final Verdict: Never in my life have I had such pure bliss playing a game. Never is there a dull or boring moment. The game plays out on such an epic cinematic scale. It's gorgeous, it's beautiful, and nothing can touch it. Get this game if you can because it wins as the "Best FPS Ever" by a landslide and as "Best Game Ever" almost assuredly.
It's, simply put, the best FPS (or overall game for that matter) I've ever played. From the get-go it grabs you and doesn't let you go. I don't know where to begin so I'll begin from the beginning.
(Don't worry, no spoilers)
You spend about the first 30-45 minutes weaponless. And the best thing about it, you really don't care. You're looking around wetting your pants at the beautiful Source engine, exploring, being introduced to characters, etc. When you finally get your first weapon, it dawns on you, "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to kill people."
The world is so interactive. I came across a playground area with cinderblocks laying around. I decided to pick one up and put it on the end of a see saw. Then I proceded to jump on the other end...yep the cinderblock on the other end jumped up realisticly and not too high because weight has been so well implemented into each object. Pick up a bottle, throw it against the all, and it shatters. Pick up a barrel and you can barely throw it. Crates shatter if under too much pressure (ie jumping from a window onto a crate.) The wood pieces from the shattered crate break down into smaller pieces as do those pieces.
You thought you were having a ball...
And then you get the manipulator later in the game. Basically a gun where you can pick up objects and throw them. So, pick up a saw blade with the gun and shoot it at a zombie. The zombie cuts in half. Or pick up a can of paint with the manipulator and shoot it at the zombie. The paint splatters on the zombie. Way cool. Or if a combine soldier throws a grenade at you, use the manipulator to pick it up and throw it back at them, do it quickly though.
The graphics...
I'm still picking my jaw off the ground. Faces of humans have some 40 muscles in their face. This makes lip-synch nearly perfect and allows emotions to really shine through. The water...oh the water. If you thought that Far Cry's water was beautiful (and it still is), then prepare to see the water in this game. Particle effects are amazing. Technically this game is superior to anything currently on the market.
So we know how great the game is technically....how's the story?
Like the original Half Life Gordon does not talk and there are no cut scenes (at least traditional). The whole game plays out in front of you in one massive level. You start out in a city and you wind up traveling miles away to a hideout base and then to a prison way out of the way and this and that all while never missing a beat. You play through it all. I'm not done with the game and so I don't know the full story. But, I'm a good ways into it and I still don't know much which is cool how everything remains a mystery and the way you figure out the story is by hearing things via overheard conversation, communiques over enemy's radio, or by propoganda on the wall. It is very reminicsent how in the orginal Half Life, you weren't given a briefing or anything on what's going on or what to do. You're basically running for you're life trying to figure out what's going on.
Drawbacks....is it possible that there are any? Very few...
The main complaint: is the lack of multiplayer. Or "new" multiplayer. Every game package, whether it's regular, collectors, bronze, silver, or gold (the latter three being able to be downloaded off of Steam), comes standard with Counter Strike: Source. Basically the same game, but with the Source engine. But with limitations. Yes, there are ragdoll physics (which by the way, Half Life 2 finally perfect ragdoll phyiscs in single player game) and yes there are things to pick up. But nowhere near as many things to do as in HL2. The models are completely redone but not as up to snuff as the HL2 models as well as textures, particles, etc. But, graphically it competes with any other FPS.
Second main complaint: A little shoddy AI. Alien AI is perfect, as in not being as smart so they decide to swarm you. But human enemy AI has seemed to cause some complaints. I have no complaints as I generally like a fairly easy game. But from gamers who want a challenge, they have comlaints and it is evident about what they are complaining. Human enemies seek cover, but they don't do things like issue charges, or drag a fallen comrade off with one arm will using the other arm for fighting. Stuff like that you'd expect, but it's not hear. It, however, at no means takes away from the sheer brilliance of the game.
Third main complaint: Audio bugs. I have no problems at all with the audio, but others have. Oh well, a patch will fix it for those poor souls.
Fourth main complaint: Having to activate the game through Steam. Steam is a great idea, but with millions of people trying to get activate their account at the same time, you know that it's gonna cause trouble. I didn't have too much trouble with it. It did take me a while to get logged in though....
How beefed up does you're system have to be?
Minimum requirements: 1.2ghz, 256 mb RAM, DirectX 7 compatible Video Card
Recommended: 2.4 ghz, 512 mb RAM, DirectX 9 compatible Video Card
On my main gaming rig I have a 2.8 ghz HT, 1 gb RAM, 9800 Pro 128mb, Audigy 2 and it runs flawlessly at 1024 x 768 with everythin cranked. The Source engine is meant to run on lower systems and quite well at that. I have yet to try it on my other rig (2.26 ghz, 512 mb RAM, G4 Ti4600, and Santa Cruz) which should run pretty well.
Final Verdict: Never in my life have I had such pure bliss playing a game. Never is there a dull or boring moment. The game plays out on such an epic cinematic scale. It's gorgeous, it's beautiful, and nothing can touch it. Get this game if you can because it wins as the "Best FPS Ever" by a landslide and as "Best Game Ever" almost assuredly.
Disco Boy said:
In 1998, the FPS genre had been beaten to death. The same this and that. Then Half-Life came along. It put all those elements that you list (not quite character customization, but then Half-Life wasn't about buying things for upgrades...you were trying to escape).
Half-Life had all those elements (except a major accent on stealth as again, you were not sent into a place secretly. You were escaping for dear life). But all the games (although I'm not sure about Systems Shock) came after Half-Life. And yes, they took certain elements from HL and made that element way better. But rest assured, those games wouldn't be as good if it weren't for HL changing the way a FPS could be made.
BTW, HL2 took all those elements (again, except for customization) and perfected them.
Maj.Striker
Swabbie
Banned
HL2 looks interesting...I thoroughly enjoyed the first Half life and it's succeeding spinoffs but I probably won't play HL2 for quite some time due to the fact that Halo2 is out and the fact that I would have to upgrade my pc to play HL2.
poopnoodle
Rear Admiral
half life was a good game but for some reason it wasn't able to keep my interest. i have all the expansion packs except blue shift but i've yet to keep playing after the halfway point.
HL2 looks like it'll be interesting
(only wish my computer could come close to its minimum requirements)
HL2 looks like it'll be interesting
(only wish my computer could come close to its minimum requirements)
ZFGokuSSJ1
Rear Admiral
Long Live Deus Ex!
Edfilho
Cry some more!
I'm at the office, and I can barelly hold myself from crying from the pure joy that was playing HL2 yesterday. It is rapture in a box and 5 cds.
It took me 2 hrs from opening the box to finally playing, between the actual file copying, patching, decrypting the game files (which took the longes time) and then playing. I had one reboot crash in the very beginning after starting it the first time, but no more glitches for the following hours...
It was bliss. As soon as I entered City 17, I forgot all about steam and installation. I wasn't in my room looking at a computer screen... I had become Gordon Freeman, and I had to find my friends. The first 30 minutes fell like a great 80's cold war espionage movie, and it only gets better.
The coolest thing is that, when I recall the experience, I don't think about jerky computer models, the characters are ALIVE. their motion, their faces and their speech... Well, it really drags Final Fantasy movie on the mud.
My system is pretty mid to low level, and I got it to play just fine.
The good thing about Source Engine is that all its cool features are not simple useless gimmicks like the shadows in Doom3, they ARE usefull, important, present and they make a difference to the overall gaming experience.
I'd say that once again Valve has changed the concept of FPS. As much as I loved Far Cry and Halo-PC, Half Life 2 simply creates a new level of quality and enjoyment.
BTW, even the best looking PS2 game can't hold a candle to this beast in its lowest setting, you people should get a new pc and play it.
I don't think this protection system Valve created is so easily broken, though. The damn thing is ENCRYPTED on the HD, and needs to be logged to valve so it is decrypted and playable.
It took me 2 hrs from opening the box to finally playing, between the actual file copying, patching, decrypting the game files (which took the longes time) and then playing. I had one reboot crash in the very beginning after starting it the first time, but no more glitches for the following hours...
It was bliss. As soon as I entered City 17, I forgot all about steam and installation. I wasn't in my room looking at a computer screen... I had become Gordon Freeman, and I had to find my friends. The first 30 minutes fell like a great 80's cold war espionage movie, and it only gets better.
The coolest thing is that, when I recall the experience, I don't think about jerky computer models, the characters are ALIVE. their motion, their faces and their speech... Well, it really drags Final Fantasy movie on the mud.
My system is pretty mid to low level, and I got it to play just fine.
The good thing about Source Engine is that all its cool features are not simple useless gimmicks like the shadows in Doom3, they ARE usefull, important, present and they make a difference to the overall gaming experience.
I'd say that once again Valve has changed the concept of FPS. As much as I loved Far Cry and Halo-PC, Half Life 2 simply creates a new level of quality and enjoyment.
BTW, even the best looking PS2 game can't hold a candle to this beast in its lowest setting, you people should get a new pc and play it.
I don't think this protection system Valve created is so easily broken, though. The damn thing is ENCRYPTED on the HD, and needs to be logged to valve so it is decrypted and playable.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Gordon Freeman has friends? I find that hard to believe.
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