Half Life II
 

I start up the game a day after I've seen the online reviews by a bunch of idiots all calling themselves proffesional game critics. I knew the graphics didn't compare to Doom III, but Half Life claimed to be a groundbreaking game when it was released in 1999 and it got how many game of the year awards. I was hoping for something new to change the FPS genre like Deus Ex changed it last I was hoping for a bigger variety in gameplay rather than run and gun. I found myself going from place to place shooting all the what I call dumb enemies (After gabe promised great AI it is pathetic). But the thing that p****d me of the most is IGN's review it is pathetic I feel only one big reviewer got it close to right and that is Gamespot and they still overrated the main feel of the game. I found myself mindlessly blasting everappearing aliens and I started to get frustrated because the gameplay sucks a dogs ass.
Don't gimme the crap of Half Life II having better graphics than DOOM III because it doesn't compare (DOOM III looks millions of billions of times better).

im mixed, they are realy good but i cant realy tell which has the better backgrounds, the charicture animation is far superior to doom3 so i'm guna have to stick by halflife 2 haveing the better graphics.
i am also disapointed by the AI but i learned to deal with it. my advise would be to sit back and have fun playing.

Doom 3 has more dynamic lights flying around and stuff, which I guess for some people means its better, but Half Life 2 has a real sense of style, so it doesn't need the lights flying around and stuff.

B100d, you're full of shit. :P

Half-Life 2 is possibly the most varied FPS ever to come out, and you're saying it's too repetitive? Have you played any other games in the last ten years?

Come back when you have an opinion that's at least vaguely believable. Maybe all those professional game critics actually know what they're talking about.

Dude WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DOOM 3 has better animation than HL2? Did you see the faces of people in HL2? The details are stunning. And the outside environments are breathtaking. DOOM 3 took a really cheap way to graphics, dim everything up and use lights. Everything is dark most of the time, you can't really tell if it looks that pretty or not.

I do have a monster of a machine now and a GEForce 6800 NVidia card. DOOM 3 is a little itsy bitsy sluggish on my system so I have to play it at 800-600. HL2 on the other hand, runs like a dream even at 1024 by 768. And it was designed mostly for the ATI cards (ATI payed 6 mil to sponsor the project). so Graphics wise, I agree with the reviewers.

As far as gameplay goes, I haven't played HL2 enough to judge, but based on the reviews, there is MUCH MUCH more varied gameplay than DOOM 3. First of all The physics engine is really cool. You can use the environment for your protection and their are a few physics based puzzles (I've encountered one).

You have the squad based parts where people accompany you, shoot with you etc... There is the all too wonderful gravity gun, that emphasizes the use of the physics engine brilliantly. And then there are those sections where you drive a vehicle. DOOM 3???? SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT...

So sorry mate, but gotta agree with the reviewers on this one.

Exactly. Darkening a room up and using lighting is a cheap stab at graphics. I would like to see DOOM 3 played in an outside environment like Far Cry or HL2. I would even dare to say that Far Cry has a better graphics engine than DOOM 3.

Double G, are the marines in HL back in this game? Those were some of the best AI characters ever to appear in any FPS game.

from what i played, their not marines, there called the combine..?
i have'nt figured out thier role in the game yet, but i'm sure i will soon.

Hey, calm down! What is your deal? First of all the HL series is NOT Deus Ex, get over it. DX offered players as much freedom as possible within reason, and within an RPG game, which it ultimately was (stats management, level-ups, quests, side quests, etc.). The HL series has never purported to be anything beyond a story driven, action packed first person shooter, but what it does it does incredibly well. So much so, in fact, that Doom3 borrowed many of HL's elements for its own use, including the first person narrative view.

And who exactly is giving you crap that D3 looks "millions of billions of times better' than HL2? You should know by now, having played many games yourself, that graphics may enhance the experience but it is NOT the entire experience. Why would you dismiss HL2 as merely a pretty picture? C'mon, man, it's making you look pretty shallow doing that. Or did you actually play D3 only and exclusively for the graphics alone? Your choice, but don't be bringing down HL2 for exactly the same shallow reasons you (and many others) may praise D3.

Finally, what exactly were you expecting from HL2, eh? How exactly were you expecting it to change the FPS genre? Give us exact details. You whined relentlessly yet I hadn't picked up extremely specific points and details from you to solidify your argument. I've read that the A.I. is top notch, but you complained that it's pathetic. Um....pathetic compared to which game/s, then? And which difficulty setting did you play? Because that of course determines how 'pathetic' the A.I. is or how top notch it can get.

I'm just curious, HL2 is garnering some of the highest scores ever, from professional reviewers who you claim to be idiots (hey, they get paid for their expertise and experience and writing, you don't get paid for being a gamer, do you?), so that must mean the game is doing something right. I want to know specifically how it disappointed you. Otherwise you risk looking like a mere troll, someone who, not matter how hard the developers ever try, will never, ever be satisfied for the vaguest of reasons we'll never know.

http://forums.idlethumbs.net/images/.../5innocent.gif

Hehe!

Hmmm, if Half Life 2 is that varied, I may have to try it out myself then. Me being an anti-FPS-freak and all...

It works every time. ;)

And well said, Trep.

Just don't go expecting Deus Ex though. One is an FPS while the other is an RPG. It still is an FPS at heart, but it offers variety, and more of a story than any other FPS out there.

Of cousre. While I haven't tried Deus Ex to warrant any indepth views, I don't think I'd have enjoyed that anyway. I'm curious to see what the fuzz is about though. I did see a potential game in Half Life, but the game bored me eventually. Just like every other FPS ever.

Hmmmmm if you didn't like HL I doubt you will like this one. It takes everything from HL and expands on it, like graphics, story telling etc... But at the heart of it, it still plays a lot like HL

Hey B100d, sorry if I sounded like a bitch in my post above, but you really did seem like you hadn't truly given HL2 a chance and are going into it with waaaay too high expectations, or simply unrealistic ones. Also, you're probably one of the teeming hoards who followed its development religiously by reading every single preview, interview, and miscellaneous news, looking at every single screenshot, and viewing every single movie - otherwise known as getting overhyped about it. There's a danger in that, as you yourself prove. That's the rub.

For example, I stopped paying attention to every single news on Fable during its incubation period, because I knew how Peter Molyneux worked, and because the game press will always, always bombard us with this hype crap. And when Fable finally came out and I played it, I enjoyed it for what it was, for what it did offer, not for what it could have been according to the press and Molyneux himself (it's not the best RPG by any means, but it's a damn fine Action/RPG/Adventure romp, I still had a blast).

DX really is ultimately an RPG. It's very deep (like RPGs) in its scope and flexibility, engrossing in many places, and full of freedom of choice. In that sense it departs from HL. But like HL, it's ultimately linear, you definitely feel that you're on a singular main narrative path. But it's the various branching forks in that path that lend the fun and discovery.

I liked Doom 3 just as much as I like Half Life 2. They're both really great games. Doom 3 (which I just beat last week) was an amazing experience. If you've played all the way to Hell and back, you know what I mean. It's just like being on a rollercoaster ride. Half Life 2 is more cinematic... as if you're playing through a movie. And the physics play a bigger role in the game. Both games have excellent physics engines.They're wildly different in graphic styles. They're both prime examples of really atmospheric game experiences.

I'm still playing Half Life 2. I can't wait to get further in after work!

Good point, eriq. Each game has its strengths and divergent features. Personally I know I'll much prefer HL2. I played the Doom 3 demo and it just didn't draw me in that much. I've been spoiled lately by Action/RPGs (Fable, KoTOR) so I'm quite drawn to very deep gameworlds with a zillion things to do and see. I am definitely getting Bloodlines, looking forward to it more than HL2, quite honestly, but I am still getting HL2 and I know I'll have fun.

since everyone hear loves HL2 sooo much, myself included maybe one of you guys can help me with a minor problem... i'm getting desperate!

http://forums.adventuregamers.com/showthread.php?t=5658

Hey, this is the guy who hated TLJ, isn't it? Maybe B100d just has a really bad taste in games? That seems the most likely explaination, just ahead of what Trep said about high expectations.

;)