View Full Version : Episode 2 thoughts
**minor spoilage may occur**
I finished this up the other day and it was phenomenal. [IMO] It developed the story more than any part since the initial installment. I have to say Valve is really on top of their game. They make such polished, well thought out games. So I'm gonna take a minute to list the reasons I love Half Life. Feel free to add any thoughts of your own.
1. Not really a HL thing, but Steam is awesome. Just install once off the CD and you never have to take it out of the case again. Have an extra copy of HL2? Just give it to a friend. Updates happen immediately without having to search the net. I've never run into an issue, maybe others have.
2. There are puzzles embedded in the game that actually take a minute to figure out (like where you have to get the car over the bridge).
3. Firefights are setup quite well with the adrenaline tunes coming on cue (like the villa). Not only that, but your ammo is limited to a reasonable amount, so you have to make use of just about everything in your arsenal. I was running for my life from the last 2 hunters and had to take em down with nades. Good thing it worked because I don't think the crowbar was gonna cut it.
4. Dog
5. The story is woven into actual gameplay, with no cut scenes or other out of perspective viewpoints. The end result: a more engrossing experience.
6. The engine runs very very smoothly. I max out everything @ 1680x1050 and play the entire game without skipping a beat. It does this while still managing to be a great looking game. They have really done good work on the textures since HL2 (Vordigaunts are pimpin). Post processing on the Unreal 3 engine makes me ill; I could go down 10 shots of Jack if I wanted everything to be blurry.
7. The control is spot on. This is difficult to describe, but some first person games feel like they were made to run using a console controller (i.e. Bioshock). Half Life feels like it was made to played ASDF-mouse style.
If I had to list a negative, I would say the linear structure of the environments is a bit of a buzz kill. That is the nature of the beast though, given that its a story driven game.
As far as Episode 3 is concerned...time to play the waiting game (aka Crysis). :bang head
I liked #2, took me a sec, but I got it :)
dog was awesome, story was great,
Leviathan41
12-09-07, 02:12 PM
I agree totally. Every part of the Orange Box was fantastic! It's the best PC gaming deal ever.
I'm fully going to agree with you there, the Half-life series is the only series I have replayed stupid amounts of time. Its fun, immersive and has the graphics to boot.
1. Couldn't agree more, people seem to bag steam but I think its great. No waiting in a queue to download updates or anything. Once they're released your game auto updates itself and you can join a server without getting the boot for incorrect version.
2. Thats true, I remember trying to figure out the car-over-the-bridge puzzle with my flat mate when he was up to it, had already completed it but it took me a min or 2.
3. Personally I ran them over with the car, if you're talking about the bit i'm thinking of. Its not just the firefights as well, the music is stupidly well written to go with the game and that intensifies it all. :)
4. Dog < Couldn't agree more
5. The story is woven into actual gameplay, with no cut scenes or other out of perspective viewpoints. The end result: a more engrossing experience. < Couldn't agree more.
6. The source engine has coped very well and kept up with some of the modern day engines, whats great is that because of steam they can continue to improve and all games can reap the rewards. Not to mention its a wickedly scalable engine.
7. Would make it interesting to watch someone play the Orange box with a Xbox controller though :p
Springbok
12-09-07, 04:21 PM
Really? I felt that both Episode 1&2 were letdowns. I liked the part in & outside the traincar at the very beginning of Episode 2, but the rest of it was 'go from A to B, fight guys, proceed to C'. My list...
1.) I still have hardly any clue what the deal is with the Vortigons and the G-man
2.) Puzzles were kinda mediocre, but at least they weren't the jumping puzzles from HL1, 2, and Episode 1. Oh wait, there were jumping puzzles(across the ooze below the bridge).
3.) The only new enemy was just a ranged version of the bugs, you couldn't even fight the psychic enemies so they were more of a plot device.
4.) The end battle wasn't particularly fun or challenging, and the ending itself was such an anticlimax.
Oc1Kenube
12-09-07, 05:17 PM
damn you all ^ I have the orange box but can not pull myself away from TF2 or portal long enough to play E1/2 i find the start of E1 dull and a bit soulless (just after dog throws you over the huge gap and you have to use the G/gun to get the exploding balls,yawn) so i may just skip E1 and play E2, reccomended or not?
I'm just waiting for Ep3 to see if they actually give us the ASHPD when we go to the Borealis. Dr. Kliner dropped a few hints regarding it, and it'd be cool to see in the HL universe. I'm really looking forward to how they're going to tie Aperture Science to Black Mesa and vise versa.
damn you all ^ I have the orange box but can not pull myself away from TF2 or portal long enough to play E1/2 i find the start of E1 dull and a bit soulless (just after dog throws you over the huge gap and you have to use the G/gun to get the exploding balls,yawn) so i may just skip E1 and play E2, reccomended or not?
Wouldn't recommend skipping it, its kinda boring to start with but it does get better. it also helps the story along and it isn't that long. Worth playing imho :)
Yeah I wouldn't skip it or you'll be lost in the story in Ep 2.
Also hoping the portal device makes its way into Ep 3...
damn you all ^ I have the orange box but can not pull myself away from TF2 or portal long enough to play E1/2 i find the start of E1 dull and a bit soulless (just after dog throws you over the huge gap and you have to use the G/gun to get the exploding balls,yawn) so i may just skip E1 and play E2, reccomended or not?As with some others, the first part really isn't that long (I somehow got disorientated in the core chamber, though). Then it gets really ARRGGHHH ZOMBIEESSS-like immediatly afterwards.
So...dark...
Tyranos
12-09-07, 09:28 PM
I don't consider a lot of happenings in HL "puzzles". They're more like choices really, I wouldn't call deciding whether or not I want to walk through hazardous waste a puzzle. I'd say it's just "gettin' around".
Jolly-Swagman
12-10-07, 01:21 PM
I had to send My HL2 Orange box back still waiting for the new copy.
It kept skipping scenes, one minute you were at part 3 then it would go to like part 8 was so frustrating.
I did like it to the graphics were fantastic
glockjs
12-10-07, 02:45 PM
I had to send My HL2 Orange box back still waiting for the new copy.
It kept skipping scenes, one minute you were at part 3 then it would go to like part 8 was so frustrating.
I did like it to the graphics were fantastic
you could have just uninstall and d/l from steam :/
anyways yeah ep2 was pretty epic i was sad when i got the end and couldnt play anymore..and how they left us hanging was :O i can't wait for ep3.
Looking at Ep2 it just seems to promise so much for Ep3, damn its gonna be cool :D
Jolly-Swagman
12-10-07, 04:27 PM
you could have just uninstall and d/l from steam :/
Yeah could have but then would have to pay the online price and be doubly out of pocket so just will wait to get new one sent to me
Yeah could have but then would have to pay the online price and be doubly out of pocket so just will wait to get new one sent to me
You don't have to do that. You've registered the keys with Steam, right? Just re-download it through Steam. No re-purchase required.
Proletariat
12-10-07, 06:35 PM
The orange box is the gaming deal of the decade.
I now regard valve as the best gaming company ever.
TF2... awesome
Portal... awesome
HL2 w/ episodes... best single player game ever.
After I played episode 2, I went back and played HL2, episode 1, and episode 2 again. It was still fun and interesting, even on like my 7th or 8th time though HL2. The characters and storyline are top notch and the game play is great. More than I can say about a lot of other games that have come out recently.
I didnt even bother finishing Bioshock... after the first few levels it lost me. COD4 and Crysis demo's didnt real me in either.
Anyways, I am now an official valve fan boy.
I didn't finish Bioshock either. I suffered through about half of it and quit. I wish I had seen that video review that guy does with the cartoons first, because he was spot on. It was like playing through a horrible version of an Ayn Rand novel.
Gotta say I enjoyed bioshock, but i didn't feel like it was good enough to play again to see the second ending. I've played HL2 through many times and will definitely do it again, fully worth it :)
TommyHolly
12-10-07, 10:00 PM
Really? I felt that both Episode 1&2 were letdowns. I liked the part in & outside the traincar at the very beginning of Episode 2, but the rest of it was 'go from A to B, fight guys, proceed to C'. My list...
1.) I still have hardly any clue what the deal is with the Vortigons and the G-man
2.) Puzzles were kinda mediocre, but at least they weren't the jumping puzzles from HL1, 2, and Episode 1. Oh wait, there were jumping puzzles(across the ooze below the bridge).
3.) The only new enemy was just a ranged version of the bugs, you couldn't even fight the psychic enemies so they were more of a plot device.
4.) The end battle wasn't particularly fun or challenging, and the ending itself was such an anticlimax.
I agree! When I was playing, the whole time I kept thinking that it felt like work... It was very monotonous. I really liked Half Life 1, but so far I have not really enjoyed Half-Life II or any of the episodes. The story was awesome in the original and this time around they just plop you in the future and the future is LAME.
I've enjoyed the Striders, the part where you had to duck under the auto gun in the junkyard, and...hmmm Its pretty bad when you can't think of what you really enjoyed after playing it for a while.
Every encounter is an ambush. In the original, after you got the crossbow, you got to pick off people froma distance for a while... In HLII and all the episodes, you never see guys outside buildings until you get near and they ambush you. I like sniping and the crossbow is changed with gravity over distance....rrrrgh
You just drive up to a building, clear the building (or just pass it up completely) and drive to the next...and repeat. The bugs are annoying. The zombies are not even worth the time to kill them. And the puzzles have not been that hard. The combine...Im still not sure what or who they are.
This is gonna probably **** some people off, but I think Dog is lame too. You don't do anything with him really. He is like watchin a cartoon character. I wish he got reprogrammed and you had to fight him.
To leave on a happy note, the voice actors are great! (I always liked the guy who played "Benson") Some things were enjoyable. All I have to say is that PORTAL is completely worth the money just by itself. That is one of the best games I have ever played in my life, hands down. Top 5 easily.
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