# Half Life 2



## Patchouli (Jul 10, 2013)

Searched google, but couldn't find a Half Life thread that wasn't archived. 

So I bought HL2 on sale today. Never played it before, but I hear it's supposed to be great. I'll find out shortly. First I'm gonna play this Black Mesa mod, since I don't want to play HL1. 

Any non-spoiler tips for a noob to this series?


----------



## Linkofone (Jul 10, 2013)

I don't have a lot of things to tell you about it, but if you like mods. Try the Black Snow mod. It was very intense.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 10, 2013)

Want to giver it a proper replay eventually. Haven't played it since 2004 actually. Was blown away by it back then. Wonder how it aged. Prepare for a meaty campaign.

Black Mesa still isn't complete btw. You ever played HL1?


----------



## Snakety69 (Jul 10, 2013)

Played the first one on PS2 around 2003 when I heard that HL2 was the second coming of Jesus and was coming out on the Xbox, and then picked up the second one when it came out. Both are great games, and boy am I glad they released 2 and its respective episodes in HD on The Orange Box, cuz HL2 was clunky as shit on the original Xbox.

Don't really think you need any tips. It's pretty much your standard shooter with an excellent (and at the time, ground breaking) physics engine, so have fun


----------



## Furious George (Jul 10, 2013)

As someone whose only got into the series like 4 years ago I can say it aged pretty damn well. 

There are no real tips to give... except to get your body ready in whatever manner you typically do.


----------



## Bubyrd Ratcatcher (Jul 10, 2013)

Patchouli said:


> Any non-spoiler tips for a noob to this series?



Just keep a good aim for headshots. You will interact with many vehicles, and they are a lot of fun.

And dont eat any cake you see. It's a lie.


----------



## Deathbringerpt (Jul 10, 2013)

Got the 75% daily deal, huh?

Get ready for one of the most well built game worlds you'll see in a long time. The best tip I can give you is to play on the hardest difficulty if you're decent ant FPS games since the game isn't that hard when you get the hang of the weapons and enemy behavior, if you think you're in over your head, you can change the difficulty any time.


----------



## Patchouli (Jul 10, 2013)

Linkofone said:


> I don't have a lot of things to tell you about it, but if you like mods. Try the Black Snow mod. It was very intense.



Just read up on the mod. 

"Portal meets Amnesia"





αshɘs said:


> Want to giver it a proper replay eventually. Haven't played it since 2004 actually. Was blown away by it back then. Wonder how it aged. Prepare for a meaty campaign.
> 
> Black Mesa still isn't complete btw. You ever played HL1?



I have not.



Triggerhappy69 said:


> Played the first one on PS2 around 2003 when I heard that HL2 was the second coming of Jesus and was coming out on the Xbox, and then picked up the second one when it came out. Both are great games, and boy am I glad they released 2 and its respective episodes in HD on The Orange Box, cuz HL2 was clunky as shit on the original Xbox.
> 
> Don't really think you need any tips. It's pretty much your standard shooter with an excellent (and at the time, ground breaking) physics engine, so have fun



I'll try. 



Furious George said:


> As someone whose only got into the series like 4 years ago I can say it aged pretty damn well.
> 
> There are no real tips to give... except to get your body ready in whatever manner you typically do.



All buckled into my computer chair. My body cannot be any more ready.



Bubi said:


> Just keep a good aim for headshots. You will interact with many vehicles, and they are a lot of fun.
> 
> And dont eat any cake you see. It's a lie.



Portal has prepared me well for this moment.



Deathbringerpt said:


> Got the 75% daily deal, huh?
> 
> Get ready for one of the most well built game worlds you'll see in a long time. The best tip I can give you is to play on the hardest difficulty if you're decent ant FPS games since the game isn't that hard when you get the hang of the weapons and enemy behavior, if you think you're in over your head, you can change the difficulty any time.



Yep, was too good to pass up. Been meaning to play this series for a while, but I always wait for deals.

I'll give the hardest difficulty a go.

But if you're messing with me, Imma send you like a hundred pm's of koala gifs.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Jul 10, 2013)

Patchouli said:


> Searched google, but couldn't find a Half Life thread that wasn't archived.
> 
> So I bought HL2 on sale today. Never played it before, but I hear it's supposed to be great. I'll find out shortly. First I'm gonna play this Black Mesa mod, since I don't want to play HL1.
> 
> Any non-spoiler tips for a noob to this series?



You shoot things and say nothing.


----------



## Violent by Design (Jul 10, 2013)

Patchouli said:


> Just read up on the mod.
> 
> "Portal meets Amnesia"
> 
> ...



You scared breh ?


----------



## Linkofone (Jul 10, 2013)

> Just read up on the mod.
> 
> "Portal meets Amnesia"



To be fair it was very well made. :3


----------



## blackbird (Jul 10, 2013)

Best singleplayer experience of any shooter out there.

Even without Black Snow you'll have plenty to look forward to. :33


----------



## Violent by Design (Jul 10, 2013)

How come you don't want to play HL1 Patch?


----------



## Death-kun (Jul 11, 2013)

I just bought Half Life: Complete (all of the games) for $10, and I'm also curious to know what I'll be in for, since all I know about Half-Life is that it's a critically acclaimed and very well-liked FPS.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 11, 2013)

yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't play HL1? Replayed it a couple of years ago, obviously the graphics aged, but overall it still held up pretty well.


----------



## Overwatch (Jul 11, 2013)

Ah, good ol' HL2. I'm kinda sad that Viktor Antonov left Valve (even though he did a fantastic job with Dishonored). It's quite rare to see a fellow countryman make his mark on video game history in this day and age.


----------



## Patchouli (Jul 11, 2013)

Violent By Design said:


> You scared breh ?



After playing Fatal Frame, I carried around a camera with me for about a month. I literally sprinted down my hallways when I had to turn off the lights, all while slamming the doors behind me. 

When I played Amnesia, I was constantly pausing to catch my breath. Even flat-out quit whenever I got in the line-of-sight of a monster.

Trust me, this mod is not for me. 



Linkofone said:


> To be fair it was very well made. :3



I've no doubt about the quality, just fear of the content. 



Violent By Design said:


> How come you don't want to play HL1 Patch?



I'm more interested in Half Life 2 because of what I've heard about it.

and because i'm cheap.


----------



## Kagekatsu (Jul 11, 2013)

Patchouli said:


> I've no doubt about the quality, just fear of the content.


Oh, just wait until you get to Ravenholm


----------



## Furious George (Jul 11, 2013)

We *don't go* to Ravenholm.


----------



## Patchouli (Jul 11, 2013)

What the hell is Ravenholm?


----------



## Overwatch (Jul 11, 2013)

You'll find out soon enough.


----------



## First Tsurugi (Jul 11, 2013)

Bought this on sale along with the first game only to find out I don't have the hard drive space to install either.


----------



## Deathbringerpt (Jul 11, 2013)

αshɘs said:


> yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't play HL1? Replayed it a couple of years ago, obviously the graphics aged, but overall it still held up pretty well.



The original Half-Life may be a bit off-putting for younger gamers. It was a great game at the time, but it relied on certain tropes of the medium which have not aged well--back-tracking, for example. There is a huge diversity of weapons (Better than the sequel in this regard), though, and the later levels are pure mindfuckery. But yeah, it's a bit slow.

Half-Life 2 is, by comparison, much faster-paced and the levels are damned nice looking. There is a feeling of being in City 17. It's alive, it's depressing, and the whole mood is one of fighting through despair. What made it unique at the time is now industry standard but it's mostly poorly replicated, which is why it aged incredibly well. Episode 2 is particularly awesome. It has all the good stuff from the main game, only more condensed, faster and focused.

But you know what's fucked up? Opposing Force is still the best Half Life 1 game.

And it was made by Gearbox.

How the mighty have fallen.


----------



## Violent by Design (Jul 11, 2013)

Deathbringerpt said:


> The original Half-Life may be a bit off-putting for younger gamers. It was a great game at the time, but it relied on certain tropes of the medium which have not aged well--back-tracking, for example. There is a huge diversity of weapons (Better than the sequel in this regard), though, and the later levels are pure mindfuckery. But I warn you now, it's a bit slow.
> 
> Half-Life 2 is, by comparison, much faster-paced and the levels are damned nice looking. There is a feeling of being in City 17. It's alive, it's depressing, and the whole mood is one of fighting through despair. What made it unique at the time is now industry standard but it's mostly poorly replicated, which is why it aged incredibly well. Episode 2 is particularly awesome. It has all the good stuff from the main game, only more condensed, faster and focused.
> 
> ...




There isn't that much backtracking in HL1, most of it you're usually going forward in some capacity. But I don't see how back tracking is out dated, it is still pretty much just as common now to have back tracking in games as it was then.


----------



## Deathbringerpt (Jul 11, 2013)

Violent By Design said:


> There isn't that much backtracking in HL1, most of it you're usually going forward in some capacity. But I don't see how back tracking is out dated, it is still pretty much just as common now to have back tracking in games as it was then.



I personally don't mind it which is why I said younger gamers might find it off-putting since backtracking in FPS nowadays is not something they're used to. Open world stuff aside.

I might be misjudging the amount of backtracking you do in HL1 though, gotta play the series again.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 12, 2013)

Bioshock has more backtracking than HL1. There might be a couple of spots where you're going around a bit, but nothing heavy.


----------



## Snakety69 (Jul 12, 2013)

Furious George said:


> We *don't go* to Ravenholm.





Patchouli said:


> What the hell is Ravenholm?



Ah Ravenholm, what a pleasant surprise that chapter was. Those "fast ones" boy, lemme tell ya


----------



## Inertia (Jul 13, 2013)

Hello everybody, I'm wondering if you guys can help me in determining whether or not my computer can run Half Life 2 Episode Two. 

*Spoiler*: __ 




*My Computer Specs*
CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU B960 @ 2.20GHz
CPU Speed: 2.2 GHz Performance Rated at: 2.86 GHz
RAM: 4.0 GB
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
Video Card: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family(which has 1.7 GB of Video RAM, 3D, and Pixel Shader Version 4.1)
Sound Card: Conexant SmartAudio HD
----------------------------------------------------------
*Half Life 2 Episode Two Specs*
Minimum: 1.7 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX? 8.1 level Graphics Card (Requires support for SSE), Windows? 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

Recommended: Pentium 4 processor (3.0GHz, or better), 1GB RAM, DirectX? 9 level Graphics Card, Windows? 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection



I did use  to test my computer, and it said that I can run Half-Life 2 Episode 2. But that site only lets me test The Orange Box as oppose to solely testing Half Life 2 Episode Two. I know that The Orange Box has Half-Life 2 Episode 2, but I'm speculating that the only reason as to why  says that my computer passed the test is because I can run the other games in The Orange Box like Portal or Half Life 2: Episode One.

Also, please no spoilers.


----------



## Naruto (Jul 13, 2013)

Inertia said:


> Hello everybody, I'm wondering if you guys can help me in determining whether or not my computer can run Half Life 2 Episode Two.
> 
> *Spoiler*: __
> 
> ...






My toaster can run HL2.


----------



## Violent by Design (Jul 13, 2013)

Inertia said:


> Hello everybody, I'm wondering if you guys can help me in determining whether or not my computer can run Half Life 2 Episode Two.
> 
> *Spoiler*: __
> 
> ...



Your comp can run episode 2.


----------



## Deathbringerpt (Jul 13, 2013)

My calculator can run episode 2.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 13, 2013)

iirc all the games in the Orange Box run on the same version of Source, so you shouldn't be afraid. The engine isn't very demanding in the first place (though the L4D and Portal 2 builds might have higher requirements, but I'm not sure).


----------



## Inertia (Jul 13, 2013)

Thanks everyone. Also, I bought "Half-Life 2" and "Half-Life 2: Lost Coast" for $2.49 during the steam sale. But then I realized that "Half-Life 2", "Half-Life 2: Episode One", and "Half-Life 2: Episode Two" are all different games, which made me mad because I intended to play the entire trilogy of games. So did I waste my $2.49? Or was getting Half-Life 2: Lost Coast worth the $2.49? As you can see, I'm a very poor person.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 14, 2013)

Ugh, Lost Coast is basically a tech demo. You can't do a lot in that. But I thought it was supposed to be free?


----------



## Deathbringerpt (Jul 14, 2013)

αshɘs said:


> Bioshock has more backtracking than HL1. There might be a couple of spots where you're going around a bit, but nothing heavy.



Well, if you do a little research on the series history, it's one where its level design gets increasingly more casualized and built around the whims of the industry.


System Shock 1 & 2 - Exploration up the ass, backtracking and finding items hidden to progress your advance. Various character build choices which enable to customize your character into very different guys in different playthroughs.

Bioshock - More simplistic level design, still room enough for a little exploration and some backtracking. Weapon costumization is condensed enough that you can upgrade pretty much everything of what it has to offer in one playthrough. Plasmids is a little more complex. though.

Bioshock 2 - All of the above except more linear and condensed.

Bioshock Infinite - Borderline COD level and game design. Straight corridor levels, 2 weapon limit, auto-regen, etc.

Mind you, Infinite is awesome but the casual FPS game design holds it back quite a lot.


----------



## Inertia (Jul 14, 2013)

^I think Irrational Games might be taking the Shock series to the wrong path. I'm hoping that they will go back to the open ended level design that Bioshock or, dare I say, System Shock 2 had.


αshɘs said:


> Ugh, Lost Coast is basically a tech demo. You can't do a lot in that. But I thought it was supposed to be free?


Well if you go to steam, it actually says that Lost Coast is $19.99 with the steam sale, and $39.99 without the steam sale. This puzzles me because why would a tech demo cost more than the actual campaigns of Half-Life 2? Is there a storyline in Lost Coast that I'm not aware of? Are there enemies in this tech demo?


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 14, 2013)

Deathbringerpt said:


> Well, if you do a little research on the series history, it's one where its level design gets increasingly more casualized and built around the whims of the industry.
> 
> 
> System Shock 1 & 2 - Exploration up the ass, backtracking and finding items hidden to progress your advance. Various character build choices which enable to customize your character into very different guys in different playthroughs.
> ...



I fail to see how this is relevant to my post but yes I'm familiar with the Shock series' history.



Inertia said:


> ^I think Irrational Games might be taking the Shock series to the wrong path. I'm hoping that they will go back to the open ended level design that Bioshock or, dare I say, System Shock 2 had.
> 
> Well if you go to steam, it actually says that Lost Coast is $19.99 with the steam sale, and $39.99 without the steam sale. This puzzles me because why would a tech demo cost more than the actual campaigns of Half-Life 2? Is there a storyline in Lost Coast that I'm not aware of? Are there enemies in this tech demo?



It was initially a level in HL2, but they cut it out. It has it's own story and there are enemies. Also, I don't think that's Lost Coast's price, but rather Half-Life Complete which includes Lost Coast.


----------



## Inertia (Jul 14, 2013)

αshɘs said:


> It was initially a level in HL2, but they cut it out. It has it's own story and there are enemies. Also, I don't think that's Lost Coast's price, but rather Half-Life Complete which includes Lost Coast.


Incorrect.

Can you check your Steam account and see if this is true on your end as well?


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 14, 2013)

I get the same, but when I click on it, HL Complete is at the "add to cart" part


----------



## blackbird (Jul 14, 2013)

Odd, but I don't think there's something wrong with either listing. Steam America and Steam Europe are two different markets after all.

For the record, I bought Episode I + II a few days before the Summer Sale and Lost Coast was included in Episode... II, I think it was.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 14, 2013)

yeah I'm sure now when he said he bought HL2 and LC for $2.49 means he got LC for free. $2.49 is HL2 with 75% off. When he put HL2 in his cart, I guess LC got added to it too. That's where the confusion comes from. So, Inertia, you didn't anything wrong.

If you want to get Eps 1 and 2 wait for another 75% off and both will cost you $2 each. The HL2 saga won't get cheaper than this.


----------



## Inertia (Jul 15, 2013)

If Lost Coast was already included with Episode 2, then I just wasted my money on buying "Half-Life 2" as oppose to just buying The Orange Box. It's really confusing for a person like me to choose which one to buy since "Episode One" could mean that it's literally the first act of Half-Life 2 when it's really the second act.


----------



## αshɘs (Jul 15, 2013)

Orange Box wasn't discounted during the HL sale, so no you didn't waste anything. Wait for another special deal again, and get Eps 1 and 2 for cheap. Also, it's not hard to distinguish between the games, just read the descriptions lol.


----------



## Inertia (Nov 5, 2013)

I just finished the Half Life 2 trilogy a few days ago. I've gotta say, I was pretty disappointed with the trilogy overall. The games have solid pacing, excellent immersion, and a great physics engine that's used for combat and puzzle solving. However, most of the games were just too linear for my tastes. The games don't really give players a good incentive to explore City 17 since the environment is dull and lacks the ability to reward players for exploring(besides finding more ammo or health when exploring the map). The progression of the narrative was pretty slow as well, and the story was more simpler than I thought it would be. Story or artistic aspects in general are a major reason as to why I play games, and Half Life 2 kinda disappointed me in that regard. The gameplay in Half Life 2 is fine, but the "experience" wasn't thought provoking as I thought it would be(especially compared to the first Bioshock). With all that said, I thought Half Life 2 Episode 2 was the best out of the trilogy since it had the best firefights due to the introduction of the hunters.


----------



## αshɘs (Nov 5, 2013)

It's not like Rapture offers better exploration, and visually it paints broad strokes, it's very apparent. I actually think HL2's environmental storytelling is more nuanced and stimulating compared to Bioshock's, despite not being as flashy.

And I don't mind linearity. Lots of today's games really don't do a good job of exploration, open environments. A lot of it ends up being meaningless or serves as collectathons.


----------



## Hunted by sister (Nov 5, 2013)

Actually Rapture offers far more and far better exploration than any of the Half-Life. 

HL2 was impressive for it's time. Later it became less impressive because it was copied and copied, and players new to HL have already experienced improved iterations of HL's ideas.

//HbS


----------



## αshɘs (Nov 5, 2013)

But in Bio1 everything is laid infront of you, you can't miss a damn thing, or even if you miss it the first time, you won't the second time, because of the mission design you'll have to return to said area. Bio2 did it better, because it had areas that weren't mandatory to the missions.


----------



## Hunted by sister (Nov 5, 2013)

Bioshock 1 had plenty of areas you're never lured into by an objective or a path. For example, towards the end, there are four or five floors of open rooms with a story, I completly missed that area on my first playthrough. There are similar (but smaller) areas in the gardens and the brewery, maybe more, I don't remember, I played this game like 4 years ago. 

//HbS


----------



## Inertia (Nov 5, 2013)

αshɘs said:


> It's not like Rapture offers better exploration, and visually it paints broad strokes, it's very apparent. I actually think HL2's environmental storytelling is more nuanced and stimulating compared to Bioshock's, despite not being as flashy.
> 
> And I don't mind linearity. Lots of today's games really don't do a good job of exploration, open environments. A lot of it ends up being meaningless or serves as collectathons.


I personally love the plastic-like graphics of Bioshock since it makes the game feel more dark and creepy. 

As for story, I find Bioshock's narrative style more appealing since the player can dig out the history of Rapture by him/herself via audio logs. Exploring Rapture rewards the player with interesting audio logs, which is a style that compliments both storytelling and gameplay at the same time. Half Life 2 on the other hand only rewards the player with health and ammo when it comes to exploration for the most part, and there isn't a lot of interesting things going on in the environment. While the narrative of Half Life 2 is immersive, it doesn't intertwine with the actual gameplay very often. Most of the time, story progression in Half Life 2 comes in the form of standing in a room while you're listening to characters either speaking to you or to other characters. It's not that much different from a standard cutscene. Now I'm not saying that Half Life 2 should have audio logs. I'm simply saying that the style of Half Life 2's narrative delivery doesn't appeal to me as much as Bioshock's style.


----------

