Originally Posted by Kipman725 It was pretty fun. Too short though even for the £10 price and ending it on a cliffhanger is just cheap. I played it through on hard in 3hrs of game time so it was too easy aswell where's the episode 2 trailer?
go to hl2 episode 1/episodic/media folder thats where episode 2 trailer is located
Originally Posted by karx11erx I just cannot believe this. I just cannot believe Valve is selling such a bland, totally uninspired POS, lasting only 5h for 20 USD.
...
Time to move on.
karx
Did anyone read that extremely repetitive post by karx? I can't believe I just wasted 2 minutes of my life reading that. :)
But seriously, you should have known that it was only 4-5 hours long, and what did you really expect? Don't get me wrong, I can totally relate to you (besides the fact I never played HL1)--but you don't have to sit there and point out every little opinionated "mistake" that Valve has made.
I don't know if it is just me, but it seems that they have found a really good balance between different gameplay and design elements. They tease you with just a bit too little storyline, then pull you into the sci-fi atmosphere of the citadel and the core--then quickly transition to an underground sequence of zombies and monsters before reaching the surface where you reunite with the citizens and escape the city, all whilst maintaining a movie-like cinematic experience and amazing graphic/physics system, including some of the best facial animations I've ever seen.
It's not always purely about the satisfaction of killing and winning a game, but moreso the interaction between characters and the rush of adrenaline that occurs between variations of action. I'm the kind of guy who goes around inside the game and just admires the advances in the technology behind everything, seeing how the levels unfold and how things work.
Yes the game is very scripted and can be repetitive at times, but does that mean it isn't worth playing? Half-Life is a game very much determined by fate and luck, masked behind a cloak of reality and impressive storytelling, and it's more about enjoying the path that has been laid before you, rather than trying to run away from it or figure out if you're really walking in circles.
Well then frankly you can't totaly relate to him. As I read Karx's post I found myself nodding, HL2 and from what I understand of it EP1 is not doing anything new or groundbreaking. EP1 sounds a whole lot less original, just by virtue of the fact that HL2 did it. But both pale massively in comparison to HL1.
I'm happy with games in which one admires the advances of technology, but they're never going to be anything more then glorified tech demos. That's ok, fair enough, but devs shouldn't waste time trying to make them something else, if that is what they are.
If Valve wanted to really blow us away, they'd forget this episodic content, and make another Half Life, make something that has many many house of innovative gameplay, with things that have never been seen before in computer gaming(certain scripted moments from HL1 become ubiquitus just because of how new something like that was) and a long and varied gameplay style and story.
I can see why some may have been disapointed with the length of the game, but i think the brilliant new gameplay features such as using the flash light to guide alyx's fire and grabbing nade's from the hands of a suicidal "zombine" and using it as a weapon. Simply awesome.. I loved every second of it... I especially liked the repetitiveness of the escorting the hostages part near the end... Yes, it was running through the same stretch of map 4 or 5 times, but it all added to the story. You are playing a massive role in the combines demise, and at some point your going to have to rescue some people. It kinda brings you back into reality, so to speak. Up untill now (all through hl2 and ep1) all i have been doing is a lot of solo fighting, this just made you realise that its not just your ass on the line.
Having alyx with you the whole time was brilliant. yes, she did get in the way a little... but i'm pretty sure that there were points where i was down to my last 10hp and desperately trying to run away, i was in her way. In fact, after listening to the commentary it seems that they had to make alyx more submissive and stop her from telling gordon to get a move on.. I dunnow, but i think that maybee the playtesters had some issues with bossy parents or something... but i do know, that if i'm standing in the way of someone trying to not get their head chewed on by nasty crabbies, i don't just keep my mouth shut and let the brain leaking commence... I think that in that situation I would have liked to hear alyx tell Gordon to "get out the way" she was almost too submissive. So valve, next time round, make alyx more assertive!
And finally, once again, this game has been made for the "new generation gamer" who I'm affraid to say, obviously has no gaming skill, and needs hundereds of health packs to get past 10 combine... The next episode needs an expert gamer option, for those of us who like running arround with only 10hp left.
89/100
Pro's:
Brilliant new gameplay features
Lovely graphics
Nice subtle explanations of storyline (if you listened and looked)
Alyx and gordon as a team
"zombines" with grendaes
Commentary
Con's
Far too easy
A bit short (probally because it was too easy)
Alyx was too nice
knowing that i have to wait ages for the next one, whatever valve say.
PS.
@ karx11erx, you cannot have played HL1 if you had to keep putting Episode 1 on easy.... I think I would find it hard not to keep running through health packs.
PPS.
@ karx11erx, again... Saying that you don't have total controll over the the game is a bit over the top... Its true that there are a few scripted sequences, but would you rather have cutscenes? And as for the "illusion of openess and a vast environment"!!! Hmmm, did you not walk out of the underground and see the vast area that is city 17? Did you not look into the sky and see the citadel where moments earlier you were having fun throwing buring combine into bottomless pits? And yes, there were a few gameplay elements taken from HL1, But surely thats a good thing... I mean, that game did pretty much create the high standards that all modern games now have to live up to. So what if there is a bit of dejavu... it works, its fun, and thats the point!
i agree with what youve said, but for 3 hours entertainment (for a skilled gamer) $20 is far too expensive
Ive had 481 hours of entertainment from CSS, 246 hours entertainment from BF2, 243 hours of entertainment from Dystopia
The first 2 being about 3x the price (well CSS came with HL2, so really not true, but assuming id never played HL2 ...), and the last one is free, and theyve all lastered atleast 81x longer then HL2E1
Originally Posted by will. I can see why some may have been disapointed with the length of the game, but i think the brilliant new gameplay features such as using the flash light to guide alyx's fire and grabbing nade's from the hands of a suicidal "zombine" and using it as a weapon. Simply awesome.. I loved every second of it...
... it works, its fun, and thats the point!
Nicely said. I have to agree that the game was very easy, and honestly I don't even know what I was playing it at; I guess whatever it came set on (normal or easy I assume); I'd get through one part and then top off my health from like 97 -> 100.
Specofdust:
I was kind of trying to put a little sarcastic tone in that comment there (sorry, it doesn't come well through the interweb). But besides that, I don't think you should be talking either, because it sounds like you haven't played EP1.
The fact that you have an extremely lifelife character following/leading you around the entire game--one who you intereact with and depend upon--is by itself groundbreaking. And you want to wait another 5 years for a new Half-Life? The idea of using episodic content to integrate new technologies, receive user feedback, and unfold the story is quite ingenius.
And you want to wait another 5 years for a new Half-Life? The idea of using episodic content to integrate new technologies, receive user feedback, and unfold the story is quite ingenius.
I disagree, because if the world shifts to episodic content then we'll never see epics like HL1 again.
TV series are great, but if you have to pick a TV series or a movie for grandure style and overall greatness, movies tend to be what people pick. Yes theres the odd series thats supurb, but by and large, a very large game thats got hour upon hour of enjoyable gameplay in it, that can come to a proper culmination, that's always going to be EP's.
People should give Valve the time and opertunity to finish the 3 game episodes. We will look back when they are all released and say "Well that was worth the wait" :) Honestly!!
On another point though, the episodes let them try new things out, and test the source engine to its fullest. So when the time comes for HL3 to be made, they have worked with there engine for a good few years. They know what they can do with it, and more to the point....they will know what it lacks!! I'm sure i read somewhere that the source was modular, and that they could update/activate parts at any point. So think of it from this angle.
Originally Posted by specofdust I disagree, because if the world shifts to episodic content then we'll never see epics like HL1 again.
TV series are great, but if you have to pick a TV series or a movie for grandure style and overall greatness, movies tend to be what people pick. Yes theres the odd series thats supurb, but by and large, a very large game thats got hour upon hour of enjoyable gameplay in it, that can come to a proper culmination, that's always going to be EP's.
Like Leitchy just said, you have to give Valve the time to use the Source engine. I think they will get what they can out of it, but then they will try and make something new, whether that involves starting from scratch or revamping the Source engine in a couple of years, I don't know. They spent a long time putting it together (and still kind of are), and for them to just make one game with it, then go on and spend another half-decade making one more game, is kind of pointless. If you want something huge and revolutionary, you have to wait for them to do that! That takes time and money. Some people don't like waiting around that long.
Once this engine is used up and dry, they will hopefully fall back into a "normal" production cycle and bring what you want. Look at Half-Life 2 as more of a branch to these new episodes, and the episodes will begin to look more like expansion packs to HL2, rather than a replacement for a full, epic game. (Hence the name, Half-Life 2: Episode One, not Half-Life: Episode One...)
I am not Valve's lab rat - and if I was, they had to pay me for being one, and not have me pay them for conduction their source engine experiments with me.
I have nothing against episodic games, as long as they offer enough for the money. HL2:EP1 doesn't. And please don't tell me you can interact with Alyx. That's a ridiculously exaggerated description of those poor few behaviour scripts 'she' has.
Originally Posted by will. PS.
@ karx11erx, you cannot have played HL1 if you had to keep putting Episode 1 on easy.... I think I would find it hard not to keep running through health packs.
PPS.
@ karx11erx, again... Saying that you don't have total controll over the the game is a bit over the top... Its true that there are a few scripted sequences, but would you rather have cutscenes? And as for the "illusion of openess and a vast environment"!!! Hmmm, did you not walk out of the underground and see the vast area that is city 17? Did you not look into the sky and see the citadel where moments earlier you were having fun throwing buring combine into bottomless pits? And yes, there were a few gameplay elements taken from HL1, But surely thats a good thing... I mean, that game did pretty much create the high standards that all modern games now have to live up to. So what if there is a bit of dejavu... it works, its fun, and thats the point!
#1 I played HL1, twice. Don't talk such bulls to me ever again, don't ever again suggest I am lying.
Looking at your claim I had to put HL2 at easy all the time, you probably cannot read. I did it three times, and at least once simply because I got bored and wanted to proceed (Antlion, read it!). The energy ball gig was stupid and boring. One wrong step - reload, retry. That's a kind of challenge I don't like. If I want to play an arcade game, I buy one - and I never buy them.
#2 The game environments are extremely confined. You are guided along a very narrow, linear path through the game. If you manage to get a glimpse behind the scenery, you see that everything's just a facade. The vastness is a poorly made illusion. Just compare it to Far Cry, or to Operation Flashpoint (God, I once grabbed a tank in OPF and cruised the entire Island for hours ...). If you cannot see that, you probably don't have a very agile mind. HL2 is a game made for kids.
I would have been more polite, hadn't it been for #1.
_________________
saeghwin,
I don't think you have understood much of my post. Reading should be followed by thinking, which should draw understanding after it.
The game repeated elements of its prequels or other games.
If you think the story is impressive, you are truly easily satisfied.
Anyway, if I want a good story, I read a book.
And as I said, there wasn't any adrenaline inducing moments for me in EP1.
I also cannot read anything about total control in my first post. I didn't say anything about controlling the game at all.
Why is it that trolls like you always have to claim something that isn't true to build their argumentation on it? Because otherwise you wouldn't have a point? Why don't you just shut up then? Alright, probably because you're a troll.
I've just seen too much of that kind of idiocy on the inet, and it makes me angry at times, like e.g. now.
Originally Posted by karx11erx #1 I played HL1, twice. Don't talk such bulls to me ever again, don't ever again suggest I am lying.
Thats just funny plain funny. Read my post again. I never said u played it on easy most the time, i just suggested that you had to keep putting it on easy when the going go tough. I myself mentioned that I find half life 2 far far far to easy, there are just too many health packs, some you can't even avoid. Yes there are frustrating parts, but its all part of the challenge.
This is just my opinion, but changing the difficulty setting once you have started the game is almost cheating. The antlion section for example, yes its damn hard to kill that thing. But once you have had one failed attempt, just go at the next one with a bit more tactics... You've got combine who are more worried about getting squished than getting shot, so leave them be for a while. The big antlion may be fast but its not agile. Just sidestep it for a while and try and block those antlion burrows with the cars. By the time you have done that, the combine will be dead, the antlions will be trapped and its you vs the big one. Just take it over to alyx and start shooting it with the shotgun. Jobs a good'n. I did it in 3 goes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by karx11erx #2 The game environments are extremely confined. You are guided along a very narrow, linear path through the game. If you manage to get a glimpse behind the scenery, you see that everything's just a facade. The vastness is a poorly made illusion. Just compare it to Far Cry, or to Operation Flashpoint (God, I once grabbed a tank in OPF and cruised the entire Island for hours ...). If you cannot see that, you probably don't have a very agile mind. HL2 is a game made for kids.
Half Life 2 is not trying to be a massively linear game. It is a far more story based game similar in style to the likes of MGS where you are guided through a path and the story and game progresses with you. It is actually a far more fluid experience than a completely non-linear experience. Far cry is a completely different game. And while fun, its also infuriating at points when you just can't figure out where or what your meant to be doing... Something that half life 2 and ep 1 never let happen.
One final thing.
The attitude that your orriginal post displayed was at best big headed. You attacked the game like only your opinion was worth anything. Expect a retaliation from people who enjoyed the game for what it was. And if i want to call you a liar, I will damn well call you a liar. However, at this moment in time, I feel no need to call you a liar. So I wont. Good Day Sir! ;)
Originally Posted by will. I can see why some may have been disapointed with the length of the game, but i think the brilliant new gameplay features such as using the flash light to guide alyx's
..snip...
games now have to live up to. So what if there is a bit of dejavu... it works, its fun, and thats the point!
this is pretty much my feeling, i enjoyed it and im going to buy the 2nd ep
would've been nice if it was longer or harder (sin episodes pre-patch was 'hard' this was definately easy :p) but im satisified with what i got for my £11 and it was FUN, it wasnt ground breaking or epic but for £11 i wasnt expecting it to be, i was expecting fun and i got fun :)
I, too, am disappointed in the game. Last year it would've been tops but now Oblivion and FArCRy have rewritten the rules. After spending 80-90 hours roaming a complete world at will, the confinement of the game was limiting and frustrating. The flashlight battles were so Doom3 it was almost pathetic- "wait run out of juice and ...here they come, repeat, ad nauseatum." The graphics again took a back seat. Yes it looked nice, but except for one or two scenes (so far, I'm probably less than an hour from finishing) it's all indoors, not impressed. I've got a bunch of screen shots from oblivion but noting here even inspired the effort. And yes, Alyx can die, i offed her twice in the Zombie Room.
I'd give it 4 out of five, 8 out of ten. No more, no less. I'll still buy the next installment.
Comments 76 to 96 of 96
Replygo to hl2 episode 1/episodic/media folder thats where episode 2 trailer is located
Did anyone read that extremely repetitive post by karx? I can't believe I just wasted 2 minutes of my life reading that. :)
But seriously, you should have known that it was only 4-5 hours long, and what did you really expect? Don't get me wrong, I can totally relate to you (besides the fact I never played HL1)--but you don't have to sit there and point out every little opinionated "mistake" that Valve has made.
I don't know if it is just me, but it seems that they have found a really good balance between different gameplay and design elements. They tease you with just a bit too little storyline, then pull you into the sci-fi atmosphere of the citadel and the core--then quickly transition to an underground sequence of zombies and monsters before reaching the surface where you reunite with the citizens and escape the city, all whilst maintaining a movie-like cinematic experience and amazing graphic/physics system, including some of the best facial animations I've ever seen.
It's not always purely about the satisfaction of killing and winning a game, but moreso the interaction between characters and the rush of adrenaline that occurs between variations of action. I'm the kind of guy who goes around inside the game and just admires the advances in the technology behind everything, seeing how the levels unfold and how things work.
Yes the game is very scripted and can be repetitive at times, but does that mean it isn't worth playing? Half-Life is a game very much determined by fate and luck, masked behind a cloak of reality and impressive storytelling, and it's more about enjoying the path that has been laid before you, rather than trying to run away from it or figure out if you're really walking in circles.
Well then frankly you can't totaly relate to him. As I read Karx's post I found myself nodding, HL2 and from what I understand of it EP1 is not doing anything new or groundbreaking. EP1 sounds a whole lot less original, just by virtue of the fact that HL2 did it. But both pale massively in comparison to HL1.
I'm happy with games in which one admires the advances of technology, but they're never going to be anything more then glorified tech demos. That's ok, fair enough, but devs shouldn't waste time trying to make them something else, if that is what they are.
If Valve wanted to really blow us away, they'd forget this episodic content, and make another Half Life, make something that has many many house of innovative gameplay, with things that have never been seen before in computer gaming(certain scripted moments from HL1 become ubiquitus just because of how new something like that was) and a long and varied gameplay style and story.
Having alyx with you the whole time was brilliant. yes, she did get in the way a little... but i'm pretty sure that there were points where i was down to my last 10hp and desperately trying to run away, i was in her way. In fact, after listening to the commentary it seems that they had to make alyx more submissive and stop her from telling gordon to get a move on.. I dunnow, but i think that maybee the playtesters had some issues with bossy parents or something... but i do know, that if i'm standing in the way of someone trying to not get their head chewed on by nasty crabbies, i don't just keep my mouth shut and let the brain leaking commence... I think that in that situation I would have liked to hear alyx tell Gordon to "get out the way" she was almost too submissive. So valve, next time round, make alyx more assertive!
And finally, once again, this game has been made for the "new generation gamer" who I'm affraid to say, obviously has no gaming skill, and needs hundereds of health packs to get past 10 combine... The next episode needs an expert gamer option, for those of us who like running arround with only 10hp left.
89/100
Pro's:
Brilliant new gameplay features
Lovely graphics
Nice subtle explanations of storyline (if you listened and looked)
Alyx and gordon as a team
"zombines" with grendaes
Commentary
Con's
Far too easy
A bit short (probally because it was too easy)
Alyx was too nice
knowing that i have to wait ages for the next one, whatever valve say.
PS.
@ karx11erx, you cannot have played HL1 if you had to keep putting Episode 1 on easy.... I think I would find it hard not to keep running through health packs.
PPS.
@ karx11erx, again... Saying that you don't have total controll over the the game is a bit over the top... Its true that there are a few scripted sequences, but would you rather have cutscenes? And as for the "illusion of openess and a vast environment"!!! Hmmm, did you not walk out of the underground and see the vast area that is city 17? Did you not look into the sky and see the citadel where moments earlier you were having fun throwing buring combine into bottomless pits? And yes, there were a few gameplay elements taken from HL1, But surely thats a good thing... I mean, that game did pretty much create the high standards that all modern games now have to live up to. So what if there is a bit of dejavu... it works, its fun, and thats the point!
Ive had 481 hours of entertainment from CSS, 246 hours entertainment from BF2, 243 hours of entertainment from Dystopia
The first 2 being about 3x the price (well CSS came with HL2, so really not true, but assuming id never played HL2 ...), and the last one is free, and theyve all lastered atleast 81x longer then HL2E1
Nicely said. I have to agree that the game was very easy, and honestly I don't even know what I was playing it at; I guess whatever it came set on (normal or easy I assume); I'd get through one part and then top off my health from like 97 -> 100.
Specofdust:
I was kind of trying to put a little sarcastic tone in that comment there (sorry, it doesn't come well through the interweb). But besides that, I don't think you should be talking either, because it sounds like you haven't played EP1.
The fact that you have an extremely lifelife character following/leading you around the entire game--one who you intereact with and depend upon--is by itself groundbreaking. And you want to wait another 5 years for a new Half-Life? The idea of using episodic content to integrate new technologies, receive user feedback, and unfold the story is quite ingenius.
I disagree, because if the world shifts to episodic content then we'll never see epics like HL1 again.
TV series are great, but if you have to pick a TV series or a movie for grandure style and overall greatness, movies tend to be what people pick. Yes theres the odd series thats supurb, but by and large, a very large game thats got hour upon hour of enjoyable gameplay in it, that can come to a proper culmination, that's always going to be EP's.
On another point though, the episodes let them try new things out, and test the source engine to its fullest. So when the time comes for HL3 to be made, they have worked with there engine for a good few years. They know what they can do with it, and more to the point....they will know what it lacks!! I'm sure i read somewhere that the source was modular, and that they could update/activate parts at any point. So think of it from this angle.
Like Leitchy just said, you have to give Valve the time to use the Source engine. I think they will get what they can out of it, but then they will try and make something new, whether that involves starting from scratch or revamping the Source engine in a couple of years, I don't know. They spent a long time putting it together (and still kind of are), and for them to just make one game with it, then go on and spend another half-decade making one more game, is kind of pointless. If you want something huge and revolutionary, you have to wait for them to do that! That takes time and money. Some people don't like waiting around that long.
Once this engine is used up and dry, they will hopefully fall back into a "normal" production cycle and bring what you want. Look at Half-Life 2 as more of a branch to these new episodes, and the episodes will begin to look more like expansion packs to HL2, rather than a replacement for a full, epic game. (Hence the name, Half-Life 2: Episode One, not Half-Life: Episode One...)
Seems like much of the same, which I suppose it should be as it is the next episode :)
And thats not a bad thing.
I have nothing against episodic games, as long as they offer enough for the money. HL2:EP1 doesn't. And please don't tell me you can interact with Alyx. That's a ridiculously exaggerated description of those poor few behaviour scripts 'she' has.
#1 I played HL1, twice. Don't talk such bulls to me ever again, don't ever again suggest I am lying.
Looking at your claim I had to put HL2 at easy all the time, you probably cannot read. I did it three times, and at least once simply because I got bored and wanted to proceed (Antlion, read it!). The energy ball gig was stupid and boring. One wrong step - reload, retry. That's a kind of challenge I don't like. If I want to play an arcade game, I buy one - and I never buy them.
#2 The game environments are extremely confined. You are guided along a very narrow, linear path through the game. If you manage to get a glimpse behind the scenery, you see that everything's just a facade. The vastness is a poorly made illusion. Just compare it to Far Cry, or to Operation Flashpoint (God, I once grabbed a tank in OPF and cruised the entire Island for hours ...). If you cannot see that, you probably don't have a very agile mind. HL2 is a game made for kids.
I would have been more polite, hadn't it been for #1.
_________________
saeghwin,
I don't think you have understood much of my post. Reading should be followed by thinking, which should draw understanding after it.
The game repeated elements of its prequels or other games.
If you think the story is impressive, you are truly easily satisfied.
Anyway, if I want a good story, I read a book.
And as I said, there wasn't any adrenaline inducing moments for me in EP1.
I also cannot read anything about total control in my first post. I didn't say anything about controlling the game at all.
Why is it that trolls like you always have to claim something that isn't true to build their argumentation on it? Because otherwise you wouldn't have a point? Why don't you just shut up then? Alright, probably because you're a troll.
I've just seen too much of that kind of idiocy on the inet, and it makes me angry at times, like e.g. now.
I'll wait untill I've finished it before I comment again.
Thats just funny plain funny. Read my post again. I never said u played it on easy most the time, i just suggested that you had to keep putting it on easy when the going go tough. I myself mentioned that I find half life 2 far far far to easy, there are just too many health packs, some you can't even avoid. Yes there are frustrating parts, but its all part of the challenge.
This is just my opinion, but changing the difficulty setting once you have started the game is almost cheating. The antlion section for example, yes its damn hard to kill that thing. But once you have had one failed attempt, just go at the next one with a bit more tactics... You've got combine who are more worried about getting squished than getting shot, so leave them be for a while. The big antlion may be fast but its not agile. Just sidestep it for a while and try and block those antlion burrows with the cars. By the time you have done that, the combine will be dead, the antlions will be trapped and its you vs the big one. Just take it over to alyx and start shooting it with the shotgun. Jobs a good'n. I did it in 3 goes.
Half Life 2 is not trying to be a massively linear game. It is a far more story based game similar in style to the likes of MGS where you are guided through a path and the story and game progresses with you. It is actually a far more fluid experience than a completely non-linear experience. Far cry is a completely different game. And while fun, its also infuriating at points when you just can't figure out where or what your meant to be doing... Something that half life 2 and ep 1 never let happen.
One final thing.
The attitude that your orriginal post displayed was at best big headed. You attacked the game like only your opinion was worth anything. Expect a retaliation from people who enjoyed the game for what it was. And if i want to call you a liar, I will damn well call you a liar. However, at this moment in time, I feel no need to call you a liar. So I wont. Good Day Sir! ;)
Loved the bit before that though.
would've been nice if it was longer or harder (sin episodes pre-patch was 'hard' this was definately easy :p) but im satisified with what i got for my £11 and it was FUN, it wasnt ground breaking or epic but for £11 i wasnt expecting it to be, i was expecting fun and i got fun :)
Trailer here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n0l5N6Exjz0
I'd give it 4 out of five, 8 out of ten. No more, no less. I'll still buy the next installment.
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