So, what is it that sucks about HL2?

[kingcomrade]

I always was unhappy with the fanboy love for the "great story" when I couldn't find one in the game.

 

[Marquis de Retardot]

You want a story in an FPS game? Play Undying... greatest story EVAAAAAAR!

fix'd

 

[Guesses]

I definitely think hl2 is an overrated game; receiving grades in the high 90's is a little much for a short and relatively shallow experience. And yeah, there were parts in the game (vehicular sequences) that bored the shit out of me.

That said, I really enjoyed hl2's 1984 theme, and the street fighting parts during the last third of the game were very fun. they felt authentic, frantic and guerrilla-esque. The scripted events where resistance fighters would battle combine soldiers were really immersive.

I also agree with the poster that lauded the lack of developer assistance. There was no mini map, no hint system, nothing. yeah, it was railroaded as hell, but that feeling of loneliness is a feature I like. it was refreshing, and again added to the immersion factor. And while the story may be lackluster and bereft of emotional resonance, once I got over thinking it should be different I appreciated the game more. I liked it more than, say, Bioshock, another shallow game with great atmosphere.

Overall, hl2 is a nice game for what it is. DEFINITELY should not have been ejaculated on like it was by both critics and 13 year olds, and racofer makes a great point about the shitty weapons, but valve did a very good job in many other aspects. It was an average game which had the unfortunate luck of being tied to enormous expectations.

 

[Squirly]

I'm going to break the mould here and disagree. If most of you are done fapping each other that is.

Sure, HL2 was more of a corridor shooter than Far Cry, but it's still miles better than fucking any other shooter out there and I don't compare the two anyway. Far Cry gave me a bit of choice and Half-Life gave me awesome scripted sequences that I could have a hand in (if only a little bit).

I like the feel of the engine and the physics, gun-play was a fuck-ton better than Doom 3 which is an unmitigated disaster in my eyes. At least the physics here actually did something.

And I liked the boat level. It was pretty god-damn spectacular.

 

[Guesses]

Yeah, the engine was undoubtedly sexy. The boat scene was nice, but I really disliked the car. No idea why.

I think if they had focused more on the Orwellian aspects of it and made the story more about the Combine and less about Ravenholm and beaches and whatnot, I would have adored it. City 17 contained the most interesting parts of the whole experience. The first third and the last third of the game were really, really enjoyable. I just think the middle was almost a struggle to get through.

 

[Squirly]

Well the car physics kinda failed. Add to that the need to take it along in this stop-go fashion and the level gets a bit annoying.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Here's a funny thing though.

Shooters are my favourite genre. And have been so consistently.

And yet, there is no one single shooter in the past decade that I would specifically think to be particularly great. Even though I remember enjoying all of them.

So I suppose, shooters are great as a sum of the whole. Yes, each of these individual games are probably flawed, but there's always some other shooter which is cool in some other way that you can play. And it all adds up together wonderfully.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I like the feel of the engine and the physics, gun-play was a fuck-ton better than Doom 3 which is an unmitigated disaster in my eyes.

The shotgun alone in Doom3 was better than all the guns in hl2 put together.

 

[Squirly]

Nu-uh.

 

[MetalCraze]

HL2 is pretty mediocre.
And the retarded soap opera called Episodes can't be forgiven.

 

[Pliskin]

HL2 felt like it was more a showcase of Valve's cinematic abilities rather then it's game development.

This.

HL2 is a game I love to load up just to look at --- not so much to play.

 

[vrok]

And I liked the boat level. It was pretty god-damn spectacular.

I almost believed you were being serious until I read this line. Not even extreme HL2 fanboys actually think this.

 

[doctor_kaz]

I love the boat chapter too. I think that it's fun as hell.

 

[Squirly]

And I liked the boat level. It was pretty god-damn spectacular.

I almost believed you were being serious until I read this line. Not even extreme HL2 fanboys actually think this.

Why? What exactly is it about that level that's so bad?

I mean, one of the best songs of the entire games starts playing when that chopper starts dropping bombs. In between ramming Combine soldiers into walls and jumping gaps it's just ... fucking awesome.

I don't get it. It's great.

 

[almondblight]

The boat levels were where I stopped playing. A lot sucked about Half Life 2. let me see if I remember...

You start out at the beginning, and the first 5 minutes are pretty awesome. Going through customs in a creepy, foreign city, you getting caught and taken to an interrogation cell. But then in the cell the interrogator takes of his mask and says, "hey, it's me!", which is all shades of random. Then I'm snuck out to this big city, where I spend 15 minutes trying to explore it before realizing that it's all a scam, and that this is a rails shooter without the rails. I have to run around everywhere, in each level, to find the one place the developers want me to go. Blech.

Also, the lauded physics seemed like a joke. Not because they weren't nice to look at, but the way the game was handled it seemed like those sequences could have been handled just as well by scripting things. I never felt like I was using physics, just watching a movie.

I also remember the boat level draggggggggggging. And then I quit the game and never went back to it.

 

[Korgan]

I'm really annoyed at how Value is handling the storyline as well. They are pulling shit out of their ass and it all has been moving so slowly that, should they feel the need to answer some questions at last, there would be a huge rush, making people go "wat".

 

[fizzelopeguss]

It's a superb game.

 

[shihonage]

Shortly after HL2 came out, I was boating until I got stuck. I got off the boat, went forward, killed a bunch of soldiers, then I started being chased by a helicopter.

I spent hours upon hours being chased and killed by that FUCKING HELICOPTER, trying everything I could think of.

Then I read a walk-through which said that I should've never left the boat. So I attempt to go back to the previous level where I left the boat but its no longer there.

Haven't touched the game since.

 

[sah]

^ key to understanding modern FPS games

 

[J1M]

The problem with HL2 is that we waited 5 years to find out wtf was going on that we had to escape from in Black Mesa and the plot to sequel (without buying art books or whatever) is basically: run here, ok run back there, blow this thing up.

Escaping from a secret underground government facility is a cool, fun, identifiable fantasy that many people liked experiencing. Escaping from a nameless city and then going back into a nameless city to blow up an unexplained tower is not.

Who, what, where, when, why would have been nice.

 

[racofer]

^ It's your fault you can't understand the complexity behind HL2, J1M. It's simply marvelously plotted and flawlessly executed in every possible and imaginable way.

MAYBEE ELF PEE EXIS AINT YO THIGNS!11 GO BAK TU H4L0 NUB!

 

[Pliskin]

Shortly after HL2 came out, I was boating until I got stuck. I got off the boat, went forward, killed a bunch of soldiers, then I started being chased by a helicopter.

I spent hours upon hours being chased and killed by that FUCKING HELICOPTER, trying everything I could think of.

Then I read a walk-through which said that I should've never left the boat. So I attempt to go back to the previous level where I left the boat but its no longer there.

Haven't touched the game since.

Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you were goin' all the way. Kurtz got off the boat. He split from the whole fuckin' program.

 

[MetalCraze]

Escaping from a secret underground government facility is a cool, fun, identifiable fantasy that many people liked experiencing. Escaping from a nameless city and then going back into a nameless city to blow up an unexplained tower is not.

Especially considering that Gordon ended up in Xen world and in HL2 we get dumped in some soviet shithole without any explanation and start gunning down everything that is unexplained and moves.
And as a bonus we get unkillable Alyx. That bitch is too annoying to keep playing.

 

[Jaesun]

You start out at the beginning, and the first 5 minutes are pretty awesome.

Yea, when I first started HL2, that beginning was excellent. It was really well done, and sadly one of the best parts in the entire game.

I personally enjoyed HL1 more than HL2. I did enjoy HL2, It's kind of a giant hodge podge of really fucking stupid shit and occasionally some fun shit. But over all, I still liked it.

gawd I hated the boat.

I'm MORE looking forward to Black Mesa honestly, then the next HL2 chapter.

 

[aron searle]

I liked the boat.

I just hated the shitty "puzzle" parts of the boat run, where you had to run and fetch boxes to activate gates, lifts etc to be able to carry on.

 

[abdwef]

I think most of you have missed the main point.

HL2's biggest failing was as a sequel to HL1. It plays like a different studio made the sequel and wasn't allowed to use any references to the first game.

But as a standalone game, it was boring and predictable. We all knew after you accidentally teleported into Breen's citadel office that it was going to be where the endgame took place. Which made the whole trek out of the city kind of pointless and exasperating.

Especially considering that Gordon ended up in Xen world and in HL2 we get dumped in some soviet shithole without any explanation and start gunning down everything that is unexplained and moves.

Couldn't have put it better myself.