Final impressions of the game

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David Simmons - 27 Jul 2008 20:14 GMT

Hey all,

After playing through on all three difficulty levels (though I did God
a bit in Hard) I think that I can finally say that I love 90% of the
game. Pretty much everything up to "Entanglement" was awesome,
highlights being driving the buggy, commanding the Ant Lions,
operating the magnetic crane and traversing the train bridge. There
are LOTS of other moments I very much enjoyed, but those are the ones
I looked forward to most on replay.

The last few acts I just find tedious. Not just because this kind of
fighting can be found in so many other games, but because I missed the
laboratory and Xen environments from HL1. "Anticitizen One" and
"Follow Freeman" make me wonder; "Why are we in Bosnia all of a
sudden?" Shooting humans instead of monsters just doesn't add the
kind of sci-fi feel as the last game.

The final bit with Breen and riding up the large teleporter was
fantastic, and I really dug how the extended movie sequence was placed
near the end of the game, as opposed to the beginning in the original.

I'm looking forward very eagerly to HL3, especially if a few more
connections between the first two games help to establish more
continuity.

Dave S.

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Carl - 28 Jul 2008 18:02 GMT

Have you played any of the episodic content yet? Have you tried Minerva yet?

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David Simmons - 29 Jul 2008 08:13 GMT

> Have you played any of the episodic content yet? Have you tried Minerva yet?

Hey Carl,

I know about the two expansions, but nothing else. The impression I
got when I first started posting here was that I wouldn't like the
episodic content as it largely contained more urban warfare. Is that
incorrect?

Where would I want to start gathering info about this?

Dave S.

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Peter [AGHL] - 29 Jul 2008 09:17 GMT

"David Simmons" skrev

> I know about the two expansions, but nothing else. The impression I
> got when I first started posting here was that I wouldn't like the
> episodic content as it largely contained more urban warfare. Is that
> incorrect?

Ep1 is so and so - I haven't played it through more than once though
Ep2 is more interesting and the mappers have been working very hard to give
you lot of eyecandys
But well yes I'm afraid to say that it's shoot and run not much to explore I
think I've played 1/3rd of EP2 uptil now
I have been messing around in TF2 a lot instead :)
Yes bought the whole Orange Pack a good month ago

> Where would I want to start gathering info about this?

A place to start is http://orange.half-life2.com/

- Peter

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Ben Cottrell - 29 Jul 2008 18:53 GMT

> "David Simmons" skrev
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> I have been messing around in TF2 a lot instead :)
> Yes bought the whole Orange Pack a good month ago

But what about portal? Without a doubt my game of 2007 :)

Ben Cottrell

"Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out"

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Dingo Warrior - 15 Aug 2008 15:51 GMT

David,

Half Life 2: Episodes 1-3 are _not_ expansions like "Blue Shift" and
"Opposing Force" were to the original. Rather they are actually Half
Life 3 broken up into three episodes. This is because Valve realized
that the development time for a fully-fledged sequel was too long.

Like some others have pointed out, Episode 1 is so-so especially if
you dislike urban fighting, although it does introduces some new
concepts. The only consolation is that it's very short. It is
worthwhile to play only because it progresses the story.

Episode 2 is absolutely outstanding and compelling in gameplay,
locations and story-telling. I didn't feel a single moment was wasted.
It is also reclaims the mood from original Half- Life, where it
features some _very_vast maps. You won't be disappointed.

Portal is a spin-off where the emphasis is on physics problems rather
than shooting things. I was totallly captivated by its ingenuity and
humor, so much so that I completed it in one sitting. Some of the
problems are very complex and require deep thought. There's a
connection between Ep 2 and Portal which I won't spoil for you, just
in case you decide to play them

Hope this helps.

LR

> > Have you played any of the episodic content yet? Have you tried Minerva yet?
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Dave S.

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