Half-Life 2?

[Majik8ball]

Hello, I just beat portal 1 and 2, and thought that they were probably 2 of the best games I have ever played. I was looking into what else valve has made, and found Half Life 2. I tried to look it up on IGN, but for whatever reason, it would not load, and the trailer on steam is just a woman throwing a crowbar at a t.v. in an ad for Half Life 2 on the mac. So, what exactly is Half Life 2? What is the game about? Is it an FPS? A puzzle game? a platformer? Also, I had heard it takes place in the same world as Portal, if so do you meet any of the characters from portal (Chell, Wheatley, GLaDOS, Cave, ect) Also, is it as funny as the portal series or is it more somber? Will I need to have played Half Life 1 to understand the story? I do have a gaming rig that can run BF3 on very high settings (I could max it, but I would only get 20-30 fps, so I go a little lower on some of the more taxing settings and hit about 60-65 fps) so I am assuming I can max the game, but I did notice the game was released in 2004, so how are the visuals in this game? Finally, what is the lasting value of the game? Will I want to replay it, and can you mod it like you could Dragon Age or The Elder Scrolls to get several hours of extra playtime? If there is anything else you would like to tell me, and/or rate the game, I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks!

P.S. If I buy it, Should I buy just the game, for $9.99, or buy the Orange Box, which will give me the original game + Episodes 1 & 2 + Portal 1 (Which I own for xbox, but not PC, so if mods/exclusive levels add playtime please tell me) for $19.99?

[Edge-]

Orange box for sure. HL2 is an amazing game and Episode 1/2 are amazing as well.

It's a FPS game with some great puzzles in it, and while it sorta shares the same world, you won't see any Portal references in the game.

As for your computer...yeah. It's going to look dated, not terrible but dated. As long as your computer can run BF3 you'll be running HL2 on high graphics.

[Belloc]

Half-Life 2 is easily one of the best FPS's out there. Definitely try it.

[Lightfist]

Half-Life 2 is a Post-Apocalyptic FPS focused around an occupied and utterly oppressed Earth. In comparison to Portal 1 or 2, the tone is very serious and at times even depressing - but it suits the game quite well. Everything - from the music to the colors - breathes with an oppressive, threatening vibe. It has its moments of comic relief, of course; these are mostly achieved through the rich character personalities. The story itself is a bit too complex to summarize and still do justice, but your goal as the protagonist to is to restore hope to a people who have lost the will to live - let alone fight back. You don't meet any Portal characters, but there are references to Aperture in the Episodes. It's been hinted at that Half-Life 3 will have some crossovers in it.

I highly recommend it, even if FPS games aren't your thing.

[Belloc]

This thread just made me download it and start playing it again. Thank you

[Loaf Lord]

Shit dude get half life 1 as well, it's still one the best fps games ever even today.

[ohshift]

The Half life series (HL 1 and expansios, and HL2 and the episodes) are simply put, the best FPS games out there in terms of history, with Bioshock 1 (2 sucks) being a somewhat close second place.
The call of duty that kids play these days, with all that noise and talking "badasses" don't have 0,1% of the charisma that Gordon Freeman and his lack of voice have.

[Zeta333]

If you play HL2 get some custom models and skins and such, make it look pretty.

If not the console plays nice with HL2. Iv played both all the way through and enjoyed the consoles controls better.

[Necrolepsy]

I'd go as far as to say it's the best FPS ever made. Definitely get it.

As far as mods, there are probably more mods for HL2 than any other game out there.

[Seegtease]

I'm honestly a bit surprised that you played both Portal games and didn't realize that Half-Life was another valve game. Half-Life is the game that made valve as popular as it is. Steam probably wouldn't even exist if not for Half-Life. It's basically a legend. Counter-Strike is one of the most popular online FPS games and was built as a half-life mod.

If I'm not mistaken, though, I think Portal and Half-Life 2 run on the same engine. So you probably won't have any problems. But I'd really suggest playing both of them.

But they are very different games from Portal, even if they do take place in the same world. Not really a spoiler since it's the first thing you hear when playing Half-Life, but when you played Portal I'm sure you heard a few references to Black Mesa - including in the ending song. It's the place you work for/start at in Half Life.

If you can stomach old graphics (hey, I know a lot of people who just can't play old games) I'd suggest playing the first one as well.

[Aquinan]

.....i dont know whether to treat this as a troll or not,

how could you not of heard of half life? its similar not hearing of doom : /


anyway hl1 should be cheap nowadays, it will look crap cause its a 90's game but play it first to know wtf is going on in half life 2

amazing story from both games

[Rampant Rabbit]

HL2 is probably one of these games you must've played. Great story line, great level design and physics.

The game sure has the same kind of humor as in Portal. It is a bit more somber though because of the story line. The whole ambience in the game is absolutely amazing.

The visuals are about the same as portal 1. And you can easily get mods that enhance the graphics by a mile. But even without mods I'd say this game looks great for what it has to offer. (Same goes for S.T.A.L.K.E.R., also highly recommended to get)

Definitely get the Orange Box!

---------- Post added 2011-12-17 at 03:03 PM ----------

.....i dont know whether to treat this as a troll or not,

how could you not of heard of half life? its similar not hearing of doom : /


anyway hl1 should be cheap nowadays, it will look crap cause its a 90's game but play it first to know wtf is going on in half life 2

amazing story from both games

How is OP's post even remotely close to being a troll post? Just stick to the constructive posting.

[Poppincaps]

I played it a couple months ago and honestly I don't think it was anything special. I am sure for it's time it was a very good game, but today I just wasn't impressed with anything because many of the shooters today have done the same thing and done it better in some cases.

The graphics are good enough to where it shouldn't bother you too much, but the setting is just so depressing. There isn't a single bright place in the game which was something I didn't like.

As for the story I didn't think it was that great either. Although, I may have had a greater appreciation for it if I had played the first one or kinda did some research on the universe.

Overall, if you want to play it then play it. While it didn't blow me away, it was enjoyable enough for me to get through it. Also, I've heard that the episodes are much better, so I might try those sometime.

[bondgirl]

Play HL 1 b4 you step into 2. You wont regret it One of the best FPS ever made

[Fitzbert]

Isn't Half Life: Source still available somewhere? It's the first game running on the Source (Half Life 2) engine. Same audio etc.

[Zeta333]

Isn't Half Life: Source still available somewhere? It's the first game running on the Source (Half Life 2) engine. Same audio etc.

It only was back in the day for a little bit, i dont think you can get it anymore unless you have a code from back then.

[THEORACLE64]

It's amazing, that's what it is.

But word of advice, if you want to play through the entire story of Half Life 2 and its episodes then i'd play them at one chapter per year - at the rate, EP3/HL3 will be out

[rkma]

HL2 is similar to portal, but more action oriented. It has some puzzles, but they are definitely not the focus. Instead of a portal gun you get a gravity gun, which can pick up and launch heavy objects from a distance.

Here's some mildly representative gameplay footage, to give a sense of how the game actually plays:



To answer your specific questions: no, you don't meet any of the portal characters, but it has decent characters of its own. No, it's not as funny as portal, although it does have humor. No you don't need to play half life one, although you might think you were supposed to, since the game intentionally doesn't explain things to you. The hardware requirements are lower than for portal since it's using an older version of the same game engine. There are mods but I'm not sure if there are any ones you would want to use. It doesn't have much replay value unless you like replaying the same campaign again, but the campaign is sufficiently long (much longer than portal 2 if you include the episodes 1 and 2).

As for HL1, it was good for its time, but is too dated now IMO.

[Deleted]

Ah the times when psychics, complex AI, facial expressions were new and amazing..
Its still best FPS there is imo. Amazing game. It might not look graphically great anymore but oh boy back then it was amazing. It still has great ideas and things..the gameplay is pmuch amazing still.
Oh and get orange box, EP1 and EP2 look great with their updates like HDR light etc. (or just HL2+Episodes if they are cheaper cos TF2 and Portal are..well. You have em?)

Yes it does not look like crysis 2 etc but hey, its 2004 game..and back then most FPS games were either "ps2 graphics" or this huge push of new generation of HL2 and Doom3 graphical style.

[Neeshka]

One of the best shooters of all time; right up there with return to castle wolfenstein, far cry, crysis, no one lives forever 2, F.E.A.R., bioshock and the earlier CoD games.

The graphics are obviously a bit dated though; and the pacing is a bit different from other fps games - you might get a tad bored in places or the final few levels.
Some of the puzzles are great; but naturally don't expect things like portal 1/2.

The fps elements themselves are really good though; and the amount of ammo/gun power is balanced very nicely with the number and difficulty of enemies.
The AI is also quite basic compared to more recent games.

The story itself is "decent" or good if you like post apoc/oppressive regime type themes.

It is probably just slightly overrated but still very very good nonetheless.