Half Life

[Shinzai]

Half Life stood above the rest when it was released simply because it had a lengthy campain and it's shooting mechanics were the best of it's time. Accuracy scaling, bullet impact, for 1997, was top notch.

Those games are still mainly First Person Shooter games, with RPG elements, it's called evolution. Hence why I made this thread, I respect Half life, but I do not consider it the best to date, simply because the genre evolved, it's no longer enough to give you a few guns and you go shoot stuff. Look at twitch shooters (Quake and Unreal) they are no longer as popular as they once were, despite them being awesome games (to me even better then half life due to the fast paced action).

I would actually say there's a number of issues with this:

Look at twitch shooters (Quake and Unreal) they are no longer as popular as they once were, despite them being awesome games (to me even better then half life due to the fast paced action).

Twitch shooters are more prominent than ever - Modern Warfare and its ilk. The problem for most is that they've been homogenized into the military shooter field, or 3rd person cover shooters. Simply because it gives the appearance of more going on in the games.

Hence why I made this thread, I respect Half life, but I do not consider it the best to date, simply because the genre evolved, it's no longer enough to give you a few guns and you go shoot stuff.

I disagree with that completely, the best FPS games don't require nonsense mechanics such as hammer X to open door, or do this quick circuit board puzzle to make them more interesting. The sheer fact that most modern shooters don't even allow you to have more than a few weapons at a time still irks me. Painkiller still stands the test of time in the department of 'pure FPS'. The problem with most modern FPS games is that they simply aren't entertaining enough in how the gunplay feels or plays out. They tend to require secondary features or systems, because they would feel hollow or dull without them. I would actually instead suggest that most games, rather than evolving, have dumbed down the First Person RPG formula significantly. Just compare System Shock 1/2 or Deus Ex to any of the quasi-FPS-RPGs you can think of.

I would argue that if a FPS requires gimmicky supplements to its core gameplay, just to stop you from becoming bored, it's probably doing it wrong. There was a tangible sense of satisfaction in simply killing enemies in Half Life. Killing them more often than not had a purpose and meant you could progress. The location of both the player and enemies was relevant to the map design and (most of the time) wasn't just random, endless respawns until you moved forwards to the next breachable door. Each kill meant something. It wasn't about just getting another irrelevant achievement.

The game also rewarded exploration, but didn't demand it. It simply had areas that you could venture into at your own risk, with potential self-contained stories (expressed in the form of bodies leading to a key location, or perhaps simply a blood trail leading to an alien). Which leads me to the unique way it told the majority of its stories: It would simply lead you through an area and allow you to see what had happened, or have things happen around you, leaving you to figure out the implications or possibilities of each scenario encountered.

The game was ground breaking in numerous ways, not to mention the AI on the soldiers and even things like the huge alien in the rocket silo. It gave a sense of scale and involvement in the game world, that both made you the central focus as well as an observer who got drawn into the conflict.

All in all, these are things that other games have built on, but have yet to revolutionize in any significant way.

[melodramocracy]

HL has the long lasting appeal it does because of how it was received when it was released, which is a standard by which many 'greats' are judged. It brought an interesting balance to semi-puzzle elements as well as shooting to the genre, was well paced and entertaining (all the way up till the last few absolutely terrible levels), and it's still worth anyone's time to play now, even if the graphics are a bit on the dated side. There aren't many single player FPS from that era that you can say the same about.

I think the follow up actually helps people remember the first one more fondly as well.

[calculating]

Those games are still mainly First Person Shooter games, with RPG elements, it's called evolution. Hence why I made this thread, I respect Half life, but I do not consider it the best to date, simply because the genre evolved, it's no longer enough to give you a few guns and you go shoot stuff. Look at twitch shooters (Quake and Unreal) they are no longer as popular as they once were, despite them being awesome games (to me even better then half life due to the fast paced action).

mmm, wrong.
What happened to shooters was that casuals/ppl with little or no talent became frustrated when they joined pugs and died when experienced shooters killed them quickly. The learning curve was too steep with the old games so developers had to make something to gradually introduce players into the game.
With the new RPG/ leveling up element, a skilless player can heal, or "hack" into something rather than relying on hand-eye coordination, cunning or intelligence to outsmart their opponent. Not saying that healers or technicians don't have skill, but you can't call it a "FPS" without sticking the RPG on it.

[Poppincaps]

I haven't played HL1 or the episodes for HL2, but whenever I played HL2, I really didn't understand what made everyone love it so much. Maybe it's because it was one of the original "modern" FPS games?

@OP Resistance 3 took the gun leveling system from Ratchet and Clank, because Insomniac made both series. Also, as a fan of Resistance, I thought Resistance 3 was garbage compared to the other two.

[calculating]

HL:2 was very linear imo but 1 was amazing

[DMCDante]

Twitch shooters are more prominent than ever - Modern Warfare and its ilk. The problem for most is that they've been homogenized into the military shooter field, or 3rd person cover shooters. Simply because it gives the appearance of more going on in the games.

I am sorry you can not ever call Modern Warfare a twitch shooter like Quake or Unreal tournament. That game does not even require aiming with the numerous aiming assistance you get. Games like Quake and Unreal, fast paced, multi weapon, no level progression are dead sadly.

I disagree with that completely, the best FPS games don't require nonsense mechanics such as hammer X to open door, or do this quick circuit board puzzle to make them more interesting. The sheer fact that most modern shooters don't even allow you to have more than a few weapons at a time still irks me. Painkiller still stands the test of time in the department of 'pure FPS'. The problem with most modern FPS games is that they simply aren't entertaining enough in how the gunplay feels or plays out. They tend to require secondary features or systems, because they would feel hollow or dull without them. I would actually instead suggest that most games, rather than evolving, have dumbed down the First Person RPG formula significantly. Just compare System Shock 1/2 or Deus Ex to any of the quasi-FPS-RPGs you can think of.

I would argue that if a FPS requires gimmicky supplements to its core gameplay, just to stop you from becoming bored, it's probably doing it wrong. There was a tangible sense of satisfaction in simply killing enemies in Half Life. Killing them more often than not had a purpose and meant you could progress. The location of both the player and enemies was relevant to the map design and (most of the time) wasn't just random, endless respawns until you moved forwards to the next breachable door. Each kill meant something. It wasn't about just getting another irrelevant achievement.

The game also rewarded exploration, but didn't demand it. It simply had areas that you could venture into at your own risk, with potential self-contained stories (expressed in the form of bodies leading to a key location, or perhaps simply a blood trail leading to an alien). Which leads me to the unique way it told the majority of its stories: It would simply lead you through an area and allow you to see what had happened, or have things happen around you, leaving you to figure out the implications or possibilities of each scenario encountered.

The game was ground breaking in numerous ways, not to mention the AI on the soldiers and even things like the huge alien in the rocket silo. It gave a sense of scale and involvement in the game world, that both made you the central focus as well as an observer who got drawn into the conflict.

All in all, these are things that other games have built on, but have yet to revolutionize in any significant way.

I guess we view those things differently, but on most points I do tend to agree with you, on others I do not.

mmm, wrong.
What happened to shooters was that casuals/ppl with little or no talent became frustrated when they joined pugs and died when experienced shooters killed them quickly. The learning curve was too steep with the old games so developers had to make something to gradually introduce players into the game.
With the new RPG/ leveling up element, a skilless player can heal, or "hack" into something rather than relying on hand-eye coordination, cunning or intelligence to outsmart their opponent. Not saying that healers or technicians don't have skill, but you can't call it a "FPS" without sticking the RPG on it.

You don't quite get what I was trying to say, I am sorry for that. You bring up pugs, so I assume you meant multiplayer, when this thread is about SINGLE player FPS games. So let us not delve into that as I, too, dislike the leveling system and kill streak system in modern warfare or similar shooters.

[Hypasonic]

I have a feeling most people in this thread didn't play the original when it was released. I've often gone back and loaded it up, quite recently too, just to experience it again. It wasn't the graphics that made it stand out, it was the experience I actually felt personally responsible for the lives of those scientists in there! It just had that "feeling" the atmosphere that most new games lack, sure the games of today have amazing graphics but for me the story and atmosphere is much more important.

Even when you look back at the expansion packs, like opposing force and blue shift, sure you can argue they didn't quite match the original, but they never would. I just loved how they intertwined them, like when in half life you first ride on the tram into black mesa you see that guard knocking on the door, and in blue shift YOU are that guard and you see gordon freeman (rofl I wrote morgan at first)riding down into black mesa. Amazing to play the game form different perspectives, small details like that make games last.

[Yunru]

HL 1 was great game. And there are also some other games that are as good as half life. Gunman chornicles for example:


Grafics dont make a game good, its the gameplay that make them good.
If i look on every new game---) you need very very very good computer too see grafics too the max.

The only good game that would be on same lvl as half life was far cry 1. Mutant aliens were dangerous.

[Powerogue]

Half Life was revolutionary for its time. It's dated now, but fun. The Black Mesa mod that remakes it with half life 2 is going swimmingly, I can't wait to see what they do to Xen, which I loathed with all my heart.

Half Life and all its sequels and such are great games, but the real appeal for me is the mods. I've played multiple mods, like They Hunger or Cry of Fear, that I thought were better than the original games.

[PizzaSHARK]

Twitch shooters are more prominent than ever - Modern Warfare and its ilk.

Haha, no.

Compare Black Ops number whatever to CPMA Quake 3 or even Tribes Ascend (which isn't as fast as Tribes or Tribes 2) and it's like a night and day difference.

Modern Warfare is closer to games like Counter-Strike and Halo, which aren't twitch shooters.

[Shinzai]

Haha, no.

Compare Black Ops number whatever to CPMA Quake 3 or even Tribes Ascend (which isn't as fast as Tribes or Tribes 2) and it's like a night and day difference.

Modern Warfare is closer to games like Counter-Strike and Halo, which aren't twitch shooters.

I can't see how CoD style of gameplay couldn't be considered twitch gameplay. It requires very fast reflexes, aim, and movement (not factoring campers) and it tends to reward whoever reacted fastest in a 1v1 situation. Reflex based gameplay is the definition of 'twitch'. Yes, it's not as fast as Quake 2/3 or the Unreal Tournament games, but it is still twitch shooting. Quick Scoping is about as close to railgun gameplay as you can physically get these days.

[khalltusk]

Half life 1, ALLOWED games today to focus on story/voice acting and scripted sequences more than ever. Before that there was very little in the way that FPS games did other than a key or a button to press to open a door. The game had AI that you could use to open doors or to assist with fighting aliens. You also had mini puzzles to work out using the environment.

Half life 2, raised that bar with the physics and FACIAL expressions. Not to mention you had a few vehicles you could use.

They are considered the best as they are the best for their time. They set the bar raised it even. COD all that does is try to maintain the same standard, it does NOT go out of its way to raise that bar, even battlefield 3 failed in that, all it did (while very nice) was bring a higher graphical standard to it.

Half life 3, where the fuck are you already?