Kalthanan
11-30-2004, 04:13 PM
The title says it all.
I just finished Half Life 2 on "easy" mode, and WOW. I was blown away by the story, the graphics, the gameplay, the physics engine, and the voice acting.
The story is fascinating; there's a discontinuity between HL1 and HL2 as far as timelines, so don't feel like you're missing too much if you haven't played HL1 all the way to the end. You can pick up enough info as you go along to make sense of everything. The ending was kind of confusing, so you might want to do some reading about the ending from HL1 to figure out wtf is going on there.
The graphics are incredible. The lighting may not be as fantabulous as Doom 3, but the textures are all very realistic, bump mapping and specular lighting (shininess) are present, sometimes subtle, and adds up to a very immersive environment.
Maps are composed well, often requiring you to revisit different spots but from a different angle. Enemies are menacing. Even well-lit the game is scary because of atmosphere. No "hidden door zombies" here; all the enemies come from logical locations.
Enemies react to being shot realistically. Rag doll physics. Many objects can be picked up, thrown, and broken. There are some puzzles that require some toying with the physics engine, but not nearly enough for me.
BIG names doing the voice acting; Robert Guillaume, Louis Gosset Jr., the chick who played Ensign Ro on Star Trek TNG, etc. All well done and interesting to listen to.
Best game I've ever played, and I am NOT a big FPS fan. I got bored of Doom 3, Quake I and II and III before finishing them.
I give HL2 two thumbs up, a ten rating, five stars, whatever.
:dude:
I just finished Half Life 2 on "easy" mode, and WOW. I was blown away by the story, the graphics, the gameplay, the physics engine, and the voice acting.
The story is fascinating; there's a discontinuity between HL1 and HL2 as far as timelines, so don't feel like you're missing too much if you haven't played HL1 all the way to the end. You can pick up enough info as you go along to make sense of everything. The ending was kind of confusing, so you might want to do some reading about the ending from HL1 to figure out wtf is going on there.
The graphics are incredible. The lighting may not be as fantabulous as Doom 3, but the textures are all very realistic, bump mapping and specular lighting (shininess) are present, sometimes subtle, and adds up to a very immersive environment.
Maps are composed well, often requiring you to revisit different spots but from a different angle. Enemies are menacing. Even well-lit the game is scary because of atmosphere. No "hidden door zombies" here; all the enemies come from logical locations.
Enemies react to being shot realistically. Rag doll physics. Many objects can be picked up, thrown, and broken. There are some puzzles that require some toying with the physics engine, but not nearly enough for me.
BIG names doing the voice acting; Robert Guillaume, Louis Gosset Jr., the chick who played Ensign Ro on Star Trek TNG, etc. All well done and interesting to listen to.
Best game I've ever played, and I am NOT a big FPS fan. I got bored of Doom 3, Quake I and II and III before finishing them.
I give HL2 two thumbs up, a ten rating, five stars, whatever.
:dude: