The "Just Finished Half Life 2" Thread: SPOILERS

BC_Gambit

Beni,
Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Posts
936
I just finished Half life 2 about an hour ago.

I would give this game an excellent score. If Halo 2 was a 9/10 in my books, HL2 would for sure be a 9.9. Basically, HL2 raised the bar in every possible respect regarding first person shooters in particular, and games in general.

Overall, a ver good game. There were a lot of parts that I thought "oh, how cliche", then the game totally surprised me (for example when you get stripped of all your weapons, only to be given the awesomely powerul modified gravity gun in their place).

The cliffhanger ending wasn't as bad as Halo 2, but it still left a lot to be desired. Unless the expansion packs pick up where the story lets off, there can't even be any speculation about who you are working for, since the game doesn't even drop clues.

My number one question about the ending was if the G man is so powerful he can not only stop time, but whisk you away at any moment as well, why in the heck does he need Gordon? He could pull a superman and save the day all by himself :).

Oh well, I'm sure when the whole G man plot is finally revealed, it will be a bit of a let down at best. He spent the whole first game wandering through Black Mesa for god know's what reason, and he makes 2 appearances in the second game. Not too helpful on the plot front, and I'd like to see a non cheesy way to explain his existence.

A minor disappointment was not seeing zen or any other alien landscape. Expansion fodder, I guess?

Oh well, anybody else finish this masterpiece yet?
 

Zeekade Zarathos

Krizalids Fashion Designer
Joined
Apr 4, 2001
Posts
1,845
Finished it a few days ago.

The last couple of stages were some of the best moments I've ever had in a game. Fighting alongside the resistance while battiling wave upon wave of gunships and striders was insane. And then, when you finally reach the citadel, and you get the suped-up Grav Gun...Jesus Christ, that was fun. It was like Valve stopped the game at that point and said, "We know everything you wished was possible with the Gravity Gun...so now we're going to let you do all of it for the last hour as a reward." Picking up the enemies and chucking them, ripping off chunks of the wall -- it was just nuts.

I had heard a bunch of people say that the ending was an infuriating cliffhanger, so when I was captured by Breen and he was talking about how I was up for the highest bid, I was terrified it was going to end right then and there like the original Half-Life by offering me a "choice." But it didn't end, you escaped, you got the fight and kill Breen, save the day ... what more is there to do? It leaves it open, but if you talk to people throughout the game, they explain the entire plot of this one pretty conclusively. The only real mystery left is (still) what the G-Man is and who he's with. I wasn't disappointed at all.

There's going to be a Half-Life 3, that much is a given. If I were Valve, I would have the first half of the game be another one of G-Man's missions, then the second half be you hunting down G-Man and conclude the series with you finding out exactly what he's all about.

Regardless, Half-Life 2 was worth the wait. I'm shocked when people say it's not revolutionary. Yes, Half-Life was like an atomic bomb dropped on gaming, with practically everything about it being new and amazing. But Half-Life 2's gravity gun and physics IS revolutionary. Think about how HARD that was to implement correctly.

Game of the Year, easily.
 

Curt

apostate
Joined
Feb 2, 2004
Posts
7,710
I finished Half Life 2 today as well...

It's easily one of the greatest games ever made, and aside from a few effects in Halo 2 I feel Half Life 2 is the finest First Person Shooter i've ever had the pleasure of playing.
 

BC_Gambit

Beni,
Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Posts
936
I guess one way to sum it up would be:

Halo 2 was good and well worth playing.

Half Life 2 blew my freakin' mind, showing me a whole new level that could be achieved in games.

I agree, Game of the Year for me too. If something sneaks out before the end of the year with more gaming goodness than HL2, I'd die.

I also think the reviews that pitched this game as good, but not revolutionary were a bit off as well. There have been many games where the whole point was to have a good physics engine (stackin boxes etc...) but none have even come close to creating a physical world like HL2. "Welcome to the next level", for sure.
 

MrLonghair

Morden's Lackey
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Posts
350
Finished it on the wednesday after it was released.

Just sad that people dont understand the fact that the story isnt force-fed to you like in other games, or that the ending requires THINKING to make sense, or that the few puzzles there were requires over 65 IQ.

Singleplayer GOTY on the PC, I havent tried Halo 2 :/
 
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