Half-Life 2: Yea or Nay?
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 - 6:46am
I'm planning a trip to my local Software Etc. (Gamestop) with a bit of the new money i've come into, and I realized that i've never played Half-Life 2.
The whole "Steam" thing had kind of turned me off to it, and given my distinct lack of understanding of it, and my (at best) flukey internet connection here at campus, I was unsure if i'd end up getting screwed out of a perfectly good game.
So, I already know i'll be picking up the SWAT 4 expansion, without doubt. But should I get Half-Life 2? Are my fears unfounded? Is it worth it?
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XBL Tag: Prederick
It doesn't innovate in the genre as much as Half-Life 1 did, but it does bring a lot of fun and excitement. It's still quality gaming goodness, and the gravity gun is really as much fun as everyone says it is. The plot gives you blue-balls. I beat the single player in a week when it first came out, and that's a rare speed for me personally.
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Definetly. Steam's issues have long been resolved. If you manage to keep your connection up and running for twenty minutes at least once, everything will be dandy. HL2 itself is still the best FPS on the market, so why are you still reading this? Go out and spend your money!
And if I haven't seen further, it's because those bloody giants blocked my sight.
I say go for it. HL2 is a pretty sweet game both in term of story and graphics. I never got the retail boxed version, so I don't know if you still need steam for the retail versions to work (do you?) But I have had very little problem using steam, and as Nemsis said, it is getting better as time progresses.
The one major downside (if you even call it that) of steam or other download to play type services is that once you sign on and see the other interesting games that are offered, you might be tempted to spend even more money
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
The answer is always yes for HL2. Even if your connection is flaky, steam will try to update whenever it can. So you may have to wait a little on the initial play, but it will work regardless. It is an excellent, excellent game.
A planet where apes evolved from men? Long live the apes.
If you have extra hard-drive space you can actually install Steam now and use it to preload Half life 2 while you decide! Just leave your computer on overnight and it will be there, waiting for you to unlock it, beckoning you, taunting you with its steamy goodness!
EDITED for clarity
Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.
Honestly, I can't imagine anyone who uses Steam these days panning it, short of some bizarre "planets aligned incorrectly and the gravitational pull caused Steam to melt my hard drive" weirdness.
And HL2, although shorter and somewhat less than all the hype wanted to believe, is a fantastic game. Plus, the next installment is due out within a couple of months, so there's even more incentive.
Half Life 2 is brilliant, and one of the best FPS games of the last ten years, if not ever. Go and buy and play, my son.
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You have not played HL2?
*revokes Prederick's gaming card*
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Buy it.
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Yea.
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Yea here. I really enjoyed playing it... still do.
That's 11 "Yea"s and one revoked gamer card. Right, off to the store then!
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XBL Tag: Prederick
Good decision. HL2 is a GREAT game. Very engrossing. Turn down the lights and kick your roommates out when you play it.
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Wow... I may have to take a second look at perhaps picking this up in the near future myself with all the rave reviews this long after it came out.
I'll throw my "yea" in although I played it on Xbox and it wasn't nearly as pretty or moddable. It was still a damn fine game. Albeit one with load times longer than ... something long.
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Yea! Infact I'm downloading it again because of this thread.
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I graduated on this game, so yea! idd
It is shorter than it's predecessor, but it never gets slow or tedious. It's more that they cut out the boring bits than a lack of content.
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Just installed it on my new laptop the other day for a tester game as it was easier to install steam off the internet then it was to dig out discs. The only gripe I have with steam is running in offline mode requires you to have your password save option selected. Other than that the thing loads and installs easy as pie, and the game is still overall the best looking game i've seen, and the gameplay is great.
PSN ID: Stric9
That's odd. Unless it's changed very recently, I've never had to select that option to play offline. I'll check again tomorrow.
I have HL2 for the big black box and I fargin' love it. It restored my faith in FPS games still being a powerhouse amongst the other genres out there. As long as developers keep making games like this I'll be looking at the upper left portion of my weapons for a very long time.
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