[HL2]: Ravenholm is too creepy (Contains some SPOILERS in replies)
I played a lot of HL2 today. Got through the Water Hazard level, the bit with Dog(how freakin' cool is playing fetch with that beast?), and started Ravenholm.
I was having fun, doing ok, really enjoying the narrative bits at least as much as the action bits (although that water vehicle is really fun), but then, I hit Ravenholm.
The level I saw in the demo. Probably a lot of the reason I didn't buy HL2 until it just came in the box with Portal and TF2. It really, *really* creeps me the f--- out.
Tell me after I get through Ravenholm the creepy tones down and it's back to dystopian Orwellian creepy, rather than horror creepy.
Please?
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Nova Prospekt isn't all sunshine and lolipops, but it's not as creepy as Ravenholm.
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Of course it's creepy. U sudnt come here!
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It just makes me really uncomfortable. I don't really dig that kind of creepy.
Being stalked by relatively "normal" stormtrooper-like soldier-cops: pretty fun.
Being stalked by f---ed up zombie-alien hybrid freakazoids: un-fun.
I know it seems like a superficial and silly distinction, but there it is.
"And my son, too, thinks everything is a launchpad, every bug a meal, and every sunny day a reason to take all your clothes off and roll around in the grass." - rabbit
I know exactly what you mean. It's the moaning, hissing, and screaming that got to me. Those tortured wails just.... set my teeth on edge. So you could do what I did:
Turn down the sound effect volume and crank up some upbeat music. You'll laugh like a maniac the first time you set fire to a group of crab-zombies to Yakety Sax!
Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.
Hmmm.... maybe some Laurie Berkner would work.
Hehe.
Or there's always bananaphone.
"And my son, too, thinks everything is a launchpad, every bug a meal, and every sunny day a reason to take all your clothes off and roll around in the grass." - rabbit
Yeah, Ravenholm was intense. It's interesting the development strategy Valve took, which was to have a complete team for each chapter of the game. I believe the term they used was Cabal, which was basically a near-complete dev team with designers, artists, audio guys, etc. all dedicated to just that area of the game. That's why Ravenholm can be so distinct from the rest of the game: each area was made by an almost completely different group of developers, in every facet.
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It gets a lot less creepy, A LOT less. I actually canceled my second playthrough of the game when I got to that part again. I was like f*ck that I'm not subjecting myself to Ravenholm again, and went to HL2 EP2 again instead.
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I felt that the pitch black part of the parking garage in Ep 1 was scarier than Ravenholm, even though I did find Ravenholm creepier.
Duoae wrote:
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Yeah, I didn't like Ravenholm at all either. Turning down the sound effects and not playing at night also helped reduce the freakiness for me. Just plug away at it and eventually you'll be back in the comforting arms of an Orwellian nightmare =).
Some of the Ravenholm enemies reappear occasionally in other chapters (that's not a spoiler, is it?). But Ravenholm is definitely the most horror-movie-like chapter up through "Follow Freeman".
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I'm so glad I'm not the only one that feels like this. I do have to say that after the 5th or 6th playthrough I think I'm finally somewhat desensitized to the creepy part. The first time I played it it took me forever because I had to take very frequent breaks, and by the time I was through my back felt like there were steel cables running through it from the tension.
As Stengah mentioned, the underground garage part in Ep1 is pretty bad too, but Ravenholm beats it for downright 'eek!' factor.
Man up.
There are brighter days ahead.
Quintin_Stone wrote:
YES! Why is that elevator so damn slow?
When I got to Ravenholm during my third playthrough, I just entered a cheat code that unlocked the next level. Voila! I hopped in the buggy and didn't look back. Already done the damn thing twice. It's been experienced. I'd rather not do it again.
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I know HL2 sold really well, but I wonder how many folks like me played the demo and decided to give it a miss? I was totally impressed with the graphics of the beginning, but the second part of the demo was Ravenholm, and I'm pretty sure that, had the second part of the demo been the running through the rooftops and apartments or part of water hazard, I'd have bought it long ago.
Anyway, knowing that if I just get through this, the next chapter/level should be less horror-like makes it (hopefully) bearable. I'll just mentally liken it to grinding from 30 to 40 the first time in WoW.
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I thought Ravenholm was pretty damn intense. I was happy to get through it, though I can't say I didn't "enjoy it" in the meanwhile.
Still, overall not as creepy as System Shock 2. *shivers* And not as eye-opening as that one section in Bioshock when you discover the paper mache statues. And not quite as paranoia-inducing as the re-animating zombies in Resident Evil. *shudder*
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I actually didn't mind Ravenholm that much (other than the fact that I really, really hate poison headcrabs). Of course, Silent Hill is on my favorite games list, so what do I know.
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Man, Ravenholm is great! It's undeniably intense and oppressive the first time through, but on subsequent play-throughs I found it more enjoyable and less stressful.
It gets a lot more fun when you stop relying on firearms so much and move on to slicing zombies into chunks with big circular saw blades. Taking advantage of Fr. Gregori's many traps helps too.
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My advice: if you ever play Thief: Deadly Shadows, skip the Shalebridge Cradle level.
Yeah, and as cool as Left 4 Dead seems in preview, I should probably skip that, too. Or always play AS the undead.
"And my son, too, thinks everything is a launchpad, every bug a meal, and every sunny day a reason to take all your clothes off and roll around in the grass." - rabbit
I didn't even really notice Ravenholm as a "skeery" experience and I'm a pantie-wearing girl-man when it comes to supposedly scary games.
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Fixed.
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Dammit! Firesloth beat me to it.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
The next level sucks too. Just use your weapons to kill as much of the headcrabs as you can, and try to stay above ground. It's a short section, but you can't grind through it.
Oh, and on the way out, pay real close attention to where the alcoves are.
Thanks for the tips. I found a visual walkthrough that I'm going to use if I just get too creeped out or if I start feeling unfairly ambushed(as people talked about in Doom3, which I also didn't play based on the demo).
I've been ***really*** enjoying the game, especially the narrative segments(Black Mesa East, for example, was wonderful - what's up with that chick scientist? Why didn't she want me in the surveillance room? Why did she keep shooing me off? Should Vance be trusting her?), so I won't give up, but I may use a walkthrough or maybe even a cheat or two if I get frustrated or too creeped out.
"And my son, too, thinks everything is a launchpad, every bug a meal, and every sunny day a reason to take all your clothes off and roll around in the grass." - rabbit
I don't watch many horror films, because I'm not a big fan of the "surprise!" kind of horror. Still, Ravenholm was one of the most intense and immersive levels I've ever played. It made me enjoy being freaked out, which is not usually the case.
Podunk's advice about gameplay is solid. Setting aside the setting, Ravenholm is about using the gravity gun and traps to outwit the enemies. Gregori designed the town to be used this way, and the gravity gun goodness is at a higher level than almost any other part of the game.
Waiting for the tram is freaky, but the design and gameplay of the level makes it so worth it. Try going gravity-gun only to give yourself something to think about other than poison-headcrab zombies.
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Try to remember when Ravenholm used to be a nice place.
I was playing through HL2 about a month ago, but I stopped at Ravenholm. It just sucked. Unlike Duckilama, I hadn't really been enjoying HL2 that much before that point.
So much of the game was, "hey, you're being chased, run. No, you're still being chased, keep running. Ok, run some more. I know you're getting winded, but you're going to need to run some more. Look we've got tunnels to run through."
I actually quit playing HL2 at one point, but Jayhawker talked me into trying it again. When I got to the watercraft part that was fine (not great, but kind of fun), so I thought things were looking up.
Then I hit Ravenholm. I hate horror movies. I don't find the whole "ghoul-jumping-out" thing fun -- I kind of hate it. That aspect of Bioshock made it hard for me to play all the way through that game. But in the case of Bioshock, all the rest of the game was just so impressive (and fun) that it pulled me through. HL2, though, was already skating close to the edge of tedious before I hit Ravenholm. In that regard, it made it easy. After about half an hour of Ravenholm I just said, "ok, I'm done."
I do have a question, though -- is it worth spending time with Episode 1 or 2, given that I wasn't interested in finishing HL2? I loved Portal, and TF2 is a blast.
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I never got to this part, but reading this I'm glad I didn't. I bailed on the game before this because it was getting tedious to me as well. I love these games that are set in interesting alternate futures/pasts. However, if the gameplay is tedious I'm going to bail. I just am. "Children of Men" took 2 hours to watch. Most sci-fi dystopian books have a much better story and take a week or so for me to read. So I'm finding it harder and harder to "work" through a game with an interesting story, but tedious gameplay.
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