Re: 1st HL2 game memories from 2004...

On Sat, 16 Nov 2024 06:11:34 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:

On 11/15/2024 7:31 PM, Ant wrote:

Since HL2 will be/is 20 yrs. old and we're all getting nostalgia! Let's
talk about those days!

I was anti-Steam back in the day; the idea that I was obligated to
install DRM software just to get permission to play the game was
anathema to me (I still find it distasteful). So for years I avoided
buying games on Steam and just didn't play them on my PC. It was only
after it became obvious that the Market had spoken and Steam was,
unfortunately, going to be permanent part of the hobby that I finally
relented.

But just because I didn't want Steam on my PC didn't mean I didn't
play the games. I still did that. I just found myself a loophole (and
no, it wasn't piracy).

Notice I said, 'my' PC. I wasn't going to give Valve my money or allow
their software on my hardware... but if somebody else --say a close
friend who lived nearby and loved video games as much as I did-- was
less ethically constrained... well, it was always fun visiting friends
and if we just HAPPENED to turn on the computer and play some game
that just happened to use Steam, well... these things happen. ;-)



I can't remember the specs of their PC at the time (it was less
powerful than mine, but not much). It played the game well enough and
I don't remember much in the way of bugs or slowdowns.

But my overall impression was one of boredom. Oh sure, there were
moments of excitement. Seeing the G-Man at the start of the game was
_really_ impressive; the facial animation and sharpness of the
graphics was amazing. At a time when a lot of PC games were still
using mouth-flaps to indicate dialogue, that opening hearkened to an
era when our PCs might rival movies with their ability to render CGI.

There were other bits that were quite neat too; leaving the train
station at the start and seeing City 19 spread out in front of us.
There was this bit when you're in the car and come to a dried out
harbor and the scale of everything -not to mention the water effects-
made me stop and go, 'wow'. Robot Dog's animation was really cool.
When you're in the pod getting taken up the alien tower at the end and
see the baddie's army spread out before you: neat!

But the gameplay? Tolerable, at best. From the start, there was this
sense of ennui. 'Oh, they're doing the whole train-ride thing again.'
The levels were so narrow and linear. There was too little dialogue,
too little explanation of what was going on. The weapons -yes, even
the bloody gravity gun- just weren't exciting. Personally, I found all
those 'look, we got physics!' puzzles to be ill-fitting and not that
impressive. I got _so_ tired of fighting the same guards and
headcrabs. And those interminable boat- and car-rides; argh!

It wasn't a terrible game, Half Life 2. Not at all. But it was so
bloody average. 'THIS is what we've been waiting years for?' It was
such a characterless, drab experience (literally; the game was far too
brown!) that there were points were I had to keep myself playing.
'This is Half Life; it's gonna get good. Just keep going,' I'd tell
myself (mostly during those bits with the boat... but there were other
areas too. Ravenholm and the prison. And the mines. And the bridge.
And...)

I wasn't unhappy that I'd played "Half Life 2" by the end... but I
wasn't really impressed either. Sure, the graphics were top-notch, but
that was only for today. The game reminded me a lot of "Unreal 2" (a
game almost nobody remembers); also a sequel to an amazing legacy
game, it also had amazing graphics, some neat new gameplay ideas, some
interesting maps... but was a fairly lackluster experience overall.

I earnestly believe that if "Half Life 2" came out under a different
name it wouldn't be remembered half as well as it is. It's not really
that good.

But I played it and -years later when I finally, grudgingly accepted
Steam into my life- bought it and replayed it. I've gone back a few
times since then. But it's more because it's a Half Life game than out
of any fondness for the title. I play it because it's _still_ so hyped
up, and I tell myself that surely THIS time I'll see why people love
it so much.

It never happens.

But kudos to Valve. They persevered and by the time Episode Two came
out, I actually was invested in the series again. Valve had found its
magic once more! I was sure the next game was going to prove all those
fans right; that Half Life really was a series worth playing.

Any day now...