Why does everyone love half-life???

[TheRaven2156]

Im half way through the original and the graphics are great for when this game was made. But the thing that makes me continue playing through a game and the main reason I love to play is a good story. It may be just me but this game doesn't seem to have any story at all, maybe I just have not got far enough into the game (At the mutated fish in the water).... but im almost ready to put this game on the shelf and move on to something else. All im asking for is a save the world type story but nadda, all I can figure out is your a guy trying to make it to the surface.....

So to make this post relevant.... why does everyone think half-life is one of the best FPS games ever made??? and am I just missing something????

 

[pontifex]

i wasn't very impressed with it when i bought it years ago.

i just recently bought half life 2 and beat it. wasn't anything special. had some cool features and graphics, but for the most part, it was kind of boring.

i don't really get the hype over the game.

 

[TheVrolok]

Half of the fun of HL is that it's one of the only games in which you, the player, knows the same about the story as the character, Gordon. You learn nothing he doesn't, he learns nothing that you don't. You'll pick up a bit here and there from NPCs, especially from some of the soldiers whose conversations you can overhear. The rest is as it seems, you are trying to get to the surface. There are other things that you should at least find interesting though, like the random suit wearing gentleman you find randomly visible throughout the game, etc.

 

[warcrow]

Well, I can honestly say that HL1 and 2 are some of the greatest games I've played. You're a little late to the party with HL1, but you have to remember that at the time -this was one of the first games that actually used the game engine to progress the storyline in a credible manner. It's not so much an incredible story (although for a video game, its pretty good) -its the way the story is told. I guess what I'm trying to get at, is that its a total package. Great story with great voice talant, great music, great GFX, great gameplay, and the game is of reasonable length.

As far as HL2 is concerned, I beleive it to be the best total package (single player) a game has to offer IMO, ok? IMHO alright?! IMFHO!

 

[ockky]

Im half way through the original and the graphics are great for when this game was made. But the thing that makes me continue playing through a game and the main reason I love to play is a good story. It may be just me but this game doesn't seem to have any story at all, maybe I just have not got far enough into the game (At the mutated fish in the water).... but im almost ready to put this game on the shelf and move on to something else. All im asking for is a save the world type story but nadda, all I can figure out is your a guy trying to make it to the surface.....

just wait till you get to the end of the game, what a disappointment it was for me. i *REALLY* liked the 1st half of the game, but as soon as you get to Zen, it's all down hill from there ...

You're a little late to the party with HL1, but you have to remember that at the time -this was one of the first games that actually used the game engine to progress the storyline in a credible manner.

actually, the original Unreal did this long before HL1 and i thought that was a much better overall game .... *ESPECIALLY* the ending ...

but, it's definately not the worst single-player game ever (quake 2) after all, i wouldn't be playing HL2 right now if it were (which btw, talk about no story...)

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: ockky

Im half way through the original and the graphics are great for when this game was made. But the thing that makes me continue playing through a game and the main reason I love to play is a good story. It may be just me but this game doesn't seem to have any story at all, maybe I just have not got far enough into the game (At the mutated fish in the water).... but im almost ready to put this game on the shelf and move on to something else. All im asking for is a save the world type story but nadda, all I can figure out is your a guy trying to make it to the surface.....

just wait till you get to the end of the game, what a disappointment it was for me. i *REALLY* liked the 1st half of the game, but as soon as you get to Zen, it's all down hill from there ...

You're a little late to the party with HL1, but you have to remember that at the time -this was one of the first games that actually used the game engine to progress the storyline in a credible manner.

actually, the original Unreal did this long before HL1 and i thought that was a much better overall game .... *ESPECIALLY* the ending ...

but, it's definately not the worst single-player game ever (quake 2) after all, i wouldn't be playing HL2 right now if it were (which btw, talk about no story...)

I said credible

 

[TheRaven2156]

so bascially half life 2 has no story either...?????? I think I may just shelf this series and begin playing farcry.... hopefully that game has a story.

 

[corkyg]

Everyone does NOT. That is an assumption not based on fact.

 

[RadioHead84]

I still believe HL 1 is the best FPS ever made. One reason you might not think its that amazing is that other games have copied off of it and if you have played those before hl1 then you prob dont notice how great it is becuase you have seen it before. Besides that...the game was just fun to play and the story..atleast to me..was awesome. I enjoyed the ending and the mystery appearences of the blue suit man. You also get to play through many diffrent types of areas. Many games like doom3 have you going through the same stuff over and over again. in HL1 you start off in the regular lab and you end up going through every type of level area you can think of. I wont say anything becuase I dont want to ruin it for you..

finish it.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: TheRaven2156
so bascially half life 2 has no story either...?????? I think I may just shelf this series and begin playing farcry.... hopefully that game has a story.

FarCry is great. But IMHO mostly due to the gfx etc, not really the story.

If you want "great story", go for Dues EX (the original) or System Shock 2. Both have dated gfx (you can get high rez/texture packs), but these were the games with great stories that other PC games have tried to emulate.

I played those b4 HL, consequently I had the same feeling about HL as you do.

Fern

 

[sandorski]

Not only were HL1s graphics pretty good(Unreal was great) for the time, but its' story was as well. It created a very good setting that was full of detail, believable, and interesting. AI was also very good offering a very good challenge. To truly appreciate it you'd probably have had to play it before more current games.

 

[Bumrush99]

Wait untill you reach the map "Surface Tension" then get back to us.

 

[Molondo]

Noone really mentioned the great computer AI the game has. Also alot of game out there have cut scenes, in HL you get to see it live

It was a good game, i enjoyed it I just got blue shift, haven't really done much yet

 

[CKent]

I loved HalfLife 1, thought 2 sucked though.

 

[sundev]

Everyone says they love Half-Life because everyone else says they love Half-Life.

 

[Agnostos Insania]

Much of the hype about Half-life is how it revolutionized the genre. 1up has HL on their "Essential 50 Games" List, and here's the link: http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3136611&did=1
It's a good read. Personally I'm not a huge fan of FPS games, but I love the Half-Life series.
I wonder how many FPS games have gravity guns now.

 

[wpeng]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Everyone does NOT. That is an assumption not based on fact.

QFT

 

[Jeff7]

You're not even to the surface yet? Doing that is only about half the battle.

 

[us3rnotfound]

You're right, no real story. I think you had to be there when it was released to "get it"

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: TheRaven2156
so bascially half life 2 has no story either...?????? I think I may just shelf this series and begin playing farcry.... hopefully that game has a story.

you're gonna be even more disappointed with FC . . . CRAP story . . . plot holes you can fly a copter thru. . . . otoh Great gfx and gameplay.

Want a story? . . . try DeusEx/DE-IW . . .or the Thief Series . . . or KotOR . . .

 

[futuristicmonkey]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: TheRaven2156
so bascially half life 2 has no story either...?????? I think I may just shelf this series and begin playing farcry.... hopefully that game has a story.

you're gonna be even more disappointed with FC . . . CRAP story . . . plot holes you can fly a copter thru. . . . otoh Great gfx and gameplay.

Want a story? . . . try DeusEx/DE-IW . . .or the Thief Series . . . or KotOR . . .

Or Doom 3. Seriously. Play it alone, in the dark, with a half-decent sound setup. It's the way it was meant to be played.

 

[LiekOMG]

Originally posted by: futuristicmonkey

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: TheRaven2156
so bascially half life 2 has no story either...?????? I think I may just shelf this series and begin playing farcry.... hopefully that game has a story.

you're gonna be even more disappointed with FC . . . CRAP story . . . plot holes you can fly a copter thru. . . . otoh Great gfx and gameplay.

Want a story? . . . try DeusEx/DE-IW . . .or the Thief Series . . . or KotOR . . .

Or Doom 3. Seriously. Play it alone, in the dark, with a half-decent sound setup. It's the way it was meant to be played.

As far as I remember, the only story in Doom3 was "Soon you will die and your soul will be mine! Bwa hahahaha"

Overall HL1 wasn't known for its great story, but for its great presentation. Even Sin had a better story than Half Life, but I don't think there are too many people out there who will say that Sin was a better game than Half Life. But at least you sorta know whats going on in HL1. In HL2, you play through the entire game - and you don't even know why, or whats going on. Very very frustrating, and an under whelming game overall.

Seriously, if you want a great story in a FPS, play through Deus Ex (if you haven't already, shame on you!). Other good titles are System Shock 2 and the Thief series, as someone already mentioned.

 

[AbAbber2k]

HL1 had a great story for it's time... mostly because of the TELLING of the story rather than the story itself. You experienced it rather than played through knowing it... if that makes sense. HL2 was okay, but I didn't enjoy it as much. The engine was certainly amazing.

FarCray is absolutely amazing in terms of gameplay, and the engine is beautiful to boot. Actually makes a semi decent "fright" FPS to boot... at least I thought it was better than Doom 3 anyway. Nothing like a growling mutant/leaper to back you up a few steps while you recheck your surroundings.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: futuristicmonkey

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: TheRaven2156
so bascially half life 2 has no story either...?????? I think I may just shelf this series and begin playing farcry.... hopefully that game has a story.

you're gonna be even more disappointed with FC . . . CRAP story . . . plot holes you can fly a copter thru. . . . otoh Great gfx and gameplay.

Want a story? . . . try DeusEx/DE-IW . . .or the Thief Series . . . or KotOR . . .

Or Doom 3. Seriously. Play it alone, in the dark, with a half-decent sound setup. It's the way it was meant to be played.

Just play the D3 demo . . . free . . . the full game is crap . . . . it is boring to the max with NO story and no replay value . . .

D3 is nothing more than a showcase for its engine . . . Serious Sam2 is more what Doom3 should have been like - HORDES of enemies on the screen with awesome weapons and PainKiller/BOoH's "Hell" is 10x better.

System Shock2 sufferd from the same thing as HL . . . it WAS awesome . . . 5-6 years ago. SS2 has a decent story and some RPG but suffers from that CRAP engine - Thief's Dark Engne - and clunky interface. . . . BOTH SS2 and HL were INNOVATIVE - but most games that followed STOLE elements from them [and in many cases improved on them - like DeuSex].

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

FPSs are really starting to bore me... shoot, kill, shoot.

DeuSex?

I guess JC wears a thong in that version...