Incline Half Life 2 is great and I love it

[Morenatsu.]

You should get your eyes checked because Episode Two is even more of a 'gimmicky' story driving game than the original.

 

[ds]

The best part by far is Episode 2, it seemed like they were finally putting effort into level design

You mean the tiny arena where you get swarmed with antlions, the tiny arena where you get swarmed with antlions but also zombines, the slightly larger but still tiny arena where you get swarmed with hunters, the still pretty tiny arena where you get swarmed with combine or the other tiny arena where you get swarmed with combine before the victory totally-not-a-cutscene?

 

[Hag]

The vehicle sections are often criticized in the game. But seriously is there any other FPS were it is an actually a good gameplay mechanic? Always felt as an interruption of the core gameplay in the context of the genre

It was a multiplayer game but vehicles were a core part of BF1942. You could command a warship before taking a landing barge, steal a jeep and dash for the enemy airfield to hop on a plane but get wrecked by some guy in a howitzer. So fluid and over-the-top fun.

 

[DemonKing]

I give Half-Life 2 a 5/10. Purely average

There's a lot to criticise 20 years on, but it was pretty ground breaking back in the day - the physics and facial animation work were amazing.

I still prefer the original game, but I think 5/10 is a bit harsh unless you're comparing it with more modern titles.

 

[JC'sBarber]

You should get your eyes checked because Episode Two is even more of a 'gimmicky' story driving game than the original.

Not saying it didn't have any problems, a lot of the same issues from the base game and Episode One carry over into Episode Two. The difference is the level design seemed to have more effort put in, and setpieces like the antlion chase was more thrilling than anything in the prior two installments.

The best part by far is Episode 2, it seemed like they were finally putting effort into level design

You mean the tiny arena where you get swarmed with antlions, the tiny arena where you get swarmed with antlions but also zombines, the slightly larger but still tiny arena where you get swarmed with hunters, the still pretty tiny arena where you get swarmed with combine or the other tiny arena where you get swarmed with combine before the victory totally-not-a-cutscene?

Half-Life 2 in general is filled with horde sections, it's the devs lazy way of padding out the game.

 

[Morenatsu.]

What the fuck is a horde section. Last time I checked HL2 was nothing like Left 4 Dead/Serious Sam/Shitty Doom wads

 

[JC'sBarber]

You defend a specific area from an incoming 'horde' of enemies. I thought you as a gaymer would know what "horde" means.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I give Half-Life 2 a 5/10. Purely average

There's a lot to criticise 20 years on, but it was pretty ground breaking back in the day - the physics and facial animation work were amazing.

I still prefer the original game, but I think 5/10 is a bit harsh unless you're comparing it with more modern titles.

I've been fairly critical of HL2 in the past but 5/10 is a bit much even by my standards.

Of course, i can understand the negativity. Underneath the brilliant presentation there's much in the game that is actually kinda uninspired.

The original did a lot of things one might consider to be decline and yet for a lot of us it was a 9/10 and that's because the game made you forget many of it's problems through the sheer charisma of its set pieces.

Half Life 2 wasn't able to pull off the same trick because it just doesn't have the same level of inspiration. In many places it has that "made by committee" feeling to it, especially in how the game keeps coddling the player.

 

[ghardy]

I'd say:

• Half-Life 2: 7/10
• Episode 1: 6/10
• Episode 2: 8/10

Episode 2 is more fun as a whole than either of the other two.