Ustwo

I just finished HL2. I've been playing on and off since release, hour here, 30 mins there, and I have to say the ending is the biggest let down EVER for a game like this.

Oh you beat the bad guy, time to wait for the sequel!

The story line was fine, I could follow it pretty easy (I've heard people complain about it) but when I finish a game, I like a sense of some sort of accomplishment. This was a just a 'ok great, wait and see half life 3'.

Also the number of different enemies pretty much was a let down too. I expected some more wacky aliens at the end, and they showed a few in the 'travel by coffin' but you never saw them up close. Lets count the enemies...grunts...head crabs...zombies....those ceiling trap guys....super zombies..ant lions...therapods..super grunts (in white).....2 chopper types... and the striders (which were cool).

HL 1 was in my opinion a much better game. The physics in HL2 were great, and the graphics were very nice, but as a GAME it was just so-so.

Also while I'm ranting, the boat/buggy bits were fun I'll give you that, but whatever they made those vehicles out of they should just plate a Chevy nova with it and take out the enemy, since they were indestructible.

Then there was the squad thing. When you were controlling the ant lions I could accept some just showing up out of holes in the wall. When you got your human squad slaughtered it seemed sort of odd that guys would magically appear to replenish your ranks. It was ok when you ran into new ones, but on one part I got stuck a few mins (couldn't figure out where I was suppose to walk to) and my squad of one became a squad of 4 with 2 extra guys just standing around. They were a lot dumber then I had hoped too. The AI for the grunts didn't seem any better then the marines in HL1, and was perhaps a bit worse.

Finally, the grav gun. Its fun, its cool, its a nice twist. Why they decided the last bit had to be 100% grav gun turned up to super mode besides to show off I don't know. Why does it only work on corpses magically at the end? Its like they got to the last bit and said lets REALLY show off our physics!

HL2 is a good game, but for a game delayed a year and hyped to the gills I expected a little more.

Final final rant. I bought the game at the store, installed, did the steam thing...fine. Why the FUCK do I still need the CD in the damn drive? Isn't that the whole point of steam?

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The Magic

I'd have to agree with many of the points.

Half-Life had many more monsters than Half-Life 2. There was more of a variety to everything. There were even more weapons. Half-Life had many innovations, while Half-Life 2 just seems to redo the same ones with a slightly different twist, only containing a few new aspects. The squads are horrible; they were never of any use to me. Although they were good to give the game that "epic" feel when fighting striders and so forth.

The thing that pissed me off about the ending was that I was seriously expecting at least 3 or 4 more hours of gameplay. And then...it just ends, with no warning or anything. I just hope the expansion is an actual expansion that continues the story, not a "you can play as Alex now!" type expansion.

jalora

I did not enjoy Half-Life 2 as much as the original. But the ending of Halo 2 was far worse.

I enjoyed the gameplay of Halo 2 very much. Very solid graphics and responsive controls. The plot was pretty silly, and the abrupt ending sucked, but what do you expect from a video game? I guess they're making a Halo movie now, though. Should be horrible.

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Homey_V

Im right here with you buddy. HL2 was, I think, not worth the effort of installing and working through Steam to play it. It seems to me that the developers spent 4 years making the engine and then remembered that "Oh crap! We need a game now!" And rushed out this hunk o' crap.

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cockmonger

I agree with you with the lack of bad guys...i even have a problem with the limited amount of weapons you get...but a waste of time...hell no. The game was well thought out...the fact that you can actually get creative with your surroundings to beat the game opens the game up to soo much replay value, it's rediculous. not to mention how real all the people were, between thier voices and faces and actually helping you in battle...i was and still am blown away

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McFrosticles

I agree the ending was a let-down, but overall it was a great gaming experience...mainly for the engine!

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Good Grief

Bonesaw

The ending was no more of a let down than the first one. Sheesh in HL you battle forever through Xen only to have the G-man say thanks. At least in the citadel you have the "pleasure" of riding in style for some of the end. Plus you'd be crazy to think that Valve would end their story at the end of HL2. They've finally gotten an engine that BLOWS away all others and they've just gotten warmed up with the storyline. I'll admit that the end was a big of a wilted boner but I still was Impressed with the slowdown and stoppage of the explosion and Alyx flying back in mid-air. What a cliffhanger!

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shipofshame

I totally agree with you, Bonesaw.

VALVe knew where they were going with this game. From the start they knew exactly what direction they wanted to take the plot and storyline. I wouldn't be surprised if one Day One of production Gabe said, "This game ends in a cliffhanger," and everyone agreed.

Honestly, if you can't deal with the cliffhanger, fine. But don't bitch about the game not being as good as hyped or not liking the storyline because it's not over yet.

As far as cliffhangers go, I think this one is absolutely brilliant. This was obviously meant to be a trilogy from the start and they've managed the story progression perfectly. It's a lot like the way the Wachowski brothers split up Reloaded and Revolutions; the Architect gave you a nice little speech but you didn't understand much.

You'll need to play HL3 to know what happens. I love it.

Aletheia

The ending wasn't too bad. The last few levels were awesome.

meepa

I knew it was going to be a cliffhanger ending, so the fact that it showed up didn't bother me too much. What bothers me is the fact that the cliffhanger is as wonky as the one in the 2nd Matrix. Now at the time I saw THAT, I didn't care because I knew the third one was going to be released a few months down the road. But HL3? I have no idea when it's supposed to see the light of day. If I have to wait YEARS to continue a cliffhanger ending, I promise you I will be less interested by the time it finally comes around. At this point I just want more HL for the sake of continuing the story and learning more about the HL world.

Maybe they will keep me satiated by stringing me along with expansions or something. Otherwise it's a bummer not that they left me wanting more, but that I have no idea when I'll actually get more.

Otherwise super game!

PS: The gravity gun got super corpse-grabbing power because its electro-wompifying field was enhanced when the sterilization beams vaporized all your other weapons. It is a matter of elementary cool-zappy science that when you use vaporizing jolts on a contained gravity field, it increases its efficacy and makes it shoot lightning.

Krycheck

I just finished it and I have to agree with Bonesaw and Shipofshame. Best thing about HL2's ending?

No Xen

Besides now Valve has alot to live up to now with HL3. I mean how do you top this?!?

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Xirax

I kept hoping I'd see some spiffed up incarnations of my old favorites from Xen...like the shock-dog thing...or the Alien Grunts. What about some of the levels from the E3 demo? Was anybody else waiting for those? And weapons: Remember that 2nd mode to the Gravity Gun? It had a weird beam and could pick up anything (including bodies) and manipulate them from a further distance.

Closure on at least some of the questions left from the first game (while at the same time introducing new ones) would have been fine as well.

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shipofshame

That's a very good point. Hopefully the mods are going to be as good as they look. Also, VALVe has mentioned the possibility of them working on an in-house project where you get to play as Alyx with DOG fighting alongside you.


LMAO!

Bonesaw

Well regardless of the in-house extras (or for that matter how long it will take them to distribute them)that Valve is planning, I'm looking forward to completing a secondary story line that i've cooked up for a mod. As this is my first real attempt at any moding the learning curve is a bit steep but the game looks so good that I just can't pass up the opportunity to try to get my idea out to the gaming community.

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Q. What is the difference between erotic and kinky?

A. Erotic is using a feather... kinky is using the whole
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mkultra

I thought it was excellent. The mods I've heard of look and sound awesome, and since I'm still playing mods from the original game 6 years ago I think the game is worth the investment (althoough I thouught the game kicked ass anyway). And RE the gravity gun:

The whole concept of the Combine was they took alien species from different dimensions (Xen, Earth, wherever the striders and copters come from) and enhancing them with alien technology/body parts. When the gravity gun gets charged up it starts working with organics too, when before it only worked on non-organic objects (I know it worked on boxes, but they have nails and stuff in them too). Just what occured to me when I was playing through it.

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Coppertop

Well I was thoroughly amazed by the game, and simply could not stop playing it. The day I finished it I played 8 hours straight through to the end. Could people seriously not see the end was near once inside the citadel? That baffles me. I don't see any major flaws with the game. True, the squad AI was a bit dumb sometimes and annoying at others but it sure was sweet when everyone was fighting the striders towards the end.

This was the best FPS I've ever played, seconded by System Shock 2.

Gortexfogg

The ending was kind of a let down, but I can live it. My favorite part about it is that I didn't have to find my way out of the citidel before it explodes...like many other games would have done. Is is just me, or did HL2 seem pretty easy? The gravity gun part at the end...it was no contest. Still, though sort of short, I am eager to replay ever second of this game, and probably more than once.

Konichiwaneko

I can say Coppertop that I was expecting the normal "Follow the bad guy to his destination and destroy the place he's going too" ending. But it seems nope, you just get a generic ending and wait from there.

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charlesesl

Those of you who have played HL1 should have known what the end of 2 should be like. The hl series follows the convention that you can only see what your protagonist sees. So naturally you are not going to get some FF look alike sequence of Freeman saving the world.

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Coppertop

Exactly. It follows the original games ending quite closely. Obviously Valve is going to keep making Hl games, and more power to them. The two HL games are among the best FPS games ever made. I eargerly await a third installation.

powerclown

Yeah, I just finished it and was disappointed by the ending as well. I didn't like being limited to the GG at all, although those 'pinball hallways' were kinda fun. The Rathen-something levels (Cemetary) I thought were just completely out of place, although not unscary. The circular sawblades were very cool.

The storyline throughout seemed nonexistent, just blast your way through the levels. Not much explanation for anything. Fortunately, just blasting through stuff was cool enough. That aside, I'd say this is in my top 5 games all time. Of the latest games, I'd rate Far Cry a notch higher, Doom3 lower. I had more fun playing FC. As someone else here said, the levels are just so huge and interactive in FC, everything within site is playable and explorable. The vehicles in FC were better too, I'd say.

HL2 was an awesome game, and Ill probably replay it again in a week or so. I'd give it an 8.5/10.

mreman4u

I enjoyed the story too. Switching back and forth between the two sides was interesting, but disrupted the flow of the game.

I also didn't like the inconclusive ending. Maybe it would have been better if the ending had introduced some powerful new threat.

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Mr.Deflok

Half-Life 2 dude, not Halo 2

xerraire1

Thats the thing with tthe Hl2.. they dont spell it out for you! Like was said before you see what the protanginist (main character) sees. You dont just walk through the citadel and see a expert goin 'mm.. that looks like an organic combine , still has its original form, yet slightly messed with the human genetics'...

Its what YOU find out... If you spent time reading the posters and newspapers all over the place, you'd figure out what happens.

Remember GF was kept in a slow - time trap for like 5-6 years... how much do you really think he'd know?

Anyway back to the story; I thought it was as REAL as it could be.. But the question is, when fighting aliens in 2131231123 , do I really care if you have some 'etherial spooky Forsight' knowledge? The answer is no..

-----> What the Fsedfsdf have I said in my post

Homey_V

I fully expected another cliffhanger ending. What I didnt expect was a game that took me six hours to beat on hard when I was taking my time with it. I also didnt expect an engine that looks seriously dated at parts. I didnt expect to be fighting the same 4 combine soldiers and ant-lions for the entire game. I didnt expect the ridiculously stupid AI on all accounts. I didnt expect to be so horribly disappointed with a game that should have at least satisfied me. I didnt expect the messiah of Gaming from HL2, but I sure didnt think they'd release such a sloppy excuse for a game. Im sorry if you disagree with me, but I think its true. The last segment of the game in the citadel is just ridiculous. There is NO challenge at all with the super-charged gravity gun, meaning no fun either.

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Konichiwaneko

I think most of us are satisfied with the story. I personally just feel like it's a five chapter book that ends on the 4th chapter. Unlike Half Life One which felt like a 5 chapter book that got to chapter 5 and added another 3 chapters called Xen.

I loved the story, I appreciate that it's HL, but gamewise it kinda ends quick.

I mean half the citidal is a train ride a la' HL1

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Coppertop

6 hours? You must have some mad gaming skills, cause I played it for about 20 hours of the default diffficulty and I expore everywhere. No really, everywhere. Maybe I'll play through it again on hard and time myself.

Homey_V

I explored pretty much everything too, and I took my time and it was on Hard, I checked several times cause I was kinda confused by the lack of difficulty. I started the game at 1:05 pm and it ended at shortly after 7pm that same day with me going.. "WTF? There isnt more game?"

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lom

What let me down the most about the ending were the helicopters. Ok so yes they were very cool at the beginning of the game, and did make for some interesting gameplay throughtout. But in the end sequence couldn't they have come up with something new? I guess this is tied to the lack of different enemies throughout the game but I just felt that the end could have benefitted the most from something new.

Homey_V

Im pretty sure the entire game could have benefitted from something new. As far as I can tell, the only new mechanic they added was the Gravity gun, which takes away more fun and challenge than it provides in its current state.

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Omar12

The ending was OK, I expected something better.

The thing that concerns me more about the ending is that I have to wait 6 years for the sequel.

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Aborted

I'm inclined to agree (in principle) with most of the criticisms listed here, but I found the best way to alleviate temple-throbbing frustration was to remember that it's only a video game, a time filler, a fun diversion. True, the ending was whack, but that should be an easy fact to get over.

bal8664

I just posted this on the other HL2 thread by accident and don't know how to delete it but i will put it in here where i meant to in the first place! So if you read this twice sorry!

Hmm... i never played the first one, never read about it, know nothing about it. That said i really enjoyed the 2nd one, but the ending puzzled me. Spoiler: Is this "G-man" who everyones talking about the guy who shows up at the end (ane very beginning) and talks to you before the credits? Honestly i thought that was supposed to be god or something, i was very confused. I took it as i was about to die and god saved me or something. Anyone care to explain what really happened?

Homey_V

Well, let me try and summarize HL for you as succintly as possible. I'll use spoiler tags just so that I dont ruin it for someone who's playing through for the first time right now.

Spoiler: In the first game, the G-Man is seen helping you throughout the game repeatedly. You never manage to catch up with him, but he is always there giving you the extra boost you need to survive in Black Mesa. Without giving too much away, when you finally win the game, you are confronted by Mr. G-Man who offers you the choice of working for him or dying. If you choose to work for him, the game slowly fades to black and you are now under his employ, which is where the second HL begins, with him as your boss. No one knows who he is, and many suspect he isnt actually human.

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xerraire1

I lost my previous post; basically in 1996 Valve broke the mold, they created a realisitic FPS. THey didnt know it was work. They got millions of dollars; they had thousands mods made.

They knew they could squeeze 2 more out of the first one. So they made a cliffhanger ending. Either love it or hate it, the ending will make you buy the next version.

Also they're gaming programmers, how much imagination do you really think they have?

Konichiwaneko

Even a brocolli could come up with some good plot twist if we gave it 6 years

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Homey_V

Im pretty sure brocolli would have come out with a better game given six years to work on it.

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Man/Amazing

Event though this was a great game the ending was a let-down for me as well. G-Man basically freezes time, gives Gordon a brief speech, then everything goes black, and I;m sitting here waiting for Half-Life 3. Disappointment

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Ace_O_Spades

Ok, I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with everyone

The game was epic... Even if the entire game was just the citadel, I would have been pleased with the purchase... When you include the airboat, ravenholm, nova prospekt, and the citadel, it's just orgasmictastic

I loved this game

Can't wait till TFC: Source comes out, and DOD: Source...

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Feh.

Spicy McHaggis

The game hade a great atmosphere. Valve set a mood with lots of gritty realism. But there was no real plot to speak of.

I was looking through the Half Life: Raising the Bar book at EB Games and I was amazed to read about this big plot and these other interesting enemies. Unfortunately they don't bother to tell you what the plot is in the game and these other important enemies are only seen for a fraction of a second as you cruise through the citidel.

I wasn't too disapointed when I finished the game, but after reading the book and seeing what was SUPPOSED to be in the game, and what the programmers had in mind but didn't bother to tell the players really pissed me off.