What's the big deal about half life?

Father Beast · March 15, 2001, 18:54

I mean, I just got the demo after hearing so much stuff for so long. game of the year by everybody, yada, yada, yada....

and after all that buildup, it's basically just duke3D with prettier graphics. I admit, it is pretty, but I get the same action from duke.

RonHiler · March 15, 2001, 21:01

The difference being that Half Life is story driven, rather than being "Shoot-everything-that-moves-find-key-go-to-next-level" driven, like DN3D.

It won all those awards because of its story. I'll grant you, as stories go, it's not all that deep. But compared to Quake and all its clones, at least it has one, and it has an effect on the gameplay. Now, ofc, several FPS's have stories, some of them even good (No One Lives Forever, Elite Force, et al). You can thank HL for that. It wasn't the first to try it, but it did it the best up to that time.

Ron

Eternal · March 16, 2001, 00:20

I don't care much for the story, because it seems pretty basic, and I have to strain my ears to hear when the NPCs talk. The graphics aren't even that good when compared to new stuff, and most of the levels seem so mundane. I'm in those railroad tunnels now and I just gave up on the game alltogether. I doubt anyone would even think of HalfLife anymore if it weren't for CS. But the engine is good. No One Lives Forever uses the LithTech engine, and is ten time better than HalfLife.

Father Beast · March 16, 2001, 10:14

I'm sorry, but I haven't experienced any sort of story. at least in the demo. there's an alien invasion of sorts, and there's also mercenaries around, all of which are trying to kill you. the security guards will help you for a time, which is somewhat welcome, but all I get is shoot all hostiles (meaning almost everything), get supplies, jump, crouch and run.
except for the meager amount of npc's who aren't trying to kill you, seems just like Duke.
after all, Duke had the same story, except didn't have mercs shooting at you too.

Dis · March 20, 2001, 05:51

I hear the enemy ai is excellent, unlike most other games. but I cannot verify this because I don't play fps'

Eternal · March 20, 2001, 15:04

The Commandos have pretty good AI, but it's not any better than we should EXPECT from every FPS out there. They throw grenades and lay suppressing fire while their comrades flank you. Supposedly -I haven't really kept track, I was too busy shooting them.

AustralianJeremy · March 21, 2001, 03:21

Well, the demo is just a slice of the action in the game. The game itself told a story very well, and it was a fine experience.

Of course, it has since been topped by System Shock 2 and my new favourite - No One Lives Forever. NOLF is brilliant. It's got the spectacular set-pieces of Half-Life, but many more of them, and they're far more varied. You guys have to play NOLF. It kicks ass.

HL was fantastic in its day though.

Zopperoni · March 21, 2001, 20:15

The Half-Life engine is pretty cool too, but what really rocks is the HL-Mod Counter-Strike...the new version has models that are 512x512 pixels!

RonHiler · March 21, 2001, 22:18

quote:

Originally posted by AustralianJeremy on 03-21-2001 02:21 AM
Well, the demo is just a slice of the action in the game. The game itself told a story very well, and it was a fine experience.

Of course, it has since been topped by System Shock 2 and my new favourite - No One Lives Forever. NOLF is brilliant. It's got the spectacular set-pieces of Half-Life, but many more of them, and they're far more varied. You guys have to play NOLF. It kicks ass.

HL was fantastic in its day though.

I couldn't agree more. NOLF is a fantastic game, except for that dratted sniper shooting at the very start, which I could have done without. Some of the conversations the guards have are absolutely hilarious. Did you catch the one about the correlation between beer consumption and criminals? That had me laughing so hard I was practically crying

Strangely, I didn't much like SS2. It came across to me as too flat. I never identified with the protagonist. But I thought the original rocked, it was one of my all time favorite games (except the "Hacker" stuff was just silly). I still think, as far as FPS stories go, SS has one of the best ever. Too bad it was so far ahead of its time that not many people played it.

Ron

Raging Mouse · March 22, 2001, 11:20

I played SS like crazy, and I'm still playing SS2 like a maniac. I consider it one of THE creepiest games out there. And I'm playing it in 640 x 480 resolution, too. Let's see. The graphics are blockier and untidier than HL. But that story. And the scenes you stumble upon. Yeah.

AustralianJeremy · March 25, 2001, 06:33

quote:

Originally posted by RonHiler on 03-21-2001 09:18 PM
I couldn't agree more. NOLF is a fantastic game, except for that dratted sniper shooting at the very start, which I could have done without. Some of the conversations the guards have are absolutely hilarious. Did you catch the one about the correlation between beer consumption and criminals? That had me laughing so hard I was practically crying

Oh yes, that was good. I kind of liked the notes, like:

To: All Employees

I am deeply sorry for the hazardous situation created by my lack of scientific knowledge and utter disregard for the safety of my coworkers. Sometimes the voices in my head tell me to do things... bad things...

John.

and

Structural Survey Report: Our findings indicate the walls of HARM facility 22987 are substandard. Bamboo support beams are unacceptable for a structure of this size. Suggest replacement with nineteen inch steel beams.

quote:

Strangely, I didn't much like SS2. It came across to me as too flat. I never identified with the protagonist. But I thought the original rocked, it was one of my all time favorite games (except the "Hacker" stuff was just silly). I still think, as far as FPS stories go, SS has one of the best ever. Too bad it was so far ahead of its time that not many people played it.

I loved both. SHODAN is a fantastic villain. Being taunted by her as you sneak around the ship... fantastic. I loved the PDA thing, on which you could play minesweeper while you were hiding somewhere, and then all of a sudden SOMETHING WOULD COME UP BEHIND YOU AND START HITTING YOU ON THE HEAD and because you're immersed in a game inside the game it's really freaky. If that makes sense.

Didn't think an awful lot of the end, though.