Turning on Ambient Occlusion in the Nvidia CP works well - a little bit flickery now and again but on the whole makes a nice improvement.
Finished downloading it last night on an appalingly slow BB connection, I happen to have a day off tomorrow (not deliberate timing) so I look forward to giving it a whirl. I remember at the time of release I thought the military were really tough, especially the red beret guys. I don't find them so tough now, maybe that means I've got better at playing the game. I recall reading an interview a long time ago that when Valve created the game they couldn't get the soldiers to move and shoot at the same time. I loved the fact that they would drop on one knee to reload, I thought that was genius at the time but I never got the idea of them sometimes planting a live grenade next them just before you killed them. I look forward to running through Black Mesa (at least) one more time.
The soldiers seem to deal a lot of damage very quickly, and can hit you from the other side of the map. Hax. They don't seem to use grenades to flush you out like in the original though - I miss that.
I saw a couple of grenades come my way just as I got to the surface, only realy saw the explosions the first few times.
Terrific fun so far. Like a warm nostalgia blanket that has been through the wash. Just nearing the end of Office Complex. Why haven't modern games learnt from this shining example of how to make a game? Just brilliant on any conceivable level.
Regarding the shining example of how to make a game: I've already grown tired of just how much of the game is just working out where to go. I find the soldiers great, a good challenge. The bullsquids are a little quick off the mark, but in general the aliens are also a nice challenge. But jeez, so much platforming.
The vortigaunts are alot faster, there faster on medium than the originals hard mode. Just away to launch the rocket, had a few crashes but otherwise been really smooth. Id happily pay for this. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Say what? The last hour or so that I've spent playing I've also wondered why on earth people hype the game so much - the main reason that I can think of is that it was the first. Sure, the use of music and overall atmosphere is good, but look past that and it's essentially just a tunnel-run just like most fps-games. Am I now going to get stabbed over IP?
@Jipa: there is tunnel-run in your face (modern games) and tunnel-run, where you have to think. Hey, it wasn't you who got stuck many times at the start of the game ?
The main problem that people will have with this game is that they will not realise just what a quantum leap in game design the original Half Life was way back in 98. Yes, it does have its flaws and yes compared to the type of games you get today it might be seen as nothing that special. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some suggestions that they main love for this game is due to nostalgia through rose tinted glasses. Fair enough, not everyone will like it, I get that but don't forget that there were something like 8 million plus copies of the game sold and it won countless awards at the time and just about every gaming magazine at the time gave it really high scores and awarded it their game of the year. I reckon that should say something about just how special the original was and for me still is.
Pros: It's free It's still just as good as the original was - gameplay wise You have to think your way out of problems It's proof that you don't need that latest GPU-bending graphical frippery to make a great game. It's free Cons: It's a little unstable and buggy Crouch-jumping! It's expensive as hell. Oh, no... wait. I forgot, it's FREE! Yes, it has crashed several times on me. Yes, a bug left me facing down an Apache gunship with a pistol and a crowbar. I don't care. How many times has nostalgia robbed you of perspective and left you disappointed after revisiting a old favourite? This is payback for all those times! You have to use your noggin or you will spend hours bouncing off the walls, screaming at your monitor, as the game blithely leaves you hanging. The number of times I've stared blankly at the screen and thought, "naw, this must be a glitch, there's no way to get past this", only for it to dawn on me moments later and make me feel elated (and stupid, for not seeing it earlier). Many of the complaints I have seen are based around the complainant's inability to enjoy the type of game where solutions aren't served up on a platter. Oh, and please don't simply dismiss it because it doesn't have DX10/11, or you'll be doing yourself an injustice. Did I mention it was free?
These. well put. modern games are way too easy, there is rarely any challenge that require you to use your brains, most of the time it's just a case of you are not firing your guns fast enough. whereas with this mod and HL series, it's not the enemy units that is the challenge, it's the smart level design and puzzles.
Okay, I didn't get as much time playing this as I wanted to and probably won't until the weekend. I'm still in the Office Complex but so far:- The Black Mesa base looks terrific. The frequent loading screens are a bit annoying but the original had them so its no biggie for me. However anyone not used to older games where this happened a lot might get really annoyed with this. The headcrab zombies seem a lot more frisky and there is definitely more of them. The option to set the zombies on fire is a surprise but I guess its a carry over from HL2. The control options have a key for the gravity gun, I simply don't believe that it will feature in the game but it did catch me by surprise. There are a few differences, nothing major but the base layout is a bit different, I've played the original often enough to spot this. They stuck with the HL2 option with the Glock pistol, rapid fire has been dropped. The weapons are appearing in a different order so far, the security guard behind the cage gave me the shotgun in the original. The Vorts are good but I'm looking forward to my first encounter with the military clean up squad. I haven't seen any screenshots of the Xerg so I'm curious to see how he/she/it has been madeover. Good to actually see Eli and Dr Kliener as the appear in HL2 (a little younger obvously). I actually laughed out loud at the comment from the second security guard after you get off the train, its the one about hair styles. I spotted a Chuckle brothers mug(!) and I smirked at the vending machines stocked with Ramblers crisps (UK joke there). There are quite a few platform puzzles in the game, I know that anyone who hasn't played the original might not like this ( I personally have to grit my teeth and have a couple of go's on the suspended crates puzzle) but its something that carries over from the original. So on the whole I have to say I'm really impressed with it, they have done a terrific job and I look forward to the rest of the game. I never liked the Xen levels in the original, not matter how many times I've played the game.
So, I managed to slog through it. I have only two things to say. One; It's bloody awesome. Two; **** that Dam. **** it to the depths of Hades. I died so many damn times drying to dodge that damn chopper. Then **** the part where you shoot it down, too. Eight rockets later; that asshole finally fell out of the sky. On, and also; Screw that warehouse with all the damn tripwires. Mostly because I don't spam quick-save enough. The constant sounds of "Boom" at one point because I managed to trigger an autosave while clipping one of the lasers wasn't all that amusing either. And what the heck does Portal 08 in Lambda core actually do, anyway?
for the chopper on the dam use the tau cannon's primary fire to engage the troops on it and then reload it in the shed on the right, use the primary on the ccopper as well, 3/4 hits and its down.
Eh? Only 3/4?! I hit it about nine times and the asshole was still up there, mowing me down with a Machine gun! Did my game flip onto hard when I wasn't looking or something?!
Yep, I moved far enough down the road for the Apache to appear and legged back to the hanger at the checkpoint. Secondary fire on the cannon works well - hold it down for a few secs to build up the charge and let her rip.
SPOILER: Spoiler I brought a barrel from the corridor and used it to get on top of the crates, up on to those racks and on to the shipping container - it was easy from there.
