So I tried to explain how amazing half-life is to my woman, but she really didn't seem too impressed. I've got to admit, I havn't got a good way with words, but really, how hard can it be to let somone know of the greatness that is the best PC game ever made? [possible spoilers?] What I tried to explain sounded really cliched and retarded. "You're in a giant underground government testing facilty escaping from aliens that are accidently unleashed in an experiment that went badly wrong. Then you get teleported into space and kill the giant alien leader." See - when you say it like that, it just sounds retarded. Even when you outline hl2 "You're teleported back into the world further into the future, the entire world has been taken over by aliens in a 7 hour war. You have to lead a rebellion against them. I always felt that it's the subtleties that make the game great. The fact that you never really know what's going on, it's not in your face, you have to try and figure it out yourself. Listening to what people say, being observant on your way around and taking time to examine every detail you are given allows you to uncover part of the mystery that happened that day. Even RIGHT at the beginning of the game, before play has started. You see Gman out of the tram window - but if you scrounge around Sector C you will notice him in an office arguing with a scientist. Immediatly you know something's up, how did he get there before you? If you listen to the guys talking just before you go into the test chamber I think they hint that the Gman (they call him the administrator) wanted this experiment to go as it did. Did you even notice that the sample you put into the test chamber was the same as the crystals in the Nihilanth's lair? So anyway. I want you to tell my why YOU think Half life (and it's sequel) are [I'm going to add the word arguably here, I really don't think it's necassary, but I don't want people preaching about 'FF MDCCLXI'or whatever kids these days play] arguably the best games ever made, and how you would explain it to an average intellegent human.
Today's FPS shooters do not play out like traditional games. Old style games: kill some baddies, find locked door, kill baddies find key, look for and then find locked door, go through door, rinse & repeat. Newer FPS shooters have thicker plots, sometimes a puzzle or two. Playing HL2 is like acting out a movie. The plot is more or less the same, but you can play through it different ways. There's suspense, surprises, twists, etc.
I think whats so great about HL2 (and why some people don't like it) is it's kind of like watching a film, but actually controlling the film yourself. You can tell from the commentary from HL2: Ep1 that they work really hard on how the tiniest parts of the game are developed. I know a few people don't like HL2 and find it too boring, I myself find it a refreshing, I like a decent and believable plot to my games. The game give you a better sense of immersion too, CoD2 is pretty epic, but sometimes you just get bits where you've got a squad of almost identical soldiers running into machine gun fire using the standard animation. The advantage of the source engine is it's highly flexible in terms of character animations (amoung other things), so making a scene like the D-day landings with the source engine would be absolutely fantastic, anyone who's familiar with GMod will know how great it can be, especially for making things like machinama.
I"ve played through both HL and HL2 to their completion and I honestly don't think either of them are "the best game ever." Sure, they're both good but you're still stuck having to go down one path. There are little odds and ends you can go about but the game is pretty much the same whether you do these little extras or not. I really don't have a favorite all time game but I just don't see what all the hype was about. I enjoyed the mods for each game way more then I enjoyed the actual games themselves.
nowt wrong with linearity if done right. so many games try and be this sprawling morass of 'choose your own destiny' and end up feeling contrived and ill defined.
Interesting points guys, thanks.# In regard to the "one path argument" yeah, it's true, you are limited in that respect. But the storyline couldn't really progress effectivley without the linearity. Don't forget that you're not just walking in a straight line, there are plenty of 'sidecorridors' if you will, and secret passages that you can explore and uncover interesting secrets. One of the most notable ones in my mind is when you are driving the buggy on the road. If you stop off at one of the clifftop houses and look around the back of their gas tank you see some rather interesting graffiti. So yes, I'm going to agree with Fod on this one. Don't forget also that there are so many different ways of solving the puzzles that are posed to you, and defeat your enemies. The gravity gun also adds a whole new bunch of options when it comes to your personal gaming. You can master tricks such as throwing live grenades with the gravity gun or using objects as shields. But again, the fact that the story line is so vague and isn't all up in your face is one of the great touches that the HL series has taken the risk of experimenting with, with much success.
Almost all FPSes are linear in nature (I don't really count being able to chose between corridor A and corridor B to reach objective C being open)
What struck me most when first playing HL1 was things like the scripted events. Those sorts of things had never really been used to full effect in an FPS before. I'm thinking of things like you're walking along a corridor and suddenly the ceiling above you just collapses and head crabs jump out at you. Or you walk to the end of the corridor and try the elevator and it sparks, you hear some creaking and then the elevator tumbles past the small windows in the doors with someone screaming as they fall down inside it. These sorts of events make the game feel a lot more like a movie and they sort of make you feel like you're being pushed along by the story line rather than you yourself doing all the work and dragging the story along with you. I also love the fact that the story is vague. I love watching a thriller or horror movie where you don't really know what is going on most of the time. Of course this technique can be used well in a story (eg Ocean's 11) or badly (eg Ocean's 12). In Half Life I think it's the way that you're just one guy amongst all the stuff that is going on and the further you go the more you find out about what is really happening around you. Another great thing about Half Life is that the environments change so drastically. Eg from Black Mesa to the cliffs in the desert or the beaches near city 17 to Ravelnholm or from the Citadel to the dark underground streets and subway tunnels in Episode 1. Half Life seems to do a good job of making you aware of how small a charachter you really are and at the same time how big a part you are playing in the story. I've always wondered why Half Life has been such a success. There really isn't anything else like it.
Half Life puts the gamer in the same position as if that same gamer is watching an action/thriller/survival film. That is the beauty of it, if you know what I mean through my first sentence. You had Freeman trying to escape, the military personnel coming in and messing up, then it was back down to Freeman to be the hero. Then of course you had the fact that there was some sinister element to the game with the touted 'G-man'... No matter what people say, it is human intuition to want to know everything going on, and when a conspiracy is in the air, intrigue takes over... Half Life is easily among, if not, (FF7 for me psx!!!!) one of THE most revolutionary games int he past 10 years... Scott B
section8, I wouldn't call HL revolutionary. After all that's what this thread is about. It's the features of the game that make it so unique that we are talking about. I wouldn't say that those features have gone on to revolutionise the way other games are made though. Maybe in small ways it has but as I said before, there isn't really anything that comes close to replicating whatever it is that makes HL so good.
For me it was the characters. I've never played another game where there were discernable characters wh had individual personalities. Even in HL where you had to at times get help from other characters they were very one-dimentonal. All the characters in HL2 were well developed and distinct, even the fairly minor ones. The ability to holde a "conversation" with a NPC was also used to great advantage. The addition of humor elements was also a great addition. All of these came together to really set HL2 and HL2E1 apart in my mind.
The fact that you never leave the FP perspective keeps you immersed in the story, it works much better than those games which try highly elaborate movie-type cutscenes which can just be boring. The graphics also helped (though HL1 was still a great game) and made the world you were in feel more alive, combined witht the great physics engine and you have one of the great games. Though HL2 E1 was very short.....
