If so, why?Do you agree when they say 'Half-Life 2' is one of the greatest FPS's ever?
I'm not sure that it's fair to say that HL2 is one of the greatest FPS's ever, though it certainly stands head and shoulders over most FPS's out there. It certainly deserves consideration for such an honor based on it's stunning graphics and the awesome weapons (gravity gun FTW!), but the gameplay itself is not as innovative as such groundbreaking FPS's like the original Half Life or Doom. Do you agree when they say 'Half-Life 2' is one of the greatest FPS's ever?
Hell ya. Amazing graphics. Stellar story, and potentially the best story in an FPS in it's time. Brilliant sound quality. Best AI of it's time. By far the best Mod support of it's time. One of the first games to implement such a vastly complicated physics system. Oh, and CSS, the sequal to one of the best online games of all time, came packaged with it.
EVER? No. In HISTORY? Maybe....It's pointless to make these claims when something will trump it in the future. Half Life 2 is a great game but doesn't deserve to be held aloft like some idol for worship.
No. Aside from the gravity gun, pretty much everything it does has been done in previous games. That being said, it does not detract from it being a stellar experience (especially Episode 1). The combat is quite linear and quite derivative of many previous titles (as any sequel should be). The guns themselves are very underwhelming and bland. The presentation and atmosphere however are quite superb. Especially in places such as Ravenholm, on the road outside of City 17 and in the tunnels and sewers under City 17 (in Episode 1).
The game itself, as a game, is not that great, you can easily find a
similar FPS experience anywhere else nowadays. However, its presentation and the the overall experience of it all are excellent. As a FPS, it is pretty dull... as a game on the whole, it is superb.
It is a really good fps, but I think my favorite fps of all time is Call of Duty/Call of Duty 2. Man I love those games (huge fan of WWII/games revolving around it).
It's not even as good as Half-Life 1.However, Half-Life 1 was so amazing that's not exactly a bad thing.
I think it is, it actually managed to stay fresh and interesting for nearly 20 hours of gameplay. It had the excellent pacing of RE4, every area had something different going on.
For me, the game is not even close to being called the greatest FPS ever. The gameplay is pretty linear and I didn't find the storyline as good than a lot of ppl of this board believes. The lack of character interactions and development lead me not to care about most of the characters in the game. I like the sorroundings and the atmosphere, but it not it hasn't been done before. I have always found Deus Ex to be a more compelling game overall than Half-Life.
I think as a FPS, it's great and one of the best.But claiming Half-Life 2 as the best game ever is like saying which NBA basketball player is the greatest. Different positions, height, era, can all have a factor. But of course we all know that Michael Jordan is the greatest ever just like Zelda Ocarina of Time is the greatest game ever. :P
HL2 is a good game with great sound, graphics and storyline but it lacked action and there seemed to be a lot of hey look at our new engine isn't it great moments. The best FPS no but it is on the list of great games.
It磗 the only FPS I磛e ever put away because I was bored.No Storyline,almost no Action,much walking senseless around...nice Graphics and Sound are not making up for that.I think it was only hyped because of the first and,like Halo 2,just because PC gamers needed a good reason to upgrade their PCs and nothing better was coming out.Maybe I change my mind of I get the Orange Box,but after the first 6h without anything that makes the game gameplay-wise better then any other FPS...I mean everyone was talking about the great Storyline and style of Storytelling,but where was it?I was walking around in BIG areas,some people telling ''Hey Mr Freeman,I磛e heard of you,go there and there''you walked (or driven a boat) through a area,shot a handfull of enemys,sometimes a physics-show off (couldn磘 be called puzzles,but nice made),just to do the same the next 2h...without anything exactly happening.Short after Ravenholm I stopped,because the game just didn磘 give me any reason to play on.After a friend finished it and told me the game whould get any better (HL1 is his number 1 FPS of all time)I stopped.What磗 so good about this game?I just don磘 get it...I play the 1st right now,in order to find a sense.
Half-life 2 is a very good shooter but not the best ever like it's hyped to be. There are plenty of less popular shooters that are on par with it or close to being on par. It would depend on your definition of one of the best but this is a list of FPS I feel were better for their time then HL2. Half-life, Doom, Undying, Deus Ex, NOLF 1 %26 2, Goldeneye, Halo, System Shock 2, UT and Quake 3. It wouldn't make my top 10 but obviously it would be in the top 10 of many gamers and the mod support it received because of this greatly improved the retail product. The same was true of the original but it would have been in my top 10 regardless.
For me personally, Half-Life 2 is one of the greatest games I've ever played. Superb graphics and sound, started off the physics revolution, stellar and varied level design, fantastic action sequences, solid AI, unparalleled mod scene...but far more importantly, Half-Life 2 transcends being a mere ''game''. It is an experience like no other with a very interesting, complex storyline, interactive/indirect storytelling, compelling characters, and an incredible atmosphere. From the very first few seconds of gameplay, I knew I was in for something special. You can feel the misery of the people surrounding you and you fervently want to join in the revolt. There is something distinctly real and human about Half-Life 2 despite the fact that you're fighting off an alien invasion.
One of the greatest FPS games ever?.....Absolutely! (people, his thread title is asking if it's
one of the greatest FPS every, not
the greatest FPS ever) In terms of the genre overall, I still think System Shock 2 and Deus Ex were the height of the genre....however...those are also considered more FPS-hybrid games then straightforward FPS, so for me personally, in terms of a
straightforward single player FPS (as in a non-hybrid), I would say HL2 is still
the best Single Player FPS out on the market.Besides the facts that HL2 is a pretty lengthy single player FPS that is longer then most FPS games today, the story and settings being interesting, and the gameplay mechanics feeling right.....here is pretty much some other reasons that make HL2 such a top game in it's genre....1)
It's a Sequel that goes for Complete Change yet clearly remains connected to the Original game both in content and feel - Most sequels to other FPS games usually take place in the same type of locations as the original and pretty much turn into little more then more of the same. HL2 is different. HL2 takes place in a completely different setting with completely different enemies and with a completely different theme....yet it distinctly remains a HL game, that is quite an accomplishment. Valve could have easily made HL2 take place in another secret government facility with another alien outbreak with the same aliens....but instead they choose to break the mold. Instead of the government facility setting of the first HL with a kind of Alien incursion type of story, HL2 takes place in a European city and has a more Orwellian feel to the background of the story....yet it's done in a way that not only works, but also makes sense in connecting to the original HL.2 )
The Setting of HL2 Breaks Away from typical FPS Cliches yet still provides just as great a backdrop for the Action - There are countless shooters where you play as some marine soldier and weird looking Aliens are coming in their advanced spaceships and Earth armies are battling it out full scale with the Alien invasion........HL2 does away with that cliche. In HL2 the Aliens are already here, they've won, and they've set up an oppressive government...one that presents itself as peaceful and in the human's best interest, when it clearly isn't. Where so many other FPS games have you as the lone-one-man-army super marine fighting a vast army of aliens/demons/cyborgs etc......HL2 presents you more as the Saboteur of an oppressive state and as a key component in a
greater resistance force rather then a one man super army.
So many Sci-Fi FPS games use a
Independence Day or
War of the Worlds type theme......but how many use Orwellian theme out of something like
1984?3)
The Story and Characters are Interesting and unfold through the perspective of the Player - There are no long cutscenes in HL2....HL2 doesn't need them. Everything unfolds through the perspective of the player in which the player is always playing HL2. Despite not having cutscenes, HL2 still manages to have some of the most interesting NPC characters in an FPS like Alyx, Barney, The G-man, Dr. Kleiner, Dr. Breen, etc. who express more personality and emotion during
the gameplay itself then most FPS games do through dedicated cutscenes.4)
The Gravity Gun Changes the Game to give it a both a Uniqueness and Fun Factor beyond other FPS Games without feeling gimicky - The gravity gun is probably the only weapon in an FPS that also acts as a tool that greatly effects the gameplay and is even needed to progress. There are two ways in which the Gravity gun is important. First, it was the first weapon I'm aware of in an FPS game that allows you to manipulate multiple objects in the environment, this greatly effected the gameplay in that it allowed for environmental puzzles that added a new dynamic that went beyond the gameplay being about just shooting bad guys. Second, It's a weapon where the ammo is practically anything you want it to be....this allows the player to get creative with how they want to use the gravity gun as both a weapon and a tool. But most of all, the Gravity Gun is
fun to use...the game certainly provides you with a variety of other weapons and tools, but I still kept coming back to the Gravity Gun cause it was enjoyable. 5)
It was Overall the Best Looking Game for it's time and even into today, yet was highly scalable for a variety of players - The fact that 3 YEARS later the visuals in HL2 manage to stack up with ''next-gen'' games says something. HL2 had large environments and probably the best character design and water effects for the time, even today those two things have held up quite well. But even in 2004, plenty of people were able to run HL2 fine on a variety of hardware.6)
The HL2 Package has allowed for Unlimited Expansion through both Usermade and Official Content beyond most titles - Mods like Garry's Mod, Dystopia, and countless others have given the package of HL2 a longevity beyond any other game.....not to mention all the usermade maps, mods, skins, and mods for games like CS:S.
Finally, on top of all that Valve themselves have provided a wealth of FREE content and continuous updates such as numerous free maps, character models, and updates for CS:S, Lost Coast which was a free single player level for HL2, and HL2: Deathmatch......aside from maybe Epic on PC, how many other developers can claim they provided as much free official content and continuous support for their game?
Yes, it is clearly one of the best single player experiences around in the fps genre. That being said, games are a hard thing to make a 'best of' list, because they are always changing, and evolving into something better. You wonder if you look at it as it is now, or has it was when it came out. It's still up there, even though it came out a few years ago.I can't wait to re-live the experience (and play episode 1 and 2, which I never have) tommorow, when I pick up the Orange Box.
[QUOTE=''rimnet00'']Hell ya. Amazing graphics. Stellar story, and potentially the best story in an FPS in it's time. Brilliant sound quality. Best AI of it's time. By far the best Mod support of it's time. One of the first games to implement such a vastly complicated physics system. Oh, and CSS, the sequal to one of the best online games of all time, came packaged with it.[/QUOTE] Hmm, I think you're describing the first game, not the second. HL2 was amazing ofc, and one of the best titles in the genre, but IMO the actual fighting left a bit to be desired. The AI in the first game was nothing short of amazing, but in the second game there wasn't much to make it stand out in this department. Storytelling was indeed amazing, and the atmosphere is still unsurpassed IMO.
HL2 is one of the greatest games I ever played, period. From its crushingly oppresive atmosphere, to its gorgeous graphics and excellent storytelling it is without debate one of the best in its genre. For ME personally FEAR was a better title, but HL2 is a close second.
I remember playing this for the first time last year and being completly blown away.
[QUOTE=''GodModeEnabled''] For ME personally FEAR was a better title, but HL2 is a close second.[/QUOTE]*Throws up in the corner* Sorry I had to :P
It's my personal favourite FPS, so yeah I have no objection to calling it ''one of the best...'' at all.
