Been playing through HL2, Ep1 and Ep2 over the last few days.
Something I've noticed is that the writing isn't that important. The visual storytelling and level design are what I love about these games, and Portal 2 showed they can still do a great job of that.
In HL2, the main exposition is from the scientists and it's all sci-fi stuff like stabilising the core and sending data packages etc. It's all stuff that makes you go "ok if you say so".
Alyx says a lot of "Gordon, you've done it again!" "Looks like it's up to you again Gordon" etc. Nothing groundbreaking. Even the emotional moments all come down to the actual performance.
The vortigaunt stuff, in Ep2 especially, really stood out to me. It's all pretty out there. Vortessence? Ant-lion husbandry? It's all kind of weird. I love the mystery of the Combine and the advisors and the g-man, but a lot of that stuff is great from what ISN'T said.
G-man dialogue is great too, although again the performance elevates it.
Something I've noticed is that the writing isn't that important. The visual storytelling and level design are what I love about these games, and Portal 2 showed they can still do a great job of that.
In HL2, the main exposition is from the scientists and it's all sci-fi stuff like stabilising the core and sending data packages etc. It's all stuff that makes you go "ok if you say so".
Alyx says a lot of "Gordon, you've done it again!" "Looks like it's up to you again Gordon" etc. Nothing groundbreaking. Even the emotional moments all come down to the actual performance.
The vortigaunt stuff, in Ep2 especially, really stood out to me. It's all pretty out there. Vortessence? Ant-lion husbandry? It's all kind of weird. I love the mystery of the Combine and the advisors and the g-man, but a lot of that stuff is great from what ISN'T said.
G-man dialogue is great too, although again the performance elevates it.