Pikelet said:
Alright, figured I could clarify my stance because I feel jumped for having a personal opinion. :lol
I like the design of the Combine and the main cast, nothing wrong with that stuff at all. I was mainly directing my "artistic" comment at the by-now lacking environments. Conceptually, the environments are great, but the way they're designed doesn't clash well with the technical limitations of the Source engine (at least in the way it's used in the main game). Take the entire Highway 17 chapter. All the environments on display there are barren and pretty polygon-starved in general, which makes the good enemy models stick out like sore thumbs. I'm just past the area where you get the crossbow for the first time, and that particular area is so bad-looking by today's standards (e.g. the ugly Combine force field, the plain grass parts etc.). I hope you understand what I'm trying to explain.
Of course, the close-quarter levels are better looking (e.g. Nova Prospekt), but I also don't fancy the Combine shiny metallic barriers/textures all that much (an obviously highly subjective opinion), among other small niggles. That said, this is a highly subjective opinion, and I'm well aware that most people really like the art style/level design of this game. Different strokes I guess.
I guess I should clarify that I'm speaking from a year-2010-stance, since the game was indeed very beautiful when it was released (I was there day one for HL2). I'm just questioning just how modular the HL2 engine really is.
