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[DMczaf]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/717/717744p1.html

Apparently, the elevator battle leading back up to City 17 was giving a lot of folks problems, and the update makes a few balance changes during the sequence. Specifically, more health has been added to the area, more cinderblocks and barrels have been added for use as gravity gun ammunition, extra shotgun shells have been added, and the number of zombies attacking the player has been reduced.

I will admit, that Elevator battle had me restarting a bunch of times. Either I would die, or Alyx would die right when the elevator came down.

 

[Shawn128]

LAME

They're just dumbing it down for people who suck at the game.

 

[Zen]

I only ever died once, the second time I made it through with a red health bar, it was a total blast.

I do not support this dumbing down, play it on easy if you suck that much!

 

[Funky Papa]

That is so very lame. The elevator battle was good as it was. And BTW, I never got Alyx killed. Never.

The game is not hard Valve, do not mangle it for the pussies.

 

[Shawn128]

That is so very lame. The elevator battle was good as it was. And BTW, I never got Alyx killed. Never.

The game is not hard Valve, do not mangle it for the pussies.

Wait. Alyx can die in the game?

 

[Andy787]

That is so very lame. The elevator battle was good as it was. And BTW, I never got Alyx killed. Never.

That's because you can't get her killed.

 

[The Shadow]

I got through it the first time. I'm awesome.

Wait. Alyx can die in the game?

Yeah. She died on me once. In a hallway. For some reason she "hid" in the middle of the hallway instead of behind a barrier and got shot up. I thought she was invulnerable because she took so many hits and I was just watching her get shot up but then she groaned, hit the ground and I had to reload.

 

[Funky Papa]

That's because you can't get her killed.

IIRC a friend told me that he couldn't pass a certain part of the game because Alyx kept dying.

 

[Wario64]

So they're using the statistics to find where players had problems and making it EASIER? Gah.


If Itagaki was working on this game, he would make the game even harder

 

[DMczaf]

IIRC a friend told me that he couldn't pass a certain part of the game because Alyx kept dying.

She died on me in the Elevator part, and the parking garage where there are 3 Antlion holes. For some reason, she wouldn't follow me up to the 2nd level, so she was just standing there shooting at antlions while im trying to move cars down. -_- dumb bitch! There are like 6 antlions killing you, RUN UP THE RAMP!

 

[Funky Papa]

So they're using the statistics to find where players had problems and making it EASIER? Gah.


If Itagaki was working on this game, he would make the game even harder

I hope Ninja Gaiden II comes with some tracking system so he can make the Black expansion so hard it kills us while sleeping.

 

[fartblast]

lol, forgot i had this game. thanks.

 

[COCKLES]

That was a fun sequence, took 3 or 4 restarts and just escaped in the end by the barest of margins. :lol

 

[DMczaf]

That was a fun sequence, took 3 or 4 restarts and just escaped in the end by the barest of margins. :lol

I went into the whole situation with very low ammo, so it was pretty much Alyx shooting and me trying to save flashlight power.

I loved it when I finally ran out of power, saved up enough and turned it back on.....BOOO! SCREAMING ZOMBIE IN YO FACE BITCH!

 

[tedtropy]

Wait. Alyx can die in the game?

I'm wondering that myself, because I've seen her standing right next to exploding barrels and all other means of dismemberment with only and "ouch" sound or similar to show for it. The only time I saw her die was during the beginning area where the crap falling from above can break the elevator if you don't knock it out of way in time. I died at that portion more times than I'm willing to admit, but I loved the challenge.

Valve toning the game down like this is kind of crappy. If they want to implement that change to just the easy mode (and maybe they did, I'm not sure) then that's fine, otherwise there's supposed to be moments in FPSes where your health drops to the teens. That's what makes you feel as though there's a risk and, hence, have that fun-type stuff the kids are talking about.

 

[Enkidu]

She died on me in the Elevator part, and the parking garage where there are 3 Antlion holes. For some reason, she wouldn't follow me up to the 2nd level, so she was just standing there shooting at antlions while im trying to move cars down. -_- dumb bitch! There are like 6 antlions killing you, RUN UP THE RAMP!

She did the same thing to me... but that was part of my plan since I thought she couldn't get killed and used her as a diversion through the entire game. She sure has alot of hp...

 

[Andy787]

What, you can get her killed? Seriously? Damn, I guess you guys just suck too much ass.

 

[tedtropy]

What, you can get her killed? Seriously? Damn, I guess you guys just suck too much ass.

Oh go look for some sailors already, junior.

 

[hukasmokincaterpillar]

Kinda weak their nerfing that section a bit, one of the best set pieces in the game I thought.

It did give me trouble at first, mostly because I thought I had to keep the Zombines from exploding in Alyx's grill and kept catching collateral damage in the process. Once I realized she had special shrapnel absorbing powers it was a lot easier.

 

[elostyle]

The only thing the elevator sequence needed was more light and less doom3.

 

[teepo]

The only thing the elevator sequence needed was more light and less doom3.

HELL NO

 

[tedtropy]

The only thing the elevator sequence needed was more light and less doom3.

What's funny about HL2 being a far superior game to Doom 3 in general was that its scarier/darker moments were also better than those Doom 3 tried to create. Ravenholm had me on edge far more than any of the "boggity-boggity-spawned-behind-you" business in that game.

 

[critch]

She died on me exactly once, when she decided to stand right on top of a fire in the hospital.

 

[Campster]

What's funny about HL2 being a far superior game to Doom 3 in general was that its scarier/darker moments were also better than those Doom 3 tried to create. Ravenholm had me on edge far more than any of the "boggity-boggity-spawned-behind-you" business in that game.

So Ravenholm's spookiness was a freak accident?

 

[DMczaf]

What's funny about HL2 being a far superior game to Doom 3 in general was that its scarier/darker moments were also better than those Doom 3 tried to create. Ravenholm had me on edge far more than any of the "boggity-boggity-spawned-behind-you" business in that game.

I also like how you can avoid cheap scares. Like when theres a load of boxes somewhere, you just know a spider headcrab is there waiting. Just throw a grenade and watch it try to get the hell out of it's own trap :lol

 

[tedtropy]

So Ravenholm's spookiness was a freak accident?

I think the darker ambiance of Ravenholm came off more naturally and less, shall we say, cheap as compared to Doom 3.

 

[Great Rumbler]

I died once during the elevator part and Alex never got killed. Aside from that part and the part near the end, I thought it was a fairly easy game.

 

[MarkRyan]

That's because you can't get her killed.

She died on me once when I wanted to see what'd happen if I let her fight on her own.

 

[Sjoerd]

Episode 2 was awesome. No need to change the difficuty. The elevator section might be more difficult than the rest of the game, but those kind of sections are needed. Far too many easy games already no need to dumb them down. I always quicksave when I'm low on health just to keep the challenge!

 

[Mooreberg]

What, you can get her killed? Seriously? Damn, I guess you guys just suck too much ass.

It never happened to me on normal difficulty, but the amount of damage she takes on hard combat difficulty is a lot less. And combine soldiers with shotguns are bastards.

I wish an update like this was just optional instead, I got by the section pretty easily by just collecting all the gas canisters and barrels before turning the switch back on, and throwing shit at every zombine running in my direction.

 

[Mrbob]

That sequence is EZ.

All you need to do is hole yourself up in the far corner room, and take out all the enemies that come at you until the elevator is down. Then book it to the elevator avoiding all th enemies in the process.

 

[evilchicken]

I did a similar strategy MrBob.. it made it pretty easy.

 

[Romance Pie]

there was plenty of supplies laid around, especially propane tanks so you could light up the place with mobile bonfires. It was obvious that this was a mass pit battle so I got a whole bunch of tanks into a corner and casually launched them at the zombies for the first two times. Then asked to try running around without banking the tanks, but it was pretty simple finding the flares and to use and throwing a few barrels here and there.
if its too hard for some then play it on easy or you could abuse the commentry invinceablity to make it easier, but then wheres the fun in that?

 

[Pachinko]

I think I maybe died during that sequence once. It wasn't that bad , I actually enjoyed that part becuase it got so frantic by the end.

 

[tedtropy]

That sequence is EZ.

All you need to do is hole yourself up in the far corner room, and take out all the enemies that come at you until the elevator is down. Then book it to the elevator avoiding all th enemies in the process.

I tried that method but a "Zombine" always managed to sneak or work his way in. Zomie soldier + grendade-in-hand + small room = dead Gordon.

 

[firex]

I actually got through this part no problem on hard, it was the later fights that gave me trouble. I did get out of it pretty hurt, but not too bad... I believe you get the shotgun around that time, so I just used it + the flashlight (if you target something and Alyx isn't being attacked, she'll focus on it) to kill the fast zombies (I really don't know what to call them, but they're the creepiest ****ers and they scream and stuff).

 

[Servizio]

The only part I really remember having to restart more than once was when you were in the ruined parking structure with the antlions swarming in. I think I kept trying to do it without blocking the hives

So what's the ETA on Ep2 again? 09?

 

[Akia]

The elevator fight was the most memorable fight in the game. Staying alive was such a rush. I came really close to dieing so I guess that was why. But I'm also happy they tweaked it for others. Since the statistics showed that many people never finished the game. Maybe this will help them reach the credits.

 

[Brannon]

They're making HL2EP1 easier. A near invincible ally with infinite bullets and shells, and they're making it easier.

I'm going to go drink a Sprite now.

 

[D3VI0US]

****! I didn't beat this yet, hell I've barely played it. Is there a way to play the original game still or is this update for everyone no choice?

 

[tedtropy]

They're making HL2EP1 easier. A near invincible ally with infinite bullets and shells, and they're making it easier.

I'm going to go drink a Sprite now.

Sprite has now revised their soda to be sprayed in weaponized vapor form and absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Focus groups found the original can form "too difficult".

 

[teepo]

They're making HL2EP1 easier. A near invincible ally with infinite bullets and shells, and they're making it easier.

I'm going to go drink a Sprite now.

you know there is a hard option... right?

 

[Krypton Zod]

That was actually one of the better parts of Episode One. A shame they're dumbing it down, especially for people who haven't played it yet.

 

[jett]

**** I sure hope console-gaming doesn't turn into this shit, patching-after-what,-a-couple-of-weeks-after-the-game-was-out? and all. Valve didn't game test this thing properly or something?

 

[Pimpbaa]

**** I sure hope console-gaming doesn't turn into this shit, patching-after-what,-a-couple-of-weeks-after-the-game-was-out? and all. Valve didn't game test this thing properly or something?

Nothing was broken to begin with. They are just dumbing down a section that I guess some people found hard.

 

[Brannon]

you know there is a hard option... right?

They call it Hard, I call it Normal +, but then again I eat fire ants and mutant poutine for breakfast cuz I'm hardcore like that.

Seriously though I didn't notice anything different harder about hard mode except being the usual deal less damage/take more damage bit. It was just a long sequence of waiting darkness, dodging, weaving, shooting and flashlights. It would've been harder if there was less ammo around.

Which gives me an idea (not about ammo). If they can make that section easier for the ones that couldn't handle it, couldn't they make it harder for those that want more? Like say an antlion boss in the darkness while Alyx hid in safety and took some potshots at it as long as your flashlight was on it...

Come on Valve, give us an antlion boss fight in the darkness!

 

[Brannon]

**** I sure hope console-gaming doesn't turn into this shit

CoD2X360's lobby system says hi (in a good way I grudgingly admit).