If we're counting FEAR for its AI, then we also have to include its level design, which is intrisically linked to the AI.
And if we're saying its AI, gunplay, and level design are all better, we may as well concede that the game as a whole is better.
FEAR's level design is a trash fire. Boring game with a cool slomo gimmick that gets old after 30 minutes. FEAR 2 actually has the best campaign in the series.
Honestly when you compare HL2 to the games before it and the games that released up until today to HL2, there's not much that's nearly as revolutionary as HL2 was.
Marginally better games today? Maybe. As revolutionary? Not even fucking close.
HL2 took games to the next level. I haven't seen a game since that advanced the tech and gameplay variety and versatility as much as HL2 did.
Doom (2016) absolutely kills Half life 2:s gameplay. In fact it sets a new standard in fps gameplay
HL2 is still the king when it comes to atmosphere imo and only Bioshock 1 comes close
Titanfall 2 - vastly overrated, barely finished the campaign because of the campy story/dialogue
Uh... too many to name? Half-Life 2 isn't great from a mechanical or a narrative perspective, which are the two things we play FPSes for.
Halo 3 shits on Half-Life 2. Bulletstorm demolishes it on a narrative front. Titanfall 2 blows it away. Doom outplays it. Call of Duty 4 has dramatically better pacing. Crysis is way more interesting in the combat department. FEAR is the second greatest first person shooter of all time.
Half-Life 2 is a low bar. It would be easier to list worse FPSes. You got Killzone 2, Resistance 2, Darkest of Days, Legendary, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, Halo 4, Halo 5, Black Ops 1-3... probably some others?
I think Half-Life 2 is a difficult game to boil down because it has some severe flaws. To put it bluntly, HL2's combat is abysmal. The core loop is bad. The dynamic item drops serve as a band-aid fix for the fact that avoiding damage is stupidly difficult and a majority of the gameplay involves shooting at the bullet sponge enemies with barely existent hit reactions hoping that they'll drop dead before you do. HL2's redeeming factor is "the journey". One endures the actual moment to moment gameplay because "the journey" is quite remarkable. Also, while HL2's writing is competent at best, the mystery of the G-Man is a superb hook. When people talk about wanting a conclusion in HL3, they really want to understand who the G-Man is, what he wants, and why he does the things he does.
Agreed. It's crazy how many different styles and settings HL2 successfully juggles. It's an immersive sim, a horror game, a puzzle game, a road trip game, a platformed, an FPS. You move from cityscapes to the open road to industrial installations to futuristic towers. You are hunted, then you are the hunter, you are weak and then you become a badass, you fight everything from tiny headcrabs to huge striders. It has a tight linear campaign that still gives you a lot of opportunities for emergent gameplay. The game has everything.
Half-Life 1/2's innovations were largely experimental first person storytelling. Most of what HL1 accomplished had previously been accomplished by System Shock and GoldenEye, but HL1 was an extremely slick and extremely consistent execution of concepts they toyed with. In particular, where GoldenEye told most of its story through Bond's eyes, HL1 told ALL of its story through Gordon's eyes. The idea of seamless levels was lifted directly from Quake II, but HL1 executed this masterfully.No, they want a game as revolutionary as HL2 was, and Half-Life before it.
Half-Life 2 is a very bad first person shooter. However, a huge part of HL2's gameplay is not shooting, but rather the journey you take from A to B to C. This is why HL2 is a classic. It's a classic in spite of its poor gameplay. There is nothing fun about shooting bullet sponge enemies who don't respond to being shot and who fire back at you with razor sharp accuracy while running. The gravity gun is somewhat enjoyable, but it doesn't solve the core combat problems.Honestly, the idea that HL2 is all story while gameplay is something to be "endured" is a little hysterical.
The driving sections are integral to the "journey" feeling that makes HL2 the game it is. A seamless journey across widely spaced locations.If you like boring driving sections, base defense trash and staring at NPCs talking I guess.
Valve struggled with Alyx and Gordon as characters because Gordon is a paper thin silent protagonist, which makes Alyx's escalating fawning driven by conversations we are never privy to difficult to convincingly convey to the player.'You're my new hero Gordon'.
I resent the term "tech demo". Mario 64 is a tech demo. Many great games are essentially "tech demos." Especially Halo, the game that was basically made in 6 months, as I recall. Despite its combat being really, really, really not good, HL2 is a full fledged FPS game that does a number of things really well.Half-Life 2 sucks. Good thing is you can only go up when you play an actually good FPS and not a glorified tech demo.
Half-Life 1/2's innovations were largely experimental first person storytelling. Most of what HL1 accomplished had previously been accomplished by System Shock and GoldenEye, but HL1 was an extremely slick and extremely consistent execution of concepts they toyed with. In particular, where GoldenEye told most of its story through Bond's eyes, HL1 told ALL of its story through Gordon's eyes. The idea of seamless levels was lifted directly from Quake II, but HL1 executed this masterfully.
HL1 also favored extremely stripped down level design. A corridor convincingly dressed up as a series of engaging locales. A lot of fake doors and clever backdrops creating the illusion of a bigger world.
This slickness did not extend to the combat, which was really not very good. The saving grace of HL1's combat model is that marines cannot shoot while moving. This is where HL2 screwed up incredibly badly. It is possible to tactically move in HL1 in a way that avoids taking damage. In HL2, this is extremely difficult. Both games suffer from poor enemy hit responses and irritatingly spongey human enemies.
I think that's another console vs PC mentality thing.Not to get too off topic but I'm surprised so many people are mentioning far cry 2. Thought I was in the minority in thinking it's the best far cry campaign. I remember it getting mountains of hate back when it released.
Prey (2017) is fantastic.Can we count Prey?
Prey.
I don't necessarily agree with all of the choices, but that seems like a solid list.Best FPS campaigns (IMO) by year with runner up in parentheses.
[...]
I wonder how many of those still hold up today.
It's not specific to Logitech mice, nor does it always affect systems using Logitech mice.On PC without a logitech mouse.
The combat was stiff and unresponsive. HL1's weapons were a bit better, but both HL1 and HL2 suffer from "BB gun" syndrome where it feels like you're shooting at enemies with pellets until they suddenly fall dead. You fire an assault rifle at someone's leg, and nothing happens. They just grunt, at most. HL1 was a massive step back from GoldenEye in terms of FPS NPC animation. And HL2 was fairly similar to HL1, but with a worse combat loop.The combat was probably the best out of any FPS. The weapons were better than probably any fps.
HL1's AI was quite decent for the time, and certainly industry leading in some ways. However, the marines being well animated doesn't change the fact they lacked proper hit reactions. That there be a response to shooting an enemy is absolutely essential in a singleplayer FPS game. It's what makes guns feel punchy and responsive.The marine's skeletal animation and AI was second to none in gaming.
The entire combat model in HL2 uses the tailored item drop system, added late in development I believe, as a crutch because the AI are unresponsive damage sponges that the player can't really tactically engage. HL2 does not have "good feeling" combat. Its combat is light, empty, and unsatisfying.
I remember hearing that dynamic item resupply was a late development thing from this video, from memory. But I dunno what his source was.Where can I read about this?
FEAR's level design is a trash fire. Boring game with a cool slomo gimmick that gets old after 30 minutes. FEAR 2 actually has the best campaign in the series.
Uh... too many to name? Half-Life 2 isn't great from a mechanical or a narrative perspective, which are the two things we play FPSes for.
Halo 3 shits on Half-Life 2. Bulletstorm demolishes it on a narrative front. Titanfall 2 blows it away. Doom outplays it. Call of Duty 4 has dramatically better pacing. Crysis is way more interesting in the combat department. FEAR is the second greatest first person shooter of all time.
Half-Life 2 is a low bar. It would be easier to list worse FPSes. You got Killzone 2, Resistance 2, Darkest of Days, Legendary, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, Halo 4, Halo 5, Black Ops 1-3... probably some others?
FEAR does fall victim to repetition. The strength of the AI is driven by the tightly constrained environments which are warehouses, office buildings, hospitals, and underground complexes. It's all a little... cookie cutter. It is a very good game, though. And I prefer it to FEAR 2, personally. I'm especially fond of Extraction Point.lol what.
FEAR has fantastic level design. But I guess I can see why you dislike it if you prefer the generic hallway popamole design of the sequel.
FEAR does fall victim to repetition. The strength of the AI is driven by the tightly constrained environments which are warehouses, office buildings, hospitals, and underground complexes. It's all a little... cookie cutter. It is a very good game, though. And I prefer it to FEAR 2, personally. I'm especially fond of Extraction Point.
In some ways, FEAR 2 is like Crysis 2. It doesn't necessarily reach the heights of its predecessor, but it's a more consistent experience with some mechanical polish that doesn't wear out its welcome. The original FEAR is way too long. The first Crysis hits the repetition skids after about 3-4 hours.
The irony is that both Crysis 2 and FEAR 2 were hamstrung by audience expectations. It makes zero sense that Michael Becket has slow motion powers, but that's what "the fans" expected from a FEAR sequel. Similarly, Crysis 2 suffered from the nanosuit being shoved into the game despite it being gimmicky and almost impossible to balance.
I wish developers were a bit braver, and more willing to completely ignore audience expectations for sequels in order to make something special.
Uh... too many to name? Half-Life 2 isn't great from a mechanical or a narrative perspective, which are the two things we play FPSes for.
Halo 3 shits on Half-Life 2. Bulletstorm demolishes it on a narrative front. Titanfall 2 blows it away. Doom outplays it. Call of Duty 4 has dramatically better pacing. Crysis is way more interesting in the combat department. FEAR is the second greatest first person shooter of all time.
Half-Life 2 is a low bar. It would be easier to list worse FPSes. You got Killzone 2, Resistance 2, Darkest of Days, Legendary, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, Halo 4, Halo 5, Black Ops 1-3... probably some others?
FEAR does fall victim to repetition. The strength of the AI is driven by the tightly constrained environments which are warehouses, office buildings, hospitals, and underground complexes. It's all a little... cookie cutter.
In some ways, FEAR 2 is like Crysis 2. It doesn't necessarily reach the heights of its predecessor, but it's a more consistent experience with some mechanical polish that doesn't wear out its welcome. The original FEAR is way too long. The first Crysis hits the repetition skids after about 3-4 hours.