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I Love Half Life 2: Episode 2

angelkimne said:
Am I the only one who likes driving in Half Life? :P I'm sure I'm not, but I'm always surprised at how unpopular those sections are.

I thought they were fine, a nice change of pace from shooting that the game (as in HL2) would be monotonous without.
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I thought this was perfectly done. I have a hard time explaining myself as well as some of you(OP included) so I will try to explain as best as i can:
My job involves alot of driving to client's homes. I live in a very commuter heavy, large city. So, I spend alot of time in traffic. People cutting me off, tail lights as far as the eye can see, etc.
Then, I played Half-Life 2. The driving sequences begin. Drove for what seemed life an eternity with no other car in sight. No other signs of life, nothing but empty roads. I had never felt so alone(in a game) as I did while driving in Half-Life 2. I loved every minute of it!
 
Ponti said:
Playing through Half Life 2 plus it's Episodes has become a yearly ritual for me. Brilliant games.
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This. I'm also throwing HL1 + it's Gearbox expansions in as well since I finished those for the first time about a little over a year ago.

Also, am I the only person that actually ENJOYS the HL2 vehicle sections? Something about running the airboat aground running over a bunch of soldiers while gunning down the ones on the opposite side and shooting explosive barrels while heading to a ramp over a fence was awesome.
 
I ended up doing the exact same thing. Beat Portal 2 and decided to play through Episode 2 again for some reason. The one thing I am not a fan of is the driving mechanic, it makes me wish I was driving a warthog. Although maybe that is more of a mouse and keyboard vs controller situation than it is a mechanic.
 
I went through HL2 and its Eps (and Portal) again back at the beginning of the year, which I haven't played since The Orange Box released, so it's been awhile. Still so fresh and exciting, as good as FPS get.

And yeah, I'm also one of those weirdos who enjoys the vehicles in this series. I honestly had no idea those weren't liked by most.
 
I loved the driving levels too!

I wouldn't say "everyone hates them" unless we've seen a formal survey on the matter. You might notice 5 people complaining online, but you don't see the other 100 people who were just fine with it.
 
Vehicle sections are the worst parts to me. Canals in HL2 are probably the most dragged out vehicle sequence I've ever had the misfortune of playing. At least that I can remember.
 
Dance In My Blood said:
Valve's weakness has always been combat encounters. Enemy variety is low and multiple enemy types are rarely mixed into a single battle. The actual level design is great, but it rarely is taken advantage of.
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You didn't think the huge final battle that closes Episode 2 was a great combat encounter?

I agree with you in general that in Half-Life games the pure combat isn't quite as great as in other games, but I think the Strider/Hunter battle with the large, open environments at the end of Ep 2 was both a) something new for Valve and b) excellent in its own right, no matter what you compare it to.
 
cackhyena said:
Vehicle sections are the worst parts to me. Canals in HL2 are probably the most dragged out vehicle sequence I've ever had the misfortune of playing. At least that I can remember.
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That was one of the most memorable scenes in gaming to me *shrugs*
 
BackwardsSuggestions said:
I've never played HL1,2 or the episodes. I might get them on Steam one day.
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This, this is what you bring to the table?

You really should give them a shot soon.
 
BocoDragon said:
That was one of the most memorable scenes in gaming to me *shrugs*
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Me too, but that doesn't automatically make it good. It's memorable for being such a massive nonevent.
 
I've never felt like Half-Life games have had bad vehicle sections. I love them. I know a lot of people feel they drag in HL2, but I think the pacing of that game is superb.
 
Despite the numerous (small) issues I have with HL2 and (less so) the episodes IMO they're still the top when it comes to linear FPS design.

Of course there's always room to improve (weapon sounds, enemy variety, loading pauses, etc) and judging from the quality of Portal 2 I'm sure HL3, when it eventually releases, will surpass HL2 & the episodes in terms of quality.
 
Zeliard said:
You didn't think the huge final battle that closes Episode 2 was a great combat encounter?

I agree with you in general that in Half-Life games the pure combat isn't quite as great as in other games, but I think the Strider/Hunter battle with the large, open environments at the end of Ep 2 was both a) something new for Valve and b) excellent in its own right, no matter what you compare it to.
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I've never really cared for it. I've always been bothered by the abnormal Strider behavior. They seem to ignore you almost completely until a second before they die, which is completely illogical compared to what's shown in HL2 or the Episode One finale. The actual process of the battle largely boiled down to eliminating hunters with the car followed by the typical Valve boss of "launch explosive at big bad guy".

The mechanics of the fight are remarkably similar to the helicopter battle earlier in Episode 2, but the helicopter serves as a much more lethal force pushing you into cover and creating a timing mechanic with the bombs you throw back. I think that fight is overlooked in comparison to the finale, which was largely boosted up by the phenomenal ending story sequence to stick in people's minds.
 
I have to ask...

How well could this:
HyCvm.jpg

+ 1GB of video RAM

Run half life 2 and it's episodes? What about other valve games like portal 1 and 2?
 
AvidNobody said:
I have to ask...

How well could this:
HyCvm.jpg

+ 1GB of video RAM

Run half life 2 and it's episodes? What about other valve games like portal 1 and 2?
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You shouldn't have any problems running Valve games with that setup.
 
AvidNobody said:
I have to ask...

How well could this:
http://i.imgur.com/HyCvm.jpg[IMG]
+ 1GB of video RAM

Run half life 2 and it's episodes? What about other valve games like portal 1 and 2?[/QUOTE]
You should be fine with that
Click to expand...
 
Im really split on Episode 2 and Im a huge fan gotten every HL2 game day 1.
What I love
+Story Presentation- really intense story twists and exposition
+New setting- finally get to see out side City 17

What I dont like
-Feels very "gamey" with arena-like fighting areas (attack enemy waves, hold this position)
-Gamey-ness breaks the immersion of the story aspects
 
Hm, I never actually beat Episode 2. I got the the final battle years ago and was frustrated/scared and never got past it. I already knows what happens, but I still feel like I'm missing out on an awesome setpiece, and this game for sure has awesome setpieces. Vortal Combat, dual Guardians, the little village, oh my! And I think there was chase scene in there somewhere! Dammit, I wanna play this again. TONIGHT.
 
NinajHeartless said:
That part where you get ambushed in that little village...with the Hunters and Combine forces closing in on you.

PURE SHOOTER BLISS

The love in this thread makes me smile :)
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Aww yeeeaah
That's another example of how this game nails combat encounters with multiple enemy types.
And the final battle is so great.

Episode 2 is my favourite single player FPS. The game meshes narrative and level design better than anything else I've played. The OP sums it up pretty well; whenever I play it I'm struck by how it seems like a real adventure rather than a series of levels.

Also, I can't dislike Episode 1 as much as everyone else when it has that rad hospital fight.
 
Things I don't like:

-Zombies
-Antlions
-First person driving
-No super gravity gun
-Defensive encounters

I just played the entire series this year for the first time, while HL2 vanilla had more crap, I also think it had better moments and more variety (I liked the city parts). I thought Ep1 was a bit better than people were saying too.
 
It is a great game that is just as replayable as every Half Life game. Valve leaving all their fans just hanging for the next installment is so frustrating. They probably didn't even think about this before starting the next installment., whatever it may be.
 
Episode 2 blew me away. So sad that we still don't know anything about what's next- especially considering the ending. It's almost cruel.
 
Truant said:
The Half-Life sequels are amazing, but they never once felt like Half-Life.

Portal 2 did.
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I felt exactly the same way
down in the bowels of the old Aperture complex, such a Blast Pit vibe in that part of the game.
 
i was trying to look for impressions i had of episode 2 that pretty much summed up my thoughts these days.

and i ran across a post of mine from two years ago hoping that hl2ep3 wouldn't be a 2011 game.

:(
 
AniHawk said:
i was trying to look for impressions i had of episode 2 that pretty much summed up my thoughts these days.

and i ran across a post of mine from two years ago hoping that hl2ep3 wouldn't be a 2011 game.

:(
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Looks like you got your wish

Jerk
 
epmode said:
I feel that a few of us are running a serious risk of a heart attack when HL3 is finally unveiled.
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That's why Valve hasn't announced it. They're still working on those vitality sensor tech things so that way they know how to not kill their entire audience when they announce it.
 
LegendOfGood said:
I hope the people calling for interaction between Portal's character's and Half-Life's characters in Episode 3 are joking.
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It's not like they'll say anything to each other anyway.

No, I haven't played played Portal 2 yet, don't tell me if Chell talks
 
AniHawk said:
i was trying to look for impressions i had of episode 2 that pretty much summed up my thoughts these days.

and i ran across a post of mine from two years ago hoping that hl2ep3 wouldn't be a 2011 game.

:(
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i'm sure it'll be out before 20111!

oh, wait, too many ones. yeah, you're boned.
 
if i had never played half life or half life 2 and its episodes, i'd probably play a lot more shooters, since i wouldn't really know what a good one was like.
 
Billychu said:
I really need to play HL1, don't I?
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I really need to play it again, but I'm afraid I'll be disappointed if the prescription on my nostalgia glasses has expired. It has been about 11 years since I last played it.

Then again, perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised by how well it holds up . . .

Pardon the blasphemy, but will the Steam version of HL1 work with the Xbox 360 Windows controller?
 
professor_t said:
Pardon the blasphemy, but will the Steam version of HL1 work with the Xbox 360 Windows controller?
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Through xpadder or a similar program, sure. But goddamn that is some blasphemy. You couldn't pay me to play a shooter from that period with a pad.
 
Stallion Free said:
Through xpadder or a similar program, sure. But goddamn that is some blasphemy. You couldn't pay me to play a shooter from that period with a pad.
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i played HALF LIFE for the first time on ps2. not ideal or anything, but trust me, i'm a huge fan of all the games now. it overcomes any shortcomings of analog.
 
beelzebozo said:
i played HALF LIFE for the first time on ps2. not ideal or anything, but trust me, i'm a huge fan of all the games now. it overcomes any shortcomings of analog.
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I'm sure they made accommodations from the controller in the PS2 release. This is the PC version with a ghetto pad set up which is slightly different.
 
Stallion Free said:
I'm sure they made accommodations from the controller in the PS2 release. This is the PC version with a ghetto pad set up which is slightly different.
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the ps2 version had a lock-on button! haha
 
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