• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

LTTP: The Orange Box (360)

I'm with Dachande.

Having not played HL1 at the time, I find that it is just far too dated in many, many respects.

Some blatant (the visuals), some a tad more subtle (weapon balance, health system). The systems it uses aren't inherently bad, it's just that as part of an overall package, it's just so hard to play for enjoyment in 2010 without the aid of nostalgia. I've been babied by recent FPS, I guess.

I played through the game twice last year (once vanilla, the second time the Source version), and both times the game just wasn't all that fun.
 
Man, you're in for a treat. HL2 and its episodes are the best in the genre, and Portal is fantastic.

And of course, I'm currently hopelessly addicted to TF2
 
Rez said:
I'm with Dachande.

Having not played HL1 at the time, I find that it is just far too dated in many, many respects.

Some blatant (the visuals), some a tad more subtle (weapon balance, health system). The systems it uses aren't inherently bad, it's just that as part of an overall package, it's just so hard to play for enjoyment in 2010 without the aid of nostalgia. I've been babied by recent FPS, I guess.

I played through the game twice last year (once vanilla, the second time the Source version), and both times the game just wasn't all that fun.
Click to expand...

It's so interesting how two people can have such different opinions haha
 
Rez said:
It's just so hard to play for enjoyment in 2010 without the aid of nostalgia. I've been babied by recent FPS, I guess.
Click to expand...

I didn't have the nostalgia factor going at all when I first play it in '04 and it was quite dated visually by then. And yes, you have been babied by recent FPS. I regularly go back and play older shooters so the health system doesn't bother me at all.
 
Every time I see a thread like this I want to try and finish Half Life 2..

I just don't enjoy it though. Portal and TF2 were worth buying OB anyhow.
 
I finished Episode 1 and 2 some weeks ago. Half-Life 2 itself I finished last year. Now, they are in the list of my all time favorites.

Never finished Half-Life, though, but I think that I'm never going to do it. Too old and dated. Also, I don't feel myselft needing to play it, since I know all the plot.
 
I think Half-Life feels dated in many of the same ways a lot of older games do; Mario64 and Ocarina of Time come to mind. Nostalgia goggles help, but they mostly feel dated due to how many copycat games there have been since and how many design fundamentals have been adapted into other titles.

Half-Life is still a phenominal game, but a lot of what made it big has inspired and been adopted into numerous titles since, so it doesnt quite feel as fresh or modern.

I do think its still a very well made game though that plays great, and some particuarly sections of the game (such as sneaking past the tenticles) offer a rush thats still pretty unique. The combat after all these years still feels really intense and brutal.
 
EatChildren said:
I think Half-Life feels dated in many of the same ways a lot of older games do; Mario64 and Ocarina of Time come to mind. Nostalgia goggles help, but they mostly feel dated due to how many copycat games there have been since and how many design fundamentals have been adapted into other titles.
Click to expand...

I think this might be the case. I played HL1 on PC in 2006, and it was my very first FPS. It blew my mind. Now that I go back to it, having immersed myself in more FPSes, I can really see where certain elements that were pretty amazing aren't so much anymore.

That isn't saying that it's still well worth a playthrough; the pacing and the battles alone are enough to make it worth it.

The combat after all these years still feels really intense and brutal.
Click to expand...

Fighting the marines really packs a punch that you don't often find in games. HL2 certainly doesn't match it (well maybe the couple big fights near the end of ep2, but generally things seem a bit tamer).

Edit: Thinking back; I wonder how much of this punch can be attributed to the fact that I'd never played an fps before.
 
Stallion Free said:
I didn't have the nostalgia factor going at all when I first play it in '04 and it was quite dated visually by then. And yes, you have been babied by recent FPS. I regularly go back and play older shooters so the health system doesn't bother me at all.
Click to expand...
well, see, it's worth noting that I never played any of the 90s shooters when they were first released. I have little too no mental cushioning, if you'd like.

From a purely analytical standpoint, in the context of when it came out and what else was out at the time, I can totally respect and understand WHY it is amazing, I just don't respond to it in the same way I so with other games of the time I have gone back to (Starcraft, for example). FPS from that time just feel obsolete to me.
 
Boonoo said:
Fighting the marines really packs a punch that you don't often find in games. HL2 certainly doesn't match it (well maybe the couple big fights near the end of ep2, but generally things seem a bit tamer).

Edit: Thinking back; I wonder how much of this punch can be attributed to the fact that I'd never played an fps before.
Click to expand...

It still feels pretty brutal even going back. I think its a combination of the sounds, the movements, and the way the game reacts to damage. A nice blend of all the little things that makes it feel like you're really coming under fire from heavy damage.

Thats probably my only issue with Half-Life 2; the combat doesnt feel quite as full on and brutal as it did in Half-Life, though its still very good. They did manage to fix it in the episodes, particuarly the
lone Strider battle
at the end of Episode 1, and the various Combine + Hunter battles in Episode 2. The
Zombie rush while waiting for the elevator
in Episode 1 is also pretty full on.

Ahh, now I'm getting the urge to play through the series again :lol.
 
icarus-daedelus said:
This is an understatement which also applies to everything else in the genre. Console controllers are adequate enough for single player games, but multiplayer FPSs on consoles... oh the horror. WHY IS THE TURNING RADIUS SO SLOW AAAHHHH HE SHOT ME WHYYYY
Click to expand...

You do realise how many people actually play on a daily basis with multiplayer shooters on consoles. I know that this can not justify the different experience, but saying that it's not adequate enough for multiplayer is just lame. I have 250 hours in TF2 on Xbox 360. I've been playing since day 1, i've had several little breaks (2-3 months) because there wasn't a single fix (apart from a not good working class mod last year) since it's release, even tough Valve promised it again and again. TF2 on Xbox 360 is good, if you have a proper team and if you can overlook the fact that it can not be compared to it's PC counterpart. It's as good as it was in 2007, which might sound a bit agonizing (and pathetic), but it's still a fun experience nevertheless.
 
Gen X said:
I loved Portal and loved the way there wasn't just one way to solve the puzzles in some levels.

HL2 I thought was a bit meh. Fells more like a tech demo in most cases and too many narrow paths for what felt like 90% of the game. There was the odd great part but they were few and far between for my liking.
Click to expand...
I had the same reaction. I really didn't enjoy the game, from end to end. Poor encounter design, brain-dead AI, random puzzle sequences, endless narrow passages and driving/boating sequences and a story that felt like one long in-joke after another. (I get it - Gordon doesn't talk. So stop having everyone talk to him and then pause awkwardly. Snicker snicker.) Only made it a short ways into Episode 1 before giving up. It just wasn't fun. I played through it once, and Portal twice, before trading The Orange Box in. I really don't understand the affection for HL2.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I had the same reaction. I really didn't enjoy the game, from end to end. Poor encounter design, brain-dead AI, random puzzle sequences, endless narrow passages and driving/boating sequences and a story that felt like one long in-joke after another. (I get it - Gordon doesn't talk. So stop having everyone talk to him and then pause awkwardly. Snicker snicker.) Only made it a short ways into Episode 1 before giving up. It just wasn't fun. I played through it once, and Portal twice, before trading The Orange Box in. I really don't understand the affection for HL2.
Click to expand...

Because most of your issues with it are subjective to your taste and not the actual game's design. The encounters are not poorly designed. The puzzles are great sequences breakers. The narrow pages are part of the design, they work, and the story isn't a bunch of injokes.

You dont have to 'get it' or even like it, but dont complain about the design of the game as if it is somehow subpar and that is the reasoning behind your issues with it. You sound like a friend of mine who refuses to finish Half-Life 2 as, according to him, its "TOO OLD ITS JUST TOO OLD FEELING", and then goes on to praise Call of Duty 4 as the "true next-gen experience".

There's a reason its earned such a strong fanbase, numerous awards, praise, and respect throughout the industry. Its a fantastic game and in the top teir of game design. It works. Its okay to not like games that are good, you know, because your taste is different to that of the game's intentions.

You're still a bad person though :P
 
There was a gameplay trailer back then for HL1. It was a fight against marines in a subway level I think. They showed off the AI with grenades and mines and so on. It was mindblowing. Never found that video again sadly.
 
I don't have a wiretap into Ghal's head, but I have read a lot of his posts in the various Halo threads, so I think I have an inkling into the kind of shooter he likes (A big sandbox, with a lot of choices and routes, something that could be replayed a hundred times and yet that sandbox would still keep on giving more choices and options).

The Half-life games aren't nearly as much of a sandbox-styled shooter as Halo is. They restrict their scope a lot more and the experience is more scripted and fine-tuned. They're big atmosphere games, a large part of the appeal is to go on an odyssey in a thoroughly "painted" world and experience a highly authored struggle.
 
Wow thanks a lot eatchildren, that helped me quite a bit.

I dont really get who this dictator guy from the beginning of the game is, the one that keeps babbling about instincts etc
 
Earl Cazone said:
Wow thanks a lot eatchildren, that helped me quite a bit.

I dont really get who this dictator guy from the beginning of the game is, the one that keeps babbling about instincts etc
Click to expand...

He's the director of the facility where everything went wrong in the first game who made a deal and basically caused the events of that to happen in exchange for power, but he was never mentioned in HL1 at all. (Alyx telling you/Gordon this when she rescues you at the start of HL2 is the first time anyone finds out about all this)
 
the people that are head over heals for hl2 are the ones, like me, who bought it day of release in 2004. back then the game was a masterpiece. the physics are still impressive today. and in terms of atmosphere and story few games come close. i would rank hl2 in the top 3 games ever made.
 
Botolf said:
I don't have a wiretap into Ghal's head, but I have read a lot of his posts in the various Halo threads, so I think I have an inkling into the kind of shooter he likes (A big sandbox, with a lot of choices and routes, something that could be replayed a hundred times and yet that sandbox would still keep on giving more choices and options).

The Half-life games aren't nearly as much of a sandbox-styled shooter as Halo is. They restrict their scope a lot more and the experience is more scripted and fine-tuned. They're big atmosphere games, a large part of the appeal is to go on an odyssey in a thoroughly "painted" world and experience a highly authored struggle.
Click to expand...
I just take joy in the fact that I highly enjoy both games.:D
 
I bump this thread with my further Impressions (and spoilers, be warned if you havnt played it yet)

Right now I just teleported back to the city with alyx and help fighting the snipers on the street.

The game has massively picked up in terms of enjoyability, since I last posted here. The Gravitron adds a lot of possibilitiers for a fight, the better weapons are more fun and more soldiers means less aliens.

Speaking of aliens: HL2 has some of the most annoying enemies ever. Who thought small jumping creatures that are hard to see and hard to aim at are a good idea? so annoying!

I am no particular fan of the vehicle levels, but they are not shit either.

The game has some great locations, I like the helicopter fight on that scaffold. Nice atmosphere.
 
Ah, you're not too far from the end, then. If you're liking the Gravgun now, then keep playing and... you'll see. :D

As for the vehicle sections, well, you won't see another one until Episode 2, but that one is the best yet IMO. But I like all of them, so I'm a bit biased there.
 
I should really buy this for the 360 again. It's been forever since I played Portal, and I never did finish HL2. I would love to go back and play through the series. The first time I played it was on the PS3 version, which was a little too janky to deal with on top of the six year old game.
 
I just bought Orange Box last week and I'm only 1 hour into Half Life 2, but I love what I've played so far. It's exactly the type of game I like. I don't know how I waited his long to try it!
 
I had been trying to play through HL2 for years, I finally finished it late last year. I could never play more than a small amount at a time, I wasn't really enjoying myself. I hated the combat, it wasn't satisfying as the guns felt like they had no weight, there was no 'oomph' to the shooting. My favorite part was probably
Ravenholm
 
Dachande said:
Ah, you're not too far from the end, then. If you're liking the Gravgun now, then keep playing and... you'll see. :D
Click to expand...
Aahahahaha, yes, oh, you'll see, you'll see.....Some of the most fun I have had in gaming ever.
 
Pandoracell said:
I had been trying to play through HL2 for years, I finally finished it late last year. I could never play more than a small amount at a time, I wasn't really enjoying myself. I hated the combat, it wasn't satisfying as the guns felt like they had no weight, there was no 'oomph' to the shooting. My favorite part was probably
Ravenholm
Click to expand...

Same position im' in. I want to play through HL2 before experiencing the episodes, but haven't been able to make myself finish. I lose stem in the riverboat section, or shortly thereafter.
 
Gen X said:
I loved Portal and loved the way there wasn't just one way to solve the puzzles in some levels.

HL2 I thought was a bit meh. Fells more like a tech demo in most cases and too many narrow paths for what felt like 90% of the game. There was the odd great part but they were few and far between for my liking.

Never played any of the episodes unfortunately even though I had the OB.
Click to expand...

I didn't like HL2 that much either but loved the two episodes.
 
I know it sounds like PC elitism, but it's true that these games are really meant to be played on PC. TF2 is the most obvious case of this as any multi-player game built for PC just isnt going to be the same game when it is played with a controller.

But the point stands for HL2 and the episodes as well. With the easy and responsive accuracy of the mouse aiming while on the vehicles is second nature. I drive that little buggy and pick off the antlions mid flight just for fun. I certainly don't have to as through most of those sections you can just drive past them, but it's a nice way to pass the time during the drive. I don't know what enemies the OP was complaining about but it's a clear sign that the game is built around using a m/kb because it is so much easier to aim vertically with a mouse. I imaging that with a controller it's probably a chore to switch to the gravity gun and snatch nades out of the air and throw them back. With a mouse I snatch those nades out the air like a kung fu master grabs flies with chop sticks. :lol


All of that aside, HL2 is much more about the story and the journey. If you are only playing in very small increments then I don't think the feeling of being on a journey will actually sink in. And Valves story telling is very passive. They don't tell a story with dialog, they tell the story with the world around you. The decay, the control, the fear of the citizens, you pick up on all of that without some long winded exposition and cutscenes. We had a thread here last year where we all played trough HL2 and you would be surprised how much you aren't seeing if you aren't playing the game knowing to pay attention to the world around you for the story. There is one moment during the "Follow Freeman" chapter that really stands out if you are in the mindset to pay attention to the world. You will probably remember the area because you see combine troops moving on the other side of some frosted glass doors before you encounter them. Well on that floor there is a room, in the room is a blood soaked chair, a bucket on the ground, and pliers on the table. You don't need one of the characters that are traveling with you to say something for you to know what happened in that room. And that in a nutshell is Valves storytelling.
 
This reminds, I really need to beat Episode 2, I started playing but just stopped.

I had been playing HL1, Episode 1 back to back non stop for a week though.

When the hell is Episode 3 coming out?
 
honeymustardn said:
You can't play Team Fortress 2 properly with a controller. It's simply too fast.
Click to expand...

I disagree wholeheartedly. Clearly you've never played the game on the 360, or have never given it a shot. The game runs perfectly well with a controller, it's not like everybody else gets a mouse and keyboard on the 360, so everybody has an equal playing field.

Trust me, as a guy who has amassed over 400 hours into 360 TF2, you're wrong
 
I <3 Memes said:
I know it sounds like PC elitism, but it's true that these games are really meant to be played on PC. TF2 is the most obvious case of this as any multi-player game built for PC just isnt going to be the same game when it is played with a controller.
Click to expand...

How is it not the same damn game, as a person who plays both versions frequently, I can honestly say that both games are fairly equal.
 
Pandoracell said:
I had been trying to play through HL2 for years, I finally finished it late last year. I could never play more than a small amount at a time, I wasn't really enjoying myself. I hated the combat, it wasn't satisfying as the guns felt like they had no weight, there was no 'oomph' to the shooting.
Click to expand...
Needs iron sights amirite? gunplaygunplaygunplay
 
The feeling of inertia in this game is unbelievable.

Firing a portal at your feet just before you land. And then again. And again....:D
 
i did the same as the OP when i got orange box. beat portal then jumped into hl2. great game. the presentation is very clean, straight forward, and non-pretentious. couldnt ask for a more balanced game. plus it has robert guillaume in it, which was an awesome surprise...
 
Stallion Free said:
That is a huge mistake. You are missing out on one of the greatest games ever. It has been on sale for less than a dollar on Steam and any PC can run it. There is no excuse.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no. :( I got Half-Life off Steam for under $1, but my PC can't run it. I posted a thread about it a long time ago, and it seemed like my graphics card was the problem. However, I'm not going to spend $50 on a graphics card to play a $1 game. :/ I've tried it on another PC, but it eventually froze there, too. I need to go back to it now that the other PC has had more RAM installed, though.

I am enjoying Half-Life 2, so far, though (~3 hours in). I played enough of the first one (before freezing) to have some clue what's going on, though. :lol
 
donny2112 said:
Unfortunately, no. :( I got Half-Life off Steam for under $1, but my PC can't run it. I posted a thread about it a long time ago, and it seemed like my graphics card was the problem. However, I'm not going to spend $50 on a graphics card to play a $1 game. :/ I've tried it on another PC, but it eventually froze there, too. I need to go back to it now that the other PC has had more RAM installed, though.

I am enjoying Half-Life 2, so far, though (~3 hours in). I played enough of the first one (before freezing) to have some clue what's going on, though. :lol
Click to expand...

Can't you just use your onboard GPU on your motherboard?
Or try the game in software mode. I think it doesnt use the GPU in that case but I could be mistaken.
 
donny2112 said:
Unfortunately, no. :( I got Half-Life off Steam for under $1, but my PC can't run it. I posted a thread about it a long time ago, and it seemed like my graphics card was the problem. However, I'm not going to spend $50 on a graphics card to play a $1 game. :/ I've tried it on another PC, but it eventually froze there, too. I need to go back to it now that the other PC has had more RAM installed, though.

I am enjoying Half-Life 2, so far, though (~3 hours in). I played enough of the first one (before freezing) to have some clue what's going on, though. :lol
Click to expand...
The only possible explanation for it not working is a software problem somewhere. My now 15 year old 100MHz Pentium with 24MB of ram could run Half-Life (albeit poorly). It has a software rendering mode if for some reason your graphics card doesn't work.
 
Jarate said:
How is it not the same damn game, as a person who plays both versions frequently, I can honestly say that both games are fairly equal.
Click to expand...
You obviously don't. Stop spitting out bullshit. It's impossible to play both versions and say that they're the same when one version has had tons of updates, tweaks, and has about ten times the number of people playing on a diverse variety of servers.
 
Jarate said:
I disagree wholeheartedly. Clearly you've never played the game on the 360, or have never given it a shot. The game runs perfectly well with a controller, it's not like everybody else gets a mouse and keyboard on the 360, so everybody has an equal playing field.

Trust me, as a guy who has amassed over 400 hours into 360 TF2, you're wrong
Click to expand...

As a person who started playing TF2 on the console and eventually migrated to PC, I disagree with you completely. The pace of the game overall is faster on PC end. A lot of the classes are significantly more gimped on the console due to the slow turning speed (scout and spy being two notable examples). On top of that, snipers are significantly deadlier as well.

That's not to say that TF2 on console is bad but even going by controls alone, they are two completely different experiences.
 
NIN90 said:
Can't you just use your onboard GPU on your motherboard?
Click to expand...

It's definitely the one that came with the computer, and I think it is on the motherboard.

NIN90 said:
Or try the game in software mode. I think it doesnt use the GPU in that case but I could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
edible_candle said:
It has a software rendering mode if for some reason your graphics card doesn't work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I'll look for that setting and see if it fixes the problem. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
LTTP: Doom: The Dark Ages
Opinion LTTP 
14
337
RoadHazard replied
LTTP: Gothic
LTTP 
21
334
Sentenza replied
LTTP: Titan Quest
LTTP 
37
567
TintoConCasera replied
LTTP: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
2 3
117
992
Hudo replied
LTTP: Resident Evil 0—The Beauty and The Beast(s)
LTTP  2
55
1K
DownLikeBCPowder replied
Top Bottom