? You don't have to be a fanboy to enjoy a game... I love HL2 and I will be playing it, and its 509685806908989 mods for a VERY long time.

I'll be the first person to 100% agree on the AI, even the first day I was iffy about the AI. HL1's AI is much better, considering how sad that is.

Hence the button to speed up time by a factor of 3...

But yeah, the one reason I hate battling Egypt is because they'll always fun away with their archers and chariot archers, and there have been times where I didn't have any cavalry on the field, and it took me ten minutes to chase them down, even with the time multiplier set to 3x. Though I think I developed a strategy to solve that problem. If I put my legions into Testudo, the archers will approach, but then start to route once they get close.

Yeah, I don't think its a fanboy issue. Different people are entertained by different things, theres no need to resort to namecalling just because their opinions differ from yours.
For me, out of all the games mention so far in this thread I would puit HL2 at the top (i'm not an rts fan, so Starcraft doesn't even factor in to this decision).
The main reason I posted this video is because of how dissapointing the AI was. This doesn't make HL2 crap, it doesn't even make it less then great. But it is dissapointing, especially considering how good it was supposed to be.

I think HL2's AI isn't bad when the enemies are at a distance. They manage to use cover and throw grenades with effect etc. But once you rush in and get close, it's almost as if they stop responding. You have a full second or two to kill them before they respond. That being said, I still enjoyed it more than most other games.

I need to finish Doom 3 over break, but it's tough to play more than a level at a time without getting bored. I also need to go back and finish Painkiller. Painkiller got boring for me because I was trying to find all the Holy Items and get all the Black Tarot cards. I'm willing to bet that if I just play through it for the sake of playing, I'll enjoy myself a bit more.

I love the crossbow in HL2...its my favorite thing in the world to stake enemies in the head and watch as they fly back into the wall and stick there dangling.

He doesn't mean realism like that, he's talking about immersion in the gameplay world. Valve is known for this by never taking you out of the first person narrative point. You may think it's better or worse than most games' storytelling but the majority of people find it a nice change from the constant story exposition you see in other games.

Send me an email. We can talk about ideas. If you're willing I'm interested in you for OSC. http://www.oscempire.net yecti [[at]] oscempire[[dot]]net

Anyone that has any doubts about HL2 being good just needs to play a couple rounds of HL2 Deathmatch

Yeah, except I HATE HL2DM, and love HL2.
Go figure.

Remember when it was still considered "cool" to be a fanboy?

You're not talking about Rome: Total War right? That was true with Medieval but not Rome.

Aparrently you haven't tried to siege a well fortified bigass city.

And I didn't mean it like you guys think--I've hated HL and valve since it's conception--but I love the mods. So therefore, I went into HL2 thinking I'd hate it, but came out somewhat pleased, but still bored in the...well the middle for you guys, but the end for me. It just doesn't grab me. "Hey guy here's a piece of some story" *kill kill for 2 hours* "Okay, here's another small piece" *kill kill for 2 hours* ...etc.

Yeah some people like that, not me. Sorry valve, I'm not up for solving puzzles and killing things for something I have NO IDEA about is going on, especially with horrible stuttering and 5 minute load times, and little to no plot development.

Though the gravity gun did make for some fun times.

Not to mention, and this is minor, but there was this thing with the mapping that makes me insane--I can see where faces meet on polygons sometimes, and only sometimes. It shows up as a thin line of white dots. Mostly I see this on CS:S, but sometimes it pops up in HL2 as well.

Meh.

Half-Life 2 was not perfect. There were minor problems with the AI, some odd parts of the story and a few misaligned textures.

... So what? I defy someone to find me a game with the same combination of gameplay, plot, immersion and graphics. Right, you can't. What other game has people comparing screenshots to photos - seriously - and what other game has sparked so much discussion about its plot and characters? That's why it's gotten the reviews it has - not because the AI can't be tricked. shrug

For the sake of arguing (and since someone else would undoubtably do it anyway) I'll raise this point...

Doom 3. You enjoyed it, yes? Yet the little bit I played (which has basically entailed two run throughs of the demo) was EXACTLY like what you're talking about. Things were happening, yes, but none of it was vital. All the game consisted of was finding PDAs with helpful info, finding ammo, and killing demonish beasties.

Right off, that would make you seem a bit of a hypocrite.

Unless, you pin the reason/fact, that while both games are the same genre, Doom 3 was meant to be a frag fest, while Half-Life 2 was meant to tell you a story. Viewing it like that gives your reasons for disliking it more credit.

It should be noted, that I've played little or none of either game. Doom 3 never interested me in the slightest. I just got the demo so I could claim to have played SOME of it and at least add some validity to what I say when I talk about it. Half-Life 2 interests me more, but not to the point where I want to buy it. Yet.

I'm willing to bet I brought that up far more diplomatically than someone else would have.

That depends ALOT upon how you view a game.

From where I sit, Halo 2 has excellent gameplay, a damned fine plot, excellent immersion, and the graphics to boot. The storyline for Halo has been pulled apart and discussed since it's release. It's still being pulled apart and discussed. The same is happening right now with Halo 2. You see none of this on Massassi, because this is a site devoted to a PC game, and thus, has many PC gamers. It isn't often that we have a thread devoted to discussing console games, but you can almost always find at least one thread discussing a PC game. The discussions you want to find, depend upon where you look.

Lastly, for the love of God, don't turn Halo 2 into a debate. It's my opinion.

That's exactly it--Doom 3 was supposed to be a creepy, fun shoot'em up, and it accomplished that. HL2 was supposed to be revolutionary, and there's only ONE thing revolutionary about it--the facial expression thing. Other than that, the game was based around an already existing physics engine which it touted as its own, and some mediocre storyline.

Even Doom 3 had more frequent plot development, albeit through PDA.

Sine--Deus. Ex. WAY more immersive, WAY better story, WAY better gameplay, still very decent graphics (and runs on systems even HL2 will not). I'd take it over HL2 any day.

meh, maybe. It didn't do it for this guy though. I found it dull, rather than fun. Shoot'em ups of Doom 3's nature don't give me much fun anymore. Instead of being creepy, I often was laughing at how predictable the appearance of a monster was, and I was often grumbling about how dark it was. That's a rather moot point though. I won't go into graphics, but I didn't find those to be an all encompassing A+ either.

Well then to each his own.

I thought Deus Ex was boring, too. I thought doom3 was boring. I need a happy medium between good, constant story and shoot-everything-that-moves. Half Life accomplishes this perfect for me. Eventually, I'll get to play through HL2, and I'm pretty excited.

I've tried to play the demo 4 different times. Each time, I uninstalled it within 20 minutes of starting the game. The gameplay failed to grab me. Maybe it has a great story. But the gameplay was just...so...slow...and...monotonous.

As for the story flaws -- most of them stem from creating individual characters from a whole slew of generic characters (example: Barney). As for not everything being explained...well, that's what Half-Life 3's for.

And as for Halo 2...wow. Don't get me started. There's absolutely nothing to pick apart about that story. Not saying it's a bad one, but it's extremely linear and obvious.

On a side note: loved DooM 3's single-player. Great experience. Love Half-Life 2's even more, and it has enjoyable MP.

Wolfy--the demo is...I dunno...I watched my friend play for an hour, and thought it was lame (PS2 version, he has a bad PC), and then I played through the PC version, thought it was okay. Or rather I played through the first 3 missions. Then I played further...next thing I knew, I had been playing over 10 hours.

It gets addicting, fast. But it does take time to get used to. Not to mention it has a SUPERB musical score, and great sound effects and voices.

What are the demo levels? Liberty Island and then the UNATCO HQ building?

If that's what they are, Liberty Island starts off slow. You don't find out much until you get towards the end of the level. You learn more if you read the newspapers/books/computer terminals around you. That was one of the beauties of Deus Ex. The story was given to you in so many different forms. You didn't HAVE to use all of those forms, but if you did, you got alot more from the story.

You know, I can't really put my finger on why, but I see only one fanboy in this thread - shares his name with a Nintendo character. It's interesting how people can be just as devoted to *not* liking a game - or being contrary - as they can to liking it.

AI or human? AI, yes and it was fairly simple and quick. I haven't tried playing another person yet.

There's a mod out for UT2k4 that has a gravity gun-ish thing. I personally think it's better than HL2's. Try polevaulting yourself through the air with the gravity gun in HL2

Try picking up tanks and flinging them into some poor bloke's base.

Half-Life 2 was great - it wasnt perfect, no game is. But its a lot better by a huge margin than any other FPS I've played.

My only gripe with HL2 was the story - it builds and builds, and then as soon as you think "Wahey! Something amazingly cool is gonna happen now, and the story will start to come together"... it ends.

As the time slowed, I thought something cool might happen - but when the G-Man showed up you just know its over. I swore loudly at Valve then.

Well, here's a summary from Adrenaline Vaut's Review:

The gameplay of Deus Ex is like nothing else out there on the market. In every sense it's without a doubt one of the most detailed and sophisticated RPGs ever released, and in that same vein it's also one of the most intense first person action games offered in the last three years. In reality, Deus Ex is whatever you want it to be -- yes, it's that wide open. This isn't to say that the gameplay is completely non-linear; I don't see how that would be possible in single player. It is, however, one of the most non-linear single player releases ever offered. From the straightforward first mission briefing to the shocking multiple endings, Deus Ex is often surprising and never boring.

The title has a great storyline, full of intrigue, back-stabbing, secret agendas, political struggles, and social commentary that is so powerful that it will surely overpower the free time of its players. It doesn't matter what style of game you prefer -- action, RPG, or tactical combat -- since Deus Ex has enough of each of those to please even the most prejudiced user.

For more reasons, please refer to the 40+ reviews that have given the game a 90% or above.

i played some HL2 and i didnt get the hype, it just seemed like another generic fps game to me with running and shooting, got bored quickly.


<3 that pirate game though.

Except I said numerous times that I still like it, just not as much as everyone else. Way to go ignorance.

Spe--Pirates! ****ing owns. Hardcore.

I haven't played HL2 yet. (Have it, but had to send my PC in to get fixed for free....gotta love warranties. ) However, to each their own. I, personally, am impressed with all the videos, pics, and reviews, and I don't want to spoil myself with the demo just yet. No game will ever be perfect. Not unless it has ENDLESS menues, functions, genres, etc. built into it (perfect, being defined by how many people agree to that, and which the game favors). Wait a couple years, and there will be some really impressive and "realistic" games. However, I prefer a mix of realism AND fiction, because I hate reality already. Bitter? Poppycock!


BTW: PCG gives % (0-100) ratings, don't they?

The biggest flaw in Half-Life is that the logo, lambda, is not the symbol for the half-life of a source. It's the symbol for the decay constant of a source.

Pirates is an ok game, fun for a week maybe, but talk about repetive.
Sure, theres a few different things you can do in the game, but their all so simple and, well, repetitive.

Close enough for all intents and purposes.

Not when the game is called Half-Life.

Let me rephrase myself then--you'll live.

Lol

Have you played Half Life? Lambda Complex.

Hey guys, you know what happens when you put a dehumidifier next to a humidifier? The equivelant to these types of threads.

ROFL

...even worse, it's lambda squared.

But "Doom cubed" has a similar problem.