I pretty much stayed away from this game due to the whole controversy over Steam, but just last night, I finaly gave in and installed Steam and the HL2 demo...

and dang. If someone had told me the game was this awesome, I would have given in a long time ago. Now, I don't have the fastest computer, but HL2 ran on basically medium settings (as reccomend by the game), and it ran smooth and looked awesome. I'm insanely impressed. (I honestly can't figure out how it looks so good *and* still runs well on my mediocre computer.) So, I decide to look into purchasing the game. Through Steam, I see it available for 29.99. However, there are two other packages available (one 59.99, and the other 79.99 (i think)). What's the difference between these three packs?

(and, btw, thus far, I've had no problems with Steam, though it was somewhat irritating when I went to play the demo after having installed it, and it took an hour to "update." I suspect that it never actually installed the game and the "updating" was the actual installation, but if that was the case, why didn't it just say so?)

I agree that the game looks awesome. Faces and facial expression are really amazing. IMO gameplay wasn't all that though, save for physics and the physics gun!

Still, its about damn time you try it! o.O

To this day I consider the HL2 to have the highest graphics/specs ratio of any game.

its fun to play. the vehicle portions are a bit long IMO, but still enjoyable.

oh yeah, and another thing I noticed... The voice acting. Incredible. (at least by video game standards)

Source Premier Pack

Valve Complete Pack

I'd recommend the premier pack, as I doubt you'll go back to classic after playing Source.

Especially if you plan on buying Episode One, since it's included in the premier pack, and buying it and HL2 individually would come out to the same price anyway. (And this way, you get HL:S, CS:S, and DoD:S as well.)

Ah, that premier pack does indeed look tasty. The benefit of having waited so long is that you get Episode One, DoD:S, HL:S. et al for roughly the same price as what I paid retail when the game came out (mine came with none of these, just the retro games).

Heh, I remember you could get the same stuff as the premiere pack for only $60 when HL2 came out. Glad I bought it then.

uhh... the premiere pack is 59.99 right now. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

You're not, and there's a $6 savings right now, so it's $53.99.

Yep, HL2's awesome.
Unfortunately, HL:S is not, in fact, Half Life re-created using the Source engine. It's Half Life "ported" to the Source engine. Do HL mods work on it? I haven't tried, and I hear there's some good HL mods.
{MAJOR EDIT}
I figured I'd post this here rather than a new update.
This Just In
Those of you following "Concerned: The Half Life and Death of Gordon Frohman" may know this, or you may not yet know this, but...
Half Life 2 has just began in the comic.
Gordon Freeman's Train arrived.

-Buya!

GET Premier. Trust me. DOD:S and CS:S are very fun, and kill boring days with precision.

DoD:S is the most fun thing ever concieved by man.

It really is. Especially if you can find a good and active clan. That game RELIES on teamwork, which is sometimes variably good, but almost always awesome. Especially if you can pinpoint a weakness in the enemy's team.

HL2 was dissapointing compared to HL.

Hardly 1/3 of the weapons.

And WAY too short,

and a bit too repetitive.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

I enjoyed HL2 more than HL. Gabe has said one of their goals was to get something interesting to happen to the player at least once every two minutes, and I believe they accomplished that... interesting things abound. Cool environments, dynamic events, enemy ambushes, etc. <3 HL2.

It had less weapons, but IMO they felt a lot more streamlined. They each had a very defined role, where in HL1 is was pretty much just use whatever still had ammo.

Likewise with the playtime; It may have been shorter, but I definitely felt like it got more accomplished.

Both, however, are matters of personal taste, so to each his own I guess.

Sarn, once you've got HL2, you have to try Garry's Mod as well. Multiplayer can be pretty stupid, but it's probably the coolest mod to come out this decade.

so... what's the deal with the Zero Point Energy gun?

Sometimes it doesn't work.. Seems to depend on what I'm shooting at or something...

Well, it doesn't work on organic material. I dunno.

but... what does it do?

It grabs stuff and launches it at things?

Doesn't work on characters, architecture, and other stuff I can't think of. Right clicking will not work on most things, but left click will move even cars.

-Actually, eventually it gets a little jolt that gives it more power. Oops, spoilers.

Jarl shh, don't ruin it for him!

Eh? when the claws open and it makes a small buzzing sound when you point it at an object, you can move that object. If it's obviously too heavy, it won't be able to pick it up with secondary fire, but you'll probably be able to budge it with primary fire. That's about all you need to know.

[EDIT: Hmm... bakes a small buzzing sound?]

Well he failed to mention the old $60 pack included all the old HL1 games as well.

The physics gun can't pick up EVERYTHING because physics objects take up more resources than static objects (have to re-calculate position, shadows, collisions, etc.). Plus, things like the scale-bridge toward the beginning wouldn't work if you could pull the metal plate off of the axis.

Yeah, HL2 was one of my favorite games. Good graphics; decent mix of adventure in an FPS with the physics puzzles and vehicle sequences; high quality voice acting, detailed facial builds, and good story integration for the characters. Definitely recommended.

From what I see of the packs, GET PREMIERE. It includes Ep1, CS:S, and DoD:S. Seems like a bargain.

Sorry, I meant the complete pack.

I see, so you basically got the Complete pack for the price of the premiere?

I just played through another game of Half-Life 2 today. What a great game. So much better than the first game.

I actually liked the first HL better. HL2 couldnt duplicate that feeling I got with the gigantic monster chasing me down the tunnel just before I flip on the power and fry his ***. So exhilerating.

I still say HL and HL2 suck as per the weapons. Seriously.

HL2 just sucks less.

Either way, I got it for the mods. \m/

One word for you:

SSSSSTTTTTRRRRIIIIIDDDDDDDEEEERRR!!!!

As for the weapons... was it just me or did the SMG sounded like it was shooting pennies?

Yeah. It was the "gold" package. It was HL2, CS:S and the Valve "back catalog" or something. Basically I got every game Valve ever made up through HL2 and CS:S for $60.

i kinda wanna know where they hid the grenade launcher on that mp-7

Silver, but yeah.


And shooting. Seriously, the thing was weaksauce for an automatic machine gun.

2 words for you:

LLLLLAAAAAMMMMEEEEE MOOOONNNSTERRRRRRR!!!

Seriously, that was the best monster they could come up with? A walking tripod with a machine gun at the top? The only cool thing about it was that it was big. Thats it.

Striders get my vote for the most annoying/hated in a video game ever from me.