Non-RPG General News - Half-Life Retrospective

[HiddenX]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais looks back at the Half-Life series:

A Thorough Look At Half-Life [Revised/Expanded/HD]

Thanks Redglyph!

More information.

 

[Redglyph]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais strikes again. It's a long one, even by his standards, so prepare a beer, a hot chocolate or something

Spoiler: he has a theory on why Half-Life 3 will eventually be released by Valve

 

[Couchpotato]

I'm not ashamed to say I have zero interest in playing more Half-Life games.

Now if they would bring back the SIN games in a new source engine.

 

[JDR13]

I'm not even going to attempt to watch that despite being a big fan of the series. It's as long a a full length movie.

I'll just say that Half-Life was fantastic for its time. One of the most immersive experiences I've had in a first-person shooter.

If you've never played it, or enjoyed it but find the original too dated now, I urge you to check out Black Mesa. https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

 

[mercy]

I'm not ashamed to say I have zero interest in playing more Half-Life games.

Now if they would bring back the SIN games in a new source engine.

Gabe told me last year that Half-Life 3 will have multiple Alyx nude scenes, some of them hardcore porn. So me too aren't ashamed for awaiting for the next game, like waiting for Godot.

 

[Redglyph]

If you've never played it, or enjoyed it but find the original too dated now, I urge you to check out Black Mesa. https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

I downloaded it once, it was great but I didn't go very far, not enough spare time. Noah explains that not only it improves the graphics and all that, but it also goes a long way improving the alien world, Xen, which was a weak point in the original (TBH, I hated it). Black Mesa also adds a lot of content to that part, and makes the transition to Half-Life 2 much more coherent.

 

[JDR13]

I downloaded it once, it was great but I didn't go very far, not enough spare time. Noah explains that not only it improves the graphics and all that, but it also goes a long way improving the alien world, Xen, which was a weak point in the original (TBH, I hated it). Black Mesa also adds a lot of content to that part, and makes the transition to Half-Life 2 much more coherent.

I played through Black Mesa a couple years ago and thought it was great, but the Xen portion hadn't been added yet. I'm looking forward to replaying and seeing Xen when I can find the time.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

I've watched the whole video, and really enjoyed it. You can really see the passion this dude puts into his work.

I'm not a big half-life fan. Played HL2 and both episodes, and they were fun but I didn't remember most things at all. But it was fun revisiting the story through his eyes as a fan. Also, having spoiled myself through his video on the ending of Half-Life: Alyx, I caught myself getting kind of got a little excited about what might be coming the pipe from Valve.

 

[Redglyph]

I've enjoyed the whole Half-Life series and I'd love to see a new one, but I'm not sure about the VR thing, not at home anyway. If Alyx was indeed a proof-of-concept for Half-Life 3, I think I'll pass.

I played through Black Mesa a couple years ago and thought it was great, but the Xen portion hadn't been added yet. I'm looking forward to replaying and seeing Xen when I can find the time.

It's apparently grown enough to be 50% of the whole game, now, so that may be worth it

 

[kazga]

Having played through HL1 and black mesa (pre-xen days) several times, usually by the time I reach Xen I've just about had it with the game. So I'm not sure how I can cope with another 50% of the game.

 

[Darkheart]

Never played HL1 and HL2 only about 10 years after release. I am sure the second one was incredible back then, but imo it didn't hold up that well. I played through it and can understand why people are still wanting a conclusion with HL3 (which never came).

Played Black Mesa last year which is incredibly well done, so congrats to the team. Although after about 10 to 15 hours I got bored and the combat and jump n' run sequences just didn't do it for me. If you like old-school shooters go for it!

 

[Arkadia7]

Half Life was gigantic at the time. Like GTA V on steroids. Everyone loved it, and it was proclaimed as "Best first person shooter ever made" and even "Best Game Ever" for years afterwards. (not sure if its fallen in the all time best games type rankings since then)

I thought it was a masterpiece when I played it (though like many, thought the Alien planet level at the end didn't live up to the rest of the game) and still remember the unbelievable hype that was around it, and how it was one of those very rare games to live up to the hype.

That said, I didn't understand (and still don't) why Half Life 2 got so much raving reviews and good press and so on - I thought it was a letdown, and a big disappointment compared to Half Life 1.

Regarding VR, meh, not interested. Looks very clunky and not something I would be interested in at this stage. I would not be interested in a Half Life 3 focused on VR.

 

[Redglyph]

Half Life was gigantic at the time. Like GTA V on steroids. Everyone loved it, and it was proclaimed as "Best first person shooter ever made" and even "Best Game Ever" for years afterwards. (not sure if its fallen in the all time best games type rankings since then)

I thought it was a masterpiece when I played it (though like many, thought the Alien planet level at the end didn't live up to the rest of the game) and still remember the unbelievable hype that was around it, and how it was one of those very rare games to live up to the hype.

Oh yes, and the game had a lot for it, it was a great modification of id's Quake engine, quite in advance on its time, a way to drive the experience with puzzles on the environment that was not seen often back then, and people were not obsessed yet with open-world games, so well-scripted scenes were still possible. Among other things.

That said, I didn't understand (and still don't) why Half Life 2 got so much raving reviews and good press and so on - I thought it was a letdown, and a big disappointment compared to Half Life 1.

Maybe I was biased by the 1st game, but I wasn't disappointed, if only by its length.

The city design by Viktor Antonov was superb, the more humane characters were a noticeable improvement over the robot-like-cliché scientifics in HL1, the puzzles and traps were fun (though they were mostly present at the beginning only). The physics and graphics were such an improvement too, it did naturally what had to be scripted in the first game.

 

[Ripper]

Talk of Half-Life always takes me back to 1998. I got my first decent PC with a Voodoo 2 card, and was showered with Half-Life, Unreal, Thief, Baldur's Gate, Starcraft, Grim Fandango, Shogo, and more. Then there was Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid on consoles. Never enjoyed gaming more than that year.

 

[Redglyph]

Talk of Half-Life always takes me back to 1998. I got my first decent PC with a Voodoo 2 card, and was showered with Half-Life, Unreal, Thief, Baldur's Gate, Starcraft, Grim Fandango, Shogo, and more. Then there was Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid on consoles. Never enjoyed gaming more than that year.

Right, those cards were the rage back then. I couldn't find any in stores, and a vendor tried to sell me a Banshee that I promptly returned because of the low performances.

I never had one, until the GeForce 2 I think, so I only saw Half-Life, Quake 2 and all that in software