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[DSN2K]

"Best shooter ever made. Possibly the best single-player game I've ever played."

"I agree about Halo vs HL 1. But I'll shit my pants if Halo 2 can outdo HL 2. HL 2 is like Stanley Kubrick made a videogame, not necessarily in its tone, but in its near absolute perfectionism. Everything from A.I. to dificulty to sound to music to pacing to dialog to just plain imagination is clearly the product of years and years of love and genius

Doom 3 and FarCry are garbage compared to this. Doom 3 more so. I really wish I could tell you why, but you'll have to wait. Once the reviews start coming out you'll get a better picture.

Interacting with the environment is amazing. The sheer imagination in the level design, events, surprises, and discoveries you make as you play is amazing. The AI of friends and foes is amazing. The pacing, and variety is amazing. Ditto for characterization, visual effects, audio effects, music, level of difficulty, everything. It's like Stanley Kubrick made a videogame and obsessed over every detail. There's not a whiff of commitee anywhere.

I'm a total HL 2 fanboy now. You're right in that Halo 2 "could" be better (of course if I already played through the final game i couldn't tell you), but here's the thing: I play most every FPS in existence and I have never, ever seen anything remotely close to Half-Life 2. Not even. Let's say I haven't played Halo 2 yet. I'm still in a position to say that its single-player would have to be absolutely fscking nuts to beat HL 2. But the whole argument is pointless. You'd be stupid to overlook either game, and until the Source mods start rolling in, Halo 2 will have the sicker multiplayer anyhow."

OMG :O

link

 

[Wario64]

Half Life 2 is gonna be better than Halo 2, and that's all there is to it.

 

[Combine]

And amazingly, Halo 2 went Gold before HL2.

Valve better not take much longer if so many are getting review copies already.

 

[Lakitu]

EGMShawn doesn't work for EGM anymore apparently, but damn, it's times like these I wish I had a more than capable pc to run HL 2.

 

[IJoel]

Let's compare 2 games, one of which I might or might not have played already, but anyway, I'll be dashing and make concluding assertions because I've become a fanboy of game #1.

 

[Shompola]

HL2 2005 or something?

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

The only part I disagree with is that Doom3 is more garbage compared to FarCry's garbage factor when compared to Half-Life 2. Duder don't know what he's saying.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

And Halo 2 is going to be better than any other console game this fall. And that's all there is to it.

 

[Crazymoogle]

The only part I disagree with is that Doom3 is more garbage compared to FarCry's garbage factor when compared to Half-Life 2. Duder don't know what he's saying.

Makes sense to me.

FarCry (First Half) >>>>> Doom3
FarCry (Second Half) == Doom3

 

[Spike]

And Halo 2 is going to be better than any other console game this fall. And that's all there is to it.

Maybe, maybe not.

 

[DopeyFish]

quick fact: EGM have played possibly 5% of Halo 2 and are quick to make assertions? EGM hasn't even had a lick of Halo 2 and are already making claims of what does what better? Halo started off alright and started to haul ass after that. Half-Life started off the same way.

Screw EGM. I was going to trot down the street in 5 minutes to pick up their issue, but after reading that blurb it's safe to say my money would probably be better spent on a tabloid.

 

[chespace]

And Halo 2 is going to be better than any other console game this fall. And that's all there is to it.

and despite that fact, you're just gonna play crimson skies all day long, aren't you?

 

[boredJonathan]

Oh God, i'd be so amazed if this were true. And about beating Halo 2 for decades, dude, you obviously don't play PC FPSes.

Lost all credibility in my book right there as a voice of reason in a debate about the two. Besides, wtf is this about 'Maybe I have played Halo 2 completely' bs... either say you've played it or don't. We know people have so whats the big mystery?

Serisouly people need to get off the PC automatically trumps Console in terms of FPS

 

[skip]

quick fact: EGM have played possibly 5% of Halo 2 and are quick to make assertions? EGM hasn't even had a lick of Halo 2 and are already making claims of what does what better? Halo started off alright and started to haul ass after that. Half-Life started off the same way.

Screw EGM. I was going to trot down the street in 5 minutes to pick up their issue, but after reading that blurb it's safe to say my money would probably be better spent on a tabloid.

quick fact: shawn does not work for EGM anymore.

 

[Mrbob]

Hmm, I wondered why EGM of all places is comparing HL2 to halo 2. But now I see it isn't an official article at all just some words of a worker (former?) there.

Anyway, I'm sick of reading glowing HL2 previews. I want the damn game already.

 

[DopeyFish]

ok, then he has played Zanzibar. Comparing Halo 2 mp to Half-Life 2 SP is just oh so smart!

*trots to store to buy EGM*

 

[CrimsonSkies]

"and despite that fact, you're just gonna play crimson skies all day long, aren't you?"

I'll mix in some Mortal Kombat Deception. Your 50% review withstanding ahah.

 

[Mrbob]

ok, then he has played Zanzibar. Comparing Halo 2 mp to Half-Life 2 SP is just oh so smart!

*trots to store to buy EGM*

Who cares if some former EGM worker likes HL2 better than Halo 2. I'm buying them both. November 2004 is going to be home of two of the best first person shooters ever made, both released within about a week of each other.

 

[Deg]

Cant wait. My pc just about ran Far Cry and Doom 3 just fine. I hope i dont have to lower some settings

 

[DopeyFish]

Who cares if some former EGM worker likes HL2 better than Halo 2. I'm buying them both. November 2004 is going to be home of two of the best shooters ever made, both released within about a week of each other.

I already have purchased both HL 2 and Halo 2. I just hate stupid morons, is all.

 

[Sai]

 

[The Shadow]

Just as I thought. Half-Life 2 will absolutely destroy FarCry. BORDER AM CRYING

 

[LukeSmith]

Word from Microsoft is that review copies will be in offices on November 8 (Halo 2). Until then, I don't know that I care for the comparisons.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Crazymoogle === Drunk

C'mon. I'll dig that FarCry gives the player plenty of options on how to proceed and varies the levels, but it just never seemed like a tightly put together game to me. For every fan that Doom3 alienated (myself almost included) with it's repetitive levels, it made another by bringing a super polished experience. I'd rather play the same damn thing over and over if it's really well made and tight than be given two fist fulls of ideas that just kinda work.

Every time an enemy in FarCry claimed that he'd shoot me in the face and then his impossibly angled corpse slid, very slowly, down a hill, I lost respect for the game.

Every time I blasted a Doom3 imp from afar and watched it's body tumble off it's perch, simultaneously dispersing its red embers into nothingness, I gained respect for the game.

 

[Mrbob]

Just as I thought. Half-Life 2 will absolutely destroy FarCry. BORDER AM CRYING

:lol :lol :lol

It'll be cool to hate on Doom 3 soon as well.

 

[chespace]

"and despite that fact, you're just gonna play crimson skies all day long, aren't you?"

I'll mix in some Mortal Kombat Deception. Your 50% review withstanding ahah.

more power to you. ahah

 

[Mrbob]

Does Half Life 2 have any sort of co-op? I think Co-op for Halo 2 will put it over the top. Whether the game is "designed better" or not. It'll probably be close but the ability to blast through a level with a friend amplifies the fun factor to a higher level.

First person shooter rankings for 2004:

1) Halo 2
2) Half Life 2 (VERY close second)

.......

And the rest:

Doom 3 (A good game by ID standards -My opinion not too big of a fan of ID games - but the game bogs down after awhile. After the chills are gone once you see the same enemy hop out for the 30th time it gets a bit boring)
Far Cry (Not bad, awesome use of foliage. Inconsistent AI hampers the game big time.)

 

[The Shadow]

C'mon. I'll dig that FarCry gives the player plenty of options on how to proceed and varies the levels, but it just never seemed like a tightly put together game to me. For every fan that Doom3 alienated (myself almost included) with it's repetitive levels, it made another by bringing a super polished experience. I'd rather play the same damn thing over and over if it's really well made and tight than be given two fist fulls of ideas that just kinda work.

Every time an enemy in FarCry claimed that he'd shoot me in the face and then his impossibly angled corpse slid, very slowly, down a hill, I lost respect for the game.

Every time I blasted a Doom3 imp from afar and watched it's body tumble off it's perch, simultaneously dispersing its red embers into nothingness, I gained respect for the game.

I agree 100% with this. I said it months ago and even now with a newer PC, it just doesn't seem like FarCry was all that complete or polished. It seemed generic compared to other FPS games. It's not a bad game but it really took a lot of of the immersion out when every other kill resulted in the bodies being in some goofy pose, not to mention the overdone shine on the skin making all of the organics looking like toys. Doom III really didn't have that effect, or at least not at the level FarCry did. The whole burning into ash helps but even with it off with certain mods, they come off looking a lot better than the ones in FarCry.

In the end, I suspect Half-Life 2 will be the best of both worlds. A highly polished game that's a bit more than a corridor shooter. I can't wait.

 

[Yusaku]

Why would EGM talk about Half Life 2?

 

[MarkMacD]

EGMShawn doesn't work for EGM anymore apparently, but damn, it's times like these I wish I had a more than capable pc to run HL 2.

Nope, he doesn't. Someone be a peach and change the thread title?


EDIT: apparently people aren't seeing it. (ahem)

*********** ****************** **********
********SHAWN DOES NOT WRITE OR SPEAK FOR EGM**********


Thank you

 

[SyNapSe]

I'm much more interested in Halo 2 initially. Although, there are chances I will end up putting more hours into HL2 (mods.. *coughTFC2plz*) once they arrive.

.. with that said, and out of the way. I definately think HL2 will be the "better" game. Halo 2 is just going to be the perfecting of what Bungie would have liked to do w/ Halo and it's engine.

HL2 is coming out on state of the art hardware and will be able to incorperate some incredible physics into the game that could be the next step in FPS.. so to speak. FPS is one of the few genre's that are truly dependant on graphics and what you can do with the environment. IMO at least, a lot of other genre's don't really need incredible graphics (smooth also).. it's normally just the icing on the cake.

 

[Badabing]

Does Half Life 2 have any sort of co-op? I think Co-op for Halo 2 will put it over the top. Whether the game is "designed better" or not. It'll probably be close but the ability to blast through a level with a friend amplifies the fun factor to a higher level.

First person shooter rankings for 2004:

1) Halo 2
2) Half Life 2 (VERY close second)

.......

And the rest:

Doom 3 (A good game by ID standards -My opinion not too big of a fan of ID games - but the game bogs down after awhile. After the chills are gone once you see the same enemy hop out for the 30th time it gets a bit boring)
Far Cry (Not bad, awesome use of foliage. Inconsistent AI hampers the game big time.)

I dunno bro. Half Life 2 just about owns up Halo 2 in everyway (Other than co-op, apparently).

Please don't make me go down the list as to why.

 

[Go Go Ackman!]

I'm a total HL 2 fanboy now. You're right in that Halo 2 "could" be better (of course if I already played through the final game i couldn't tell you), but here's the thing: I play most every FPS in existence and I have never, ever seen anything remotely close to Half-Life 2

Well there we have it. Not that HL2 is going to be bad, or inferior to Halo 2, but what exactly does it have over Halo 2 other than a trademark good storyline and nice environment graphics.

Judging purely by graphics and physics, I haven't seen anything other than facial animations that "pwn" halo 2. Ragdoll and vehicle physics in Halo 2 ain't no slouch, I haven't seen anything mind blowing about HL2's weapons or enemy designs.

Of course, I'm hyped immensely for Halo 2, and haven't read much about the fine details of HL2. Maybe someone can fill me in here.

 

[element]

yeah, kinda unfair that they compared H2 to Halo 2, when Bugie hasn't shown anything from the single player campaign yet.

I do agree with the Doom 3 and Farcry comments though. Doom 3 was a mindless maze of repetitive monster spawning. At least Farcry gave me different locations through the game.

 

[The Shadow]

Btw, does anyone know if you can burn the copy you buy from Steam onto optical media so you can have a hardcopy?

I ask because I'd really, really love to play Half-Life Source but I don't want to buy that huge collectors edition just to play it. I could get it on Steam without all the additional crap but not having a hard copy really puts me off ordering it that way.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Drunk for various reasons

At least FarCry gave the player choices. Doom3 was basically run, trigger the next 'surprise' event, and hope you have enough supplies to survive. FarCry had paths to travel and actually supported the idea of trying to survive through hiding, crawling, and whatnot - like a more arcade-like Opflash.

The Doom3 'polish' wore off quickly at best, and just showed how scripted the game was at worst (ie: the body scan at the beginning of the game).

It's funny, because once you hit the second half of Far Cry, with all of the overpowered monsters, the game actually feels more like the original Doom than Doom3 does. That doesn't make it any fun at that point, but whatever.

I fail to see how Doom3 characters automagically dissolving is somehow worthy of my respect, though.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Btw, does anyone know if you can burn the copy you buy from Steam onto optical media so you can have a hardcopy?

Apparently you can backup the steam preload/install files to CDR/DVDR. The first time you install the game on that system (or install it fresh), you are forced to log on to Steam and submit your proper CD key. From that point on the game is supposed to be 'unlocked' for offline play on that computer.

Edit: Summing it up, the retail version gives you a no-online-strings-attached game, whereas the steam version requires one initial login per install to work.

 

[Yusaku]

^^ Yes, you can backup your "SteamApps" folder and you wont have to redownload anything if you reinstall. Also, you'll only need to submit your CD-Key if you bought retail, after that the key is effectively dead, your game is tied to your Steam account.

I'm suprised anyone still cares about FarCry anymore. It was a nice fluffy diversion while everyone waited for Doom 3 and HL2.

 

[The Shadow]

Apparently you can backup the steam preload/install files to CDR/DVDR. The first time you install the game on that system (or install it fresh), you are forced to log on to Steam and submit your proper CD key. From that point on the game is supposed to be 'unlocked' for offline play on that computer.

Edit: Summing it up, the retail version gives you a no-online-strings-attached game, whereas the steam version requires one initial login per install to work.

So the only difference is that you have to log in to verify the Steam backup? That's not so bad though I guess it'd suck if you didn't have net access anymore.

 

[bbyybb]

IMO HL 2 makes a mockery of HL 1, it's that good. I'm just giving these guys the benefit of the doubt, but I honestly think there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Halo 2's single player will be better. But it's apples and oranges and when I review Halo 2 I won't even make the comparison. But as an FPS nut who loves console and PC, I can have my personal opinions.

I cannot wait for SeriousSam2 myself, for that crazy fast pace action. It is more like a sequal to doom then doom 3 was.


Cheers,
bbyybb.

 

[Badabing]

So the only difference is that you have to log in to verify the Steam backup? That's not so bad though I guess it'd suck if you didn't have net access anymore.

Or if you forget/lose your Steam ID account information... trust me when I say that Steam is absolutely shitty at retrieving that kind of information.

 

[teepo]

its true

tehehehe

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

So drunk that he didn't capitalize the A, S, and M of ASM before when he was saying I was drunk

Well, you're scripting comment is valid. I hate it when an imp is crawling out of a grate and i gotta stand there until he's ready to be hurt. But it's still better than a Tri-Gen jumping and landing near you and your health dropping to the basement.

I guess we gotta agree to disagree on this one...


...that you're drunk!

 

[demon]

I'm a little confused....have the people saying that HL2 kicks Halo 2's ass actually played any of Halo 2 outside of the demos at game shows?

 

[DopeyFish]

I'm a little confused....have the people saying that HL2 kicks Halo 2's ass actually played any of Halo 2 outside of the demos at game shows?

Almost 100% chance of no

 

[Mrbob]

I'm a little confused....have the people saying that HL2 kicks Halo 2's ass actually played any of Halo 2 outside of the demos at game shows?

No.

 

[Ghost]

Reguardless of which is better, everything ive seen suggests (single player) both games shit all over their awesome prequels both of which are already at the top of the list for FPS single player experiences, for years to come when people ask what are the best FPS games ever made people are gonna say 2 titles starting with with H and ending with 2 titles and nothing else is gonna come close untill we have a game starting with H and ending in 3.

You'd be crazy if you didnt play both these games to death. I just pray i can afford to upgrade my PC before HL2 ships.

 

[Mrbob]

You'd be crazy if you didnt play both these games to death. I just pray i can afford to upgrade my PC before HL2 ships.

You have about three weeks.

 

[DopeyFish]

Reguardless of which is better, everything ive seen suggests (single player) both games shit all over their awesome prequels both of which are already at the top of the list for FPS single player experiences, for years to come when people ask what are the best FPS games ever made people are gonna say 2 titles starting with with H and ending with 2 titles and nothing else is gonna come close untill we have a game starting with H and ending in 3.

You'd be crazy if you didnt play both these games to death. I just pray i can afford to upgrade my PC before HL2 ships.

more like starts with Hal and ends with 2

 

[Ghost]

I know and im overtiming my ass off