I finally picked up the game last Thursday. Having just bought a eVGA GeForce 6800GT and running Vice City, Morrowind, and UT2003 at max settings with no hiccups, I decided I needed something that would really push my new video card.
I figured I'd give HL2 a shot despite the steam-woes I've been hearing about. Turns out that the installation really wasn't that much of a problem as I thought it would have been. I had the game up and running in offline mode in about 45 minutes.
It took about 2 hours and 40 minutes to get deathmatches up and running though and it would seem I only have the overwatch map so I'll have to find more. My ping averaged about 217 - 250 which is about what I get in HALO (still waiting for broadband in my area).
As far as the game itself, I'll have to say this is most visually stunning game I've ever played in both art-style and graphics. For some reason it reminds me of MGS2(art-wise) a lot, but with like 10 times more detail and more human-like. The physics in the game are unbelievable as well. Every thing you pick up and toss reacts the way I'd expect it to in real life.
My only gripes so far:
No Tau Cannon :lol . I just got up to the part of the game where you get that squishy thing that let's you control you-know-what. I don't know if there's a Tau Cannon later on, but part of the fun of the first HL was shooting people through walls and using the Tau Cannon to jump all over the place.
No exploding bodies That's another thing that I'm disappointed with. In the first HL, when you killed someone or something, you had the chance of making them pop like balloon and you'd see stuff like ribs, skulls, organs go all over the place. I've seen people take a direct hit from a rocket and not explode. Instead you get the ragdoll-effect. =P
Other than that, I'd say this is probably the best FPS, maybe even game, I've ever played. I haven't played any of the Max Payne series nor have I played System Shock 2 so I wouldn't know how they compare. =/
If you're wondering, I bought the collector's edition. For some reason, GameStop is selling the collector's edition for $49 and the standard for $54.
I figured I'd give HL2 a shot despite the steam-woes I've been hearing about. Turns out that the installation really wasn't that much of a problem as I thought it would have been. I had the game up and running in offline mode in about 45 minutes.
It took about 2 hours and 40 minutes to get deathmatches up and running though and it would seem I only have the overwatch map so I'll have to find more. My ping averaged about 217 - 250 which is about what I get in HALO (still waiting for broadband in my area).
As far as the game itself, I'll have to say this is most visually stunning game I've ever played in both art-style and graphics. For some reason it reminds me of MGS2(art-wise) a lot, but with like 10 times more detail and more human-like. The physics in the game are unbelievable as well. Every thing you pick up and toss reacts the way I'd expect it to in real life.
My only gripes so far:
No Tau Cannon :lol . I just got up to the part of the game where you get that squishy thing that let's you control you-know-what. I don't know if there's a Tau Cannon later on, but part of the fun of the first HL was shooting people through walls and using the Tau Cannon to jump all over the place.
No exploding bodies That's another thing that I'm disappointed with. In the first HL, when you killed someone or something, you had the chance of making them pop like balloon and you'd see stuff like ribs, skulls, organs go all over the place. I've seen people take a direct hit from a rocket and not explode. Instead you get the ragdoll-effect. =P
Other than that, I'd say this is probably the best FPS, maybe even game, I've ever played. I haven't played any of the Max Payne series nor have I played System Shock 2 so I wouldn't know how they compare. =/
If you're wondering, I bought the collector's edition. For some reason, GameStop is selling the collector's edition for $49 and the standard for $54.
