RTTP Half Life 2 - Still One of The Greatest FPS of All Time!

hououinkyouma00

hououinkyouma00

Member
I spent the last two days playing through Half Life 2 again and I just want to say that despite being nearly 20 years old this game still blows me away to this day. Personally I don't think there is a single bad part in this entire game and Ravenholm is GOATd for a reason.

I was curious about Valve's controller implementation so I connected my DualSense and used their own DualSense with gyro bindings and it was great. I played through probably half of the game with controller and half with mouse and keyboard and while I still think the game plays better with keyboard it plays surprisingly well with controller. My Steam Deck should get here soon so I think I'm gonna wait to start another play through of Episode 1 and 2 until it gets here.

It's just crazy to me how great of a run Valve had and it's sad to see them not make games anymore. I know we got Alyx and Alyx is quite possibly the best VR game ever made and there are tons of rumors of HL3 (I'll believe it when I see it) but the run of Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2 was absolutely nuts.


 
I actually thought it was a let down. Especially compared to HL1
hL1 gave the illusion of large explorable areas and not a quite obvious path.

hL2 is just a corridor. Combine were boring as well.
 
hououinkyouma00 said:
I spent the last two days playing through Half Life 2 again and I just want to say that despite being nearly 20 years old this game still blows me away to this day. Personally I don't think there is a single bad part in this entire game and Ravenholm is GOATd for a reason.

I was curious about Valve's controller implementation so I connected my DualSense and used their own DualSense with gyro bindings and it was great. I played through probably half of the game with controller and half with mouse and keyboard and while I still think the game plays better with keyboard it plays surprisingly well with controller. My Steam Deck should get here soon so I think I'm gonna wait to start another play through of Episode 1 and 2 until it gets here.

It's just crazy to me how great of a run Valve had and it's sad to see them not make games anymore. I know we got Alyx and Alyx is quite possibly the best VR game ever made and there are tons of rumors of HL3 (I'll believe it when I see it) but the run of Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2 was absolutely nuts.


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If you haven't played it in VR, I highly recommend it. It made me feel close to what it was like to play it for the first time in 2004 all over again.
 
I thought Farcry was 10 times better than both this and Halo 2. Half life 2 and Halo 2 were far too linear *edit fuck you to all the stupid faces people are leaving Half life 2 and halo 2 sucked they were boring corridor shooters and had stupid AI. Far Cry moved things forward 100 times more than both of those games. PS Doom 3 Sucked balls too
 
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When the beat drops in Route Canal. Not many moments in gaming hit like this for me. It's my number 1 FPS and for me it holds up 100%. It actually kicks off the "holds up" era. FEAR is another senior resident.

I played Half-Life, HL2, Black-Mesa and a couple BM full game mods to get ready for impending Half Life 3. Sits with 2D Castlevania and Dark Souls as my all-time gaming trifecta.
 
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Have yet to play it, but it's actually next on my list after stalker 2. Need to complete it, the episodes, and alyx before half life 3 in 2033.
 
hououinkyouma00 said:
I spent the last two days playing through Half Life 2 again and I just want to say that despite being nearly 20 years old this game still blows me away to this day. Personally I don't think there is a single bad part in this entire game and Ravenholm is GOATd for a reason.

I was curious about Valve's controller implementation so I connected my DualSense and used their own DualSense with gyro bindings and it was great. I played through probably half of the game with controller and half with mouse and keyboard and while I still think the game plays better with keyboard it plays surprisingly well with controller. My Steam Deck should get here soon so I think I'm gonna wait to start another play through of Episode 1 and 2 until it gets here.

It's just crazy to me how great of a run Valve had and it's sad to see them not make games anymore. I know we got Alyx and Alyx is quite possibly the best VR game ever made and there are tons of rumors of HL3 (I'll believe it when I see it) but the run of Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2 was absolutely nuts.


Click to expand...

I am playing through it (again) as well. It's such a good fucking game.
 
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simpatico said:
When the beat drops in Route Canal. Not many moments in gaming hit like this for me. It's my number 1 FPS and for me it holds up 100%. It actually kicks off the "holds up" era. FEAR is another senior resident.

I played Half-Life, HL2, Black-Mesa and a couple BM full game mods to get ready for impending Half Life 3. Sits with 2D Castlevania and Dark Souls as my all-time gaming trifecta.
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F.E.A.R. is another nearly perfect FPS game for me. I replay FEAR almost every year

Arsic said:
Have yet to play it, but it's actually next on my list after stalker 2. Need to complete it, the episodes, and alyx before half life 3 in 2033.
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Half Life, Half Life 2+Episode 1/2 are must plays IMO. Same with Alyx. They are masterclass in FPS and just games in general.

For anybody that doesn't have VR but still wants to play Alyx there is a pretty good NoVR mode for Alyx that last I saw was pretty flawless and I believe even runs on Steam Deck pretty well.
 
It was ok, I thought the guns/hits didn't have a good feel or feedback to them, just meh peashooter-ing too much like the first game for having come way later with brand new tech etc. Doom 3 was robbed back then, way better, more impressive and fun game, if straying from its roots. Riddick too.
 
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Season 5 Nbc GIF by The Office


Looney Tunes Nothing To See Here GIF
 
I'm actually playing through HL1. Im going through games that were part of my childhood. So HL1 and Carmagedon at the moment.

HL1 is still such a great game. I was going to go straight into HL2 after completing HL1 but now I'm thinking I might play through Black Mesa so HL1 is still fresh in my mind and compare both. I didnt like the extended Zen level though in Black Mesa. I felt it dragged on for too long.
 
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How does everybody feel about Black Mesa? I was thinking about going back and playing HL1 instead of playing through Episode 1/2 and figured I might as well check out Black Mesa.

I haven't played HL1 in a very long time though and I don't remember liking it as much as HL2 so I might just continue with my Episode 1/2 playthrough one my Deck gets here this afternoon. Speaking of which this is some fast as fuck shipping as I just got my preparing to ship email yesterday.
 
I've been playing this on steam deck, and my biggest issue is just aiming in this device and how aiming was designed for this game do not click. I feel like I always empty a SMG mag into enemies before they die.
 
It's been a while since I've played it, but I do like Half-Life 2... not as much as Half-Life 1, though. I think what brings the game down a bit for me is that the levels are generally built around a single gimmick and just drag that out for too long without finding ways to meaningfully iterate on that or use those mechanics to push the player. You've got the boat level, Ravenholm with the gravity gun, the one where you're screwing with the turrets, the one where you're messing around with the antlions. I'm not saying that some of those mechanics aren't fun, but they tend to overstay their welcome and the shuffling between random gimmicks makes the game feel kind of choppy and like it never quite figures out a proper rhythm. The story/world was also a complete throwaway. The War of the Worlds thing was cute, but I'm not going to pretend like there was anything under the surface. There wasn't. I think the overall experience is greater than the sum of its parts - there are a lot of issues, but the game is still fun. I think Episode II was much, much more successful and felt like a significantly more cohesive experience.

If Valve is *actually* working on a HL3, I can't say I'm interested at this point. It's not the same studio it was 18 years ago, and whatever they produce wouldn't feel properly connected to HL2 and it's episodes, largely because technology and design philosophy is so different than it was back then. I've made my peace with HL2: E2 being the end of the road, despite the cliffhanger. Just like Shenmue II, I guess.
 
Arsic said:
I've been playing this on steam deck, and my biggest issue is just aiming in this device and how aiming was designed for this game do not click. I feel like I always empty a SMG mag into enemies before they die.
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Have you messed with the aim assist settings? I had to up the aim assist to get controller feeling good when I was playing so I would imagine Deck would be the same. Half Life will be the first game I install once I get my deck this afternoon so I can clarify soon.
 
hououinkyouma00 said:
Have you messed with the aim assist settings? I had to up the aim assist to get controller feeling good when I was playing so I would imagine Deck would be the same. Half Life will be the first game I install once I get my deck this afternoon so I can clarify soon.
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Please do. I'll maybe check some YT videos for recommendations.

Lots of games nowadays snap to target starting near chest to neck level so you do micro adjustments for head.
 
Arsic said:
Please do. I'll maybe check some YT videos for recommendations.

Lots of games nowadays snap to target starting near chest to neck level so you do micro adjustments for head.
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Yeah, I'll let you know.

I played on DualSense and used Valve's official setting for the controller with gyro and while the gyro was awkward during cutscenes because it was sort of jittery it helped with the micro adjustments so if you don't have gyro enabled maybe try it.

There were two things controller wise that were weird for me that I guess could be considered spoilers (one definitely is and the other I guess could be but really isn't so the one I will spoiler out and put it in two ways where I put it vaguely and not vaguely so read it if you want)

Controlling the rocket launcher with controller was awkward for me with controller.
Vague Spoiler for late chapters There is a moment later in the story where you control enemies but the aim assist locks onto them a lot and it makes it hard to aim at actual enemies
Not Vague Spoiler for late chapters You get the ability to use the Pheropods to control Antlions later in the game. The aim assist still treats them as enemies since the antlions technically are enemies so your aim is constantly sticking to them during the Nova Prospekt mission since it's indoors and it makes it hard to aim at enemies since the Antlions follow you around the level
 
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Used to be my favorite game of all time up until Skyrim. Used to play it and its episodes every year too.
In fact i havent done that for a few years, may as well download them!.
 
Nintendo's Witch said:
OG Doom
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That's a good choice. I cannot find an argument against it; Doom 1 can't be outdated because it's the essential shooter. There's almost* nothing that can be outdated. The core mechanics and the core loop still work well.
One could argue that the physics puzzles and how the gravity gun as a main focal point of the game is "bad", which is subjective. People who disliked them back then won't like them now. But I would at least challenge the notion of those mechanics having aged badly. Mostly because there are no modern FPS that tried to evolve this. At least In terms of physics, the only game in recent times that actually evolved the robustness and capability of game physics and how they integrate into the core game loop is Tears of the Kingdom, and that's not even a FPS. In terms of gunplay, Half-Life 2 also still works well enough. Shooting combine soldiers is still fun (imho). The only thing I can think of that might not have aged that well is how the story is told and presented. And I would agree with this. (Doom 1 doesn't have a story, which is why there is nothing that could age badly).


*I think that Quake 1 is actually the perfection of Doom 1, because it manages to transport the ageless gameplay of Doom 1 into real 3D and incorporates the environment more. And it also elevates the movement capabilities (and feel of the movement!) to suite the 3D environments perfectly. Quake 1 is the perfect FPS. But that's just my opinion.
 
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Hudo said:
One could argue that the physics puzzles and how the gravity gun as a main focal point of the game is "bad", which is subjective. People who disliked them back then won't like them now. But I would at least challenge the notion of those mechanics having aged badly. Mostly because there are no modern FPS that tried to evolve this. At least In terms of physics, the only game in recent times that actually evolved the robustness and capability of game physics and how they integrate into the core game loop is Tears of the Kingdom, and that's not even a FPS.
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I think the people that dislike the physics and the gravity gun are a very low percentage and some of them may very well not like even HL1 and go in general for a more straightforward FPS.
Hudo said:
In terms of gunplay, Half-Life 2 also still works well enough. Shooting combine soldiers is still fun (imho). The only thing I can think of that might not have aged that well is how the story is told and presented. And I would agree with this. (Doom 1 doesn't have a story, which is why there is nothing that could age badly).
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IMO the gunplay is more than well enough, I replayed it last year and honestly was expecting that it would feel outdated, but in fact was surprised how well it holds. I may exaggerate a bit, but it's better than a lot of new singleplayer ones.

Story may be subjective, but I like it and how it's told, more personal and immersive without cutscenes and taking away the control. It's also unique and has good environmental storytelling.
 
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