"The Freeman Returns" with The Official Orange Box Thread
- Thread starter The M.O.B
- Start date
Masta_Killah
Member
zenbot said:
Tell me about it. That shit in the beginning of the game where you're being chased by those things pissed me off. I ended up dropping the difficulty to easy because it was just annoying as fuck.
AndersTheSwede
Member
Masta_Killah said:
Crowbar.
their still a bitch
Lostconfused
Member
Eh those are not that bad, the black headcrabs are the worst though.
Edit: Nvm ignore me, quick save makes each game insanely easy.
Edit: Nvm ignore me, quick save makes each game insanely easy.
Ok I feel really strongly about this: Alex is the first video game character I have ever cared about. Period.
Valve have done an absolutely fricken amazing job with their story telling and character development in the HL series. Ive only just started Ep 1 too, so I can only imagine how I feel at the end of the series.
I wont say more in fear of Shawn Elliot but needless to say if Alex was killed Id be devo.
Valve have done an absolutely fricken amazing job with their story telling and character development in the HL series. Ive only just started Ep 1 too, so I can only imagine how I feel at the end of the series.
I wont say more in fear of Shawn Elliot but needless to say if Alex was killed Id be devo.
Ferrio said:
Wait, what? WHERE!?
The last place I saw Dr. Breen in Half-Life 2 is inside of the protective bubble going up the tube to get into the Portal. I know he makes it inside the Portal if you don't destroy it in time right before the "game over screen" comes up, but I've never noticed him getting away to the Combine home world.
Masta_Killah
Member
voltron said:
Am I the only one that enjoys "watching" Alyx? :lol Seriously, she is so human that it's hard not to keep your eyes off her. I even like how she gives a little glance at you. makes me feel all hot and bothered. :lol
She's hawt
Ferrio said:
Yeah, he definitely blows up along with the Citadel. (providing someone or something doesn't interfere) Next time you play through Half-Life 2, or if you have a save right before you have to destroy the Portal, look down at the white tube. You can clearly see Breem in the protective bubble slowly floating to the top. If he makes it inside the Portal - aka making it to wherever he's trying to go - you get a game over screen. The objective here is to destroy the Portal, and eventually the Citadel, before Breem makes it inside the Portal.
ToyMachine228
Member
Ferrio said:
So clearly based on the dissent from both sides of my question I guess Valve is leaving it open to interpretation:lol Maybe we'll see him again, maybe we won't. Unless there is clear evidence as Ferrio says.
The Lamonster
Member
I thought it was cool one time when we were in the car and I looked over at her and she winked and smiled at me.voltron said:
Jaded Alyx
Member
voltron said:
I agree with you 100% but please, spell her name right!
Ferrio said:
In Episode 1 you see a taping of Breen talking to a Combine Advisor, and he's mentioning something about a hostbody or the like. So I'd say that he didn't get away, but that he's the Advisor that you see in Episode 1, then he might've gotten away through the giant portal, or he might've been one of the Advisors in Episode 2.
When did you see him getting away btw?
When did you see him getting away btw?
The Lamonster said:
There is not much tension, the game is way too easy... and yes I played on hard difficulty.
HL2 has some very obvious flaws. Maybe they're just more obvious to me now that I'm going back a few years later to replay it, but they're there. The design is EXCELLENT for anything that doesn't actually relate to "gunplay". Sometimes I feel that the best way to describe this game is "10/10... except for the combat". I can go into detail about weapons and controls(atleast on 360) about how there's no enemy variety which is really made obvious by bland AI... but you've all heard it before.
Overall a great game, but it could of been even better.
PS: it doesn't matter whether there's a 1 button granade throw or not. Granades in HL2 suck anyway.
Playing through HL2 slowly, little here and there. I'm nearing the end, on the chapter called "follow freeman" Every thing's been great so far, but my only complaint are the NPCs. I like the challenge of tackling an area on my own, and I don't mind the help of Alyx or Barney but I can't stand having 4 fucking guys always up in my face, blocking my hallways or doors and running out in the middle of gun fire. I don't know, it just doesn't work the way I think it should and I generally feel a greater sense of danger and triumph without them. I think the only situations I don't mind them as much are in the open areas, such as coming off the highway level and fighting the airships in around the ruined houses. In tight spaces and urban combat areas they just get super annoying. Everything else has been stellar though, and I'm loving the whole game. Can't wait to move on to ep 1 and 2.
Psychotext
Member
Have to agree. One of the most believable game chars I've ever seen, easy on the eyes too.Masta_Killah said:
Is there room in than suit for two? RAWR
Buttonbasher
Member
Just got to level 5 in Episode 2.
Episode 2 =
Episode 2 =
Little things like If I get into the car on the left side and Alyx is on the left side two, she'll step on the hood and climb through the windshield area, instead of going around that make this game even more amazing.
Joe Molotov
Member
The Lamonster said:
WTF, she told me she only did that for me.
Alright, as promised, I'm going to try and compile my thoughts on the entire HL2 saga. Orange Box was my first time ever touching a Half-Life title, so it's been a hell of a ride.
- Silent Gordan. Come on Valve! It's not 1998 anymore. Having a silent protagonist in such an otherwise richly-detailed world BREAKS the immersion, it doesn't enhance it. It also severely hinders the "relationship" you're trying to build with Alyx. I understand at this point you're locked into this choice, but it seems like a big shame, to me.
+ The characterization. Silent-Gordan aside, Half-Life does a GREAT job of painting its characters with subtle strokes rather than the clumsy, HUGE strokes found in other games. Many videogames give their characters one defining characteristic or personality trait (if that), and that's how different "characters" are created. Valve is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, here. All the key players feel like real people, to the point that the gameplay was almost secondary, to me. My reward for smashing up combine was just another nice, peaceful story interlude. I loved them all.
- AI. I have mixed feelings about the AI, but ultimately it clearly goes into the negative category, for me. On the one hand, I saw firsthand that it truly IS dynamic. I replayed a section of Nova Prospekt over and over (prob. about 15 times) just for kicks last night, and saw the AI react different every time. Sometimes Combine would rush in. Other times they would hide. It was neat. BUT, here's the problem - after playing a lot of Bioshock and Halo 3, I simply CANNOT get over Combine soldiers that literally just standing there, staring at me, after I just shot them in the face like three times with a pistol. It's extremely videogame-y. When I shoot an enemy and then pause, they need to move around, regroup, or do SOMETHING that indicates that they were just, you know, SHOT. Otherwise they're nothing more than mindless cardboard cutouts that jump out from behind walls and windows.
+ The world & the mythology. It's here that the Half-Life titles TRULY shine. Nearly every single chapter in HL2, and Episode 1, and Episode 2, is extremely distinctive and memorable unique from the others, and yet despite these differences they all still oddly seem to fit within the same overall framework perfectly. I bet I could look at ANY screenshot from any of the games and instantly pinpoint what section of which game it was from. This is amazing, to me. And it isn't done with stupid "videogame-y" distinctions too often, although Valve does fall into it occasionally (a "horror" level, a "boat" level, etc).
- Gordan's movement & the feel of weaponry. I played on the 360, keep in mind. Here's the problem: Gordan Freeman doesn't walk. He GLIDES. This is especially apparent after playing a game like Bioshock. Gordan, and his weaponry, just have no weight about them. Hold down sprint to glide up to an enemy, shotgun them, then glide on to the next. I don't feel like I'm firing a gun with any of Half-Life 2's guns. Instead, I feel like I'm moving a weightless reticle around a screen. I'm not picking on HL2 either - I feel that CoD4's weapons feel weightless too. In both games your "character" seems not to exist. All you are is a vehicle for moving that reticle on to the next enemy. Also, all the normal compaints about gordon not having arms, feet, etc. apply.
- Gameplay elements haven't evolved much. When I was playing through HL2 for the first time, some bits, like the vehicles, climbing ladders, and swimming, were awkward and frustrating. But I reminded myself that the game came out in 2004, WELL before games like Halo 3, and that in 2004 HL2 would have been ABSOLUTELY revolutionary, despite some awkwardness. But here's the problem: Episode 2 is brand new. It doesn't have the excuse of age. And guess what? Swimming, ladders, and vehicles are STILL extremely awkward. The car is a lot smoother than the buggy from HL2 was, but after controlling a Warthog, there's really no excuse. Episode 2 is a game from 2004 given 2007 dressing. One of the negative side-effects of episodic gaming, maybe?
+ Visually, Half-Life 2 & its sequels have some intangible quality that I can't quite put my finger on that just draws me to them. Newer games are more impressive on a TECHNICAL level, but there's just something about the style of these character models, the levels, and the set-dressing that makes the games just seem beautiful, to me. I wish I could better articulate what it is that I find so attractive.
+ Pacing. The games just never let up. Ever. From the opening moments upon your arrival to City 17, all the way to the end of Episode 2. Yes there are moments, sometimes LENGTHY moments of downtime, but that's not what I mean. Valve seems to just KNOW when I need a little break, before ratcheting things back up and throwing me right back into it. This combination of action and exposition, with each being rewarding on their own way, is largely unparalleled. The game plus its expansions totalled about 17 hours of gameplay for me, and I don't think there's ANY other videogame experience that's that long, but crammed with that much PURE CONTENT. When you think back about every step of the journey, from beginning to end, it TRULY is an amazing trip, and Valve took n o shortcuts. Every encounter is AAA.
- Rabid Half-Life 2 fans. Here's the deal - I just played through all three games for the first time, and I enjoyed them. They weren't perfect, but I LIKED all three titles quite a bit. Yet most of my posts in this topic have been NEGATIVE. I'd mainly come in here to post negative impressions when they would come to me. Why? Mostly as a somewhat-unconcious response to the very very frustrating HL2 defense force. Multiple times in this topic I've seen someone post a list of things they disliked about the titles, only for fans to take that as an invitation to pick apart their list item by item, to question their taste, to accuse them of just being "Halo" fanboys, etc etc. It's like... lay off it, guys. LOTS of us don't like the way the weapons feel. LOTS of us think the AI is weak compared to Halo. We've all come into this topic to post these observations independently of one another, and when there's o many of us, it should be clear that it's a legit point of view by this point. The fact is Half-Life 2 succeeds in some very major ways, but it doesn't succeed in EVERY way. So lay off it. If you loved all aspects of the titles, awesome. But accept that not everyone did, and that they aren't "wrong" for sharing your veiwpoint.
+ Intangibles. I haven't looked over this post to check, but I suspect there's more minus's here than plus's. Yet when I look back on the experience, it's much more of a positive one than a negative one, and I'm not sure why. Whenever I weigh out specific elements, it makes the game sound bad. I didn't like driving the vehicles. I didn't find firing many of the weapons viscerally rewarding, etc. Yet whenever I look at the experience as a whole, it's undeniably amazing. You'd think as a game reviewer by trade I'd be better able to distill down why I specifically find HL2 to be so rewarding and more than the sum of its parts... but I can't. So that's it!
...and there you have it. The thoughts on Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2, from a total Half-Life virgin. I wish I could erase my brain and go through them fresh again! It's been a fun two weeks. Now to close-out some achievements!
- Silent Gordan. Come on Valve! It's not 1998 anymore. Having a silent protagonist in such an otherwise richly-detailed world BREAKS the immersion, it doesn't enhance it. It also severely hinders the "relationship" you're trying to build with Alyx. I understand at this point you're locked into this choice, but it seems like a big shame, to me.
+ The characterization. Silent-Gordan aside, Half-Life does a GREAT job of painting its characters with subtle strokes rather than the clumsy, HUGE strokes found in other games. Many videogames give their characters one defining characteristic or personality trait (if that), and that's how different "characters" are created. Valve is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, here. All the key players feel like real people, to the point that the gameplay was almost secondary, to me. My reward for smashing up combine was just another nice, peaceful story interlude. I loved them all.
- AI. I have mixed feelings about the AI, but ultimately it clearly goes into the negative category, for me. On the one hand, I saw firsthand that it truly IS dynamic. I replayed a section of Nova Prospekt over and over (prob. about 15 times) just for kicks last night, and saw the AI react different every time. Sometimes Combine would rush in. Other times they would hide. It was neat. BUT, here's the problem - after playing a lot of Bioshock and Halo 3, I simply CANNOT get over Combine soldiers that literally just standing there, staring at me, after I just shot them in the face like three times with a pistol. It's extremely videogame-y. When I shoot an enemy and then pause, they need to move around, regroup, or do SOMETHING that indicates that they were just, you know, SHOT. Otherwise they're nothing more than mindless cardboard cutouts that jump out from behind walls and windows.
+ The world & the mythology. It's here that the Half-Life titles TRULY shine. Nearly every single chapter in HL2, and Episode 1, and Episode 2, is extremely distinctive and memorable unique from the others, and yet despite these differences they all still oddly seem to fit within the same overall framework perfectly. I bet I could look at ANY screenshot from any of the games and instantly pinpoint what section of which game it was from. This is amazing, to me. And it isn't done with stupid "videogame-y" distinctions too often, although Valve does fall into it occasionally (a "horror" level, a "boat" level, etc).
- Gordan's movement & the feel of weaponry. I played on the 360, keep in mind. Here's the problem: Gordan Freeman doesn't walk. He GLIDES. This is especially apparent after playing a game like Bioshock. Gordan, and his weaponry, just have no weight about them. Hold down sprint to glide up to an enemy, shotgun them, then glide on to the next. I don't feel like I'm firing a gun with any of Half-Life 2's guns. Instead, I feel like I'm moving a weightless reticle around a screen. I'm not picking on HL2 either - I feel that CoD4's weapons feel weightless too. In both games your "character" seems not to exist. All you are is a vehicle for moving that reticle on to the next enemy. Also, all the normal compaints about gordon not having arms, feet, etc. apply.
- Gameplay elements haven't evolved much. When I was playing through HL2 for the first time, some bits, like the vehicles, climbing ladders, and swimming, were awkward and frustrating. But I reminded myself that the game came out in 2004, WELL before games like Halo 3, and that in 2004 HL2 would have been ABSOLUTELY revolutionary, despite some awkwardness. But here's the problem: Episode 2 is brand new. It doesn't have the excuse of age. And guess what? Swimming, ladders, and vehicles are STILL extremely awkward. The car is a lot smoother than the buggy from HL2 was, but after controlling a Warthog, there's really no excuse. Episode 2 is a game from 2004 given 2007 dressing. One of the negative side-effects of episodic gaming, maybe?
+ Visually, Half-Life 2 & its sequels have some intangible quality that I can't quite put my finger on that just draws me to them. Newer games are more impressive on a TECHNICAL level, but there's just something about the style of these character models, the levels, and the set-dressing that makes the games just seem beautiful, to me. I wish I could better articulate what it is that I find so attractive.
+ Pacing. The games just never let up. Ever. From the opening moments upon your arrival to City 17, all the way to the end of Episode 2. Yes there are moments, sometimes LENGTHY moments of downtime, but that's not what I mean. Valve seems to just KNOW when I need a little break, before ratcheting things back up and throwing me right back into it. This combination of action and exposition, with each being rewarding on their own way, is largely unparalleled. The game plus its expansions totalled about 17 hours of gameplay for me, and I don't think there's ANY other videogame experience that's that long, but crammed with that much PURE CONTENT. When you think back about every step of the journey, from beginning to end, it TRULY is an amazing trip, and Valve took n o shortcuts. Every encounter is AAA.
- Rabid Half-Life 2 fans. Here's the deal - I just played through all three games for the first time, and I enjoyed them. They weren't perfect, but I LIKED all three titles quite a bit. Yet most of my posts in this topic have been NEGATIVE. I'd mainly come in here to post negative impressions when they would come to me. Why? Mostly as a somewhat-unconcious response to the very very frustrating HL2 defense force. Multiple times in this topic I've seen someone post a list of things they disliked about the titles, only for fans to take that as an invitation to pick apart their list item by item, to question their taste, to accuse them of just being "Halo" fanboys, etc etc. It's like... lay off it, guys. LOTS of us don't like the way the weapons feel. LOTS of us think the AI is weak compared to Halo. We've all come into this topic to post these observations independently of one another, and when there's o many of us, it should be clear that it's a legit point of view by this point. The fact is Half-Life 2 succeeds in some very major ways, but it doesn't succeed in EVERY way. So lay off it. If you loved all aspects of the titles, awesome. But accept that not everyone did, and that they aren't "wrong" for sharing your veiwpoint.
+ Intangibles. I haven't looked over this post to check, but I suspect there's more minus's here than plus's. Yet when I look back on the experience, it's much more of a positive one than a negative one, and I'm not sure why. Whenever I weigh out specific elements, it makes the game sound bad. I didn't like driving the vehicles. I didn't find firing many of the weapons viscerally rewarding, etc. Yet whenever I look at the experience as a whole, it's undeniably amazing. You'd think as a game reviewer by trade I'd be better able to distill down why I specifically find HL2 to be so rewarding and more than the sum of its parts... but I can't. So that's it!
...and there you have it. The thoughts on Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2, from a total Half-Life virgin. I wish I could erase my brain and go through them fresh again! It's been a fun two weeks. Now to close-out some achievements!
GDJustin said:
This shouldn't really affect the game, hehe. But yeah I understand, and it sucks that you had to play on the 360, I can honestly say that this game definitely benefits from having a mouse and keyboard setup as opposed a console controller. What I'm saying is that this style of gameplay in this game lends itself to being beneficiary of having fine accuracy in a pinch or heated moment.
Hey, have you seen how people walk up ladders in crysis? it's awesome, sure it's a tad slower, but it gives a great "being there" feeling to the game. It's kinda laggy but here's what I mean:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9MwEnh4r5AM
It also kind of sucks that you can never see your arms, legs or body in HL
Dr Zhivago
Member
Extollere said:
Don't agree. I've played HL2 on three platforms (PC,XB,360) and I didn't feel the controls suffered at all EXCEPT that the vehicle controls should have been better on the consoles since you've got a second analogue device.
Gordon's legs should definitely be visible, there's usually a lot of platforming to be done.
Buttonbasher
Member
:lol~Kinggi~ said:
Just finished Episode 2.
At this point, I can't imagine anything coming out that tops the Orange Box as an overall gaming experience for me this year.
The last battle was incredible. My heart was pounding when I finished off that last Stalker. It was literally metres from the silo. The last wave coming after being told that everything was okay was just devious, and totally brilliant.
And the ending? Wow. Some of the best voice acting I have ever heard in a video game, bar none. Bravo.
And the ending? Wow. Some of the best voice acting I have ever heard in a video game, bar none. Bravo.
At this point, I can't imagine anything coming out that tops the Orange Box as an overall gaming experience for me this year.
So is there any way to destroy the little bouncy balls the Combine send after you? The only way to get rid of them seems to be firing them into the sea using the Gravity Gun, but when you have 3 of them latched onto the buggy picking away at your health that's not exactly handy to do. 
IronicallyTwisted
Banned
Half Life 2 is amazing. I'm almost at the end, and so far its been absolutely phenominal. The art especially, the "ruined" world is very cliche but the way Valve have done it blows my mind. I love how the vehicles and contraptions are all made from broken pieces of the former world.
There are problems though. I don't want to write an essay so i'll just say enemies don't react to the weaker weapons at all: they just stand there and bleed until they die. Also, the grenades are fucking hopeless. The bounce off everything and its impossible to use them unless you can get one between a wall and an object with the enemy in between.
The best moment thus far was when
There are problems though. I don't want to write an essay so i'll just say enemies don't react to the weaker weapons at all: they just stand there and bleed until they die. Also, the grenades are fucking hopeless. The bounce off everything and its impossible to use them unless you can get one between a wall and an object with the enemy in between.
The best moment thus far was when
I got the supercharged gravity gun. The first time I sucked in an enemy solider and threw him at his comrades owning them all, well, needless to say it was an amazing moment. Easily the best weapon i've ever used in any FPS.
Shins said:
I disagree. Im not complaining, it was an hour of pure awesome, but the last 3-4 puzzles are where the game really started to come into its own making you think across multiple rooms and do alot of pretty cool stuff. This game could have 1000 levels and I wouldn't get bored with it. Its really great stuff.. but its good for exactly 1 playthrough, which is what makes it so disapointing that its so short.
Dr Zhivago
Member
Hopefully there'll be downloadable maps for Portal. I'd also like Valve to do Half-Life Source as DLC for the 360.
Masta_Killah said:
waaat ? u must b awful i play that shit on hard and they still have like 2hp?
BTW GUYS FINISHED EPISODE 2, LIL REVIEW
A++ game was absolutely top notch. half-life franchise once again proves itself as probably the greatest PC game of all time. everything about this game is absolutely fucking genius..
VALVE!!! who are you?? how do you do this? and thank you..
can someone explain the storyline to me?
Captain Glanton
Banned
Okay, Orange Box GAFers, help me out. Right now I'm about 1.5 hours into Ep 1--
--and it's fucking awful. Getting shot constantly while performing platforming puzzles, lame puzzles, infinite enemy spawns, zombies who carry silent grenades [wtf?], zombies coming out of monster closets or just thin air [wtf???], shit controls [the gravity gun has the least reliable targeting I've seen in a quality series], all in the first few hours. I'm behind in my Orange Box play because I started with a replay of HL2, but I liked Ravenholm, and I love the visual style and lots of other things in what I'd seen previously from the series.
But here's the thing. I'm also fed up with certain things about TF2: still getting constant drops from games [sometimes four or more in a row], bad lag, spies who don't lose their disguise from point-blank spy checks, scouts who 'warp' through my pyro's flames, and so on. Between this stuff and the shortness of Portal [yes, I did it and loved loved it], I'm ready to trade in the Orange Box next week for CoD4, and doing so without even touching Ep 2, and I neeeeeeever thought I'd say that. Convince me I'm delusional, guys, or just pissed off, or have terrible taste, or something.
Help me!
I'm out of the Citadel and in the train station, parking garage, underground thing
But here's the thing. I'm also fed up with certain things about TF2: still getting constant drops from games [sometimes four or more in a row], bad lag, spies who don't lose their disguise from point-blank spy checks, scouts who 'warp' through my pyro's flames, and so on. Between this stuff and the shortness of Portal [yes, I did it and loved loved it], I'm ready to trade in the Orange Box next week for CoD4, and doing so without even touching Ep 2, and I neeeeeeever thought I'd say that. Convince me I'm delusional, guys, or just pissed off, or have terrible taste, or something.
Help me!