"The Freeman Returns" with The Official Orange Box Thread
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BenjaminBirdie
Banned
chespace said:
Could not agree more. I spent almost an hour going along that bridge and then back and it was such an amazing experience. Especially after I'd killed everyone. Just me, the bridge, and the wind.
But I missed the Advertising Achievement. Where can I do this after I get the crossbow?
Maybe the one guy I ran over?I'd like to know this too. I remember one billboard along the way but that was before I got the crossbow.BenjaminBirdie said:Could not agree more. I spent almost an hour going along that bridge and then back and it was such an amazing experience. Especially after I'd killed everyone. Just me, the bridge, and the wind.
But I missed the Advertising Achievement. Where can I do this after I get the crossbow?
BenjaminBirdie said:Could not agree more. I spent almost an hour going along that bridge and then back and it was such an amazing experience. Especially after I'd killed everyone. Just me, the bridge, and the wind.
But I missed the Advertising Achievement. Where can I do this after I get the crossbow?
I've only played the PC version, but I presume that you're talking about the Combine Soldier on an advertising board.
He's on the next bridge you get to - actually the bridge where you first get your crossbow - if you've already passed him and didn't have the crossbow it's because you missed it.
The crossbow is at that bridge, before you cross it, where the tanker is blocking the road.
The crossbow is at that bridge, before you cross it, where the tanker is blocking the road.
IronicallyTwisted
Banned
Ordered this from Hong Kong at half retail.
Can't wait to play this, luckily Psychonauts is arriving in a few days to keep me from murdering a sales assistant and doing a runner with The Orgasm Box anytime soon!
Can't wait to play this, luckily Psychonauts is arriving in a few days to keep me from murdering a sales assistant and doing a runner with The Orgasm Box anytime soon!
UltimaPooh
Member
Crow said:
Well there are bound to be some, but the ratio is much lower on TF2 than on say Halo 3.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Angst said:
Shiit. I after that bridge I drove over the train bridge and when right into Sandtrap.
FUUUUCK I FUCKING MISSED THAT SHIT.
That's like when I couldn't score that FUCKING two pointer with Dog's ball.
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT.
;D
Episode 2 has been really impressive thus far. I think it may end up being my favorite of the three. I typically detest "mine" segments, but they actually pulled it off smoothly here. I think I prefer these environments to the linear streets of City 17. As usual, it's a fun roller coaster ride. I'm playing this one on 360 so it's also nice to finally enjoy a new HL2 experience right from the start with no stuttering or loading problems.
Still, nothing touches Portal for me. The experience was so brilliant and fresh that it has become one of my favorite games in ages. It's ultra short, but man, it's just so good. Everything about it.
As Che said, the games all still look awesome. As nice as Gears, Bioshock, and Halo 3? Not in my opinion, but then again, it's running on older technology.
What's worse, everyone complains about The Flood in Halo, but Flood combat is so incredibly similar (yet still more strategic) than Any Lion/Acid Lion/Zombie combat.
Still, I love Half-Life 2 and its Episodes despite that. The experience is really fun (especially the first time through). I expected to hate that Ant Lion defense segment in Episode 2 (as I disliked all similar moments in the original HL2), but I actually had a blast this time.
I've also been replaying HL2 and Episode 1 and am finding that the games are far less exciting after you already know what will happen and most scenes end up feeling a bit tedious. This was the opposite of Halo 3 for me where the game seems to become even more fun each time you play through it.
Still, nothing touches Portal for me. The experience was so brilliant and fresh that it has become one of my favorite games in ages. It's ultra short, but man, it's just so good. Everything about it.
As Che said, the games all still look awesome. As nice as Gears, Bioshock, and Halo 3? Not in my opinion, but then again, it's running on older technology.
That's exactly what Halo brings to the table and HL2 kinda struggles at. Combat options feel so much more limited in HL2. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to melee an enemy or toss a grenade in mid-combat. The way the Combine just kinda stand there and take bullets feels pretty janky at times.
What's worse, everyone complains about The Flood in Halo, but Flood combat is so incredibly similar (yet still more strategic) than Any Lion/Acid Lion/Zombie combat.
Still, I love Half-Life 2 and its Episodes despite that. The experience is really fun (especially the first time through). I expected to hate that Ant Lion defense segment in Episode 2 (as I disliked all similar moments in the original HL2), but I actually had a blast this time.
I've also been replaying HL2 and Episode 1 and am finding that the games are far less exciting after you already know what will happen and most scenes end up feeling a bit tedious. This was the opposite of Halo 3 for me where the game seems to become even more fun each time you play through it.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
StoOgE said:
That was jaw dropping.
AWESOME JUMP HERE WE --
(Loading....)
Softly gliding in water now.
BenjaminBirdie said:
pretty much. It doesnt help that the lighting seems to go bonkers during a load.
Awesome HDR -> Loading -> HDR goes nuts and gets way to bright -> HDR fixed and looks awesome.
Its still a great game and Im having alot of fun with it, but they really need to come up with a way to stream this stuff in source or use smarter asset management.. something. Halo 3 has some levels that are every bit as detailed and large and loading never gets in the way.
Note: Im not trying to compare Halo 3 to HL2, mearly stating that loading in this game is a pain where a game like Halo3 does is very well. Im sure there are reasons Halo 3 is able to do this that might limit what it does on a technical level compared to HL2, I just think it was a good design decision.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
StoOgE said:
The problem is that it's like nobody told the game. Music, SFX, all that stuff just cuts out but you stay in the same place after the load.
Of course I still love the game and it's still immersive as hell. But, man. Wow.
You're on 360, though, right? The original PC release in 2004 was 100x worse. Not only did each loading point require 4x as much time (at least), but there was stuttering everywhere. I mean, it was REALLLLY bad. It has improved a lot, but I think even some of the fastest PCs out there today still run into the occasional bits of stuttering.StoOgE said:
The 360 loadtimes are insanely fast for this game.
Can we even make that excuse any more? Halo 3 looks f*cking fantastic during its levels and features a very high level of detail. Streaming is something you pretty much have to build into an engine. Gears of War and Uncharted (especially) completely avoid load screens throughout, yet present visuals that are far more detailed than HL2, for instance.
ToyMachine228
Member
Finally got Orange Box for 360 and I'm starting with HL2. I just entered Ravenholm. I'm liking it for the most part so far but the damn loading screens...Really pulls me out of the universe. Also from what I've played of Team Fortress 2 so far I'm having a blast.
WHOAguitarninja
Member
Stuttering is gone, as far as I can tell. My PC isn't exactly top end anymore, but I can play it at maxed settings 1920x1200 at a locked 60fps that basically never drops.dark10x said:
That's precisely the point. This is still running on the same (although slightly modified) engine as Half-Life 2. I don't know how much of a rewrite it would take to get it working, but they've been pretty selective about what they've added with each semi-sequel as far as the engine goes. I'm sure we'll see it at some point, but maybe not until Half-Life 3 or whenever they decide it's time for a whole new engine.
Oni Link 666
Member
I just beat HL2 about an hour ago and started Episode 1. That last level in HL2 was really cool. Using the gravity gun like that is a lot of fun.
guys check this out...
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/934384.asp
OB is dominating reviews as it rightfully should
Console gamers are finally experiencing the world of Valve in a nearly correct way.
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/934384.asp
OB is dominating reviews as it rightfully should
Console gamers are finally experiencing the world of Valve in a nearly correct way.
suikodan
Member
Anyone got the achievement for using the grav gun only during Ravenholm?
I got it and I can say it was something! I had no problem at the beginning but then you get to the part where there are licker-like creatures and you have nothing to throw at them! I had to run like hell to get to a point where there were some explosive barrels and a blade. Whew!
But after that, you get to the rooftop and have to wait for the dude to send you the "wagon" to cross over the fence but he takes forever to send it and there are ZERO items to use and AT LEAST 5 creatures coming after you. After dying a couple of times, I decided to drop down the roof, enter the door, use the rooftrap and voilà, no more enemies since they're trapped below and don't know how to open the trap! :lol
The cemetery was easy after that.
I got it and I can say it was something! I had no problem at the beginning but then you get to the part where there are licker-like creatures and you have nothing to throw at them! I had to run like hell to get to a point where there were some explosive barrels and a blade. Whew!
But after that, you get to the rooftop and have to wait for the dude to send you the "wagon" to cross over the fence but he takes forever to send it and there are ZERO items to use and AT LEAST 5 creatures coming after you. After dying a couple of times, I decided to drop down the roof, enter the door, use the rooftrap and voilà, no more enemies since they're trapped below and don't know how to open the trap! :lol
The cemetery was easy after that.
Framerate really isn't a huge problem anymore, but I'd be curious to see if stuttering really IS gone. A friend of mine (with a much more powerful PC than I) was running Portal the other day and I noticed stuttering while he played. I asked him about it, however, and he claimed it was gone. :\ Yeah, OK. I had to point it out directly for him to notice.
It's still so much better than release time of HL2, though. That was just terrible.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
suikodan said:
I did. I brought up a Saw Blade using a slightly older save, tried to aim down so the blade wouldn't fly off the roof (it did) and then just ran around in circles waiting for that damn cart. Once I got out of there I used a shotgun. ON EVERYONE.
So satisfying.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Slavik81 said:
On the ground or on the roof?
WHOAguitarninja
Member
dark10x said:
It may have simply been his rig choking on the graphics. That's definitely different than stuttering and whatever they did to the source engine during Ep2 development definitely dropped overall framerates. But if you can run the game smooth it won't stutter. Being that my main gametime on the PC is spent on fast multiplayer shooters such as UT, I would definitely notice stuttering. For portal and Ep2 I changed my setup a bit (comp was chocking at 1920x1200) so I run at 1280x800 with 6xAA and it'll drop frames occasionally when things get intense, but it doesn't "stutter" for inexplicable reasons.
Graphics Horse
Member
Slavik81 said:
The easiest way is to grab a big piece of scenery, like a peice of stairwell, and hold it infront of you with the gravity gun. Then just hide in the corner and they can't get at you!
Holy shit, at this moment, Orange Box is the best game ever at gamerankings. That's awesome.Jirotrom said:guys check this out...
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/934384.asp
OB is dominating reviews as it rightfully should
dark10x said:
With my 7950gtx core2duo 2.66 I've been playing 1920X1200 at around 35-45 FPS. Everything set to High, but I'm always (out of preference) light on the AA (2x I believe). Looking forward to getting my new 7950 so I can bump up to ultra and turn up the filtering a tad bit and hopefully run at around 60.
dark10x said:
You seem to give the impression stuttering was prevalent. It was not, though still quite common. Loading times too, shockingly, depended on your hardware. I did not find them annoying back then, though that may be attributed to HL2 euphoria. Downplaying Orange box 360 loading times sure seems important to you.
edit: HL2 Ep2 looks better than Halo 3
Instigator
Banned
Ramirez said:
That was my overall impression of HL2 when I finished it. Gunplay is surprisingly weak and clumsy and I dreaded each and every single firefight, but at the same time, wished the game would have more puzzle/adventure since those are more of the game's strong points. Unless Valve fixes such a glaring flaw, I wouldn't mind the series turning its back on the FPS genre as a solution.
I'm still uncertain if I should give the Orange Box a chance since Episode 1 and 2 pretty much have the same flawed gameplay. Portal is supposed to be great, yet very short. I have no idea what to think of that fifth game though.
When I said HL2's gunplay was weak, I meant in comparision. I don't think that, taken on its own, the gunplay is bad at all; it's simply not the best. The shotgun, magnum, and crossbow are all wonderful to use and the gravity gun is a unique experience still not found outside of this and Bioshock. As such, yes, I "tolerate" the gunplay because the game succeeds much more in other areas- story, level design, atmosphere, puzzles, etc.
Edit: I can't agree with what brandon says below though. Sprinting about in front of enemies constantly and throwing stuff constantly around with the gravity gun certainly doesn't feel realistic to me. (despite the fact I regularly encounter striders in real life.)
Edit: I can't agree with what brandon says below though. Sprinting about in front of enemies constantly and throwing stuff constantly around with the gravity gun certainly doesn't feel realistic to me. (despite the fact I regularly encounter striders in real life.
)brandonh83
Banned
I'm also into Half-Life's story and characters, never before have I been emotionally invested in some of the characters in a FPS franchise. I don't have a problem with the gunplay, again I find it to be some of the most "natural" gunplay in a FPS and I like the less-than-extravagant weapons. The Gravity Gun is pretty surreal, but a welcome addition. Adds a lot to the gameplay IMO. I still say Half-Life 2 feels the most realistic and practical out of any FPS game out there.
Instigator said:
I didn't find the gunfights clumsy but I did think that they were a bit easy, though considering there are a shitload of other environmental and enemy hazards that may not be such a bad thing. What are people's major complaints about the gunfights anyhow? I haven't done enough reading to know.
brandonh83
Banned
RavenHawk said:
I'd recommend it. I mean why not? The games don't really take that long to beat anyway.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
RavenHawk said:
Yes, it's like one huge game. I just started Episode 1 and it takes place exactly after HL2, barely a mere moment later.
brandonh83
Banned
They're awesome, awesome awesome games too. I hadn't played Episode One prior to owning the Orange Box so playing through Episode One and then Episode Two immediately afterwards was such a great experience.
the gunplay is hardly bad. Its just very much like it was in the first half life, which isnt bad perse.. and on par with Quake 2 or Unreal.
but Quake 3, Unreal Tournament and the Halos of the world really upped the ante since then when it came to visceral gunplay... a big part of this has to do with freemans limited mobility (i.e. more realistic) without being able to hop around the screen linke a mad man, it really limits gunplay to a straightforward "shoot this thing" "duck behind this thing" game design. The AI could use some work as well. Its not bad, and Half Life (back in the day) killed everything in the worlds AI (the opposing force AI was great). Its still very good, but compared to Halo 3, it leaves alot to be desired.
Its still fun, that part of the game just feels very much like Im playing a 10 year old game.
but Quake 3, Unreal Tournament and the Halos of the world really upped the ante since then when it came to visceral gunplay... a big part of this has to do with freemans limited mobility (i.e. more realistic) without being able to hop around the screen linke a mad man, it really limits gunplay to a straightforward "shoot this thing" "duck behind this thing" game design. The AI could use some work as well. Its not bad, and Half Life (back in the day) killed everything in the worlds AI (the opposing force AI was great). Its still very good, but compared to Halo 3, it leaves alot to be desired.
Its still fun, that part of the game just feels very much like Im playing a 10 year old game.
brandonh83
Banned
Taking the multiplayer aspect out of the equation for a moment, I thought Half-Life 2, Episode One, and Episode Two all took gaping shits on Halo 3. Halo 3 has better A.I. though, correct but as far as level design, creativity, variety, and story... nah, Halo 3 was pretty dull in those aspects, IMO.
brandonh83 said:
I think they are too different to compare.
Halo 3 vehicles >>>>>>> then HL2 vehicles.
Halo 3 gunplay >>>>>>> HL2 gunplay.
Halo 3 AI >>>>>> HL2 AI.
HL2 puzzles >>>>> then nothing since Halo doesnt have any.
Headcrabs >>>>> flood.
a good chunk of HL2 is puzzles.. and they are awesome. halo doesnt even try to do that.. halo is just a shooter, and its a btter shooter than HL2. Doesnt mean its a better game though. Just different.
Jirotrom said:
working in groups, taking cover, using deployables, avoiding fire, using vehicles, picking up downed enemies weapons if they are better than their own, etc. Not scripted, reacts to what you do. Playing on legendary these guys are smart. Like one guy throwing a power drain to the right side of an obsacle while two other guys came at me from the otherside attempting to pin me in the power drain.
HL2 they just kinda stand their waiting for you to kill them. Countless times the HL2 enemies have fired at me.. maybe moved for cover of some sort.. but when I strafed them all they did was fire. They do some cool stuff, but alot of it is scrpited (i.e. shooting out glass as I enter a room.. happens the same every time).
brandonh83
Banned
StoOgE said:
This is the only thing I disagree with in your post, yeah, Halo has better vehicles but I enjoyed the vehicle segments in Half-Life 2 more. In Halo they're fun enough but in HL2 I felt like I was participating in hardcore movie action sequences. I'm not saying one is better than the other, just merely saying I prefer HL2's vehicle sequences more.
But in the end, yes, I agree that they're too different to compare. It's just that I watched a friend beat Halo 3 and wasn't really impressed with much of it, and playing HL2, Episode 1, and Episode 2, I just felt they were far superior in many regards.
brandonh83
Banned
StoOgE said:
Totally. The controls aren't perfect but it didn't really hurt the overall experience for me. And yes, the Scarab sequences were by far the best parts of Halo 3.
brandonh83 said:
well, Im not through HL2 at this point, so I cant comment completely, but the boat controls killed me more than once. Especially the room where you have to get under the pier and hit a jamp while two tanks are firing homing missles at you. I knew what to do but would run into stuff.
the controls are an issue for me, but they arent like farcry bad or anything. That games vehicles were gamebreaking bad.