"The Freeman Returns" with The Official Orange Box Thread
- Thread starter The M.O.B
- Start date
Rabid Wolverine
Member
MrSardonic said:
Thanks
The last hour or so playing Episode 1 resulted in no crashes.
Cant wait to play Ep 2.
Thermite said:Absolutely. I think having the game being balanced is my only real concern for the game as well. Everything else looks fantastic; the co-op, setting, gameplay mechanics, etc. Since it's in Valve's hands, however, I trust that it'll be damn near perfect.
Hopefully we'll get some videos of someone playing as a Zombie soon. I'm curious as what your attacking selection is as a Zombie, and which types of Zombies you can be.
Don't forget the guys who did the writing for Portal/TF2 are also working on L4D.
The Stealth Fox
Junior Member
Deacan said:
Too much platforming. It's the only Half-Life game that I am not motivated to complete (well I haven't played Blue Shift so that could be worse).
Druz said:
I agree that the games are intentionally different in design and I certainly don't have a problem with the gunplay in HL to the extent that some people here do, but, c'mon, you honestly prefer having to switch to the crowbar and grenades over being able to use them while using another weapon? There is absolutely no benefit to that.
The Lamonster
Member
It's not Halo. Stop acting like all FPS have to have the same formula.traveler said:
If you guys want to lose my respect, talk more about how Half-Life games have poor design.
traveler said:
Here's one: Tension. The Half-Life close range combat is an anxious affair. You can't just clear every room with a grenade toss or easily fight your way out of a sticky situation with a flurry of melees.
One of the best things about this series for me is the level of tension that Valve is able to create. Every time I hear that rattle, I just about shit myself. If I could just back up and toss a grenade without effort, that effect would be missed.
The Lamonster
Member
Nicely put. I started to type up something about the tension and fear when you hear bad guys because ammo runs out quickly and one clip won't always take out a bad guy and how that really works for this type of game...but then I just settled on saying "it's not Halo."urk said:
Druz
Member
traveler said:
Yes, I do actually mind . Alot. Look at Halo, its a frag spamfest and fucking annoying to be quite blunt. Quick key frags are a console staple to solve weapon switching issues. The PC doesn't have that problem, so it's not needed. Adding it would dramatically change how safe you feel, so to speak.
Masta_Killah
Member
Druz said:
And how would having a quick way of throwing a frag or a quick way of using the melee alter the "tension" of the game? You're still limited by the amount of frags you have, which would make every single one a precious commodity and an enemy jumping in front of you will still scare the shit out of you.
Halo is a fragfest because each enemy drops frags. HL2 doesn't have that. You can include a quick grenade throw or a melee key without altering the design philosophy.
WHOAguitarninja
Member
Masta_Killah said:
No you can't because the time it takes to switch between weapon types is crucial to creating the tension. I can't suddenly switch to grenades and throw one because I'm going to be rather vulnerable for the time i spend on grenades. That forces grenades to be a fairly thought out strategic move rather than a quick get out of trouble solution. It's a different approach to combat, simple as that.
Deacan said:
Yeah, I'm definitely going to check out both Opposing Force and Blue Shift as soon as possible.
guise said:
Oh, nice! I didn't realize they were writing the story for Left4Dead. I thoroughly enjoyed Portal's storyline, so I now have even higher hopes for Left4Dead's plot.
Masta_Killah
Member
WHOAguitarninja said:
Respectfully disagree. I still think that the tension will still be there, quick key or not.
The Lamonster
Member
Yeah, judging from Portal's excellence, Left4Dead's story had better be Dawn of the Dead good.Thermite said:
Captain Glanton
Banned
If Left 4 Dead doesn't have the best credits screen ever, -5 points.
Valve is a masterful developer. They can find ways to create tension beyond arbitrarily limiting the player with cumbersome control mechanics.The Lamonster said:
Half-Life is my favorite FPS, and it gets many, many things right. But there are points to be improved. An always-on-hand melee attack makes sense. Having a gun and not being able to butt it up against an oncoming zombie pulls me out of things. I should be allowed to do that. If you want to keep up the intensity, lower the damage melee does if you like, but damn it, let me hit the bastards.
Prime crotch
Banned
Episode 2 only has one flaw, the freaking nectar hunt in the caves. It's like worse parts of HL2 and Ep1 combined, the rest and the Ant Lions stand-off is pure win though. If not for the commentary I would skip ahead of it.
And I know it's not a nectar but I can't recall the exact word.
And I know it's not a nectar but I can't recall the exact word.
Joe Molotov
Member
Captain Glanton said:
If it contains references to Aperture Science, +3 poitns.
ToyMachine228
Member
Is there any idea of how Orange Box has been selling on 360? Depending on how it performs it seems more likely that we'd see another similar release including HL2: Episode Three.
Masta_Killah
Member
ToyMachine228 said:
It seems to be selling well. it still one of the top performers for 360 sales on amazon, according to nextgen.biz.
Wildstar75
Member
Does the new patch fix the bug where the spy might not have an equipment zapper? Between, this bug, and a crashbut in TF2 I hit once, not sure why, and just crappy net code, this is the buggiest console game I can remember.
Flesh Into Gear
Member
Is that giveaway if you already own HL2 and Episode 1 still going? Can anyone direct me to it? I just picked up Orange Box today.
Prime crotch
Banned
It's more the trek that comes before it, the guardian was pretty cool but the mines and cave dwelling before that last bit was plain boring.urk said:
Nizz
Member
Good to see the overall positive reaction to the Orange Box. Now I just hope the PS3 version turns out well so PS3 owners like myself can get to join in the Orange Box love. I've actually played Orange Box on 360 (couldn't wait till Dec.) but I really want a great version of Orange Box on my system of choice. One thing though, I want to see reviewers really play through and rate the port accordingly. I'm kinda tired of seeing copy/paste reviews of multi-platform games without really mentioning anything like looks/performance. I already know the gameplay is there. I just want the graphics/performance to be equally as good on PS3 as 360/PC. Though I know PC is the definitive version of this series....
I just got this and so far Im a little dissapointed in TF2 just because I thought I would like it more but its too hard to get into (hard to play a game when no one wants to help someone like me learn it).
In the mean time, the single player of HL2 is better than Halo 3 by a long shot and Im having almost as good of a time with this than Bioshock. Almost
In the mean time, the single player of HL2 is better than Halo 3 by a long shot and Im having almost as good of a time with this than Bioshock. Almost
maniac-kun
Member
The Lamonster said:
You don't get it, do you? I'm not one of the guys saying it needs to be more like Halo; I'm just pointing out that I do consider this a flaw. And control issues have nothing to do with the game's formula.
On the tension thing, it's the exact same thing it would be with the easy access melee/grenades, only without the artificial barrier. You're saying it's better they make you press several buttons to do the same thing you could do instantly because it ups the tension? That sounds kinda ridiculous to me. I guess you could use that excuse for any control problem though. Old RE tank controls, 3 buttons to use a weapon in FP in MGS, etc.
(Note: This is probably a console-only issue, since the PC folk can simply assign the crowbar and grenades to any key they like instead of having to go through the atrocious d-pad menu- at least add a pause like Bioshock did for this stuff, Valve.)
Masta_Killah
Member
KarishBHR said:
Dude, there's an online forum here. Go to it, check out the official pc or 360 threads and join in on the games. 360 players had their first match last week and people were having a blast. If you have questions, bring it to the threads, as we are always talking about strategy and helping each other out.
Jaded Alyx
Member
B-Genius said:
They're not babies..that is what the combine look like!
The Lamonster
Member
No, I get it. And I actually agree with you. Maybe I should have just said "I never really minded any of the controls - vehicles included." I'm just sick of reading people's thoughts of "vehicle controls suck," "levels/enemies repetitive," and now "weapon controls suck."traveler said:
:lol :lol :lol "baby"Jaded Alyx said:
Metalmurphy
Member
Jaded Alyx said:
Perhaps not a baby but its a young combine, if you listen to the commentaries they say he's just figuring out his powers.
Jaded Alyx said:
I guess he was talking about
The Adviser
that isn't what every true Combine species looks like. They're just one part of the Combine race. We really don't know what different parts of the true Combine race looks like. The one's on Earth - aside from the Advisers - are just Transhumans, which are just humans that were brainwashed and trained to become Combine pawns soldiers. I'm curious to know what the true Queen/King of The Combine empire looks like.
I'm playing both Half-Life 2 and Halo 3 at the moment, and the differences are pretty mind-bending, heh heh. I keep expecting to be able to open doors in Halo 3 and end up deploying equipment, or desperately pressing every button while playing Half-Life, trying to find melee.
I am so glad to finally get the chance to play Half-Life 2. Valve are pretty amazing world-builders. One of the things that I've found particularly neat is that even as I'm stacking boxes to get to foot-wide catwalks leading to almost invisible air conditioning vents, I've not yet gotten lost. The game pushes you gently, but assuredly in the right direction at all times. This is a definite weakness of Halo.
I just got out of Ravenholm. Fuck me, but it was nice to see daylight again!
About the only thing I've not really liked so far is
Is there much more of that as the game goes on?
I am so glad to finally get the chance to play Half-Life 2. Valve are pretty amazing world-builders. One of the things that I've found particularly neat is that even as I'm stacking boxes to get to foot-wide catwalks leading to almost invisible air conditioning vents, I've not yet gotten lost. The game pushes you gently, but assuredly in the right direction at all times. This is a definite weakness of Halo.
I just got out of Ravenholm. Fuck me, but it was nice to see daylight again!
About the only thing I've not really liked so far is
fighting smaller enemies, like the floaty robot things and the headcrabs.
ToyMachine228
Member
So did Breen die at the end of Half-Life 2 or is it sort of open? I finished HL2, Episode One, and Episode Two but it's not exactly clear. Is it meant to be left open or did I miss something and he really is dead.