(UPDATE: The video is now included after the break)Unfortunately, it’s hard to do a G-Man voice in a synopsis, so screw the foreplay. Hello! Welcome to the first installment of our Game Club series on Half Life 2 plus episodes, where we talk about the fundamental differences between Half Life 2 and its predecessor (and its first person successors), the finer nuances of zero-point energy manipulation, and more! This episode covers from the beginning of Half Life 2 up through the end of Ravenholm, and be sure to play through the end of the game for next time. MIT penis! (Note: album art is forthcoming still!)
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gravity penis!
I’m pretty excited. my favorite podcast about my favorite game franchise by my favorite software developer.
Man, you guys could not have timed this better for me! I finished Half-Life (original one) this past Saturday and I started up Half-Life 2 Sunday. I did not get to the end of Ravenholm so I’ll have to avoid this before then, though…
But is Half-Life 2 really so short that you can cover it in only 2 Game Club Podcasts? Half-Life was surprisingly long so it would be a little disappointing if it was shorter than ten hours. Could the next Game Clubs be Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and 2, by any chance?
Crap, I didn’t read the announcement before posting. So I’m happy that all of Half-Life 2 (episodes included) will be covered. I’ll still be dissapointed if the actual Half-Life 2 is short…
I don’t recall the exact length as it’s been a little while since I’ve played through it, but I feel comfortable saying it’s not too short and not too long. Which I also thought was the case for the two following episodes, neither one felt too short or too drawn out.
Half-Life series is one of my favorites ever. Can’t wait to listen to this.
It’s most definitely not that short. I’d say it’s between 15-18 hours your first time through. Episode 1 is kinda short, and Episode 2 is like COD4 single player short.
in what world is hl2 an 18 hour game? half life 2 is only 15 chapters. i dont remember any of the chapters being long enough to make it an 18 hour game. one week for 7-8 chapters is plenty of time.
and im really dissapointed. i know it would be forever but it would be exponentially more awesome if you saved this for when episode 3 was actually out.
Yeah but when is that ever gonna happen? Even the Steamcast and Valve themselves have no idea when it’ll happen.
Supposably it was to be a 2009 release then L4D2 popped up and they pushed it back. Rumor is from Steamcast Podcast.
The only other FPS I’d bought before Half-Life 2 was Bioshock, and I managed to complete the game on the normal skill level in about 11 or 12 hours on my first playthrough, so for people who actually play this kind of game I can’t imagine it’s much more than about 10 hours to get through. I suppose it gets up to about 18 hours if you include both episodes.
HL2 was my first FPS (hated them because I had only played console FPSs), as well as my first home built computer, so forgive me for sucking.
“Rebel FM Game Club – Half Life 2 – Episode 1″
The title of this episode of the podcast is confusing and it will only get more complicated from here! (Because there is also a game called “Half Life 2 – Episode 1″ that you will be playing shortly! Get it??)
It’s only confusing if you got your head up your ass
agreed
Great discussion so far, but it’s making me sad with all the talk of achievements, as I’m playing on my Win7 machine, and it has a glitch where you have to disable Steam Community in-game for it to start, so I’ve no achievements at all.
Wait…. nevermind? Listened another 30 seconds and it sounds like HL2 base game doesn’t have the Steam achievements. The eps better work, cuz I’ve always wanted to get them.
If you guys want to see people breaking Half-Life 2 hardcore you guys should check out this speedrun that a group of people have done.
http://speeddemosarchive.com/HalfLife2.html
I love you guys.
Fuuuuuck pounding the rest of HL2 is going to be rough this week. Scribblenauts and M&L: Bowser’s Inside Story are calling me…Not to mention Batman and Uncharted (again).
It’s simply not true that all FPS games “glided” when you were running. The first Unreal Tournament, for instance, felt like you were running, with weight to your footsteps.
By the way, the stuff on the beach is always the most depressing, because the oceans are lower by 10+ feet. The Combine had been stealing water (just like the aliens in V!), and do you know HOW MUCH WATER has to be removed to reduce the water by 10+ feet? It’s pretty depressing for me, because that’s real damage to the Earth.
Ok, so, I laughed when I read this, but yes, that is actually fucked up. I’ll try to mention it on the podcast next week.
If you read the Art Book, they discuss this at length, which is why you have the docks being so tall, and beached ships, etc. It didn’t bother me when I first played Half-Life 2 on its original release, but after years of playing it every so often, I notice this stuff more.
The Stalkers are also depressing, too – and I was glad I never had to fight them in Half-Life 2. Using the zoom feature to really examine them up close (I never used Garry’s Mod), seeing them without feel, genitals, lobotomized, most organs removed (because they have no digestive system)… It really is a fate worse than death.
Wow man, didn’t even know that, I just thought it was a dry season or something
Yay, cant wait to listen. Finished HL2 on sunday. Man that game is still awesome. Now to reinstall eps 1 and 2.
Sweet, Half life.
Is there any way to download the song Chuf wrote about Amanda for GFW?
http://www.myspace.com/anthonygallegosmusic
Jesus whenever I replay this it strikes me again how horrifying the death tone of the combine soldiers is. It fucking haunts my dreams.
I tried to play HL2 the DAY it came out (fucking Steam), and eventually got it working on my brand new gaming laptop. I was in 10th Grade. I took 2 days off school.
I thought some of the point of Game Club was that you would play “overlooked” games that were good. HL2 is not an overlooked game.
Nice episode. Incredible game. Keep it up guys.
The point of game club is to play games, both overlooked (Call of Cthulu) and not so overlooked (HL2) and discuss/write about them. I don’t ever remember reading or hearing that game club was solely for overlooked games.
HL2 is a perfect game for game club because it’s available for PS3/360 and PC, and it’s making people who have somehow never played it in the past experience it.
Every gamer should experience it IMO.
And that was not intended as a reply. Damn! Why do you do this to me?
http://screenshots.filesnetwork.com/31/potd/1252365896_36.jpg
Why did I click that while I was in lecture?
This post may be a bit long; I have a few things to share/say.
Pressing the “Use” key on ladders does work on the PC version. I don’t remember a time when it didn’t.
Regarding achievements: Tyler, you didn’t get the “Zombie Chopper” achievement because it’s Grav Gun only. No crowbar. It would have unlocked either right as you entered the mines or right as you left them. I don’t quite remember. Playing for achievements is fun, but I wouldn’t recommend it for first-time players. Always having to keep “Can’t use a gun” or “Where the hell did that motherfucking gnome go?” in the back of your mind can distract from the rest of the game experience. Also, HL2 and Ep 1 on PC don’t have Steam achievements. Valve used them in the Orange-Box-specific games, but never added them into the previous ones.
I would also like to echo the recommendation of the Half-Life 2 art book titled “Raising the Bar.” It’s a great behind-the-scenes look at the game. It also gives a bit more insight into some of the storyline, like the Seven Hour War.
One thing that I think people might not realize is how the Combine seem to consider systems and other non-living things as living creatures. It’s hard to hear, and the subtitles don’t usually show them, but the radio chatter commonly refers to resistance members as “antigens,” and calls their elimination “amputation,” “inoculation,” or “sterilization.” There are also a few times when you kill most of a squad and a soldier will start shouting “Outbreak! Outbreak!”
I tried for that achievement this playthrough and it unlocked right as I exited the mines. Being more familiar with where I was supposed to be going and what made for effective weapons this time through, the only parts I really had trouble with were the rooftop sections where there really wasn’t anything to grab. While waiting for the lift I literally just ran in circles on that tiny roof and jumped in as soon as it was close enough with something like 30% life left.
I found the radiator/heater things particularly useful because they were still a one shot kill on most types of zombies and didn’t ricochet off to some screwball location as badly as the sawblades (although those were still AWESOME).
I found an AI exploit for the lift-waiting part. If you jump (or fall) off the roof, go to the ladder to climb back up, and just stay on the ladder about halfway up, the fast zombies don’t know what to do. You’re too high up to hit, and they can’t use the ladder, so they just freeze where they are. When the lift arrives, make your way up the ladder and sprint to it.
Lucasarts just released all of the Jedi Knight games on Steam. I think you know what to do for the next Game Club!
Oh, and don’t forget to give a shout out to Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman (hlcomic.com) Awesome parody.
Gawd, I’d forgotten that! Might have to read it again. Absolutely mention it on the podcast.
I know most have probably watched this to death, but Full Life Consequences (type it into youtube) is a damn funny garry’s mod made spoof of the lesser known brother of Gordon Freeman
Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman. Rise and shine. Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job. No-one is more deserving of a rest. And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until… well, let’s just say your hour has come again. The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So, wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes.
……….grats?
Oh, you doing this with GAF? GAF miners, represent!
love the video.NIN song fits perfect.
I thought the AI in HL2 was always on attack mode. They just run in to my bullets most of the time. I remember the AI soldiers in the first. 3 or 4 of them would tear you apart if you wern’t carful. And they were always taking cover, shooting from cover and throwing Nades from cover. More challanging AI for the soldiers in the first Half-life. Anyone else with me?
I get motion sickness just looking at this video. It sucks that I’ve never been able to play any of the Half-Life games because of that.
Another great video! Survivalism FTW!!!
Just a quick question Arthur: Did you use the Multi-track files off Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D for it?
Also its amazing how much new stuff I notice every time I play through this game. Some many little details about the world and everything in it.
I actually used the files they put out before the album came out. They’re still online. But I’ll be picking the CD/DVD up this week since it has multitrack of everything else.
Oh yeah I remember that.
Its a awesome package and for the same price as any normal album at many places it is great value. Looking forward to seeing more of your remixes for the videos, this one was very cool.
Just as an F.Y.I. – Just finished up to the mines (I wasn’t sure if that was the stopping point or not, this is my first Game Club I’m trying to actually participate in), but that STUPID fight in Ravenholm (before you go to the cemetary?) FREAKING. LONG. I spent a good 45 minutes and ALL MY AMMO just shooting all the stuff around there. Why!?!?
Because I couldn’t see that STUPID LEVER that I had to pull to move that stupid PLATFORM.
Thank you, HL2, for making me endure a 45 minute onslaught. Playing L4D before that experience FTW!!
Started back up again… the mines are awful, but I forgot that I actually hate the driving so much more than the boat section. The fights in-between stops are good, but I cannot drive the buggy for shit. Fortunately, it’s all good stuff after this.
Yeah, the biggest thing about the first Half-Life was the incredible game. It was the first game that would have the soldiers trying to flush you out with grenades to get a clear shot at you. They’d try to flank you. They’d use cover fire. That’s why I loved Halo so much when it came out, as well as Unreal Tournament (the first one in 1999) – excellent AI.
Great Job on the Video Arthur!
Yeah, I get motion sickness from most valve games too. I can handle other shooters fine but for some reason Valve games always makes me dizzy, which sucks cause I want to keep playing, but I just get sicker and sicker… I think it might have something to do with how smoothly the player is moving through the game world.
It has to do with the FOV that Valve uses. You can change it easily.
Really? I don’t see FOV setting in the options menue. How do I change it?
I’ve fiddled with all of that. It still doesn’t work for me. I’ve come to accept that I’ll never play as Gordon Freeman.
God, I love Half-life. Never get tired of talking about it. Robert Guillaume lives next door to a friend of mine, and he’s STILL only played up to the buggy in HL2. I can’t even talk to him about his own neighbor’s amazing voice performance at the end of Ep2.
Shudda done Episode Two it’s much better and Episode One was just sucha let down.
Shud rename the title I thought you were gonna do Episode One.
What are you guys on about that it looks better than the PC version? If you’re playing on the original Xbox then you have crap textures and framerate issues and it’s low res. If you’re playing on the 360 version you have the same version as the Orange Box.
If you play the game through Garry’s Mod on the PC thats the bets looking version.
The 360 version uses the new character models from the episodes, the PC version still doesn’t. That’s all they were talking about, if you’d been paying attention you’d know that.
Garry’s Mod is no more the retail version of Half Life 2 than Rebirth is for System Shock 2. Of course a mod released two years after the original game looks better, you’re shooting your own argument in the foot there.
The 360 version also uses the improved particle effect system, so blood and such look better.
And no, Garry’s Mod does not look better. GMod is based on the Episode 1 version of the Source engine. Episode 2 made improvements made to the particle system, dynamic lighting and shadowing, normal mapping, and physics engine that GMod either cannot or does not reproduce.
Man you console FPS players are really pissing me off. Confused where to go? HL2 IS FUCKING LINEAR! How the hell can anyone get confused where to go? I bet you want fucking arrows pointing you in every direction.
See this is why I fucking hate consoles cause they produce retards who don’t have a brains so they have to dumb down every game. I mean look at all the once great classic PC games get ruined as they make a sequel on the console.
Can’t listen to your bullshit podcast anymore.
Also remember THIS GAME IS NEARLY 5 YEARS OLD!
Half-Life was 5 years old in 2003 when people got to play Hl2 for the first time and they showed off the Demo at E3 which blew everyone away. So HL seemed so frigging dated compared to HL2.
So I think HL2 has aged pretty fucking well all things considering. Specially how it’s still the best FPS ever made and nothing has even topped it since. All we get these days is the same old same old shitty console FPS that all look and play the same.
You do realize that as the self-acknowledged PC elitist, you’re making PC gamers look like idiots when you ramble like a 13 year old in a chat room, right? If you have a point to make, then make it. But if you feel the need to carry on like an asshole, you won’t comment here anymore.
NERD RAGE GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all;- making a difference between console gamers and PC gamers and saying that the PC-group is ”smarter” is a very superficial thing to do. It has nothing to do with being smart. They (the guys on the podcast) only mentioned getting lost a few times and they admitted that it was because they weren’t used to the way that Half Life was structured.
Secondly;- I agree that a lot of shooters feel the same these days but you have to realize that Valve put a lot of work in this game and most developers will never get the same time or resources that valve had.
Thirdly;- I would recommend following meditation classes and do some deep breathing. Or take pills. Pills help your kind.
I would like arrows pointing everywhere I go in real life too. It would eliminate the need for GPS.
I’ve been waiting for my glasses with built in google maps overlay. But giant arrows sounds much better!
Go choke on a cock, miffy.
This is my 5th or 6th time through HL2 (on PC) and I still get stuck on occasion where I’ll run around the same area a dozen times before I finally realize there’s some small crawl space I’m supposed to crawl through or gap I’m supposed to traverse by walking across a really thin pipe.
Yeah, the game is linear, but often times it’s no readily obvious where you’re supposed to go. For better or for worse, game design has gotten really hand-holdy in the last few years.
Also one of them talked about the platforming sucked an no. For me it’s the strongets point of Half-Life games I love that and I wouldn’t ever want that to change. It’s what makes it different and I loved how everything is seamless int he environment and it never takes you outta it. Unlike what one of them was saying about wanting to press a button to climb up a ladder or n shit. I fucking just played Resident Evil 5 and I hate how it kept stopping me controlling the character to open a door or climb up something.
I fucking hate it when console tards come play PC games and try to change them because I don’t go buy a console and start complaining about their shitty dumbed down games. Oh please put arrows so I can work out where to go because I’m too stupid to work out a simple fucking puzzle. Please give me aim assist because I’m not coordinated enough to use a mouse and keyboard at the same time.
This is why gaming has gone to shit ever since the 360 because of all these new casual dumb gamers who come along and find it too hard so developers dumb it down.
You know what if you’re too stupid to play games then go watch a fucking movie because all the work has been done for you.
Yeah I lost my kool but it’s things like these that Valve will listen to and screw over their fans to try please people who hated aspects of their previous games. It’s like how Left 4 Dead was gonna be more open ended which woulda been kool. However focus group tards kept getting lost so they made it much more linear and boring. How World of Warcraft or Star Wars Galaxies has been turned to shit to try please the retards who found the game too hard.
Just sick of it if you don’t like PC games then go have your hand held on the consoles and stop dumbing down my platform.
spelling cool with a ‘k’ really helps get your point accross
Also you say how at the time it’s just how FPS were with the loading and now they’re seamless. Erm no Half-Life games were like the one of the very few who had one continuous level so obviously you’ll need loading at some point. However I loved it because it keeps you in the game and doesn’t break the immersion.
All other FPS games and even today they have seperate levels and break the immersion by transporting you to another location. I hate that personally because I loved how Half-Life did it where it was told as if you were the character. Where you wouldn’t travel magically to another location with a story telling cutscene inbetween like other FPS games.
Instead everywhere you traveled in the game it was done through your eyes and it’s the only FPS I can remember that does the same thing through the whole single player game. Sure some loading points could be better placed but get your facts straight.
We get it, we get it, all hail PC gaming. It will never die!
Now keep repeating that sentence 1000 times and you’ll actually start to believe it.
Unbroken FPS PoV the entire game? System Shock 2, Bioshock, Call of Duty 2, 4, and Breakdown just off the top of my head. It’s really not that uncommon anymore.
Yeah, we get it. God himself gave Half Life 2 to Valve so they could share it with the masses.
Seriously though, you aren’t helping your argument. You’re just making yourself look like a closed-minded fanatic.
I’m embarrassed that you ‘represent’ PC gaming. I have ALWAYS been PC until about a year ago when I got a 360 finally (it rocks btw)
While I always loved this game, and it is a great game, there are definitely tons of problems with it that they would have fixed had it come out ‘nowadays’. I get lost constantly, and did back then too. I don’t really care if you think I’m stupid for that, it happened and the devs could have seen to it that I hadn’t. And I’m not talking about highway sections that are open and fun, I’m talking about that terrible section in Ravenholm that I’ve got lost in on every play through, and more.
I absolutely love the game and would recommend it to almost anyone, but to say it doesn’t have flaws is incorrect.
Please, don’t take this guy to represent PC gamers, I used to be one, I really hope I wasn’t THAT.
Also press x to turn wheel is lame… (or, press E on PC, for you Miffy)
I’ve played HL2 quite a few times and I like it less and less every time. I loved it the first time through but it gets so many things wrong that the original got right. The combat mechanics just aren’t good enough in HL2, the guns don’t feel powerful, explosions sound flat, the AI is not that good
Half-Life (the original) is something I can always come back to because it’s great because of its gameplay. The human AI is still better than most games (it’s at least more fun to fight), the weapons are great and there’s so many cool weapons! There’s so much room for experimentation in Half-Life
I love using satchel charges, snarks, trip mines etc.
In terms of combat mechanics HL2 can’t hold a candle to HL1
Something about the source engine… I don’t think I like the feel of ANY game using it
yeahhh… it’s a personal opinion… Because I really disagree with almost everything you say except the enemy AI.
I find the submachine gun and pistol VERY weak sounding and feeling but the gravity gun and that enemy assault rifle more than make up for it. And I think that they intentionally made the first 2 guns weak so that you’d feel more powerful later on.. And that sound the Gravity Gun makes… gave me the chills the first time I got it. As for the explosions, well, they have a kind of ”pop-pop-pop” sound but it never bothered me. It’s so nostalgic.
Half Life was probably better in terms of combat situations but it has aged poorly.. But, as I have already said, it’s all personal opinion really.
Do you really think HL’s combat has aged poorly?
I honestly come back to it every now and again just because I think it’s fun, and I don’t do that with very many games
HL has much more arena based combat and the enemies tend to live a lot longer. You can’t just shoot one guy and move on to the next. When you’re fighting a group of 6 marines you will need to move around, switch weapons, chase them down, dodge their grenades etc.
In HL2 you just kill one combine and then move on to the next. There’s no ‘combat dance’, you don’t need to think, and you don’t need to be creative with your weapons
I really love the quirky weapons from Half-Life =)
HL2:EP2 was great, but I didn’t like it because I thought the combat was very good
I have to say that HL 2 is definitely showing its age. However I still enjoy it quite a bit more than even some new shooters. The story telling in the game is some of the best out there even now. And I want to see what they do next.
But what I really wanted to talk about is a mod called synergy. It allows multiple people to go through the campaign together. I did it with 10 friends of mine and it is a load of fun. Of course this is PC only but it would be interesting to hear if you guys try it how you think it adds or detracts from the game. I know it was fun but getting ammo was a pain because 10 people were fighting for it. But working with your friends on some of the puzzles is a lot of fun as well.
I believe there is also a mod to do so with Half life one as well.
I hate the world. My pc is on the fritz, so I pick the 360 version. I play to the end of the ravenholm and I enjoy that part of the game quite a bit more than I originally did. Not having to worry about the puzzles so much, really let the playground aspect of the area shine through.
But when I try to play this morning my 360 red rings. So no game club for me this time, which is a shame since it is such an interesting way to experience games.
Hey Author/Tyler, I’m so sorry to say this Tyler, but for that achievement it’s just the opposite. I also went to do it, but you made one big mistake, the crowbar. When they mean Grav Gun only, they mean it, and you could not have used the crowbar at all, or any other weapons.
If you did it this way, as soon as you walked into the caves you would have gotten the achievement.
Many thanks to Mitch Dyer for the gifted HL2.
I just got the game last night and I started my 2nd play-through in style. I’m not sure if anyone tried this, but if you pick up items right after you get off the train, the guard whips out his knight stick ready to beat you (and in some cases will run after you). Chances are, I was tired at the time, or I’m just this immature, because I must’ve spent a good 5-10 minutes throwing items at the guards head continually to piss him off, half to see where I could lead him, half because he would beat me once he caught me. Imagine a situation like that in real life where some dude throws a cup at a security guard, gets beaten, talks shit as the guard turns around back to his post only to throw another object at him.
It’s a shame that Gordon’s throwing arm isn’t up to snuff to deal any damage, but it would be hilarious if you could knock one out in that stage of the game.
So far, I’ve been enjoying the game a lot, despite the age it has shown. The paths you take feel organic to the world you are in instead of the convenient paths I’ve found in almost all the FPS’s I’ve played. For instance, you go to pretty extreme measures to get past any one of those shields that only the Combine soldiers can pass through.
More fun stuff to add.
I was curious to see how far I could take dog’s ball before the game wouldn’t let me have it anymore. I’m halfway through Ravenholm now, and I must say it’s been a breeze because of this thing. Dog’s ball is effectively a source of infinite ammo that comes back to you. It draws aggro from the enemies and can down anything with a shot to the head. The only thing I’ve had to worry about in my personal achievement is not getting it near explosives, because it explodes if it takes the blast from a barrel.
Well, you can’t get the ball all the way through Ravenholm. When you take the cart over to Greggory, an invisible wall prevents you from taking it further.
Incredible album art. Any chance we could get a 1920 x 1080 version?
Also, I’m weary about continuing, I fear there may be spoilers for the rest of HL2 (I haven’t beat HL2 nor have I played Ep 1 or 2). I’ll take a chance.
The first version links to the 1920 by 1080 version.
Great artwork, man. I love it.
Greatest. Mod. Ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxN8sCIOOE&
This guy has replaced all of the sounds in HL 2 with his own voice/
Wow – I *loved* the bridge section. I have a little tiny fear of heights – and this part of the game got to me to the point I had to pry my white knuckles from around the controller when it was over!
Agreed, the bridge was a really neat scene. However, on this playthrough one of the ladders bugged on me and I couldn’t climb it at all, even after reloading my oldest auto-save in that segment. I’ve got a hard save at the start of the chapter but I haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to do the entire highway section over again or just start a “new game” at the beginning of the next chapter.
i think the part leading up the bridge section is great, however the fucking dicey platforming on the girders annoys me every time. Maybe I’m doing it wrong and there’s an easier path, but I always find my self criss-crossing the bottom most girders and there’s a lot of sliding down sharp grades and falling to my watery grave because I didn’t jump in time. God the platforming in this game is bad.
wow. I thought I was the only freak that was affected by the bridge section and my more than tiny fear of heights. My pulse literally went up 20 points during this section, I took it myself. btw, I have never gotten sick from a valve game before, but a few weeks ago I got really dizzy and nauseous watching my son play, and now I get sick when I play in campaign mode. good thing there is survival mode for me but I may not shell out the 50-60 bucks for l4d2 if it is going to make me ill. (not that I’m implying that you are a freak Hana, I am the freak)
*watching my son play l4d*
Check out this HL2 sound mod.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxN8sCIOOE&feature=player_embedded#t=21
This is how HL2 should have sounded
By the way, I reviewed Half Life: Blue Shift for GamePen (you can see the evidence in Metacritic), and I was one of the very few to give it a high score (4 of 5 stars).
It got mediocre reviews because of its short length. That’s it. But aside from updating all the HL models, Blue Shift was incredibly well-made. It was the slickest, best balanced, and most fun of the Half Life games. It was the most refined, I guess is the best word.
That’s sort of like how Half Life 2 had poor AI and some (now) dull physics puzzles, while Ep 1 and Ep 2 kept refining the game and making it more energetic and smooth. Bodes well for Ep 3 when it finally comes out, no?
Check that: GameRankings.
http://www.gamerankings.com/sites/31-gamepen/index.html?platform=5
It WAS in Metacritic, but since GamePen is defunct…
Tangential pedantry:
Either you don’t play Barney in Blue Shift, or the guard that opens the tram and first door for you is not Barney. In Blue Shift you play the guard who is locked out and banging on the door that you pass by while riding the endless tram.
(Of course, they’re all “Barney” since that distinction didn’t really exist in the first game)
In Blue Shift you can see Freeman go by if you watch the tram line while waiting for the door to be unlocked.
Let me start by saying this is my first play through of HL2 (I know, shame on me) so I may have missed something but I get a weird feeling from the ‘story’. At first I loved the fact that there was no belabored history lesson and people just assumed you knew what the combine and the overseer(might be the wrong term) are all about. Since they would assume that Gordon has lived through all of this and things are pretty tense, why would they blab on about it.
However, since entering Ravenholme I’ve realised Gordon has no idea what he’s doing or where he’s going. His colleague and his colleague’s daughter (who I guess he’s supposed to be interested in) are somewhere, maybe dead behind him, maybe fled. He’s past the underground railroad, knows the gman wants him to do something, but what?
I guess what I’m wondering is why should he keep rushing forward, risking his life for no apparent reason. To me it feels like the wheels really fell off this story, but like I said I might have missed something.
I would say maybe a sense of responsibility for what’s happened to Earth. The Combine were attracted to Earth due to the resonance cascade that Gordon accidentally helped to cause in the first game. At the very least it’s out of a sense of self-preservation; at the end of the first game, the G-Man gave Gordon the option of working for him or being left to die in cave full of hostile aliens.
Kind of spoiler alert, but it’s really kind of up in the air as to whether Gordon really has any choice in the matter as to what he’s doing, or if he’s just a pawn fulfilling somebody elses orders.
In the first game he had a clear purpose and goal. Valve seems to be writing the story as they go with HL2 and its 3 follow up episodes.
we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in episode 3…if valve can stop sucking microsofts cock long enough to actually finish it.
I actually disagree about the story; the art book we’ve been talking about makes clear reference to the borealis, which is where you’re headed by the end of ep2.
Yes, my limited memory of this has you about to investigate an old freighter for aperture science and finding out what happened to Dr Morgan (I forget her name all the time).
Great Game Club
Now who was the dick that told me just because the game has sold millions and many people have played it we can’t have it on Game Club? Eat frags mother fucker.
Bring on episode 2.
From Gringo234 and since Arthur hates numbers at the end of handles I decided to change my name to who watches me.
By the way awesome video Arthur and artwork.
I first played this when it came to the consoles on the Orange Box, I loved it but I had to concede and stop playing. I got majorly ill everytime played it. Within 15 minutes of playing I would get motion sickness, after 40 minutes of playing I would feel absolutely rotten! So much so it would take me a couple of hours afterwards getting rid of the feeling and recovering.
Its the first and only FPS I’ve ever gotten sick from playing. Its a shame because I was really enjoying it, and hearing the show made me want to play it again, but I just can’t bear the feeling.
I could stomach a mild feeling of motion sickness, but this was extreme.
The worst part is I managed to soldier up to Ravenholm ( I recall giving up after getting into a mine or something where I kept falling into a hole)… and thats where you guys said the game really starts getting good.
If you are willing to play on PC, you can bump the field-of-view up, it should help with feeling sick.
(in console, ~ key)
sv_cheats 1
fov 90
Also, play on a widescreen screen/TV if possible, because the game will render a wider view on 16:10/16:9 then 4:3.
Thanks for the tips, unfortunately I’m stuck with a 4:3 monitor hooked up to my consoles. My PC can just about manage to run solitaire lol.
I might skip ahead to episode 2 and see if that is any better for me
Did anyone else carry a turret right the way through Entanglement?
I did not carry around a turret for all of Entanglement but I did for a lot longer then I was expecting. They are so useful, basically a strong machine gun with auto aim and if needed can be thrown at the enemy.
This is just perfect considering my ritual of playing half life 2 every 2 3 month , just finished a hl1s hl2 ep1 ep2 marathon and still as great as ever , my love to that game will never make it age and will never make any flaw you guys talked about get stuck in my head even when I know its there
I mean when you hate a game , its flaws is always on your mind dancing in front of the screen all the way till you suck it up and finish it or rage quit , but when you love a game your mind will start making up excuses and explanations for any flaw glitch or story plot hole , for example I get the usual “why the hell is that platform built exactly for my jump” in any shitty game I play , but when I m playing warrior within which I loved going to the empress and I have the same thought I ll be telling myself some shit like “Ooo that’s cause Kaileena has seen me coming when she saw the whole timeline so she build her place specifically to me” , same with Ryan Scot and batman gargoyles and so on , anyways
I m saying all this cause I made the exact same thing with half life by creating whole theories in my head just to cover every flaw glitch or plothole in the game , Like for Gordon not seeing himself and his hands while climbing ladders and driving I made up , Gordon has split personality and he is actually G-Man and all the blackouts with G-Man Speeches is him going from one to another and the G stands for Gordon Freeman not Government and its called Half Life not cause of the half life time of a radioactive element but cause we only play half the life of Gordon/G-Man , the looks of the Gordon we know doesn’t even exist and he looks like what we see as the G-Man so in order for his mind to deal with this he blocked all his reflections , shadows and seeing parts of himself so that not to deal with the fact that he is G-Man (also why the Gordon personality doesn’t talk while G-Man talks and I can go on and on with every sentence of his speeches with that perspective) and like episode 3 will end of a cliff hanger of Gordon looking in a mirror for a second and seeing the G-Man’s face , All that speculation just cause I didn’t expect that valve just messed up and didn’t show his hand while climbing ladders from how perfect every other thing in the game is , same with headcrabs genetic mind control/mutations , same with parts that didn’t make sense of the 7-hour war , same with any negative aspect of the game I made a whole story to explain it , I know that’s all stupid fan fic bullshit and its not true , I was just saying to point out how powerful of an effect this game can have on someone from how good it is
Holy shit , I wrote all that in a fuckin comment post , and that’s why people I know take care not to bring up half life in any conversation we r having , I have to stop now before I get on the significance and the reason behind every G-Man sighting in the game , so Later , Keep up the good work and thanks for making an hour and a half much better at work
Grade: F
Student fails to use proper punctuation. Capitalization seems to be random. In the future use apostrophes in words like “I’m”, use periods at the end of a sentence, and consider writing an outline before writing your next assignment. Also note that “r” is not a word and that a space should only occur after a comma.
Got to love the internet snobs.
The same game every 2-3 months? God, who has the time??
Best HL2 mod ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxN8sCIOOE
“leave the talking to me Gorden”
lol(olol)
So far the best part of the game for me is shepherding the ant-lions around. I was very sad when I had to leave them behind, especially since their AI is much better than your human squad mates.
I loved the Antlions and felt so sad anytime I accidentally killed one of them with a misplaced grenade or an exploding barrel.
One thing I truely love about HL2′s narritive is that it doesn’t center around Gordon Freeman all the time. For most of the game you feel that you are a real hero. ( from every third fucking friendly NPC shouting Gordon Freeman in exactly the same tone) But with the G-man sightings you suddenly get the feeling that some thing isn’t quite right… Then Alyx turns up and you fell like a god again. It’s not till the very end that you find out that things could have turned out very diffrently if only some one had given the G-man a little more inter-dimensional money. That and some of the Breen mono-louges infer that the combine are inter dimensional too. Perhaps G-man is behind it all?
guess we’ll have to wait for episode 3 sigh…
conspiracy-theorical penis!!!!!!
Like a lot of people, I was mesmerized by this game when it first came out, but unfortunately as time passed and my taste in games matured, it just didn’t hold up. Even when I replayed it a month after it was released, I could tell it wouldn’t age well.
Everyone on the podcast talked about how the opening was like a theme park ride, but to me it feels like the entire game was that way. The gameplay was tuned so that even on the highest difficulty all you had to do was stand in place and shoot everything as it came to you, and as long as you were reasonably good at aiming, you’d always come out on top. It seems like the combat was secondary to the presentation, and you were really there just to see the sights and sounds. Granted this worked very well when those sights and sounds were unlike anything you’d ever seen, but it gets less and less impressive as the technology behind it ages.
On the other hand, the technology hasn’t aged that much; the character models and animations still make a mockery of even latest greatest games. (watch the game club video, then check out fake Nathan Fillion as he awkwardly prances around in Halo ODST for comparison). Maybe I’ve just played too many of these types of games. I’ve become way too good at spotting the triggers for scripted sequences, and I just can’t be entertained by gameplay that doesn’t let you make decisions for yourself anymore. I know some people can “turn their brain off” and simply play a game without thinking about its inner workings, but I can’t do that anymore, so games like this aren’t impressive to me now. So I guess what I’m trying to say is Half-Life 2: Great game! But only if you don’t think about it too hard.
I haven’t played this one since the Orange Box came out and it’s still one of my favorites. I did a bit of a speed run this time to catch up for the next game club episode. I clocked in at just a bit over 8.5 hours.
This time through I noticed a few things I was doing “wrong” the other times I’ve played it, both including striders. First, after leaving the museum I would hole up in bunker in the middle of the courtyard even after one of the striders hit it with a charged blast (which was probably meant to tell the player to get the hell out of there and over to the bottomless rocket crate). The second, is in the blown-out building before reaching the streets that lead to the roof-top strider battle. Once again I would hole up in the wrong spot (the short side of the building that faces a small alley with just enough room for a strider to crouch down and blast me to zero health) instead of heading to the stairwell with the rocket crate.
I’m wondering if anyone else had trouble finding the right path (in these parts or any others) during their first play-through?
Just got through HL2.
The last level is probably one of the easier in the game thanks to the God Gun, this could easily have made the last section a letdown but this was avoided by how fun it was to use and the whole scene in the Breens office.
I loved the way Breen was so slapdash about the Gravity Gun “oh… just put it over there” as if it were some kids toy makes the player think “Fuck you Breen you haven’t got a clue what it is”, which was pretty much what Alex then says.
Does anyone know what’s happening with the HL2 mod Black Mesa? The last post on that site was the trailer, almost a year ago.
Finally beat it!! Man that last “half” of the game just goes on. and on. and on. I feel like 3 game clubs would’ve been better but whatever, I did get it done in time for the second game club episode so I shouldn’t complain.
One thing that I’ve always loved about this game is how the combine choppers are almost like organic life forms the way they move around and have that swivelling head that will pivot around and stare you down when you’re firing rockets at it. Does anybody know if they are piloted or if they are just artificial intelligence? Anyway, I love the animal like sounds they emit when they get struck by rockets and when they are about to explode. So much more interesting than just your run of the mill military type choppers you see in most games. Same goes with the striders. I love the wail they make as they explode – almost as if they are dying, not breaking.
I feel like the game is at its best when your fighting large scale battles in larger environments and at it’s worst when it’s making you do platforming.
I was thinking the same thing when I was fighting the Striders in the square. Almost felt a pang of guilt for taking them down. Almost.
In either HL Ep. 1 or 2 you get a close up look at a combine gunship after you blow it out of the sky. From this point of view it looks to be about equal parts organism and machine. As if you were to meld a pilot and a predator drone into a monstrosity with it’s only ability to fly and shoot. An interesting note on this is that when you’re taking your tram ride through the citadel you can the combine “husks” (or what ever they’re called) welding things onto the gunships as you pass by.
Just finsihed the game. Almost as much fun as the first time I played it, but some sections seemed to be to long. Specifically all that driving – Nova Prospekt should have been just on the other side of the rail bridge. Running around with an endless supply of cannon fodder get boring pretty quick too. If you don’t need to protect your squad, then you don’t care about them and that creates (for me, at least) a disconnect.
Once in the citadel, though I was really having fun. Not just the crazy gravity gun stuff, but the whole look and feel of the place. Riding the one-man rail things reminded me of the HL1 intro with it’s little set pieces.
Finally a question. At the beginning of the final chapter, when Mossman says “Until you are where he wants you there is nothing you can do”, she could be talking about Dr Breen, but equally she could be talking about the G-Man. What do you think?
I noticed that too. I dunno, Breen seemed to know about the G-Man based on his dialog in the office so it could have been either.
hey guys,
long time listener, first time dick-sucker.
this is my first time playing through half-life 2. Like someone else mentioned, I get serious motion sickness whenever i play this particular game. when i found out this was the new gameclub game, I decided to give it another try. so far, i have made it to nova prospect and man! this really is a great game.
ryan was right. coast is awesome. my unique coast experience: i made it through the warehouse section by jumping the buggy through the window and made the jump over the broken bridge, but when the gunship started strafing me,i spazzed out and bailed out of the buggy at the roadblock and got separated from the buggy. I made it to the first tunnel with only 2 points of health left and couldn’t go back to get my buggy because of an autosave. I played the rest of the coast on foot. I’m sure it was different then valve intended and how most people experience, but it was still cool. traveling on foot really extended the coast and added to the sense of isolation.
keep up the great work with rebelfm. you three have totally hit your stride and i look forward to each new episode.
stout penis!
I forgot how much of a bad ass you feel each time you take down one of the Gunships or a Strider. Right after you take down the suppression field and enter the plaza to take down the striders is such a cool moment, rockets flying from every direction.
Also just before you start Our Benefactors when you jump down Barny shouts “If you see Dr Breen tell him I said fuck you” which I thought was awesome!
I’d forgotten about Barney’s line until this last play-through. It actually made me laugh.
You guys were mentioning that there are probably people who played HL2 before one. I actually did this, mainly because I bought the Orange Box just to get Portal and TF2.
When I first played I like the Vortigants because they had cool voices and such, but when I played Half Life I got creeped out by them.
At first I was like what the hell is that thing! It was more that I was astonished that they were actually attacking me than helping me.
I learned to hate them in HL but love them in HL2. Im so conflicted.
They are not as creepy as the giant nut sack spider when you first fight when arrive at Xion or whatever the hell it’s called towards the end of HL1.
I personally think the vortigaunts are bad ass. They do some really cool shit in episodes 1 and 2.
Gonarch.
So i just got to the citadel and breathed a sign of relief, as i knew the end of the game had come, and nothing but pure fun was left in the game. Then i got to the “confiscation” beam, and suddenly i realized that i had just got metroided! Oh well, at least it was a super metroid, hyper beam ftw!
Damn I never remember the flashlight being such a pain in the ass. I understand the idea to help keep suspense up when your in a dark room with zombies and your light keeps running low, but it is such a hassel. Especially since the sprint uses the same bar.
Also Operation Flashpoint back in 2001 ( I think it was) had full body awareness.
In response to the Gman / Transporter accident comment that the Gman caused the accident. What if Gman was Lamarr at that instant?
BTW thanks for all the clues from the previous Half Life games. I hadn’t played any of them and ended grabbing the Half Life Anthology for more of the story.