After a week off due to illness, we’re back with part 3 of our Game Club series on Half Life 2 and its episodes. We’re joined by Area5′s Ryan O’Donnell and Matt Chandronait as we talk about Half Life 2: Episode 1. Be sure to finish Episode 2 by next Monday!
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finally
i’ve been waiting for this…thank you, just made my day.keep rockin’.
Awesome artwork! /desktopbackgrounded
Hug the fuck outta ‘em, Gordon.
Not showing up on zune marketplace yet btw aegies.
Is someone nervously tapping a desk throughout the majority of recording? Or is that just my crappy speaker setup?
ya thats bugging the fuck out of me..but still amazing episode
I believe that was Anthony tapping his foot.
C’mon… Has to be a bouncy ball or something similar. It’s awfully fast for toe tapping. I’ve heard it on other podcasts, but whoever had it this time (Anthony? – he’s not saying much) really went to town with it. Still a good episode so far, but can you please confiscate whatever that is and give the offender a check mark next to their name on the blackboard? Thanks.
I seriously would like to kick whoever it was in the nuts.
I thought somone was humping their microphone.
If it WAS Anthony, then lucky mic!
*obscene whistle*
Fantastic episode, despite Thumper. Really glad Ryan touched a bit on that odd little Lost Coast level, if only to talk about HDR (which is essentially the whole point of the level). I know Source engine games aren’t terribly taxing on hardware, but it’d be nice if the same benchmark tool that was included in Lost Coast, was included in more Valve games (or more games in general) to help with adjusting settings. They still give access to the console, which is a fine enough consolation.
Did Alyx coin the term “Zombine” in this Episode?
I believe it was in this episode that she coined zombine. It was a funny bit.
One of the best things about playing Half-Life games is that it’s subtly different experience each time, and of course per player.
For episode one it seems like there was a lot of diversity in the generally funny things that Alyx would say and do if you could find them. I may have to go back through one more time and see if I can find some more.
You guys didn’t mention my favorite funny bit (at least, I think it’s this part)- When Alyx is talking to Dog about throwing the car into the citadel, she tells Gordon that Dog did the math and then asks Dog something like “You did do the math… Right?” Even though he’s a robot, they somehow got Dog to look sheepishly back at her. Good stuff.
That head shaking behavior was actually part of his AI, that happened to occur at the precise moment when Alyx was asking him the question. It was a wonderful accident.
Thanks for being sick guys. It allowed me to catch up with y’all. Did anyone else beat Ep. 1 with the One Free Bullet achievement? Pretty fun and not as difficult as I expected going in, especially as this was my first play through of Ep.1.
FUCK! I wish I would’ve known about the elevator trick with the Grav gun when I played through this. That part took me like 10 tries, I kept trying to use primary fire at the last second, which usually led to a red screen and seeing Alyx’s dead body ragdoll down into the abyss.
Great episode. Would have loved to see the reactions each time the commentary was brought up. I had real issues with the electrified water puzzle in the hospital just playing through it a couple of nights ago. I usually just try to skip across from platform to platform, but still end up getting hit. Meh. Hospital section is fantastic.
I really liked episode 1. The citadel section from hl2 felt a little bit throwaway. Getting to visit it again with increased stakes made it feel a lot more real.
On the other hand, fighting the antlions again was really annoying. Couldn’t we just be friends?
Also, I just have to say this because it’s so awesome – non-troversy heheh. Nontroversial penis!
Can’t wait to hear about Cecil next time lol
The best thing about Ep1 was the character intimacy you have with Alyx. Since she’s with you pretty much the whole time it really gave the writers/scripters an opportunity to shine. The moments where Alyx is nervous, scared, where she makes the Zombine joke (which I didn’t laugh first time I played thru, but when she realized her joke wasn’t funny is when I actually laughed), where she makes the Zombie noises to creap you out, etc. I can go on and on, but besides the (for the most part) competent AI, the great that it really does is set up the emotional rollercoaster ride that is Ep2 (that is if you are invested in the character relationship).
Yay, something to fill my ears with on the commute.
A TOPIC FOR REBEL FM 35.
Arthur this’ll probably interest you http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
Kotaku is going to need more space
Poor Arthur, he starts by saying this one didn’t make him feel as stupid as the other one… then says the see-saw puzzle was really hard because there barely wasn’t enough stuff to put on the end to keep it up. Of course everyone else had just put the crate under the other end. I’d be lying if I didn’t start doing the same thing as Arthur though, I just worked it out after I realised I probably wasn’t meant to be carrying evering untethered object from 2 rooms away. I like that he managed to make it work that way though.
Guaranteed Zombine spawn if your flashlight goes out in the elevator level. I loved that. I didn’t know about the gravity gun trick with Zombines but maybe the hospital wouldn’t have been as thrilling as it was if I had known that.
Good episode. Really is making me thinking about jumping my friend outside his house to get my copy of the OB box to play it.
And the tapping noise only bugged me for a minute or two. After that it just bleed in with the rest of the noise.
That was an enjoyable episode in the first and last 20 minutes. The middle part with the FUCKING ANNOYING BASSY TAPPING really annoyed the shit out of me. Can you please make sure that doesn’t happen again?
Anyway…
I did the seesaw physics puzzle like Arthur by trying to stack every last piece of debris I could find to anchor that end of the plank down. It never occurred to me to just put something underneath the other side to keep it from touching the ground. It’s funny how my brain interprets puzzles like that.
Truth is you can solve the puzzle both ways, but doing it the anchor way requires perfect timing with that jump and a little trial and error, and even then when you do finally make the jump it feels like you did so by complete accident.
Where’s the video, huh?
Oh and Arthur not for nothing but you use “As oppose to” way too much.
it’s “as opposed to”. Way to pwn yourself.
Word lol
Arthur don’t ever listen to me. As a matter of fact nobody should listen to me.
Jeff listens.
Funny dialogue to listen out for in epsiode 2:
When you are in the tunnels with the vortigaunt, if you smash an antlion grub he sometimes says “Grim Pinata”.
It’s probably too late for this, but if you’re going to have Ryan back for future Game Clubs please take him for a walk or something before you start recording. I thought it was an interview with Gabe Newell or something the way he provided a lengthy stream of opinion in response to just about everything someone said. Ensembles are about balance!
When one seems to be an expert on a subject, I don’t really mind hearing them speak at length about that topic. Ryan seems to really know his shit regarding the HL2 series.
I don’t mind. He seems to really have a passion for HL2 and knows the “lore” and what not. I’ve found a lot of what he has to say very insightful. He does talk alot but at least he doesn’t have an annoying voice like that damn aids giving Ryan Scott.
Just kidding Ryan. Your voice has grown on me.
I finally got a new compy- 3ghz quad, 4gig ddr2, and a geforce 9600 1gig ddr3. I am excited to play the next game along with all of you! I am still catching up with all the awesome old pc games though.
Sorry guys, but I quit.
No, it’s not you, it’s the game.
I had previously attempted to beat HL2 but I got to Ravenholm and just found it boring as hell. So I figured your Game Clubs would be a great way to jump back into it, but it’s just so boring and ultimately far from what everyone says it is.
IT’s NOT YOU, IT’s ME! No, it’s really just the game.
Maybe it was just good for it’s time and it doesn’t hold up at all but gosh, I can’t finish it.
Not every game is for everyone, but I would like to know what type of games you usually play and what are your favorites.
Personally Ravenholm has been one of the standout levels for me so far – I had more fun than I should using the gravity gun to take apart Zombies.
I’m a few hours into episode 2 now, and I was somewhat disappointed when I fired it up and my tv didn’t develop a golden aura and choirs of angles didn’t sing . . .
Then skip to the Episodes man.
Great podcast again but the constant tapping is driving me batfink shit crazy – arrrghghhghghghg
To whoever was tapping or kicking the table or whatever: FUCK YOU.
Otherwise, another excellent game club. It’s fun playing along!
I prefer Half-Life 2 than the episodes because it doesn’t have all the “fat” trimmed off. I mean Half-Life 2 is like Star Wars or Lord of the rings, a massive epic you can watch (play) again and again and you’ll always see something new and the whole thing still feels fresh. Whenever I play Half-Life 2 I feel like I walk through parts that I completly forgot were there the last time and it’s really kool. Also it makes the game more believable and makes it feel like more of a journey.
With the Episodes it doesn’t have any of that and it feels more gamey rather than a journey through the world. I mean if you watch a movie normally it skips between transitions of zones. This is how the episodes feel but with Half-Life 2 it feels like it has all them downtime bits you’d have in a real journey.
Every time I play the episodes it feels old and I remember everything and I hate that. It’s like they are making them towards console gamers, trying to keep you in the climax the whole time. However in Half-Life 2 it has all these kool moments that don’t even have to be in there but the game is made all the better for it.
Such a shame the direction Valve have gone in because I prefer the old skool PC gamer experience.
If Valve wanted to pick up more console gamers they would probably be a little more interested in porting more titles to the PS3. That being said I think the fat trimming is more a honing of their craft than catering to console players.
Great Show. It’s too bad that Authur comes off as such a pretentious arrogant dick. He seems like the kind of guy who says shit like “I never apologize cuz it shows weakness” These assholes who never admit when they’re wrong. It’s always “Oh, I was told… or “I thought you meant…” He never says “I think… or “In my opinion…” He’ll say something that everyone at the table knows is just wrong, but he says it with so much confidence that your almost embarrassed for him. It’s too bad to because he does say some things that make me say “Wow, that’s true I never thought of that.” But the whole attitude of intimidating friends is so uncomfortable.
I agree with the previous commenter, I felt I was listening to a talk show instead of a podcast, with Ryan being the host who goes over everyone. I don’t mean to say what he had to say was dumb, totally the opposite, but Jesus, let the other guys talk as well. Tyler started talking about a certain section and the guy jumped all over it. Really missed the other guys’ input all around, really.
Good show, otherwise, I played HL and the episodes a couple of years ago and it’s awesome to get to remember the experience I had, which sadly cannot be replayed at the moment since my PC has been crapping up lately. Hopefully I´ll be playing it all over again once I get a new machine.
All the best, guys!
Tyler and Anthony didn’t say much. I love listening to Arthur precisely because he has highlighted how people can have different experiences with this game. At least he got a word in on Ryans monologue. Makes a change from Anthony interupting him all the time. And kudos for playing on Hard without knowing it. I doubt if Anthony and Tyler are intimidated by Arthur, ha.
Quick note on commentaries, gonna run through quick myself with them, I remember loving them in lost coast. Turn on subtitles, it works for the commentaries. I imagine you guys are all accurate in that they can be hard to hear… Just a thought!
Oh also, I accidentally played on Normal, Arthur. Our experiences were opposite! I had played HL-2 proper on hard, but it didn’t remember that for the episodes. I just thought I was an amazing gamer. I guess I was wrong.
Hmm… also a funny story regarding commentaries, its funny how it freezes the action. I had a combine guy just standing still cause I was listening to a piece of dialogue, I shot a barrel at him, he caught on fire, and then when the dialogue ended, he rappelled down the building on cue. On fire as well.
I’m having some trouble for the first time with running out of ammo. Makes me wonder if all of a sudden it’s a problem I’m having (i.e. using too many bullets per enemy) or if there’s just fewer ammo crates in the section I’m in (right after the tunnels – I was ok all through them).
One thing I really appreciate about Half Life 2 in all it’s iterations is how Alyx is never played off as the standard female in games. She’s not there for any sexual reasons, her model isn’t even scantily clad; she’s just another character, and the lack of such traits make her that much more believable.
Yeah, well I still want to bang her, so there.
Seriously though I really enjoyed this game club. Never played any half-life games until this year (not even the original.) Now after playing every half-life game in less than a year I realize what I’ve been missing out on. Awesome series. The ending of Ep. 2 left me feeling pretty down, which I appreciate. Oh, and who at Valve is a Starship Troopers fan? The alien tube to the brain thing made me think of the brain bug from the movie.
P.S. Are you guys gonna just go ahead and play Portal next? You’ve pretty much gone through everything in the Orange Box, so why not complete the set? It would most likely only be a one week extension anyway.
*ep 2 spoilers, ep 2 spoilers*
And the ant lions didn’t make you think of that movie?
Kinda makes you wonder, though, if they can get knowledge from people like the brain bugs in that movie then the Combine knows everything Eli did about portal tech.
Nice, I got in late in this game but I passed the PS3 version like a month ago up until the end of ep2 is was pretty kul (I really didnt see all the problems everyone talks about),
I have a question since I’m a one console guy do you think EA will port Half-life ep 3 to the PS3? or will Valve shock us all and get a couple of programmers to do it themselves? or screw me out of the experience all together?
I’m pretty sure Valve is on the record somewhere saying they’re basically done porting their stuff to PS3, so it’s pretty much in EA’s hands whether they want to port it or not.
All else fails, just rent it and borrow a friend’s 360 a day or two.
Hey guys, I’ve been listening to this Game club for 3 episodes now and it brought me back to playing Half-Life 2, thanks for that
But I didn’t wanna play it with the old graphics so I decided to go through the pain of downloading and installing the THIRTEEN Gigabyte Cinematic Mod in its current version 10 on my 64-bit machine.
And I really have to say, the graphics in this mod are breathtaking! You HAVE to try it and see for yourselves, not only does it replace ALL textures and models by FullHD-Models, it also changes the lighting of all the game to appear much more realistic and atmospheric. In addition to that, it adds a few music tracks that set the mood really well in certain places.
This mod works for Half-Life 2, as well as the two episodes, so I suggest that everyone who meets the minimum requirements gets it… it makes Half-Life 2 look like a next-gen up-to-date FPS!
Great podcast, keep it up.
I think the episodes improve the Half Life forumla each time. I’d like to bring up the improved pacing and character interaction. My favorite combat scenario in possibly any game is the scene in Episode 2 where the Vorts are working on Alyx and you are trying to fend off the ant lions coming down the hall. It builds up so well and the dialogue from the side characters helps build the intensity. When the sh*t hits the fan, the music buils up, Griggs and Sheckley are screaming, and the Vorgitaunts are destroying everything in their path. It’s such an amazing combat scenario, and the gravity of the situation with your best video game buddy makes it that much more emotional.
Quick FYI, the fan-made saga website that Ryan was talking about in the second episode is here:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/
They way they first introduce you to the hunters was perfect. My jaw hit the floor when it attacked Alyx. The scene set the stage for me to enjoy the ever-loving fuck out of every single hunter kill for the rest of the game.
Also, you guys talked about achievements making you play the game differently and the hunter achievement is an example of that for me. There’s an achievement for killing a hunter with it’s own weapons and after dying three times trying to use the gravity gun to pull them out of the wall and throw them back I accidentally grabbed a radiator off the wall with some darts stuck in it (which exploded on me). That gave me the idea of how to do it though, so I grabbed the radiator and used it as a shield and flung it back covered in darts. Boom, achievement.
I also figured out that the gravity gun is really effective against hunters whether they’re covered in darts or not, which came in handy in the strider battle with all those big pieces of log lying around.
Holy shit I forgot how awesome that part is when you encounter the ‘advisor’ and how all that crazy physics shit happens when it dies!!
Also is it just me or is every physics based puzzle in these games a seesaw? Culminating, of course, in the broken bridge puzzle right before you get the hot rod. The biggest seesaw in the world.
Anyway just commenting..back to the game!
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think you guys have commented on the music at all. What do you think?
I turned it off early in hl2 on the first playthrough, but this time I forced myself to leave it on to see what I was missing. Not much, apparently, because I can’t remember any of it.
The game makes it’s own “music” which I don’t think the soundtrack added to in any way. Seems like whoever made the menu screen agrees.
It plays music at the beginning of levels every once in a while. I think Valve music is great,and they should add more of a soundtrack for Episode 3.
Here’s a link to the video “Half Life 2 Gun Sounds.” I’d encourage everyone to check this out, it really highlights the sound effects in the game, not just the gun sounds themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTbL5elVXrU&feature=related
The music in HL ep.1 was pretty much the same as the original HL. It all sounds pretty much the same NiNish like influenced instrumentation until the intro to HL ep.2. I particularly remember it for the orchestra like sound added to the music. Then the rest is more of the same.
I don’t think that I would buy a soundtrack of any of the HL music, It all sounds repetitively the same. However, I did buy me a copy of the Crysis soundtrack a week ago. (It was an honest to goodness CD copy from Amazon!) The music had themes that conveyed the mood in Crysis. I wasn’t getting that vibe from the music in HL. The music in HL sometimes was louder than the NPC dropping hints to win the level. (Yeah, I know about the music level in options.)
Beat Ep. 2 last night and even though it’s my second time through, the last major battle still gave me some trouble. All I can say is this: PC + quick save = fuck yes! This has been my favorite game club to date!
Some tips for those of you struggling…
1. Don’t waste time and ammo trying to shoot down the hunters. Run them over with your car for an easy kill. Or if you somehow find an abundant amount of secondary ammo for the pulse rifle (I didn’t) use it for an easy 1 shot kill. It might be a good idea to save this ammo for the final big combine surge when the shit really gets hairy. If you’re having trouble smashing them with the vehicular robocide technique, I’ve found the best way to kill them is with a rocket launcher round followed up by a double shotgun blast or two, depending on your range. Magnusson devices probably work too but I didn’t try that.
2. Always have a magnusson device stored on the back of the car. It’s easy to forget in the heat of battle.
3. All you really need for this section is the gravity gun and the pistol to detonate the Magnussons. I don’t know about console versions but the PC version has a button that lets you quick switch to the last weapon you used, making it easy to switch back and forth from the grav gun to the pistol and vice versa.
4. Don’t worry too much about health. There’s plenty scattered throughout the level. Focus on running over the hunters, blowing up the stalkers with the magnusson devices and efficient driving (having to get out and dislodge your car with the gravity gun takes precious time).
5. If your game has a quick save function do it after every little successful action to prevent headaches and frustration.
Finally I would just like to say that my utter frustration with how long it’s taking Valve to make Episode 3 was reaffirmed after once again witnessing the massive cliffhanger at the end of this episode.
Fuck you Gabe Newell. Fuck you very much.
P.S – Magnusson is cock and I hope he meets his demise in episode 3.
I did a HL weekend and went from HL all the way to HL ep. 2. for the Columbus day weekend. My strategy for the end of HL ep.2 was to ignore the hunters and base out at the base where the road splits.
For the easy single runs I would take the opposite road side of the strider and keep the rocks between me and the hunter and fire at the strider. The hunters could not see the Magnusson device until too late. The I hit g and then kaboom. The rest of the hunters would be killed off by the NPCs.
For the harder double strider runs I would kill off the hunters at the first part of the road split. Then I would blow the strider at the point at the other end of the road split. It’s much easier without hunters trying to blow up your Magnusson device. I agree fast save was essential in winning the game..
i’d also suggest, before going to the lumber mill, dong this:
go to every other spot and throw magnusson devices all over the place until you have enough at each location. They all stay on the ground so you’ll never have to go get them when you need them.
doing that, you’ll be able to survive hard easily. just have to deal with the hunters..
You guys should check this short film based on Half-Life 2
http://purchasebrothers.com/Purchase-Brothers-v2-hl1.html
Its called Escape from City 17
Yeah! I finished it! I have been crazy busy and got up at 4 am this morning so I could get done with episode 2 before the podcast went up.
I *was* excited about Left 4 Dead 2 coming out in November, but after the cliff hanger ending in this episode, I am suddenly pissed that episode 3 isn’t going to be here until sometime next year (at the earliest).
What a great game club this has been. Thanks guys for all the hard work and late nights.
“Be sure to finish episode 2 by next monday”
I guess they meant next next monday…or october 19?
I feel like I’ve been left in the dark. Where’s my Game Club?
I’m pretty sure (from twitter) that the show was recorded Tuesday night and should be up sometime today (night).
For Arthur (and anyone else getting Pacifist), I just started a new game at chapter 2 and got the achievement as soon as I activated the last containment unit. I think there was only 2 stalkers to not kill (on the bottom floor).
Maybe you had commentary on? Or hit one with an energy ball/man hack?
(And what the hell is it about not allowing achievements without commentary? What a great way to spice up an achievement whoring section like developer commentary. Instead, I just listened to you guys : )
? are you guys gonna get your dicks out and start playing swords again…. (there’s no swords in this game!) calm down – stop talking over each-other…
jay…
great stuff guys – love it!
Articles like this really grease the shafts of kwnolgede.
I have not checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend