tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post5011880666269735342..comments2024-03-28T13:43:13.495+00:00Comments on Super Adventures in Gaming: Half-Life 2 (PC)Ray Hardgrithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post-50864136880613689642020-05-30T12:00:59.907+01:002020-05-30T12:00:59.907+01:00I avoided this when it came out because I wasn'...I avoided this when it came out because I wasn't keen on Steam, so I didn't get to play it until 2012. I remember being impressed with how well it held up. The graphic style and sound design are timeless and the facial animation and digital acting are better than some modern titles.<br /><br />Alyx at various points conveys fear, anger, happiness, defiance etc in a naturalistic way, without waving her arms about. I can't tell if Valve hand-animated everything or if they had really good motion capture software. They only had to animate five characters, and there isn't much dialogue, but it compares well with e.g. Deus Ex: Human Revolution from seven years later.<br /><br />What won me over was the conversation near the beginning, when you finally reach Dr Kleiner's lab. Technically the player hasn't met any of the characters before - Kleiner and Barney were generic NPCs in the first game - but I remember feeling as if they were friends I had known for a while. There are early versions of the dialogue floating around Youtube where the characters are abrasive assholes, and if nothing else HL2 is a good example of how ruthless editing can turn an amorphous mess of ideas into a coherent whole.<br /><br />On the other hand the maps constantly force the player go round in a spiral in order to make them feel larger, Ravenholm in particular. The game apparently has decent enemy AI but the fighting takes place mostly in tight corridors, so you never get to see it. And it feels as if Valve were worried that the player would be bored with shooting, so they put in driving levels and physics puzzles, but as a consequence there are only a handful of pure action setpieces.<br /><br />Still, there's something uniquely satisfying about the sound when you throw a mine into the ocean. The delayed, echoed whump. I love that.Ashley Pomeroyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09466311744358782337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post-36780520379541273832014-06-01T02:00:12.413+01:002014-06-01T02:00:12.413+01:00I've said the same things about Steam! (look o...I've said the same things about Steam! (look on Amazon on my review of Fallout: New Vegas and what I said about Steam under Robert Kiehn btw). Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01726378762009685237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post-25629589881101386932013-11-29T20:09:06.413+00:002013-11-29T20:09:06.413+00:00I have played Bioshock Infinite and I was very imp...I have played Bioshock Infinite and I was very impressed... when it wasn't killing me with turrets, making me fight ghosts, or giving me a game over every time I failed to defend that glowing blue column from a fleet of airships. To be honest it's mostly faded from my memory now, but yeah I think it'd be fair to say it's a student of the Half-Life 2 school of game design. I mean it's literally on rails at times.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post-43492358207037463702013-11-29T16:50:34.815+00:002013-11-29T16:50:34.815+00:00And yeah, Infinite feels kinda like HL2 while it&#...And yeah, Infinite feels kinda like HL2 while it's predecessors were more like System Shock + HL1 mix.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post-87605310873119198452013-11-29T16:46:26.107+00:002013-11-29T16:46:26.107+00:00Hey, Ray, have you played Bioshock Infinite? It...Hey, Ray, have you played Bioshock Infinite? It's probably the best story-driven shooter since Half-Life 2. I'm sure you'll like it if you're a fan of the second HL game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068112306642079190.post-72650914775149170442013-07-18T01:34:13.572+01:002013-07-18T01:34:13.572+01:00Nah, half life 3? Pffft. Tell Gaben To NOT make it...Nah, half life 3? Pffft. Tell Gaben To NOT make it.<br /><br />(Thousands of people beat me to death with crowbars)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com