Half-Life 2: Episode One

[flashbacck]

I think episodes are just another way of saying expansion. And people have been releasing crappy expansions for $20 for a long time.

 

[RedBeard]

Opteron 146/7900GT/2gb
Runs like butter at 1680x1050 (2xAA/4xAF/Vsync/HDR)
Seems to run as fast as lost coast. No surprise there.

So much better than Sin Episode 1. (and I am not done yet)

 

[Topweasel]

Originally posted by: flashbacck
I think episodes are just another way of saying expansion. And people have been releasing crappy expansions for $20 for a long time.

QFT. Infact its been a sad turn of events that alot of expansions have been selling for the price of the original cost new.

 

[VIAN]

I was 3 hours into the game and I started to tell myself - This game is pretty good. It's got great humor from Alyx and Barney. It's got some nice story elements, that coincide with that dudes' theory, The Half-life Saga. When this came together, I started to think that this story, although the combine is a ripoff of the the Borg, is pretty cool. But I still think that the presentation is bad. Anyway, back to the game, it's harder than HL2 and the puzzles are more challenging which I like. They keep you almsot starved of ammo for most of the game. Maybe not almost starved, but... you won't have many weapons loaded with ammo. This makes it more difficult. The gravity gun is made better use of here than in the original HL2, I think. You have to use is regularly. The friendly NPCs do get in your way similarly to the original, unfortunately. There also seems to be some weird collision detection issues where sometimes I get stuck in thin air like there's a wall there. After trying to move I can get free and then it goes away. Interestingly, this game is very dark. At least 2 chapters have you exploring total darkness. It sucks that your flashlight loses energy, but it wasn't a problem for me.


***************************
WARNING, CONTAINS SPOILERS (about 3 hours into the game)
***************************

So, after three hours of gameplay, I was supposed to escort these people to the train. 45 minutes later of escorting, I'm pissed. I've either encountered a bug, or this is some sick filler that Valve decided to annoy me with. When does it end?! I've seen different enemy patterns, which might indicate progression, but this is still really boring. No one says anything to me at all except keep moving them. Am I close to the finish? I want to know. 45 minutes of crossing the same 2 areas back and forth without known end and I'm ready to give up. Is this really a bug, can anyone tell me what's goin on here? This wouldn't be the first bug I encountered that stopped the game from progressing. Earlier in the Citadel, Alyx didn't feel like doing here job. Fortunately, I was tired and gave up for the night. Next time, She did what she had to.

In this section, there was a bunch of action early on, but then it stopped in the first area and now, for the rest of the time, contained in the next area, where 2-4 soldier appear for every group of civilians I rescue. In this area, the combine seem extra hard. Their mostly armed with shotguns that take about 20HP with each hit and are capable of shooting shotgun shells faster than you can. A little downer. I was hoping for more quantity of combine here than quality.

 

[NYHoustonman]

You're almost done; that part did get a bit tedious, I must admit.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

I thought it should've been cheaper, but it's fun for a few hours.

Would've been nice to use some new weapons or fight more new enemies.

 

[VIAN]

Judging by the extreme amount of threads posted when HL2 was out, I would've thought that more than 3 threads would have been created. ...Interesting.

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman
You're almost done; that part did get a bit tedious, I must admit.

I emailed Steam support with this complaint, wanting to know if it is a bug or actual gameplay. If it is a bug, hopefully a fix will come soon. If it is actual gameplay... Valve has lost it. I gave up just escorting back and forth without an end. It got so boring that I'm not even gonna try and waste my time... especially with the probability of it being a bug - you know these scripted sequences.

 

[flashbacck]

Originally posted by: VIAN
I emailed Steam support with this complaint, wanting to know if it is a bug or actual gameplay. If it is a bug, hopefully a fix will come soon. If it is actual gameplay... Valve has lost it. I gave up just escorting back and forth without an end. It got so boring that I'm not even gonna try and waste my time... especially with the probability of it being a bug - you know these scripted sequences.

you should only need to take 4 or 5 groups. Are you sure you're not losing civies along the way? Also, each time you finish with a group, Alyx should say something about going to get another one.

 

[zagood]

----- minor spoilers ------

Yeah, make sure that the people you escort are actually making it. Took me about 5 trips, and about the same amount of deaths.

If you're sure that they're making it all the way to the chain link area, then yes, it's probably a bug.

I got some strange 3d glitches in the very last level. There were some walls bending out at me. Then I bluescreened at the huge explosion at the end. Restarted machine, everything was fine.

Going to go back and play with commentary now...

-z

 

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: flashbacck

Originally posted by: VIAN
I emailed Steam support with this complaint, wanting to know if it is a bug or actual gameplay. If it is a bug, hopefully a fix will come soon. If it is actual gameplay... Valve has lost it. I gave up just escorting back and forth without an end. It got so boring that I'm not even gonna try and waste my time... especially with the probability of it being a bug - you know these scripted sequences.

you should only need to take 4 or 5 groups. Are you sure you're not losing civies along the way? Also, each time you finish with a group, Alyx should say something about going to get another one.

Yes, finally, someone told me a number. I've taken about twenty groups. After the first 5 challenges in the first area, I guess it probably ends with that tank-like vehicle with it's missles, all challenges in that area cease. Which is what I found super strange. Alyx keeps saying go on and get another group. I guess I'll have to go back to a point before the bug.

If I am very near the end, I'd clock the game about being abou 3.5 hours of playtime. And I took my time. Time is a little on the short side, but it still seems like a good game.

 

[Trevelyan]

Originally posted by: thebigdude

Originally posted by: biff 24 2000
so far i am really enjoying it but i think that it wont last that long but i can play through again and listen to the commentary.

Has anybody played it through with the commentary yet? And if so is it worth doing?

I'm just starting w/ the commentary... so far its great.

I just beat the game the first day it came out, and I'm already excited about playing through it again. That's the thing with episodic games, they have better replay value because they're a shorter story.

 

[VIAN]

So I finally beat the game, thanks to some of you who inspired me to take a chance at restarting Chapter 5. Good thing too, turns out that task was at the beginning of Chapter 5, so I didn't have to replay much. Just as I suspected, it was a bug that I encountered previously. That's the 2nd bug that stopped the game from progressing and it sucked. The only medicine is to start from before the bug could've occurred to see if it works right this time around. Maybe a steam restart might be in order as well.

Anyway, I saw the trailer for E2 (Episode Two) and it looks pretty nice. What surpises me most of all, is all the climatic moments that these episodes have. Something that was amiss in the original HL2. I'll bet that if they ever combine these 3 episodes into 1, it'll be much better than HL2. Because there are more climaxes, events, more story progression... Just imagine, it's one of those great things when you reach a climax in the middle of the game, it makes it seem more epic. Idk if HL2 had any of those. I think they saved the one they had for the end.

If you thought the ending for HL2 was bad, just wait till you get to the ending of E1(Episode One). It's worse, because there is no explanation of what's to come, unlike HL2's, but very climactic. You know what, I think that the trailer for E2 made the ending of E1 seem just perfect. You could consider the trailer for E2 as part of the ending for E1.

[VERDICT]
Since Valve sucks at telling stories, which is the point of the medium to begin with, go to the following website to check out The Half-Life Saga. This will provide excellent details that Valve has amazingly hidden from us, but will help you understand and enjoy the game more. So once your finished, play E1 and you'll find that this game is actually Great. If you enjoyed HL2, then you're bound to enjoy E1 even more.

The game is shy of 4 hours, from the promised 4-6. They should strive for at least 5 hours. And you know they could do it too. It is there job to be creative is it not. Sh*t - they could've put a few vehicles in there. Seriously though, 3.5 hours on a 20 game isn't enough. That's 10.5 hours for 60 bucks. HL2 was about 13 hours, which was also short. Maybe this is all we can expect from Valve...


[Previously Posted Notes]
Full HDR is so unrealistic and annoying. IMO Bloom achieves more realism. With Full HDR, a POS light in a decently lit area can make a big fuss all over NPC's- that's not real. There is nothing in the graphics that you'll notice that's new over HL2 other than HDR and color correction. The rest doesn't look different. I can't believe we're still using the same engine for the 2nd year in a row. I like it, since we get all this nice performance with still excellent graphics, but it's just unbelievable.

The game has great humor from Alyx and Barney. It's got some nice story elements, that coincide with that dudes' theory, The Half-life Saga. When this came together, I started to think that this story, although the combine is a ripoff of the the Borg, is pretty cool. But I still think that the presentation is bad. Anyway, back to the game, it's harder than HL2 and the puzzles are more challenging which I like, but one chapter has easier old-school puzzles - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They keep you almost starved of ammo for most of the game. Maybe not almost starved, but... you won't have many weapons loaded with ammo. This makes it more difficult. The gravity gun is made better use of here than in the original HL2, I think. You have to use is regularly. The friendly NPCs do get in your way similarly to the original, unfortunately.

There seems to be some weird collision detection issues where sometimes I get stuck in thin air like there's a wall there. After trying to move I can get free and then it goes away. I've also experienced bugs that stop you from progressing through the game. So, it needs a tad bit more polish with it's code.

Interestingly, this game is very dark. At least 2 chapters have you exploring total darkness. It sucks that your flashlight loses energy, but it wasn't a problem for me.

 

[vexingv]

sorry i didnt read through the previouse pages/posts, but can you play counter-strike source w/ just hl2 episode 1 ? i understand that it's a standalone expansion that doesn't require the original hl2 and there was some discussion over at fatwallet that you could play cs source w/ only this expansion.

 

[zagood]

You can buy CS:S as a standalone version. You don't need HL2 installed to play it. You do need Steam installed, but that's free.

HL2:E1 comes with Deathmatch and Deathmatch Source, very different from CS but they're pretty fun.

Purchase CS:S Online:
http://storefront.steampowered.com/v2/index.php?area=game&AppId=240&&browse=1

Example of instore purchase:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...=7453383&type=product&id=1125238535884

-z

EDIT: okay, so you already said you knew that. The answer is no. Deathmatch only, not CS.

 

[PseudoKnight]

I'm just starting w/ the commentary... so far its great.

I just beat the game the first day it came out, and I'm already excited about playing through it again. That's the thing with episodic games, they have better replay value because they're a shorter story.

I've realized the same thing. Since you can beat it in one sitting, it's great to play over and over. With HL2, it was ominous to even approach playing it a second time, even though I eventually did. Factor in commentary and I'm almost guaranteed 7+ hours, even though I actually played it twice through. I like being able to play all the way through in one sitting. And since it was short, the story was more compact and compelling. It might have been better priced at $15, but I don't think I wasted my $18. (It's damn beautiful, too!)

Since Valve sucks at telling stories

I must say that I STRONGLY disagree on this point. I love VALVe's story-telling technique. You only know what Gordon Freeman knows from the beginning of HL onwards. Everything you learn you learn from his perspective. Many characters within the game seem fit to keep Gordon in the dark. I love this type of mystery and atmosphere. Their direction was highly intentional and not a product of bad story-telling.

This will provide excellent details that Valve has amazingly hidden from us

See, this is exactly what I mean. That website derived the background mostly from the games themselves. It isn't "hidden". It's just not layed out in front of you.

There is nothing in the graphics that you'll notice that's new over HL2 other than HDR and color correction.

I noticed other graphical enhancements even before the commentary pointed them out to me. For example, the new facial animation system.

I can't believe we're still using the same engine for the 2nd year in a row. I like it, since we get all this nice performance with still excellent graphics, but it's just unbelievable.

So, you would choose to wait four more years for them to develop a new engine? They've gotten so good with the tools they currently have that they decided to produce a lot of content for it. The graphics look much better than HL2, which wasn't even necessary.

When this came together, I started to think that this story, although the combine is a ripoff of the the Borg, is pretty cool.

I've made the same comparison, but it's not a ripoff. There are some very distinct differences between the races. If you still think it's a rip-off, then I suggest that everything is a rip-off of something else. We're derivative by nature.

But I still think that the presentation is bad.

It got a little choppy at parts. It's very odd getting the gravity gun so early while you get the crowbar so late. It sets the pace all backwards in your head, though it makes sense with the storyline. Still, I think it's an overall improvement from HL2, mostly because they learned a lot of lessons from the previous one, they took their time, and had to compact it into something leaner.

 

[Noema]

I just finished it. Excellent game, worth every penny but a bit shorter than I expected.

I just watched the Episode 2 trailer as well. It looks awesome and I can hardly wait.

One thing I noticed is how good the graphics in Ep. 2 look, specially the forest scenes. If that's real time (which it probably is; I don't remember ever seeing pre-rendered cinematics in HL games) that means the Source engine will recieve quite an overhaul for it, much more dramatic than the improvements the engine got for Ep.1. I hope my rig will be able to handle it!!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Episode 2 video linky please

 

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: PseudoKnight

I must say that I STRONGLY disagree on this point. I love VALVe's story-telling technique. You only know what Gordon Freeman knows from the beginning of HL onwards. Everything you learn you learn from his perspective. Many characters within the game seem fit to keep Gordon in the dark. I love this type of mystery and atmosphere. Their direction was highly intentional and not a product of bad story-telling.

That website derived the background mostly from the games themselves. It isn't "hidden". It's just not layed out in front of you.

I don't agree; I think that Valve had an elaborate story, if you see the saga. They could've easily inserted some dude that helps fill you in. Just like that guy in the first season of the X-files. He's mysterious, but does seem to know a lot. Sort of like a Gman actually. I think it's stupid to hide that awsome story, when they could benefit so much more from telling it properly. I think that they should've presented it a little better, instead of leaving weird clues in discreet places and then have you do the complicated theorizing. Most people won't get it, just like I and probably more than half the people who played it, that is until the saga was written.

I noticed other graphical enhancements even before the commentary pointed them out to me. For example, the new facial animation system.

I guess then that you have played HL2 enough for that.

So, you would choose to wait four more years for them to develop a new engine? They've gotten so good with the tools they currently have that they decided to produce a lot of content for it. The graphics look much better than HL2, which wasn't even necessary.

I'm not saying it's a negative thing. I think it's a better system than the previous one, which was: releasing a new engine almost every year. I like that the same engine can go on. It makes computer gaming easier on your pocket, while still looking excellent. It may be another QuakeIII engine.

It got a little choppy at parts. It's very odd getting the gravity gun so early while you get the crowbar so late. It sets the pace all backwards in your head, though it makes sense with the storyline. Still, I think it's an overall improvement from HL2, mostly because they learned a lot of lessons from the previous one, they took their time, and had to compact it into something leaner.

I didn't think that was that weird. I know that they just inserted the useless, at that section of the game, crowbar there just because of it's symbol. It may, however be of more use in E2.

 

[Trevelyan]

HL2: Episode 2 Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0l5N6Exjz0#GU5U2spHI_4

Looks like they want us to think Alyx dies... I doubt she does though, Valve's not that stupid.

 

[zagood]

FYI it's on sale at Fry's for like $13. That's a steal. No idea if it runs through Monday though.

Something else...the enemy AI is different...not completely better, but they have new new actions like dropping from above. I just wish they used it more like in Lost Coast where they drop much closer to you.

-z

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
Episode 2 video linky please

If you have Steam, click on My media...oh wait, that's the trailers.

Collection of pertinent HL2 EP1 videos:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halflife2aftermath/media.html

-z

 

[VIAN]

I'm replaying Episode 1 with the commentary. It's pretty cool. It's better than the Lost Coast commentary because it goes into player testing, how they designed the levels and the fixes they had to make. From this, you get to know the team, and because they didn't make the game perfect the first time really brings everything down to earth. Definitely worth playing the game over for.

Don't use the commentary system when you first play the game, since it can reveal spoilers.

 

[Sniper82]

does this have HDR like Lost Coast??

 

[NYHoustonman]

Absolutely.

 

[BD2003]

"eeeeeww! Whats that! Oh! Its a combine....but he looks like a zombie.......must be a zombine...get it? Zombine...because he's a combine....and.........eeeh....ok, never mind." -Alex

Incrediblly funny.

lol ya, that was priceless. I spat my drink all over my monitor when she said that.