Is Half Life 2 overrated?

[futurefields]

It's a fun game for the most part but the ending is strange and long stretches of the game are aesthetically bad and a bit repetitive.




This thread has more than run its course and has turned into nothing but pointless arguing and name calling.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[darkewaffle]

Nope. Easily one of the best games I've ever played.

 

[thelead]

This isn't going to end well lol

 

[TheSlamma]

No it's fun especially for it's time.

I think a lot of you guys need to give up gaming and go find a new hobby. If you think your standards are so high that a game like HL2 is overrated then are are never going to be happy with gaming. Go build something to those high standards you think you have. Or are the standards just what you put on others?

 

[Ferzerp]

No.

/thread

 

[futurefields]

Pretty much the lock step type answers I expected. I beat the game back in '04, can't help but feel all the clamor for a part 3 is a bit overhyped.

 

[KeithTalent]

It's one of my all time favourites and one of the few games I have played through multiple times. Deus Ex and Hitman 2 are the others I can think of on that short list.

KT

 

[KidNiki1]

no.

 

[Imp]

I played it well after release and didn't really care for it. The first one was amazing up to around the end.

 

[MiataNC]

Pretty much the lock step type answers I expected. I beat the game back in '04, can't help but feel all the clamor for a part 3 is a bit overhyped.

HL and HL2 were game changers (no pun intended) when they came out. They set a very high bar for gaming, and they are arguably better than most games shipped today sans graphics.

The "clamor" for HL3 is based on the assumption that history will repeat itself. In a world of "Battle/Medal/Duty" clones, is it any wonder people are excited at the prospect of something new and genre defining?

 

[BSim500]

It was a good game though very "on rails". Some parts (the canals) felt overly-long.

 

[BrightCandle]

I really didn't like it, but then I never finished the first one either. I have never been a fan of HL generally, I think its a pretty generic FPS.

 

[EDUSAN]

I've always liked hl1 better than 2
but 2 was impressive for its time

i guess now its overrated... 10years after release

 

[surfsatwerk]

no

 

[sweenish]

As a whole, definitely not.

With that said, the games are not perfect by any stretch. However, they did what the original HL did and redefined the FPS genre. CoD campaigns owe their allegiance to HL2.

I'm sure that last bit will go over really well this group, but I feel it's true.

 

[DigDog]

never played it because i hated HL 1.

died more of falling from stairs than from anything else. how that crap got released idk.

 

[Texashiker]

The original half-life was better, but half-life 2 is still an awesome game.

Yes some parts of HL2 got drawn out, but it is still a great game.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The hype over HL3 is because Ep2's last half hour was awesome and then ended on a rather abrupt and hell of a cliffhanger.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Half-Life 1 was revolutionary. So was Half-Life 2. But HL2 was a bit less revolutionary than the first, and it happened to get released several months after Far Cry, which was really raising the bar for what FPSes could be. I wouldn't say that HL2 is overrated, as it's still a sensational game in the context of its time, but it certainly didn't revolutionize the genre in the same way the first did.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Back when it released, no. By today's game standards it lags behind pretty badly.

 

[futurefields]

As a whole, definitely not.

With that said, the games are not perfect by any stretch. However, they did what the original HL did and redefined the FPS genre. CoD campaigns owe their allegiance to HL2.

I'm sure that last bit will go over really well this group, but I feel it's true.

Yes the CoD single player campaigns are structured very similarly to HL2, yet everyone hates them.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Back when it released, no. By today's game standards it lags behind pretty badly.

Knowing all the games you swoon over that are average at best, I find this hard to believe.

 

[akahoovy]

Around the time I finished HL2, I picked up a mod called Dystopia and was playing that since it was made with HL SDK, and what I noticed when I went back to the game was how crappy the weapons handling was. I suppose that could be because Gordon wasn't a soldier, but holy crap, was it annoying.

 

[Daverino]

no

 

[Topweasel]

HL1 established that a FPS could have a plot and still have fantastic game play. HL2 basically established that all other FPS's and most other games where stupid and that you can have a real story, real characters, and a truly cinematic experience from a game.

It might not be your kind of story, it might not be your kind of game play. But if you look back at game play of almost any genre before 2005 and after lets say 2007 (games that started or were early into development after HL2's release). HL2 is directly responsible for the dramatic increase in game quality and basically set expectations so high that garbage that used to come out can't see the light of day now. I mean most games 40-60 now were better than most 80+ games back then.

Now if HL2 alone was released today. It would be considered a little short and graphically distracting, while being a little too on rails even if it pushes the "movie feel" of it. I guess it would be 80-85 rated game. Which is still really good. No game is going to hold up for 10+ years later, but this one better than most.