Half-Life 2 is frustrating

[Teancum]

Yes, yes -- it's a "great game" -- but I'll be danged if I don't like a bunch of other shooters better. This is my first playthrough ever (playing on my Xbox) and there's just some reaaaaaally irritating stuff about it.

(Before I move on, I'm mostly being hard on the game because back in the day it was "The Dark Knight" of video games. You know, the uber-perfect, nothing wrong with it....)

COMPLAINTS:
*The car drove terrible. The hoverboat thingy was a lot of fun to drive, but I hated the car. Since when is the e-brake on the front two wheels?
*The drive/stop to kill guys/open a gate routine. It just got old
*The poison headcrabs
*The zombies that throws those headcrabs
*The "agile" zombies (mostly the yell)
*Not enough backstory on the vortigons (I'm only in Nova Prospekt now, so maybe there's more)
*The 'work your way under the bridge' part of Highway 17. Mostly because my adrenaline really pumps in places where you can fall to your death, and I play terrible.
*Ravenholm. Enuff said
*The whole 'ambush' side of things. Too many times there was nobody, then there's like 30 guys trying to attack you. Thank goodness I save often.

PRAISES:
*The rocket launcher. Much better than a remote camera style like 007: Nightfire
*The crossbow: OOOOOh the crossbow. How I love sniping. Would've preferred an actual sniper rifle, but this'll do
*The new weapon (I forget the name) that makes the bug-things follow your commands. It's nice to throw it into a room and have them clear it out for you.
*The puzzles. Not impossible, but difficult enough to make you think. And except for 1 or 2, all lots of fun.
*The gravity gun. Who doesn't love it?
*d0g. Can't wait to play Episode 1 and 2 to see more of him
*Alyx Vance. Finally a good looking heroine without exaggerated umm... "features" and one who wears clothing. Bravo. And guess what, she's still an attractive heroine.
*The preacher guy. As much as I hated Ravenhom (see the zombie stuff above) I really liked his character
*The looooooong vehicle sequences. Yeah, the car didn't drive that good, but it was a great way to change things up. And other games ended up doing similar stuff (Quake 4 for example).


Good game overall. I'll finish it, but I don't think I'll go back and play it again later on.

[Caleb1117]

Yes, yes -- it's a "great game" -- but I'll be danged if I don't like a bunch of other shooters better. This is my first playthrough ever (playing on my Xbox) and there's just some reaaaaaally irritating stuff about it.

(Before I move on, I'm mostly being hard on the game because back in the day it was "The Dark Knight" of video games. You know, the uber-perfect, nothing wrong with it....)

COMPLAINTS:
*The car drove terrible. The hoverboat thingy was a lot of fun to drive, but I hated the car. Since when is the e-brake on the front two wheels?
*The drive/stop to kill guys/open a gate routine. It just got old
*The poison headcrabs
*The zombies that throws those headcrabs
*The "agile" zombies (mostly the yell)
*Not enough backstory on the vortigons (I'm only in Nova Prospekt now, so maybe there's more)
*The 'work your way under the bridge' part of Highway 17. Mostly because my adrenaline really pumps in places where you can fall to your death, and I play terrible.
*Ravenholm. Enuff said
*The whole 'ambush' side of things. Too many times there was nobody, then there's like 30 guys trying to attack you. Thank goodness I save often.

PRAISES:
*The rocket launcher. Much better than a remote camera style like 007: Nightfire
*The crossbow: OOOOOh the crossbow. How I love sniping. Would've preferred an actual sniper rifle, but this'll do
*The new weapon (I forget the name) that makes the bug-things follow your commands. It's nice to throw it into a room and have them clear it out for you.
*The puzzles. Not impossible, but difficult enough to make you think. And except for 1 or 2, all lots of fun.
*The gravity gun. Who doesn't love it?
*d0g. Can't wait to play Episode 1 and 2 to see more of him
*Alyx Vance. Finally a good looking heroine without exaggerated umm... "features" and one who wears clothing. Bravo. And guess what, she's still an attractive heroine.
*The preacher guy. As much as I hated Ravenhom (see the zombie stuff above) I really liked his character
*The looooooong vehicle sequences. Yeah, the car didn't drive that good, but it was a great way to change things up. And other games ended up doing similar stuff (Quake 4 for example).


Good game overall. I'll finish it, but I don't think I'll go back and play it again later on.

It's always more fun with a friend.

I agree with most of what you said, particularly with the car, I hate that blasted thing, didn't like the boat a whole lot either.

However I do like Ravenholm and the zombies, when I first played it, on the demo, I couldn't even make it half way through I was so friggin scared. (It helped to be playing at 11:00 PM) But it's alot of fun for me now, like I said though, always more fun with a friend. I would hate poison headcrabs and the poison Zombies more, but the suit healing compensates for that alittle. The Fast zombies... Well the first time I fought them, I said, "Ok, that's it I'm done for tonight!"

[The_Emperor]

Agreed on the car, hated that part too. I liked Ravenholm though, enjoyed squashing zombies with cars and traps or shooting em in half with saws.

Yeah I hate those poison zombies too, I usually nade em or throw an exploding barrel at them.

I really really hate those barnacle things. You know, those things that hang from the ceiling and pull you up if you touch their tentacle... HATE those. And I hate that big antlion guard too. Overall I really enjoyed the game though.

[Fingerfood]

Uh oh. Long rant coming.

*The car drove terrible. The hoverboat thingy was a lot of fun to drive, but I hated the car. Since when is the e-brake on the front two wheels?

Agree with the wheels, but I thought the car was kind of cool. I especially liked it with the ammo box on the back. Unlimited SMG...

*The drive/stop to kill guys/open a gate routine. It just got old

True, they could have had less, but I thought that the different variations made up for the amount of repetitions.

*The poison headcrabs
*The zombies that throws those headcrabs

Me likes poison headcrabs. They are aggravating at times, but they make the endless amount of same-ness zombies diversified.

*The "agile" zombies (mostly the yell)

Fast Zombies? They is cool too

*Not enough backstory on the vortigons (I'm only in Nova Prospekt now, so maybe there's more)

Play Half-Life. I'm told by my friend that it sort of explains the vortigaunts more.

*The 'work your way under the bridge' part of Highway 17. Mostly because my adrenaline really pumps in places where you can fall to your death, and I play terrible.

Don't look down?

*Ravenholm. Enuff said

Don't play it at night, play it with a friend, and play it a couple times. You'll love it.

*The whole 'ambush' side of things. Too many times there was nobody, then there's like 30 guys trying to attack you. Thank goodness I save often.

Would you rather there be non-stop Combine attacking you? I like the ambushes.

PRAISES:
*The rocket launcher. Much better than a remote camera style like 007: Nightfire
*The crossbow: OOOOOh the crossbow. How I love sniping. Would've preferred an actual sniper rifle, but this'll do
*The new weapon (I forget the name) that makes the bug-things follow your commands. It's nice to throw it into a room and have them clear it out for you.
*The puzzles. Not impossible, but difficult enough to make you think. And except for 1 or 2, all lots of fun.
*The gravity gun. Who doesn't love it?
*d0g. Can't wait to play Episode 1 and 2 to see more of him
*Alyx Vance. Finally a good looking heroine without exaggerated umm... "features" and one who wears clothing. Bravo. And guess what, she's still an attractive heroine.
*The preacher guy. As much as I hated Ravenhom (see the zombie stuff above) I really liked his character
*The looooooong vehicle sequences. Yeah, the car didn't drive that good, but it was a great way to change things up. And other games ended up doing similar stuff (Quake 4 for example).

Agree, agree, agree.
That "new weapon" was the Bugbait. I like Father Grigori too. "I am Father Grigori. You've already met my...congregation! *hysterical laughter*"

[Penguin]

Ravenholm + Gravity Gun + Fuel Cans + Saw Blades = EPIC WIN.

[Teancum]

*Not enough backstory on the vortigons (I'm only in Nova Prospekt now, so maybe there's more)

Play Half-Life. I'm told by my friend that it sort of explains the vortigaunts more.

I've played through the original. MANY times. I realize they were being controlled. But I still would have liked what happened between then and now fleshed out more

*The whole 'ambush' side of things. Too many times there was nobody, then there's like 30 guys trying to attack you. Thank goodness I save often.

Would you rather there be non-stop Combine attacking you?

Yes, actually.

I youtube'd the Half-Life 2 beta yesterday. I was impressed by a few of the missing weapons, but all in all I don't miss the game without them. I do want to play Lost Coast someday to get some more action against the Combine. I know there's that 'Missing Information' mod, but it was compiled with illegally stolen source code from the beta, so I think I'll keep 10 feet away from that.

But then again, I have it for Xbox, and I'd pretty much guarantee that even though (aside from stuff like bloom) the game looks exactly the same the PC maps wouldn't be compatible.

I think I'm gonna go back someday and play Blue Shift and Opposing Forces as well. I played through the original Half-Life and Decay (Decay is only on PS2, but is being developed as a PC mod) and both of those were excellent.

How are Episodes 1 and 2 in comparison with the rest of the games?

[VF501]

I felt that Episode 1 was better than Episode 2, as during 2 there is a long driving segment similar to Half Life2. The only part in Ep 1 I didn't like so much was the garage segment. Spoiler Below.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Where you're in an underground garage fighting off hordes of Zombies (various types), and some Antlions. The last part is you have only your flashlight for lighting and you have to fight off Zombies, Fast Zombies, Zombines and the occasional Poison Zombie for about 5 min or so. This is while waiting for an elevator and they keep coming from all around you. Make good use of the explosive barrels.

[Fingerfood]

Spoiler Below.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Where you're in an underground garage fighting off hordes of Zombies (various types), and some Antlions. The last part is you have only your flashlight for lighting and you have to fight off Zombies, Fast Zombies, Zombines and the occasional Poison Zombie for about 5 min or so. This is while waiting for an elevator and they keep coming from all around you. Make good use of the explosive barrels.

I think that was the only really aggravating part in Episode 1. The rest you just had to know what was coming so you could get it right.

Overall, I'm not too sure which game I like better. Half-Life 2 is fun, but now that I've played Episode 1, it feels old and not as good. From what I've seen of Episode 2, it looks very fresh and new. Comparing them all side-by-side is kind of a waste of time as they're all good in their own way. I guess after I finish Episode 2 I'll have to go back and play through them all again, then I think I could write up a good review of them all.

So, to answer your question Teancum, I'd have to answer by saying that it depends on what you're looking for.


Oh, and if you didn't catch the innuendo, I beat Episode 1 just now. If you ask me what happens, I will simply answer in astonished silence. What really DID happen?!?

[The_Emperor]

Ravenholm + Gravity Gun + Fuel Cans + Saw Blades = EPIC WIN.

Yes. Yes indeed.

[Guest]

episode 1 was kinda boring for me, i like ep2 much more because of new locations and new enemies, and the final part was much better than in ep1

[delta578]

I love Half-Life 2 though I am still trying to beat it. I am at this really aggravating part where I just took out the strider's and the guy says "Get to the horse" WHERE IS THE HORSE!!

I think that they should tel you where to go in a better sense I have spent many an hour looking for an exit/door to go into, to get out. But over all it's a great game.

[Teancum]

You just bumped a six month old topic. That's against the rules. Read em.