Looks like its finally happening, Vivendi made it official today with a November 16 worldwide release date.
[url]http://www.vugames.com/news_story.do?storyId=1963[/url]
Woo!
I?ve got the day off tomorrow, so I guess I?ll play it all day, but it will be interesting (for me anyway) to see which game wins out by the end of the day: Half Life 2 or Ever Quest 2. For me FPS?s are just a bit of fun, a distraction really, but RPG?s are where the real gaming pleasure is to be had.
I?ve gotta say though, all this hype is kind of turning me off. It better be the most amazing, spectacular, best game of all time, or I?m going to be let down (as most people will be)!
i just stopped playing for the night and my verdict is thus:
best bloody game ive ever played, ever.
some of the stuff is amazing, its so fun and the graphics are really breathtaking. One of the things i love is that theyve used the physics engine in puzzles and things. IE. Im driving a hover craft down a channel and im presented with a large blocking wall, theres a see saw like ramp thing made out of bits of wood, one end has a upside crate fastened to the bottom which is submerged. So you pick up the nearby barrels (that are full of air) and swim under and prop them under one end of the ramp, forcing it up so you can now make the jump. incredible!
thats just one example, perhaps ill rant further later but so far im having a hell of a lot of fun :D
I'm pretty much with Moonunit on this (although I don't know about best game ever. Its going to take quite a bit to top Planescape: Torment in my eyes but I have only been playing HL2 for four hours so who knows?).
I'm hoping that someone makes a multiplayer map with nothing but gravity guns and big heavy objects lying around. That thing is too much fun.
I've only played it for 2 hours (I had to stop because of motion sickness, which I don't usually get playing any other game). The lighting is great, and some locations just look "right". Barney the character looks very realistic, but some of the others kinda lean on a bit cartoony (Alyx, and the scientist etc).
The physics puzzles are fun, and the game really absorbs you, but you're kicked out of that everytime you come across a game loading pause (that was the same case with Half Life 1 as well). I may have to upgrade with more ram or a better gfx card because some of the textures have defaulted to an extremely low resolution. Anyway, I'm only 2 hours into the game, and I'm sure I haven't even seen the cool things yet. (No gravity gun yet, boo!)
Bloody hell, all I want to do is play the damn game, and I've had to sit through all this steam crap... update this, unlock that.. Really, just to play singleplayer it really is a hassel for people on dialup connections. Its taken longer with all this steam crap than it has to install the actual thing to my hard drive. [:(]
I guess if you don't have the net you're screwed... Co-worker of mine moved into a unit a few months ago, doesn't have a phone line connected and don't have net access.. he simply uses it at work if he needs. He is a serious gamer... owns every console I can think of. Basically when he wants to play HL2, he has to take his PC somewhere with net access, bit of a pain.
Sure, it'll stop piracy to a degree, but it really isn't all that great when a lot of people are still stuck on slower net connections. Maybe in a few more years when there is more coverage it would be a better option. I cannot get ADSL or Cable and I'm only 30 minutes from Brisbane.
Damn its still doing crap. It was unlocking HL2, now its bloody preloading CS:Source cache files... what is the point of buying a hard copy if you still have to download remaining parts.
Argh..
I have the whole day off to play the thing, but by the time it?s downloaded and updated all the crap on my slow connection, it?s late afternoon. Oh well, I?m really looking forward to the weekend (goodbye social life).
I haven?t gotten very far yet. The trouble is I keep getting distracted by the scenery. [:P] Damn there?s some fine looking art in this game!
I have to agree it is a bloody good game. The gravity gun rocks, I have not used another weapon since... I love smacking down 3 or 4 zombies with a matress flying at them!
There is always so much happening, I really haven't had that exploration feeling in an FPS since Deus Ex, though this is getting more linear. The "acting" of the characters is superb, their facial expressions and movement is seamless and very believeable. I have never seen such great body language and expressions from an ingame character.
Whee... back to play some more!
well it seems everyone likes it, and i've read a lot of comments here and on some other forums. i want to go out and get it now, but i want to get the gold version with the HL & CS source, etc. problem is i dont have a DVD rom. oh well, i cant really afford it now anyway so i guess it's a good thing i can play it!
You still get CS:Source with the normal CD version, just not HL:Source... I really didn't think it was worth spending the extra $50 just to play HL again :P
I'm not sure how far through the game I am, but damn it is a hell of a lot of fun. I love how Valve have kept the gameplay and action really varied. The gravity gun is definately a winner though, and without it I don't think HL2 would be anywhere near as much fun. Cruising along in my buggy, then having to stop and not shoot some bad guys, but use the gravity gun to push some old car shells out of the way so I can continue along the road. Small things like that keep it interesting!
I know 99% of people have seen this already, but for those who haven't:
[img]http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20041117l.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20041117l.jpg[/url]
[url]http://www.penny-arcade.com[/url]
With my current slow-*rsed PC that's been one of the most fun things I've been able to do with HL2 - until my new mobo arrives, anyway.
The game's sooooooo pretty!
I've had a chance to soak up some of the game and I have to say it is very good.
Not very far yet, still no gravity gun, but very impressed all the same. The only criticisms I have so far are aimed largely at steam (I have a 56k connection at home and it took about two hours to set up, despite buying the retail version). I'm also still trying to work out what my extra $40 worth of collectors edition bought me apart from a DVD, an oversized T-Shirt and a game I already have.
Apart from that, the game is very good.
HL:source should be a big improvement over the one you own BigJ.
The XL shirts not very smart but hey its an american company and XL are kids sizes over there, fatties. [:P]
CS:Source is cool as well.
Overall the collectors edition is pretty good quality if you ask me.
But if you have asdl or cable get the gold steam version and you recieve a bit more btw, and its cheaper I think.
I also have 56k, can't be assed ugrading just to surf the net, not much of a online gamer, generally 13 yr old gamers shit me lol but I still think steam is a good way of doing things.
If you don't like the full-on piracy protection slap the guys who ripped valve of in the first place, they are the ones who made it harder for everyone. [:)]
quote:The XL shirts not very smart but hey its an american company and XL are kids sizes over there, fatties. [;)]Heh, true.
I can understand the need for the protection and, in general, I support steam and hope that online distribution systems take off for games in the future. However, it just seems a little excessive to expect people with slow internet connections (which is fair enough, just wanting to play single player - I play multiplayer games elsewhere) to stuff around for so long.
Well ive had a go, im playing on hardest level - I'm pretty impressed with the animation and the AI isnt to shabby at all - graphically im not so sure its groundbreaking, but its better than average i think the delays really screwed up the groundbreaking aspect.
Im not too far in yet, just dodging mine laying choppers - and I definately wont label the game until ive played a fair way into it.
/back in for round 2
Just finished for the night it crashed on me right in the middle of some kick arse action sequences. :( I know however if I keep playing I won't go to bed for another hour or so, and I have to work tomorrow morning.
Damn I am having loads of fun. They've definately stopped it from being repetitive, the gameplay and fighting sequences are always changing, mixing it up. Dog is the best character by far! Shhh.. I better not spoil it for others!
Can't wait for some more tomorrow night!
Gee a game with story!! [:O]
Has anyone else noticed that having a good story (or even a story at all) is the rarest thing in games these days?
I mean HL2 is by no means the greatest story written but its a pretty damn gripping plot and its really amazing how much we crave it when a game finally comes along with even an ounce of substance.
And normally I'd bang on about the sucky linear nature of FPS games but they've made you feel like part of a flowing story so you don't really notice or mind!!
Oh well, I guess when I finish HL2 I can go back and finally finish Doom3....WAHHHHHH!!!!!! hehe
let me know if its any good, then i'll see if i've got the cash for it. :)
what can i say, i was never a big fan of the original (in fact i got very bored) and the sequal looks like a standard FPS, but with cool physics. that's not to say it cant be an awsome fps with cool physics, i just wanna hear why it's so awsome first.