Anyone else squirming in their seat waiting for the announcment at E3?
I'm not excited at all, I didn't think Half-Life was all that good, certainly doesn't lay claim to the best game ever title in my books, hardly even close. But that's just me, I could go on about what actually made it so average, but everyone is so awed by the game that there's no point :) Still I imagine there's a crapload of people out there that are drooling over the idea that HL2 might be on it's way.
I liked Half-Life.. it had a good story, and it was fun to play. When I first saw Half Life, I remember thinking "wow.. their mouths move when they talk!". How times have changed. [:)] If that is Half-Life 2, then I'd be pretty surprised. I hope Valve has learnt a lesson not to make premature announcements (and release Half Life 2 at least within a year of mentioning it).. [:)]
Wasn't Doom 3 supposed to be released before this E3?
quote:I could go on about what actually made it so average, but everyone is so awed by the game that there's no point :)
The point is this is a message board discussing games, and we're discussing Half-Life, so rant away. Why would you come to a message board and make a post saying you don't want to talk? :p
Given the competition at the time, it was pretty impressive. Better level design, story, narrative and involvement than any FPS of the day. Better graphics and sound, although that's par for the course. The first FPS with a decent story, period. "Average" at the time was brown corridors, crates and rocket camping, not story and substance.
Good point Bunny, why come on here just to say you don't want to say something?
Half life isn't by todays standards that big of a wow factor but back then it was pretty special, as Bunny said we were going around with brown guns in brown rooms killing brown things without any obvious thought of storyline. Half life broke down some boundaries in both storytelling and the tech side, hopefully Valve can repeat this.
I do have to say it did lose my interest towards the last levels even back then and the bit were you had to jump down the crates, urgh memories of platformers in FPS games are not nice.
I myself can't wait for a half life 2, nearly as much as Dues Ex 2.
Okay - this is the second time I wrote this cause I lost some connection or something like that.
Three reasons for not ranting
1 - Looking back at the past few rants I've instigated, basically there's been about 20 plus replies involving the same argument and that's just irritating to read. Plus it takes alot of time, bandwidth (56K modem) and I've got other things to read like Race Car Vehicle Dynamics.
2 - It's not even close to on topic. If I wanted to rant about Half Life 1 (which I don't) then I'd go start my own post. This post is about Half Life 2 and people's anticipation for it.
3 - I know that people will only disagree, alot of people like Half Life, and the majority is "right" in this world (sorry to break it to ya people, that's how it is). Although my viewpoint is "valid" - it's simply just "alternative" (cynicism following) which basically just provides a venue for people to validate their viewpoint by agreeing with a whole bunch of people about how they think my view is incorrect. I'm already aware that my views on Half Life are not commonly opinion, and I have no interest in further validating that belief.
I mean seriously - look at it? There already is an echo in here...
FYI - I didn't just come on here to say that I didn't want to say anything. The original post said "Anyone else squirming in their seat blah blah"....and the last sentence in my post stated that I thought there would be, which is my opinion on the topic...
Grazie e buonanotte :)
HL didn't really impress me although it did have good scripted sequences and the sum of its parts did add up to a pretty good game at the time. Although i disagree about the story. Because there was about as much plot in HL as there is in an average Schwarzenneger (i can't spell his name properly)
The good thing about the HL story was you found out about it as apposed to being told it.
The ending was also very stupid and was such a typical action movie leaving open for a sequel ending and i hate those. (unless of course you chose not to jion up that is)
I am going to predict that HL2 will be quite dissapointing. But thats just what i think.
Personally the only game i want is Deus Ex 2
Does no one here play console games?
I think I'm looking forward to Halo 2 and the unveiling of MGS3 (which is rumoured to be happening). Most of all, I look forward to the previously unannounced games that show a lot of promise. Everyone knows the sequels are going to be better or as good as the first game (with a few exceptions) but with new games in a series, there's no way of telling what they're gonna play like.
I loved Half-life, simply for the fact that it broke the mould of what current FPS were back then. Half-life took you from one level to the next, with barely anything to seperate them. There were no annoying cutscenes, everything was delivered to you ingame.
It also was an excellent performing engine. It had great graphics and didn't need a top end machine for you to enjoy them.
Finally, it was valves support for the modding community that really made Half-Life great. It is an excellent game to work with.
I am looking forward to HL2 a hell of a lot, as well as Deus Ex 2!
I can't believe how everyone is anticipating sequels so much :) Halo was a good game, but I don't see it as needing a sequel so much although they could easily make another good FPS game. I think the reason Ion Storm (or whatever) are making Deus Ex 2 is because they probably want to atone for some of the really bad design flaws in the first game, and System Shock really does not need another sequel - the second one really raped the plot of the first one and should've perhaps just tried some other storyline completely and as for Thief 3? Well they keep improving that game each time, but I still wonder whether they'd be better off trying something new.
Sequels can be good, but I think there is a wierd obsession with them in the industry and more often than not, we don't realise that the original games are the ones that are most celebrated.
System Shock 2 wasn't that bad :) I loved it, it mostly had the same feel but shodan seemed rather different and the ending was rather pathetic. But it had the same kinda atmosphere from the orignal, which is why I loved it. ([url="http://wnn.warcry.com/aikida/index.php/strip/02nov27.png"]It does this to you[/url])
Thief 3 will actually be the end of the series, and from what little info they have released, it's going to be awsome :)
Like the movie industry, sequels are a very popular thing, simply due to the fact that the execs want to make a game that is guaranteed to bring in the money. A lot of original hit games don't have big marketing campaigns because they can't afford to spend huge abouts money on something that isn't a guaranteed success. Too big a risk.
Everyone is anticpating sequels because the publicity is forced down their throats. Nowhere near as many people know about "cool new game x" as compared to doom 3, so its a little hard for everyone to get excited about "game X". Even if a game isn't a sequel, if it is receiving a lot of interest it is most likely being developed by someone with a proven track record, like ID Software, or carries a brand name like Star Wars.
Unfortunately when "game x" is released and everyone goes crazy about how original and cool it is, it will probably end up with a sequel. :P The gaming industry, like everything else, revolves around profits, so there are many more sequels than "game x's" being released. While good for profits, it reduces the number of new and innovative games developed.
I don't mind sequels. In todays market, developers often have to leave a lot of stuff out due to time constraints so often a sequel is a definitive version of a game. If there's 3 games of the same series on the same platform, that's usually when I'm wary - ie Tomb Raider was great for the first couple but failed to add much to the franchise in the 4th and 5th.
I'm greatly anticipating MGS3 but I don't think it'll have the same dimensional jump from 1 to 2.
From the sounds of Edge's and EGM's preview of Halo 2, it sounds like it's going to be a deeply refined product, much like a Blizzard game. With the inclusion of Live! play, it could be a real console game winner.
It looks like Half Life 2 has been confirmed to be revealed at E3 as well, with a release before the end of the year.
After sequels reach #3, they should really take a deserved break for a few years.. get some ideas happening again, and jump back on a new generation of gfx cards/consoles.. Did anyone else think "Oh god, not another one!!" when Tony Hawk 4 or Tomb Raider 5 was announced? I loved Tomb Raider 1. Tomb Raider 2 was ok - it was pretty much the same game except Lara had ponytail physics and costume changes..[;)] 3 totally killed it for me - I thought it was terrible.
quote:Originally posted by Maitrek
quote:I don't mind sequels. In todays market, developers often have to leave a lot of stuff out due to time constraints so often a sequel is a definitive version of a game.And people wonder why the consumer base is so small :)
I should rephrase that. I don't mind sequels to good games. But I stand by the original comment - how many times have you heard from a developer "We couldn't feature X in the prequel because of reason Y"? A single sequel won't hurt anyone, it's the 4th/5th edition with the numerous spin-offs released every year or 6 months that are the problem.
I wasn't saying sequels were bad, I'm just saying we are practically admitting here that we are releasing weaker games than we could be making. I think this is one area where console games "own" PC games, the level of polish in the gameplay in original titles. Console titles very rarely have big improvements in their sequels, whereas PC game sequels tend to differ greatly. I think thats because less emphasis is placed on tech and there is better developer support and a much broader market.
http://www.cscentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=98d27cc85d5f208a74de81…
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~hostileintent/ikonboard/iB_html/uploads/pos…
Scanned ingame pic of Half Life 2.. The character model looks pretty darn cool..
quote: I think this is one area where console games "own" PC games, the level of polish in the gameplay in original titles. Console titles very rarely have big improvements in their sequels, whereas PC game sequels tend to differ greatly. I think thats because less emphasis is placed on tech and there is better developer support and a much broader market.
There's a very obvious reason for that. Consoles are fixed hardware -PC's are not so if a console game receives a sequel on the same piece of hardware, then chances are, it will look quite similar but it will be much more finely honed. However, if you look at the console games that recieve a sequel on a new generation of hardware, then the results blow people away - MGS2, GTA3, Tony Hawks all have significant improvements both technically and gameplay wise over there predecessors. So if anything, PC games would have more emphasis on the tech as it has to cater for a wide range of specifications.
Personally I find the PC market extremely derivative. New concepts hardly exist, everything is either a.) RTS,FPS,RPG/MMOG or a Sim/Tycoon game (gross generalisation) - most of these utilising similar themes. I'd say there are just as few original titles on the PC market as there are in consoles. I walked into a store yesterday and it was all team based squad shooters and D&D rpgs with a fair helping of your standard RTS 'big names'. Hmm.. maybe I'm misinterpreting your meaning of 'original'? I take it you mean a title without a previous incarnation. However, I feel console titles have more polish, purely because they don't require a patch. Although I realise some patches improve games by adding new features, balance, whatever, why didnt they fix that before sending it to the market? I am aware of developement constraints...
As for a broader market, I'm not so sure. Granted there are more PCs in every household than consoles, but only a small number of those PCs out there are equipped to play the latest games. Combined with a higher level of piracy in the PC market, this proves why some PC developers are also going into the console market (Blizzard, Lionhead etc).
I suppose what's considered generic or derivative depends on what you're more familiar with - each market has it's own strengths and weaknesses and that's what attracts those types of gamers to them.
Sorry to be cutting in on the thread like this, but HOLY CRAP!!!!
Go visit it now...!!! Half Life 2 sure does look *incredibly* polished..
Actually, here's a better link.. http://www.mikero.at.tf/
I'm guessing that is meant to represent half-life 2. Actually I wasn't all that interested until I saw that picture, now I'm rather excited