What Half-Life 2 should have been?

Yesterday, I downloaded 1187:Episode one. It is a mod for Half-Life 2 in which you are just an everyday member of the public who one day wakes up in his apartment and finds the military trying to suppress countless aliens that are spawning through the portals, set some 10 years after the BM incident. The gameplay feaures this game adds are immense, the weapons feel real, unlike their standard game counterparts, the view bobs up and down as you're walking rather than just floating effortlessly along and you can see you're characters feet and knees. All little details that make the game so much more immersive.

You fight both aliens and troopers which is somewhat puzzling, I think they just tried to make it like Half-Life and Half-Life 2 with the troopers, as there is no reason that they would be trying to kill members of the public (as if they don't have enough on their hands). The troopers seem to use Combine phrases but in a human voice for some reason, it's as if the developer didn't know the first thing about military communication and instead just copied the Combine phrases which can be forgiven given the quality of the mod.

I haven't completed it yet so I don't have that much to comment on but if Half-Life 2 was anything like this I would have been blown away by it. Here's the link to it's home page on Modb:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/1187

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

Some of us unfortunate ones get sick while playing FPS's. I personally get deathly ill after about 20 minutes of fragging. I wish there were less bobbing in the game TBH. In fact in Stalker, you actually see distant objects blur out while you are reloading your weapons. It is very disconcerting to my motion sickness issue.

I wish you could still remove the weapon from your view like in the old HL1 days. It helped me be less sick for longer play times.

If you guys want alternative games to play that are at least as in depth (if not more so) you really need to be playing Fallout 3 and the Stalker series. Fallout 3 has way more replayability than HL2. At least IMO.

Singularity was pretty good.
Wolfenstein was excellent.
QuakeWars was/is very difficult to play. If you want a somewhat realistic game. You cannot just run-n-gun. You must always be aware that you will die after only 2 or 3 hits.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Ah, the much fabled Orpheus has spoken Yes, I should imagine it is a problem for people with motion sickness, but I read somewhere that you can turn it off. That is not the reason I say it is perhaps what HL2 should have been, however. The weapons on this mod have the same detail as HL1 which makes them feel pretty meaty compared to the standard HL2 weapons. I am referring to HL1 with the HD pack by the way. As for other games, I haven't bought a new game in mostly...well, years! Theres just so much for free in terms of mods that there just isn't the point. I gotta disagree about removing the weapon, Orph. The weapons are what make first person shooting games for me. Theres nothing like having a meaty shotgun to blast a zombie in the head with. This mod has that 'militaristic' feel that HL1 had, that was somehow not captured in HL2, that is part of the reason I like it.

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

Half life 2 wasn't meant to be a realistic game. HL2 has all your arc-type weapons: melee, pistol, automatic assault rifle, shotgun, grenade, rocket launcher, etc, but valve put their own unique style to it. But the game has much more than just these weapons: the physics fighting with the gravity gun, puzzle solving with the gravity gun, the story that unfolded, and even the vehicles. This really set the game appart from your standard shooters, and why HL2 is going to be considered far greater in gameplay than this mod, because all this mod is your standard shooter, no unique-ness to it, besides the story.

I don't think this game was what HL2 should/meant have been. HL2 had its own unique stamp on it. After playing the mod a little bit when it came out, I really wasn't too impressed by it in terms of gameplay. And I would have been disappointed if valve had released this game: Which according to "Half Life: Raising the Bar", this was the direction they were going towards, but scrapped it to make it more sci-fi. And behold, the game got pretty good critical reception around the world.

I know we can't really say what would have transpired if the game turned out this way (whether it would have gotten such a good review vs a bad one), but just by comparison and Valve's game testing (which they do A LOT of to make sure their stuff is top-notch), the game was better going for the sci-fi side of things.

Like orph said, you should play more realistic shooters if your looking for realism. Some come to mind: Stalker series, Ghost Recon, CoD: MW2 (black ops included), even Day Of Defeat (WWII weapons are accurate) and couter strike (the prices ARE very accurate) are more realistic with their weapon models.

I am referring to HL1 with the HD pack by the way

But M4's in standard military issue (since your picking up these weapons from US marines) dont have 50 bullet clips :p. not too realistic. Also since when does a Gluon Gun exist? Or the Gause rifle, those aren't too realistic last I checked.

With regards to head bobbing: it makes me sick too if I play it too long with head bobbing, and it detracts from the game's gameplay, and other features, so if your focusing on that, your really missing what the games are trying to showing you. EG: in HL2:E2 looking at the huge vista of the Citadel blown up at the beginning of the game, but your focusing at the lack of detail on the gravity gun because its not being set down by the player because its heavy while your standing.

Well I can't discribe the feeling that HL1 had, it was in regards to the catches you could see on the weapons and not what.

Which according to "Half Life: Raising the Bar", this was the direction they were going towards, but scrapped it to make it more sci-fi

Big shame. Personally, this what is what I would have dreamed Half-Life 2 to have been. I don't particularly want a realistic game, I just what a good balance like what HL1 had. HL2 was disappointing I must say, the first time I played it I was like 'This is the sequel to HL1!?'

I fail to see how this mod is a standard shooter. The detail and depth are amazing, you even get to drive a proper car (unlike that frame on wheels from HL1) and the models and everything are really nice. The only thing is it's cartoonish style which makes it feel a bit less real, though I don't mind.

PS I disagree about the head bobbing, all it does is serve to make the game more immensive, something severly lacking from HL2. HL2 never got the feeling that HL1 got, something was missing and this mod captures it. Also I like the way you have company in this mod.

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

I kind of felt with the Half-Life 1 weapons (and 2 for that matter), it didn't really matter what weapon I was holding it felt like I could use that weapon in any situation decently, as opposed to other fps games where I feel like: "Oh this situation really requires a sniper and I have a shotgun, I'm screwed".

As for the mod, it sounds not too bad and the developers seem enthusiastic which I think warrants a playthrough for me, level design does look a bit n00by though.

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Aaron's Stuff

aaron_da_killa said:
I kind of felt with the Half-Life 1 weapons (and 2 for that matter), it didn't really matter what weapon I was holding it felt like I could use that weapon in any situation decently, as opposed to other fps games where I feel like: "Oh this situation really requires a sniper and I have a shotgun, I'm screwed".

As for the mod, it sounds not too bad and the developers seem enthusiastic which I think warrants a playthrough for me, level design does look a bit n00by though.

What are you blathering about? There are weapons that are better at various enemies than others.

The Man hacks you use a crowbar, the fast zombies you use a shotgun, against legions of combine it's best to use that alien assault rifle thing. The submachine gun is only serviceable as an intro weapon, along with the hand gun, which becomes a backup weapon. Using the rocket launcher works against large enemies and vehicles. (Also shotgun is almost required for fighting ant-lions)

It's not always prudent to use a single weapon against all situations, it makes the game needlessly difficult (which becomes your clue that, perhaps, you're using the wrong weapon) ... and it's not like it takes weapons away, so I have no freaking clue what you're talking about. (Even though you'be brought it up before ... it still makes no sense when comparing it to reality)

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Half-Life 1 was undoubtably more tactical than Half-Life 2. And Crono, play nice please aaron_da_killas days of being the excitable Halo kid are long since over. There is a certain attentiopn to detail Half-Life 1 had which Half-Life 2 has failed to capture. I stand by that.

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

Everyone on this site has nostalgic shit covered glasses for HL1. It was a great game, but sorry, HL2 was better made in, basically, every aspect. I'm not talking preference here, which is entirely different.

The narrative is so much tighter, there's way less bloat, and the weapons matter more. (They mattered in HL1, but you could get through it pretty easily sticking to a couple guns ... HL2, much more so are there specific weapons that are better against specific enemies)

I know nobody is aware of this ... but Aaron likes being yelled at. He's an internet masochist.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Flynn said:
Half-Life 1 was undoubtably more tactical than Half-Life 2

I disagree. I fail to see how. If you compare how the AI interacts with one another (combine vs antlions) you'll see its a lot more tactical.

Crono said:
I know nobody is aware of this ... but Aaron likes being yelled at. He's an internet masochist.

hey d00ds hl1 is a shit cause the gfx and weapons r fail lol cod is way better then hl1 sux and teh clans r betta on cod to

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Aaron's Stuff

omegaslayer said:

Flynn said:
Half-Life 1 was undoubtably more tactical than Half-Life 2

I disagree. I fail to see how. If you compare how the AI interacts with one another (combine vs antlions) you'll see its a lot more tactical.

So what about the absence of trip mines and satchel charges in HL2? Because, in HL1, they certainly gave the player some interesting tactical options which you certainly don't get in HL2.

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

Flynn said:
[quote=omegaslayer][quote=Flynn]Half-Life 1 was undoubtably more tactical than Half-Life 2[/quote]
I disagree. I fail to see how. If you compare how the AI interacts with one another (combine vs antlions) you'll see its a lot more tactical.

So what about the absence of trip mines and satchel charges in HL2? Because, in HL1, they certainly gave the player some interesting tactical options which you certainly don't get in HL2.[/quote]

In HL1 the trip mines were never really utilized. Most of the time the NPCs wouldn't actually step through it, most of they time they would stop just short of the trip mine, and blow it up by another source. The trip mines were more of a multi-player trap anyways.

Your under-dog bias arguments are not going to work here.

Flynn said:
Half-Life 1 was undoubtably more tactical than Half-Life 2

Tactical in what sense? Regarding the combat or the puzzle solving side of things?

I think that both games have their merits in the "tactical" department. Half-Life 2 does have the whole physics aspect to it, bigger environments and better AI supposedly although I think people do give the AI in hl2 a lot of credit, it seems fairly linear/repetitive to me honestly.

But Half-Life 1 did have some pretty unique monsters and weapons that don't appear in Half-Life 2 and I think a lot of the puzzles and "combat situations" in Half-Life 1 were crafted pretty well.

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Aaron's Stuff

Flynn said:
[quote=omegaslayer][quote=Flynn]Half-Life 1 was undoubtably more tactical than Half-Life 2[/quote]
I disagree. I fail to see how. If you compare how the AI interacts with one another (combine vs antlions) you'll see its a lot more tactical.

So what about the absence of trip mines and satchel charges in HL2? Because, in HL1, they certainly gave the player some interesting tactical options which you certainly don't get in HL2.[/quote]

1. Find barrel
2. Hold in front of you
3. ??? [AI CANT FIND U]
4. PROFIT