| Product: |
Half-Life in General |
| Date: |
29/06/03 (48 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Mod scene
Disadvantages: Seriously?
Half Life is amazing. Plain and simple. I am writing this as news (finally) of HL2 is getting revealed so I thought I would write this.
HL has completely changed computer gaming for me. Its set such an high standard that only the likes of System Shock 2, Deus Ex and maybe Max Payne have matched it.
Its been certainly a shock to the whole first person shooter genre. However what disapoints me is that nearly 5 years after HL came out I can't think of any fps game that has tried to take the HL winning formula. Instead what we get is plain old fashioned, boring, tedious, in ya face shooting. Take Unreal 2 for instance. All graphics, no subtlety and cleverness.
The beauty of HL as a single player experience is the almost cinematic story telling. You dont just go around mindlessly shooting aliens. There is a little more to it. Its not got loads of complicated puzzles which completely take the pace out of the game, but it does have great atmosphere building moments, like traversing cliff edges or swimming through coolant systems. It feels like the world exists on its own and you are in the middle of it, rather than it being built around you in an unconvincing situation.
Then there is the huge community and mod scene. Accident or no accident Valve (the makers of the game) discovered the true key to a long lasting game. I used to play Medal Of Honor which also had the potential to be a well supported game. Alas the makers of that game gave very little support to it, and what could have been a great mod scene is drindling rapidly. Valve supported the mod scene from the beginning and extended its life for years. What other game developer would support a mod team and turn it into a retailable product?Sure you can accuse Valve of milking it all, but if you have spent 2 years working your ass off on a killer mod, I think it would be incredibly encouraging and supportive to see your efforts go on sale in shops and maybe even get a job out of
it.
Multiplayer wise you are spoilt for choice, yet again because of the mod scene. There is the likes of Team Fortress Classic (released by Valve themselves to kick start things), Counterstrike (the most played online game out there, completely dwarves the competition, Day Of Defeat and Natural Selection are so well supported and look so professional. In theory you never need buy another game, just play all the mods for HL :)
Graphics wise HL is showing weaknesses, as you would expect after 5 years but its surprising how well they have been able to update such an old engine. It may look weak compared to the newer games but the graphics still show some life in them.
So HL2 is on the horizon. Everyone is talking about it. There was even news pieces about it on the BBC and CNN websites. Those websites talking about a computer game? Says something about how big a deal it is.
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