Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey all,

I just recently downloaded Valve's Steam for my iMac and somehow managed to remember my info for my old account. It remembered that I had bought Half-Life 2 and HL2 episode 1 some years back so I downloaded them and started playing again this weekend. This game still holds up and it's still really intense! I've found myself getting pretty worked up a few times now and I'm still only in the canals trying to work my way out of the city. I remember a lot in general, including the very frightening missions in complete darkness (save your always ready to run out of power flashlight) and the area of the game that involved being outdoors at night while all kinds of nasty critters were jumping from roof top to roof top to find you. I'm looking forward to those the same way you do a horror film, equal parts fear and excitement.

I'm going to try and work my way through HL2 and HL2 episode 1 again because I very much want to play episode 2. I'm not exactly sure why I missed it, but I do seem to recall it was released when I first switched from my desktop PC to my iMac so that might have been why.

I was a big fan of the original Half Life and the original Unreal as well as earlier games like Hexen and Heretic so it's really fun to be coming back and giving this another try.

I think the only thing I've noticed when comparing the style of narrative to more contemporary games is that it took a more linear approach to the story line while newer games seem to offer a lot more freedom. I don't know that it takes away from Half Life 2 in any real way considering the scripted events are really superb, but it would be interesting to see what they might have done now.

Anyone else like to geek out on revisiting their old favorites? Any word on a Half Life 3? Happy Gaming!

Ravenholm was truely amazing, I would pay good money for a whole game based on zombies made by valve

corpsesarefun wrote:Ravenholm was truely amazing, I would pay good money for a whole game based on zombies made by valve

Ravenholm made me love horror games

Also Hunters! nothing like being chased by one through a building/ seeing it looking through windows to find you then breaking through the back door while your still watching the front

Gibbsey wrote:

corpsesarefun wrote:Ravenholm was truely amazing, I would pay good money for a whole game based on zombies made by valve

Ravenholm made me love horror games

Also Hunters! nothing like being chased by one through a building/ seeing it looking through windows to find you then breaking through the back door while your still watching the front

Yeah Half-life 2 is generally an awesome game through every episode.
I honestly cannot think of a fault for it.

Ravenholm was truely amazing, I would pay good money for a whole game based on zombies made by valve

Ravenholm, that was it! The name came to me late last night. It really was an incredible level, never had a sense of dread and panic from a game like that. I also liked seeing the scene at the very beginning, while on the train into Station 17. The sort of flashes of what you'll see much later in the game. The teaser for Episode 2 showed a really intense walker, something smaller, about the size of a human, stalking out of a cave and through a dense wood, can't wait to get into that.

I really think more games need barrels filled with explosive liquid scattered throughout their levels!

Half-Life 2 is a really great game. I am very glad I got the Orange Box. Of course every time someone brings it up I start thinking about that Black Mesa project that is a very nice effort to recreate Half-Life using the source code from Half-Life 2. It was supposed to be released in 2009, and now the release date is "when it is done".

Have to say I enjoyed Episode 1. I got part way though Episode 2 but have never finished it.

And I just wish that they could tie Portal into the main game somehow

That might just happen as they revealed at the end of Episode 2.

It would be great fun to play the original Half-Life again. I haven't played it since it came out and I'd love to see what they could do with improved graphics. I did read somewhere that Epsiode 3 is in the works so that's good news.

Yeah black mesa feels like its never going to be released... i mean its 2011 already... and it'll be a while before episode 3. So check back in 2 years and see if there are any rumors about a future release?

I feel the same way about Black Mesa. I really want to play it again though. I reinstalled the original awhile back because I was desperate, but the graphics...they were horrid! Well I can't complain too much about Black Mesa, it will be free so when it is released.

Also, isn't Episode 1, 2, and the up comming 3 pretty much Half-Life 3?

I appear to be the only person in the world not to have played half-life. I should get on that.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:I appear to be the only person in the world not to have played half-life. I should get on that.

Have you played the others? If not, you should start with a wikipedia article on Half-Life 1. Get a good idea of the plot and run out and get The Orange Box, (It was on sale for pretty cheap on steam the other day). With The Orange Box, you get Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal (worth the purchase all by itself), and Team Fortress 2 (a really good multiplayer game). After you fall in love with the franchise, go ahead and research the community project Black Mesa which is a recreation of the original Half-Life and wait patiently for its release sometime in the future.

I was going to get Orange Box but I guess it doesn't have Half-Life 1? Is it essential to know the events?

Think of Half-Life 1 as the video game equivalent of Tron. Tron Legacy (if you liked it) is a decent movie that is only a little better when you know the plot of the first movie. You can play Half-Life 2 and enjoy the heck out of it (at least a lot of my friends did) without playing Half-Life 1. I would still suggest a quick browse through wikipedia to get a general idea of the plot though.

Also I should mention, Portal is a game that uses the source engine of Half-Life 2. It is a very good puzzle First person game. It generated tones of memes and is pretty fun. You can beat it in 1 session but you will remember it forever. Portal 2 will be released soon and you don't want to be the only guy on the block who doesn't "get" portal.

You can get half life source, which has an updated graphics package. I think you can also get an update for the original HL as well, though I am not entirely sure.

I forgot about that...I never played the Half Life Source game so that is probably why. Yeah that would probably be the better idea. Black mesa will look better but if you have to play the first one now, try Half Life Source.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:I was going to get Orange Box but I guess it doesn't have Half-Life 1? Is it essential to know the events?

I've played like many people hl2 without playing 1, you can look up the story line if you want, Orange box is probebly your best bet (and also gets you Portal and Team Fortress 2).

The original HL get it if you want, and i think they slightly upgraded the graphics. Im just going to wait for Black Mesa to play through

Actually, HL: Source has an upgraded physics engine while still using the old pre-HD pack graphics and models.

BrookM wrote:Actually, HL: Source has an upgraded physics engine while still using the old pre-HD pack graphics and models.

Ah right i knew it was something along those lines, kind of wish they had upgraded the graphics though

BrookM wrote:Actually, HL: Source has an upgraded physics engine while still using the old pre-HD pack graphics and models.

It's been so long since I played HL, I could not remember

corpsesarefun wrote:Ravenholm was truely amazing, I would pay good money for a whole game based on zombies made by valve

That would be silly. I heard they were working on one a while back, but I think in the end they moved on, and the project was left for dead.

Locclo wrote:

corpsesarefun wrote:Ravenholm was truely amazing, I would pay good money for a whole game based on zombies made by valve

That would be silly. I heard they were working on one a while back, but I think in the end they moved on, and the project was left for dead.

Actually I hate left 4 dead

Healthbar system on zombies games is wrong, so are running zombies :/

I could never get the 'never touch the sand' achievement. It was impossible.

Also, L4D and L4D2 are horrible. I hate them.

Impossible? Save > fail > reload > fail > reload > get a little bit further > save > fail...

The Dreadnote wrote:Impossible? Save > fail > reload > fail > reload > get a little bit further > save > fail...

That would drive me crazy. Its probably the reason why I didn't like Demon's Souls. Getting killed 20 times in a row by the first skeleton in the game is not my idea of fun.