Half-Life...what's the big deal?

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Ok, i know how Half-Life for many people is such a "Holy" game. And all the no-brainer p.c magazines seem to love it. But i just really can't see the big deal...at all. IT'S JUST ANOTHER FPS! You just go around blowing up aliens in accordance to a not very inspiring story-line.
And I mean after you've fired a rocket launcher in one FPS, you've pretty much fired a rocket launcher in all FPS', apart from the time it takes to get over the novelty value of the new games new rocket launcher sounds, and new gun model.
I know it's a great game in the sense of the mods it spawned (I mean who deosn't like CS?) But i just cannot understand why-on-earth it's so popular?
The reason i'm posting this is because whenever i ask a freind who loves it the same question, they can't give me a good answer.
Any enlightenment much appreciated, no matter what you think of the game

 

Rubbish, Crap, Bull**** and pathetic

 

Because it actually has a fairly decent story. Not up to par with BG2 or anything, but the best story any FPS game has ever had. And of course its mods live on. All of which are pretty fun, specialy the pirates one.

 

Ya i agree it's done alot in terms of mods, like i said. But the story? Well i suppose for an FPS it is ok, but still...i mean a bad story is a bad story, even if we are speaking relatively here.
Casey - lol i thought i would get something along those lines for a first response. But you are actually proving my point. You didn't say why i was talking rubbish, just that i *was* talking rubbish.
Fade - true enough, but that in no way legitamises on it's own why it's such an acclaimed game. Surely?
I just would like to know whyyy? Why is it so popular?

 

I like of HL because...

...The gameplay is class of its own.
...There is enough events to keep your interest up.
...There is a proper mix of challenge and puzzle.
...There is this great mod called "Natural Selection" on it. Beats CS hands down.

 

I liked HL weapons, some of them at least, I like realistic weapons and Half Life had them at that time, story was also good...

 

Oh, and you can't forget how it actually got you scared, something that most first person shooters just can't do these days.

 

Yea, those assasins can still cause some creeps

 

Hmm i supose it was atmospheric in parts. But games like Aliens vs Predator beat it in that area hands down.

 

On the one part I agree with fade that HL has a really good storyline and has a good pace and twists. Considering the time it was released (1998, if I remember correctly) it was turning the tide in terms of storyline and the demand of being more cunning to fight of your enemies. Apart from that one should not underestimate the value of the open system, interested players could use to come up with modifications. That way HL is a milestone in FPS, not only for PC Magazines but for the whole community interested in FPS.

 

I still haven’t found an FPS that stands up to HL, the game is just flawless.

 

Eaglearrow - i can see your point. Yep, that's about the best answer anyone has given me. Ok so i can now see why Half-Life is popular. I personally still don't like it though! But i can understand why others do. Ah well, to each their own.
Thanks guys

 

I'm sorry Ghen that didn't come out how I intended it to, I was commenting on the game, not your opinion.

True maybe it is atmospheric (so I hear I've never tried it) I know nothing about the story, though I've considered getting it at times, I prefer less arcade type shooters such as the Tom Clancy, Ghost Recon, Rainbow six and Splinter Cell, sure it may not have Aliens or any of that **** in it, but it's very tense with the one shot one kill feature, and with how deadly accurate the Rouge Spear terrorists can be they rarely miss a shot.

BTW it's scarey as **** when some terrorists get the drop unexpectedly on your team and alternatively very satisfing when all the planning pays off or you ,manage to turn a would-be disaster into a success.

 

Ahhh i see. Well i personally agree with you 100% there Casey I do like those type of FPS'S. Rainbow Six the original is one of my favourite shooters.

 

Half-life rules, the game inspired so many other first person shooters.
The multiplayer online game is cool, I especially like team fortress and all the one line scenarios (my favourite was the one where you had to capture a key from your opponents "base" and release a cloud of gas that kills everyone in the enemy area).
That was the best thing about HL it wasn't all about the single player mode

 

@casey " Rubbish, Crap, Bull**** and pathetic" "True maybe it is atmospheric (so I hear I've never tried it) I know nothing about the story"

How can you comment on a game you have never played, and then bad mouth it to such a degree? Its like me saying "Rogue spear is rubbish. i've never tried it but half life is better!" as a statement it makes no sense. Please at least get some experience of something before commenting on it. Half life as a game has no aliens to begin with, and the beginning 10 mins of PLAYABLE time in which you don't even get a weapon, and get to walk around the facility and talk to the people that will shortly become the horrifying creatures you will have to face, is one of the best starts to a game i have ever played.

To put this into perspective, remember the only other FPS games out at the time (6 years ago!) were Quake 2 clones. It was a matter of shoot the zombie, grab the health, blue key blue door, repeat. Half life introduced the whole concept that a First Person game could have a plot, a realistic environment, and intelligent enemies. The grunts in half life used grenades to flush you out of cover, moved round behind you, they even ran away when injured! This was a revelation to many gamers, and opened up amazing possibilities with what could be done with the genre.

Perhaps the greatest accolade the game can earn is that almost everything half life introduced is now taken for granted in every FPS. it is now difficult to go back and play an old-school FPS like Quake, because Half life raised the bar so much.

As for the fear factor, after surviving a catastrophe at the top secret lab you are working in, you have to work you way up from deep underground to the surface, avoiding many terrible creatures and disasters to get there. When you are finally nearly there you hear that soldiers are here to rescue you. As your fellow scientists run to safety you see them gunned down by your "rescuers" and realise this is not a rescue squad but a government cleanup operation designed to remove all evidence the place ever existed. That moment has to be one of the only times i have actually shouted obscenities at my computer.

Half life was revolutionary, and the fact it is still a very playable game 6 years after it was released is testament to how good this game is.

 

Well I can see how HL is so popular but in my opinion I agree with Gehn and Casey. Sure it may have an alright story and "atmospheric" parts to it but its just another FPS; sure it was cool how all the soldiers were after you and practically everyone ?!$# it when they saw you, but then valve went over the top with the spin offs and it wasn't anything new when you played them, just the same ol' shoot-shoot-shoot HIIIIIDDDDEEE "pop out" shoot-shoot-shoot. and (I know im being a bit over-reactive here) how is it that Gordon can whoop a whole leigon of aliens and soldiers and survive? in games like Deus-ex you were augmented so it was understandable, but Gordons just some popular scientist who looks good in glasses!? - if you ask me I can't stand it; all the sections were you had to "reactivate power" or "get a lift working" in order to progress were just annoying, not creative or clever. Again - I can understand why its so popular but I prefer games like Deus-ex. Peace out.

 

I bad mouthed it to that extent because I can.

No serious this time, I hate it even though I havent played it because the first shooter I played in a long time before I got into rainbow six was Unreal and this seems to have the same basic plot HL did, by the time I stopped playing Unreal and heard of HL I was sick to death of the whole idea at the time, I started getting sucked into the world of realistic, counter terror, and battlefield type games like Ghost recon, and ever since then I've never played a game that involves "genetical expirements on creatures gone wrong" or Aliens and thing HL has such as unrealistic movement like a health points system where you could simply pick up a kit and be healed in an instant, which I find to be complete and utter bull****.

And also like you have probably worked out from reading this FPS is not limited to the "run around and blast everything that moves" type of games. Games I have already mentioned, Rainbow six in particular was also revolutionary since it showed how good a tactical realism based shooter set around today could be, this game required tactful thinking, planning, skill and caution, otherwise in most cases either you, your team or innocents die.

I'm not assuming HL didn't require these things especially in multiplayer, but I wouldent imagine it been as important in HL, it's far more arcade based then it is Rainbow six-ish, and that is why I do. NOT. like. it.

Happy?

[ March 25, 2004, 15:58: Message edited by: casey ]

 

The original post asked why half life was so well loved by so many people. I wasn't saying half life is the best game around now, just that when it came out it had so many features noone had tried before that the first time playing it was a memorable experience for a lot of people. Its like Doom or Space invaders, Nowadays they are poor but at the time they were revolutionary.

And i still think its lame to diss the game before you've played it. Its nothing like Unreal, it has atmosphere, pace and variation. Was unreal voted best PC game ever? no, but HL was...

 

@ Lethis.

I agree that the spin-offs weren't that exciting in the first place and that at least I was a little bit reluctant to play one of the soldiers in Opposing Force who were supposed to stop Gordon Freeman, the person I just managed to escape the desaster with (after basically hours and hours of playing). But you have to consider that these spin-offs from Valve gave people who came to love HL another possibility to explore the HL-world. Throughout HL I sometimes wondered, "How the **** did the soldiers manage to be here etc." - Opposing Force answers these questions.

Besides I don't see your point, why in your opinion "bad spin-offs" make the original HL bad as well.

@ casey:
I finished Unreal myself and can see your point why you might have thought about HL being just another Unreal. But it definitely is not. In Unreal one seemed to already know what is coming next and I for my part just wanted it to be over in the end. With HL it is different as I pointed out earlier. You never quite know what is coming next, there are twists in the storyline and it is a well paced game.
It is good that you found your favorite type of FPS and that you are enjoying it, but please don't, like The_Swordalizer said, comment on games you have never played and only know from hearing other people talk about it.