ひげ
well, steam won't let me post my review of half-life 2 because, even though it says i've played for 14 hours, apparently i have 0 minutes on record. so that's cool. i'll just post it here instead i guess.
Half-Life 2 is a bad FPS with a mediocre (unfinished) story and a physics gimmick. It lacks the atmosphere and diversity of the first game in nearly every way (other than Ravenholm, which is the highlight of both games). HL2 leans heavily on the quick save/quick load functionality, often throwing you into large maps with little in the way of natural guidance. The core shooter gameplay is lacking, and the conventions that would have made this game stand the test of time like the original Half-Life are mostly missing.
There are many points in the game where you're stuck, whether that means waiting around in a cutscene or being stuck in a small space with unlimited rocket launcher ammo as a bullet sponge boss tries to take you out with automatic fire. It isn't conducive to a fun gameplay environment and it happens over and over again.
Throughout the game, there are also many areas where enemies (most of which are just Combine soldiers) will spawn in waves and it isn't clear if they will keep spawning or if you can actually deal with them all. There is no structure to the gameplay loop and no signs of what exactly you're doing at any given moment. The game knows this too, because it drenches you in health restoration and ammo pickups far more often than the original Half-Life.
I can't put my finger on it, but there is something about the gunplay and weapons that just feels subpar compared to the first game. It feels inconsistent and the AI, rather than being few but intelligent, is dumb and just relies on brute force to take you out, often even spawning behind you in places you've already been to try and get off a couple of cheap shots.
If you are thinking about playing HL2 and haven't played the first game yet, I would recommend the original over this game any day. I'll look back on HL2 as a frustrating and annoying experience, whereas I'll look back on Half-Life as something dripping in atmosphere and unique diversity, from its gameplay to the guns and its areas to its enemies. There is nothing HL2 does better than the physics, which ends up being very underutilized.
@beardalaxy
Have you been online while playing it?
@LukeAlmighty yup, the whole time. i was launching it through another mod but it was still registering all the hours i played, so i'm not quite sure why it decided to reset everything. other mods/launchers manage to accomplish this just fine, like PSO2 for instance, which steam doesn't even recognize i have installed but still counts my achievements and playtime.
