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Worst game I Never played

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 41 / 119
Date: November 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

HL2 is now officially the worst game I NEVER got to play. I bought the CD version of the game in a local retail shop and trie to install it. After sitting through 5 CDs worth of installation, it then goes online and asks me to create an account with something called Steam - after which I am informed I will be able to authenticate my CD key and "unlock" the game.

Well it is now 7 hours later and Steam is still only 35% finished. I am going to stop the installation and delete it, then return this junk to the local retail store. It baffles me that after I legitimately purchased a copy of what could have been the greatest game ever, that I have to go through this kind of frustration. Not only have Valve lost me as a customer for this release, but for all future releases. Unbelievable.

For those of you interested in the current state of affairs of lots of other users, check the forums over at steam:

http://www.steampowered.com/forums/

Probably the best game I have played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: November 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The only thing that put me off buying the game initially was reading other people's reviews complaining about STEAM and the need to be online.

Installation can be long but once you are connected to the net you don't have to keep using the CDs/DVD. The best thing about this game (especially over DOOM 3) is that you do not need a supercomputer to run it. I have a Geforce 6800 GT with a gig of ram and P4 3hz, but it runs fantastic on my brother's Geforce 5200 FX (though, obviously, the more RAM the better, but it will run fine on older computers - though settings may have to be reduced to get great performance).

The game itself is brilliant. Everything that was missing in DOOM 3 can be found here. Vast sprawling open areas to make the most out of the excellent weapons (rocket launcher, gravity gun, grenades). DOOM 3 is a good game, but I never understood the need for a rocket launcher when most of the time you are in a room the size of a broom cupboard with six monsters.

The enemies in HL2 have an AI that make for a more believable gaming experience. Plus, the monsters who look like they have frozen turkeys for heads are back!

The gravity gun is fantastic, especially when picking up rusty circular saw blades and firing them at the turkey-head monsters. You can also pick up pots of paint and fire them at them, leaving them with white faces.

The ragdoll effects are great and the puzzles are done just right to make them fun rather than stalling the pace of the game. The graphics are excellent and the environment resembles some sort of east european war torn city sprawl (with highrise flats and sewers).

The only drawback is that it can be easy and not long enough (HL 1 was a lot longer - though it had lesser graphics and environmental scope).

Extras include:

- HL2 Deathmatch (great at first but can get tiresome)
- Counter Strike: Source (brilliant online game where you can play against other gamers - and lose all the time, as in my case)
- Plus, other extras yet to be released.

Not everyone has access/or can afford to be online so why don't VALVE release a version that can be played and installed offline? Of course, the online extras will be missing (HL2 Deathmatch, CS: source) so why not release a cheaper version for those who are offline?

Collector's Edition Rip Off

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: November 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

What a rip off, you'd be better off getting the Gold Edition from Steam. This set isn't worth a dime, except the game.

With GOLD from STEAM, you'd get these:
? Half-Life 2
? Counter-Strike:Source
? Half-Life 1: Source
? Day of Defeat: Source*
? Valve's back catalog available (listed here).
HL2 Merchandise:
? HL2 posters (3 total)
? HL2 hat
? HL2 soundtrack
? HL2 sticker
? City 17 postcard
? Prima's HL2 strat guide
? Special collector's box
? Chance to win trip to Valve!

Now compare that with what you're getting with this Collector's Ed.

Price break my eye...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 29
Date: November 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

"Please add item to cart to see our Super Duper Low price!" Oh please! It's $2 freakin dollars cheaper! WTF?!?!?!? Give me a break! If It's going to be "SUPER LOW!!!!" then for the love of all things intelligent at least knock off 10 bucks....Man, I'm going somewhere else to order it at a real discount....GG....

And no, I didnt write this as a review of the game just a review of the price......

If you can get it to run it is an overhyped average game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 29
Date: December 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First you have to install SPYWARE called steam before you can install the game. This spyware will look at what's on your desktop to determine if you have the right(in valve's mind) to play the game after installation. Thousands of people have not been able to either install or have been denied the right to play their LEGAL copy of this game. The game has good graphics. The game was way over hyped like Doom3 was. You may be let down a little by the lack of story line. I will NEVER buy another game that needs Steam SPYWARE in it to run.

Best.... Game.... Ever.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: February 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is by far the best game I have every played. The story is engaging, the combat is intense, and the graphics are buetiful. Only few cons about this game though, so I'll start with those. First off, there's hardly any varition in enemies. There were tons in half-life 1, but there's only 3 type of combine, zombies, super zombies, infected zombies, 3 kind of head crab, antlions and huge antlions, a helicopter, a weird alien ship, a tripod thingy, and that's about it. Oh yes, and those things that hang from the ceiling. That's nothing to what half-life 1 had. The only other thing was that bodies didn't blow up in half-life 1, only zombies can get chopped in half. Other than that, the game is great.

Pros: Weapons: There's all sorts of weapons, a crobar, gravity gun, pistol, .357 magnum(my favorite), shotgun, grenades, SMG, Pulse Rifle, RPG, this ball thingy, and one last weapon you can see for yourself :]. The gravity gun and the physics is what makes the game shine: you solve simple problems with gravity, but in fun ways. There's also traps you can use, and objects can throw with the gravity gun that are so fun to decapitate with. The graphics aren't the most hightech, but they produce the most beutiful, realistic scenery I have seen in a game. The character face animations are the most realistic I've seen also, their face muscles act just like ours. The music when it's on(there's not much music actaully) is very good, like a dark techno song. And they're played at the perfect parts, like when your being chased by a helicopter. Which reminds me, the two vechicles you can drive. The swamp boat--- is the best vechicle I have ever played with. The levels your on with it you get going really fast go off these high jumps crashing into combine and docks, it's amazing. The dune-buggy's really fun too, you get to go wicked face and splatter antlions. The game can be dark too. Ravenholm creeped me out sometimes, not as much as doom 3, but it could get scary. Super zombies howling in the night and you hear them coming closer and closer and you can't see them, while your low on health and ammo. The combat in this game makes you think of stratigec ways to win using physics, and if you don't to do that, go up and go all out. You also actaully care about your teamates and characters in this game, because they act and look so real. Basic multiplayer sucks, but if you get Garry's Mod it's so much fun, with some wacky games in it.

Conclusion: If only one game could exist, I would pick Half-life 2 without a second thought. This game inspired me in life.

P.S. There's a lot of bad reviews of how people could get the game to work, but they never even played the game. I had no trouble installing and playing this game.

Steam? What a joke

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Though i am sure this is a good game i may never know thanks to this aweful little devil called STEAM! this program is clearly a violation of privacy as it hijacks your Pc in the attemps to keep the game from being pirated. In doing so it alienates all of the good people out there just wanting to play the game of the year. It is such a buggy program that all of a sudden i cannot even put in a half life Cd without my Pc freezing up requiring a restart. I will never purchase any product containing STEAM and anyone who does is asking for trouble. I warned ya!! thank me later!!! Thanks STEAM/VALVE,,i will spend my money on products not associated with you.

DO NOT BUY COLLECTOR'S BOX SET

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is not a GAME review. I want to specifically comment on this EDITION of the game, which is a horrible let down. "I bought the collector's edition of the game and all I got was a lousy t-shirt" comes to mind... In fact, if that's what was on the t-shirt, it'd be an improvement. There is nothing worth the extra cash in this huge box. Compared to the amazing contents of the World of Warcraft collector's edition, which includes soundtrack, DVD, stunning full-size hardbound art book, etc., this is simply appalling. Do yourself a favor and buy the regular edition of the game (but if you buy WoW, get the collector's edition)!

"Who needs a story with all these graphics?"

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 21
Date: November 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is ok...Buy it for counterstrike if anything. The single player is mindless.. None of the heart and soul of the original. Not even the most basic background is given about what the heck is going on. You basically wake up 7 years later when someone--aliens, your own people...you can't tell and are never told--is abusing you. I would think that if the earth was as messed up as the HL2 world is or if aliens took over the world, someone would sit down and say, "Hey, Gordon! Where ya been all these years? Guess what? Aliens took over!" Nope. You speak with literally dozens of characters in the game an nobody bothers to tell you what the heck is going on. Meh, what a disappointment.

A game of Good and Bad but certainly no Ugly!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Over 500 reviews already so what can I add :o). Well looking at it reviewers fall into 2 camps - they either love it or hate it and I can understand why!

The good -

1) Awesome graphics. HL1 was a big step forward in graphics and HL2 managed to do the same again. The people and places are photorealistic and you could almost get the hots for your femail co-lead.

2) Great puzzles, the thing that elevates HL above the mindless Quake 4 is the puzzles. I especially loved the use of weight.

3) Fantastic game play. You have to keep your cool or face the consequences. A huge variety of bad guys from the mindless Zombies to the covert snipers. You are joined by a team of willing helpers towards the end, which is great.

The bad -

1) Short (can be done in just over 2 hours - I've seen the video!!) and I imagine less than 30 hours even for the slowest player. HL1 was perhaps overly long at over 60 hours, but much better value for money.

2) loading, loading, loading - over 2 hours to update the game before I could play it - why bother sending out the DVD at all - why noy just download it! Tediuous or what.

3) loading, loading, loading - over 5 minutes per level on my (not slow) machine, sometimes for only 10 minutes of game play. Comapare this with GTA San Andreas - did you ever see it load? This is NOT ACCEPTABLE!!

So all the reviewers are right - its a bitter-sweet experience, and from my point of view a missed opportunity. If you played HL1 then its a must have but I would certainly make sure I read a respected review of HL3 (presuming there will be one) before buying it.

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