Viewing Thread:
"Half-Life 2 1st impressions - Spoiler free"

After realising it was released today, I hurried down to the nearest game suppliers and purchased my copy.
This was about 11:30am.
Get home, look at the meager leaflet provided as I had my pre-game fag and cuppa.
Install (making sure I was connected to the internet because you have to register the CDkey, but that's ok because I've pre-installed Steam and am ready to go) and log onto Steam.
Problems, servers down and won't offialise my CDkey so I can't play. Sigh and wait for 20 mins, it works.
Yay!
Spend the next 4hrs trying to register, unlock game files, update etc etc - thanks to Steam's servers sucking ass and my dialup being even more of a vacuum suckthing.
Finally, at 17:00, I get to the front screen and choose my configs, adjust audio etc.
And just watch the front-screen as the soldiers walk about, droids zip over and take my photo.
Soaking up the world presented so early.
Have another fag and cupppa, I want to savour this.

Start game.
A similar flavour to the original, start to move around and see what's what.
Arrive at the destination and immediately stop to gape like a countrymouse arriving in London with my little gingham bag on a stick over my shoulder.
Imagine Crocodile Dundee staring at the escalators. That's me that is.
Wish that blasted sentry thing would stop taking my picture.
Excellent, a menace voiced guard. Eh? He's just punched me for going too near, right, I'll show you.
Dammit, I got zapped. Excellent, he's really angry with me.
I'll pick up a phone handle and lob it at him.
He didn't like that, he's chasing me all over the station.
Er...so is his mate, I'll stop and apologise. By letting them electrocute my face several times.
Talk to several people, they complain and moan so I'll just hurl a chair at them.
I'll show these stupid rule nazis who's the king here by "accidentally" walking into them.
Ow, stop shocking me for chrissakes.

I'll wander around the city a bit. That's a big-ass tower, looks menacing and final-level to this confused scientist.
Checkpoints and excellent wavy-glass. More shock-prodding means I'll not hang around there.
Man, these droids are like paparazzi.

***following bit edited so as not to spoil excellent bits***

Right, I'll just barricade that so they can't.
Hahaha, stupid enemies! My physics foil your jackbooted plans.
Curses, my barricade falls under their **edited**
I'll just **edited**. Wow, that's impressive. I'll reload and do that again. Yep, that right there is one of the coolest things I've seen so far and I did it myself.
**edited**
So if I'm quick enough, I can **edit**? Fantastic, that'll learn them.
HEADCRAB!!!! Eh?...**edited**

-------

I'm off out now, but I'm replaying this from the start tomorrow to savour it again.
Absolutely worth the wait and 4hrs online faffing about.
Buy it

I take it this whole setup is to spoil the piracy party?

aaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddd. I can't log into steam.
This is beyond a fecking joke............

F**k it, I think my laptop would be a borderline on this one.

P4 2.66 GHz
512 RAM
GeforceFX 5200 64MB

It'll run, but not as well as I want it to.

Goatboy wrote:
> Pandaemonium wrote:
> Unlocking file now. *nervous*
> ----
>
> I was too, I was thinking "Don't suck, please don't suck"
> But, in my opinion, it doesn't.

7/8'ths done. More anticipation.

> The instant I realised this game was the best thing I've encountered
> on my PC?
> I smashed a window on the 2nd floor of a hotel using a palette and
> proceeded to hurl a television out the window, watching it sail down
> and smash onto an APC.
> Followed by a chair.
> And another television from another room.
> And a bin.
>
> You can throw televisions from hotel room windows.

And that is why I've been awaiting this so much. Physics. Almost real world Physics. Far Cry, for all it's a great game, had boxes and ragdolls. but this

DONE! Back in a few hours!

I've really got to get this ASAP.
It sounds a joy to behold.

Pandaemonium wrote:
> Unlocking file now. *nervous*
----

I was too, I was thinking "Don't suck, please don't suck"
But, in my opinion, it doesn't.
I've only played past a bit with a trainyard but it's head and shoulders above anything else I've played this year.
Imagine the best set-piece from Far Cry, then tweak it.
And that's from a 45min play without decent weapons/vehicles/environments.

I spent 15 mins in the initial area(s) just looking about and playing around with things and was impressed.
But as soon as I **edited** and met **edited** and we **edited**, it overtook Far Cry as my 2004 fav from just one set-piece.
Graphically it's incredible, absolute detail. I looked at 3 seperate wall sections with fly-posters and none were repeated.
The glass in the doors in **edited** looked fantastic, and as for when I **edited**, I was slack-jawed and just walking around. Reloading several times to have another look, try something different.

And whoever asked if it was better than Halo 2?
No comparison. Halo 2 is excellent fun, but Half-Life 2 does a big wee-wee on anything else I've played since...well...the 1st one.

I do wish Gordon would learn his lesson when **edited**.
Nice little nods to the 1st game as well, you'll see

***EDIT***
The instant I realised this game was the best thing I've encountered on my PC?
I smashed a window on the 2nd floor of a hotel using a palette and proceeded to hurl a television out the window, watching it sail down and smash onto an APC.
Followed by a chair.
And another television from another room.
And a bin.

You can throw televisions from hotel room windows.

It's bloomin marvelous!

just the fact that u can interact with everything, peopel die realisticly and all that.

Counter-strike: Source is aweosme too, just had a game on it and it absolutely rules...

Unlocking file now. *nervous*

Easily.

Providing it remains at a similar or greater quality to what I've played so far.

From what I've heard about Halo 2's single player of course yes..