Since Half Life 2 is almost out, maybe it's time I tried Half Life

[Jaguar]

Here's a tip. If you understand what I mean, you'll get through just fine. Face towards the wall while going around that area (it's kind of a hexagonal or octoganal room IIRC). Always face toward the wall so that your body is against it. Then "walk" into the wall. Because the wall impedes most of your forward progress, you end up moving sideways very slowly. If you move at a slow enough speed, they won't hear you and they'll ignore you completely.

[Father Beast]

Yeah, I forgot that crouch puts you in stealth mode. Still, it seems they can hear me climb the ladder if I'm too fast.

I actually managed to get to the top with no grenades, just stealth, and found I hadn't turned the power on properly .
I guess you have to hit the button on both sides of the thing. I had only pushed one of them.

I had to reload, the only point that would work was before I went down the pit. This time I saved a few grenades for the return trip.

It was still very harrowing, with 30-40 deaths, but it was all worth it when I fired up the rockets. Die Suckers!!!

It felt very weird to go down the pit without the banging.

[DrSpike]

And that's just the first major monster you need to kill. Lots of game yet.

[Solver]

Yeah, you're just at the beggining. But indeed... finally firing that rocket is really, really satisfactory.

[pg]

Originally posted by Father Beast
I have decided I can only play this game for about an hour at a time. Otherwise I'll go to bed and wake up to the sound of a headcrab scream. This game can get Freaky.

You should never play System Shock 2 if you think Half Life is bad.

[DrSpike]

Yeah HL has a couple of jumpy moments where a face hugger surprises you (there are some nice tunnel moments coming up FB ) but nothing like the constant edginess of SS2.

[Solver]

Yeah, SS, Doom3 or Silent Hill are scarier... but there's something scary about those HL headcrabs. Something very specific, different from the scares in thoes other games.

[Guynemer]

Blast Pit

The first time I played it, and I saw that guy obliterated in front of me, I got very, very scared.

Took me many tries to figure it out.

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by pg


You should never play System Shock 2 if you think Half Life is bad.

Yeah System Shock2, I never got really far into the game cause it was too scary
Actually I went away for a while and when I came back I didn't go any further because I forgot where I was and what skills I had etc...
There's even a gfx update for it. It makes the zombies extra scary, with bulging veins&muscles!

[DrSpike]

And the way the zombies and other monsters spawn adds to the tension. Take a peek at the personal data device? Odds are when you look back a zombie is just about to split your skull open.

[Father Beast]

Originally posted by pg


You should never play System Shock 2 if you think Half Life is bad.

I agree. While Half Life is freaky in its own way. SS2 is something of a legend among those who have played it. When we had a "worst game villians" thread a while back, SHODAN was the overwhelming pick by everyone who has played SS2 for any length of time.

I admit, though, to having a weird moment while sneaking about the pit, when they would all stop banging at once and be waving their heads about, looking for me. It occurred to me that only an idiot or someone with lots of saves would dare try this.

[Father Beast]

OK, so last night I'm playing Half Life with my 5 year old son and my 10 year old daughter looking on. I show them the part where I turn on the rocket and incinerate those **** monstrous things that gave me so much trouble. Then I went down to the pit.

My son asks, like he always does, why do I save? I tell him because I'm afraid that I'll do something stupid and die. I then die about 12 times falling down the pit until I can figure out how to fall in the water. I save again at the water's edge and then die about 6 more times while trying to find a way through the water.

By this time, my kids are chuckling with every new death. I am so glad when I come out next to the river of radioactive waste and find some health and an all too rare suit recharge.

My son is chanting "stupid, stupid" every time I slip off the pipes into the waste and reload, and my daughter is giggling uncontrollably.

by the time I get to where the pipe falls down into the room, they are having a good time. I reload several times, trying to not lose as much health when I fall, while still being ready to kill that headcrab under the table.

In a most amusing moment. I walked a beam and accidentally slid down the front of the pipe, crashed through the ceiling and broke the table as I landed on it, smashing the headcrab underneath. My kids were rolling on the floor laughing.

Since I still had most of my health after being recharged by the packs I had landed on, I figured that was about as good as I would get and saved. I then smashed open all the boxes and got some... Cameras?!?! What good are the cameras?

I saved again before walking down the hall. My kids are saying "come on, dad, do something stupid so you can die again". Yeah, right. But when I saw that I had entered Power Up, I decided that was it for the night, and I would just walk down the hall until I got killed.

I walk into this room where a huge monstrosity like an armored Hulk was going around and blasting with some kind of flamethrower. I just blithely walk in and unload my shotgun on him (to no effect) before I get toasted. I then say that's it for the night.

That's when I turn and see my daughter scrunched up on her chair, with her arms wrapped around her legs, emitting little whiny noises like Ron Weasley when he saw the giant spiders in Chamber Of Secrets. She finally gets out, "That thing is Humungous!!!"

Nothing like a little family computer time, is there?

[LeftHand]

I'm looking forward buying this game. I bought the first one (and CS) when they came out so I have been waiting for this one

[Solver]

Nice story . And love the GMan in Power Up, as always.

A tip: that big blue thing is a Gargantua. Never fight those. You can, in fact, kill them with a LOT of heavy weapon fire (grenades, satchels, RPG), but you'd be wasting your time and probably wouldn't survive. Either avoid the encounter by running, or seek... alternative methods to kill.

[Harry Tuttle]

Originally posted by Father Beast
I would get and saved. I then smashed open all the boxes and got some... Cameras?!?! What good are the cameras?

Ummm, take your picture with them and you'll find out. Heehee...