Half-Life 2 is out!!!

[DrSpike]

HL1 was linear.

Good thing too.......replay value from FPS games comes from it being fun to play through again, not doing different things (though the RPG/FPS hybrids usually make a small attempt). The games in this genre are usually short enough as it is.

[Ned]

Well, I for one played HL2 twice, was bored and went back to Far Cry, which is simply terrific in comparison to either Doom 3 or HL2. Far Cry has much better AI than either Doom 3 or HL2, and is certainly not linear. With linear games, the game plays exactly the same each time. With non linear games, each game is different to a degree.

[Solver]

I still want FPS games to have good action, something that both HL2 and Doom3 had in excess, instead of freedom of action. That's what RPGs are for. Heck, that's what Civ is for. Whatever a FPS game might try to do, it will still never be as replayable as Civ, so sod it.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Ned
Far Cry has much better AI than either Doom 3 or HL2, and is certainly not linear.

I agree it is more linear than HL, and a good game. I think though that it's quality lies in gameplay, not the slight non-linearity. I'd replay it for that even if the small non-linearity disappeared.

[Ned]

Solver, in a way, I agree about Civ. But the reason is that each Civ game is different to a degree because the map is variable. The maps in both Doom 3 and HL2 are not variable. Neither are they in Far Cry -- but they start with such wide openesses as to inherently allow different approaches to solving a problem.

But still, the AI in Far Cry is the best I've seen. The AI in Vietcong was also very very good.

[Solver]

I just take being a Civ player as an advantage when playing FPS. If I'm a fan of Civ, the most replayable game, why should I feel bothered if FPS games I play aren't that replayable? I shouldn't.

I like it how with other games, you can often "finish" it, while with Civ, you don't really.

[Nostromo]

I downloaded the HL2 demo last night. All I have to say is wow. Its the best looking game I ever saw. And it runs fine at 1280x 1024. But I'm somewhat confused. In the demo, you have two levels, the intro and the "We aren't going to Ravenloft". How do the aliens from HL returned to earth? Do they work for the Combine? Please, feel free not to answer if there's a spoiler. I'll probably get this game...

[Kassiopeia]

It's never explicitly said in the game, but there are certain things in the game world that allow you to deduce most of what's taken place. I posted a link earlier in this thread to a great web page where someone had compiled all the snippets of information and had finished the gaps in the story with some credulous speculation based on that information.

[Solver]

Yeah, there are some good sites with speculation. I'll post some info snippets, but basically, if you pay attention, you can deduce most yourself.

Why headcrabs and zombies:

Spoiler:

Some headcrabs were left on Earth after HL1. Combine took them and genetically modified to create new version - the fast and black crabs. Crabs are loaded onto shells and fired into areas that resist often.

[Kassiopeia]

Actually,

Spoiler:

AFAI understand, the bulk of the zombie creatures were transported on Earth accidentally in the Portal Storms, a series of interdimensional breaches which took place because of the Black Mesa Incident; either as a natural disaster or because the Combine triggered them once the Black Mesa experiment had attracted their attention.

[Solver]

Hmm, that is not correct, I think, and I haven't seen it being suggested anywhere, either.

Spoiler:

Portal storms have apparently been initiated by the Combine. After the end of HL1, the dimensional rift between Earth & Xen was closed. However, many creatures were not obliterated. The portal storms allowed the Combine to make entrance and take over Earth.

Also, look at where you see zombies in HL2. It's only the places where resistance once was, further backing up the statement that headcrabs were basically used as biological weapons by the Combine.

[Kassiopeia]

Oh, that does make much more sense.

[Solver]

Also, regarding headcrabs:

Spoiler:

In the beta, there was some thing controlled by the Combine called a "Headcrab Birthing Sack", like the one on the headcrab mother in HL1. It got cut later, but still...

[Nostromo]

Two Half-Life scholars debating...

[Solver]

But I am the real guru .