Half-Life {What i don't understand}

[The_wand_mirror]

Just something that i thought about...

Everybody was like blablabla best game ever about Half Life 2, while i don't really see what was so great about it that could make people praise it so much. (Because of the whole thing if Valve is going to release a half life 3 or not and nobody knows)

Andother thing is also that i hear people playing Skyrim for the storyline... ohoh they are going to be dissapointed in the ending or what. Do they seriously think the storyline is that good?

[Geazergimli2]

Originally Posted by The_wand_mirror

Andother thing is also that i hear people playing Skyrim for the storyline... ohoh they are going to be dissapointed in the ending or what. Do they seriously think the storyline is that good?

I also wasn't very wowed from Skyrims storyline, (main quest chain)l, but as for the other quest chains (Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild) i was very impressed with them and i felt there was a lot of improvement there from its predecessors (especially the Dark Brotherhood).

[Fussiler1]

Andother thing is also that i hear people playing Skyrim for the storyline... ohoh they are going to be dissapointed in the ending or what. Do they seriously think the storyline is that good?

Infinitely better than Oblivion's main quest, though. What was wrong with the ending anyway?

[OffGraphic]

TES Lore/Storyline is great. The sad thing is, nobody knows how to browse it fully.
The main quest is only a small portion of what each TES game includes. There's a
thousand books with multiple pages, easily over 1 million lines of story hidden in the game.
Each and every TES has had it this way. If you are a typical gamer, all you care is finishing
the game without giving a shit about the actual content.

Yet you call yourself a role-player.
What do you think RP(G) stands for ?

[Devine]

I finished each and every quest in Oblivion... Skyrim, not really as I only play it like once or twice a week... busy and shit.
I play skyrim because of its bad ass effects and complete freedom. The Nord theme is also really awesome (at least to me). The only thing about the game is the dragons... For some reason, they don't really fit the whole TES series to me. But the game is awesome none the less. Besides, I really like the word Dovahkiin

[Ramza]

Originally Posted by The_wand_mirror

Just something that i thought about...

Everybody was like blablabla best game ever about Half Life 2, while i don't really see what was so great about it that could make people praise it so much. (Because of the whole thing if Valve is going to release a half life 3 or not and nobody knows)

Extremely varied gameplay, a perfect balance between open-world and linear level design, amazing voice-acting, dialogue, story telling and characters (excluding Gordon, which is basically just a camera), perfect pacing, perfect atmosphere (mainly because of the art design and sound effects), and one of the best (if not the best) weapons in a game ever. That's what's so great about Half-Life 2. It's easily one of the best games ever made (I personally think it's still the best).
There might be some games out there topping one or a couple aspects of Half-Life 2, but no other game (let alone FPS) offers the complete package. And with some mods, it still looks better than the majority of today's games too.

Also, it doesn't have all the crap going on that's ruining the majority of modern shooters; auto-aim, dumbed down gameplay, spoon-fed stories, rail level design, regenerating health, bald marines and other generic characters, focus on online (well, that's a con for me anyway), etc.

[HFR]

I don't even play skyrim anymore. Got bored.

[The_wand_mirror]

Originally Posted by HFR

I don't even play skyrim anymore. Got bored.

Yeah i'm kinda shifting between moods.

[Crazed_seal2]

[Adiktuz]

I experience that too when playing which is why I don't really pay much attention to reviews and such... As for the ratings, I believe that they have a set of standards...
But still each one of us has his own tastes and preferences and idea of a good game which might not coincide with the general standards...

[The_wand_mirror]

I'm not saying i don't like it i played half life 2 and the sequel episodes but calling it the best game ever...

[Adiktuz]

They actually give that name to a lot of games...

[Ramza]

Well, there are lots of people, with lots of different opinions. :P
Many people do agree on Half-Life 2 being the best though.

[The_wand_mirror]

Originally Posted by Adiktuz

They actually give that name to a lot of games...

Well the half life 2 case (at least the one i had) was the only one that actually had that quote "THE BEST GAME EVER!" on it with pretty obvious white letters... so...

[Narrat0r]

People love Half-Life 2 for one obvious reason (the same reason why Nintendo fanboys praise everything by Nintendo): it started out as a fantastic game (at least in most of the opinions, because I despise Half-Life). Half-Life 1 invented scripted scenes, immersing the player into the world without the use of cutscenes, people saw it like an in-movie experience, nothing wrong with that, of course.
Now, Half-Life 2 is essentially more of the same, just with more characters and brown-er environments. Standard FPS, pretty good story, those goddamn platforming puzzles. But, the point here is that Half-Life and The Elder Scrolls have built up a lot of reputation, so now, whenever a new game of the series comes out, however bad or good it is, people are going to buy it and love it because they like the franchise.
And that's basically how everything works - popular IP, tons of sales and fanboy ejaculations, no matter if it's good or bad (ehem Duke Nukem Forever). New IP from a popular company? Still gets sold great, but not as much as an IP sequel would. Completely new IP from an unknown indie developer? 2% chance to even get anywhere, and that's if it's well advertised (a la Minecraft or Limbo).