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Half-Life 2 Submitted to VU For Approval
Dreadlord writes "After years of rumors, leaks, and delays, Neowin reports that the release candidate for Half-Life 2 has been sent to VU Games for approval. Valve's director of marketing confirmed the story to GameSpot yesterday. "Yes, the release candidate went to VUG yesterday," he said. First words on the submission came from Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve, "The RC went to VU yesterday," read Newell's one-line post on the hl2fallout.com forums."
September 30 2003, i believe it was. I was sooooo stoked about it coming out, and then there was this game "Deus ex: invisible war" and then this game "Unreal Tournament 2004" and then this other game "Doom 3" And then i bought an xbox and only play ssx3 all night after work. Of course ill play it. Of course it will rock. It just doesnt quite have the glow it used to. When it finally hits stores, it will be more like "lets see if all the damn hype was worth it"
"Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
I think the hype will be worth it, given that its physics engine rivals that of id software's, and actually does better because it's not so shadow-intensive. That said... the gameplay is what I'm concerned about. Half Life was only a great game because of Counterstrike -- it was smart for Valve to port Counterstrike in its entirety to the new engine for the physics and eyecandy. Additionally, it's a good way to keep the same game and just update it -- some games try to do this in a fashion that simply won't work on a long term scale, like Ultima Online, but that's neither here nor there.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
This does not mean the game has gone gold or is necessarily going to go gold soon, as I've seen reported since this announcement. Several candidates can and will be delivered to the publisher before one of them gets approved. Granted, since Steam has already preloaded the sounds, textures, and models, the bulk of the game is set in stone. But that still leaves the executable, overall stability, multiplayer, maps, and other QA odds and ends.
Not neccessarily alone in your thoughts, but the question is, will you still buy it? Just like D3, HL2 is overhyped and will not meet the expectations of everyone. Most players will come out of their computer room 3 days after starting play, having finished the game. They will then reflect and say wow, I am not sure this game was worth it. The true test of the games worthiness for D3 and HL2 will be the mods that come out for them. This is bigtime added bonus for us gamers.
So how much longer until the game is finally released? I fear its another 2~3 weeks until this RC will become the build to go gold. And thats IF it is even accepted requiring no re-working at all. A big IF. So folks, it seems mid-November till early December is the objective. I think if the game comes in too late in December, the Holiday season sales are going to get killed. Interestingly to me, if it comes out in the November timeframe, it'll feel like the original HL coming out in late October early November of '98. I just hope the game retains a good portion of the original feel or atmosphere.
I disagree that Half-Life was only good because of Counterstrike.
I played Half-Life, and from the opening scene on the little traincar, to the end scene (fighting monsters or something) I thought it was an awesome game. I also bought Opposing Forces, which for some reason I actually played BEFORE Half-Life. (This was my first experience with an expansion pack, and I scaped together whatever money I could for Opposing Forces- then imagine my dismay when I found out that I would ALSO need to buy Half-Life!)
After a got a semi-decent Internet connection, I figured I would try my mad l33t skilz at Counterstrike. Boy did I suck. This was also my first experience with cheating on a videogame. I wonderered how those guys could hit me in the head each time!
I think if I went back and played Half-Life now, I would probably cry, but for it's time, it was a great game.
If they come out with another game (Half Life 2) with an intriguing storyline, some features on a game you've never seen before, and head crabs that slowly work their way down to your crotch...then I think it will be a great game.
But, I was totally disappointed by Doom 3- I can't imagine why Half Life 2 will live up to the standards we all are hoping for.
No reason to lie.
Fine...
But what appreciation should we show? What has Valve done that is so excellent?
1. They made Halflife, an excellent single-player game that deservedly won many Game of the Year awards 5-6 years ago. It had an excellent story line, and some good AI for some of the enemies (the marines.) The multiplayer was lack-luster and end of the game was weak.
Then what? NOTHING. They've done NOTHING since then.
1. They bought a mod team and distributed a half-baked copy of a great mod. (The great mod being Team Fortress, and the half-baked copy being TFC.)
2. They waited until another mod that they had nothing to do with became popular, (an internet phenomenon actually) and bought that one as well. (CounterStrike.)
3. They took a shot at a Guiness record for most re-releases of the exact same product by changing the box colors of Halflife about a dozen times. (They are only second to Lucas and StarWars.)
4. In the name of Online content distribution, they created the most intrusive DRM software to every make it to production. (It's called a STEAMing pile of crap.)
Valve has only released ONE GAME. They are still new to the business. (but pro's at 'giving the business.') They've been riding the on the success of amatuer mod teams since the beginning.
(Even though HL turned out to be a worthwhile product in it's own right, the great majority of the early purchasers were simply buying it as a platform for the much anticipated (still) Team Fortress 2. Valve had purchased (co-opted?) the design team or else we would have all been playing TF2 on Quake2 instead.)
Anyway...I don't bash Valve for anything to do with HL2. It looks very pretty and interesting. I'm skipping D3, but I'll probably get HL2. However, there's very little else in their entire history to credit valve with...except extreme luck.
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--