Review: Half-Life 2

The original Half-Life is regarded widely as a defining moment in the first person shooter genre. The game's use of story and in-game scripted elements changed the expectations of game players and spawned a bevy of imitators. The sequel, Half-Life 2, has been in the works for almost six years and is one of the most hyped and anticipated games of 2004. It was launched last week after delays, a code theft, and lawsuits frustrated the anxious fans waiting for a chance to play. Post-launch the game has received wide praise and, thanks to the unique distribution and authentication system called Steam, many complaints as well. Read on for my impressions of Valve's Half-Life 2.

• Title: Half-Life 2
• Developer: Valve
• Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
• Reviewer: Zonk
• Score: 9/10

The first component of Half-Life 2 that a player is likely to encounter is the massive hype that has surrounded the game for over a year. Advertising, articles, and player expectations have elevated Valve's second game to a level that ensures a certain level of disappointment. Regardless of the actual merits of the game, there are some players who have been waiting for this game since late last century. The game is not a defining moment in civilization. The lame will not be made whole by playing Half-Life 2.

As we've reporting in the past week, many players have experienced difficulties in getting the game running after installation. The initial load on the Steam servers caused by the large number of people attempting to play the game at once caused massive slowdowns in authentication and file downloads. For the most part these problems seem to primarily be reported by individuals who purchased the game in a retail store in a box. I purchased the game via Steam and downloaded it in the space of about three hours. I have experienced no problems in playing the game.

With all those caveats out of the way, Half-Life 2 is an incredibly impressive experience. In playing the game you step again into the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who originally worked at the Black Mesa facility. The first chapter of the game finds you arriving via train in the dystopian atmosphere of City 17, a ramshackle series of buildings raised from the remains of a now mostly destroyed civilization. A mysterious organization known as the Combine exerts control through police forces and alien troops. Via televised transmissions the citizenry is controlled mentally, spiritually, and even reproductively. From the first moment you enter the game Valve does an excellent job of imposing a sense of despair and barely contained anger rippling within the populace of City 17. What we are not imparted with is a sense of what has happened to Freeman since the events of the previous game. While clues are unearthed during the course of the game as to what has occurred, there are no firm answers to the many questions players are likely to have. With confirmation already in the news that Valve has begun work on Half-Life 3, the impression that you're left with is that this only part of a larger story. The story stands well on its own, but don't expect to come away from the game with all your questions resolved.

The new graphics engine that Valve created for their second game, Source, is an incredible achievement. The level of detail in the game is nothing short of breathtaking. From the reflectivity of water and tile flooring to the incredible facial animations, the game engine places Gordon Freeman directly into the world and makes exploration a joy. One of the best moments of the early game comes in a lobby. You emerge from the depths of the train station and face one last room before the freedom of open air. It is dusty and decrepit, filled with lost souls looking for nourishment rations handed out by inhuman robotic servants. Light pours into the room from windows set high in the external wall, and these amazing shafts of light fill the room. Motes float inside the light beams, lending an almost reverential air to what is essentially a ruin.

The physics of the game are wonderful to behold as well. The tech demo at E3 last year was quite an eye opener, and Valve allows you several opportunities to enjoy the physicality of the Half-Life world. At two points in the game you take control of vehicles. The wildness of the bouncing white knuckle ride you get with the airboat and dune buggy make for memorable gaming moments. The airboat in particular makes for excellent visuals as you speed across the water in a series of canals, ripples and waves speeding away from your craft and beautiful splashes marking where you hit the water after a jump. The gravity gun displayed in the tech demo is indeed as much fun to use as it is to watch. The weapon allows you to snatch objects from distances and launch them as projectiles. While the uses of the gun are usually more practical than some of the opportunities shown in the tech demo (the number of saw blades lying around in Ravenholme is kind of disturbing), there are a number of creative opportunities scattered periodically throughout the game. Beyond the vehicles and the gravity gun, there are constant reminders of the physics underpinning the game, as enemies push objects aside rushing at you and heavy objects swing like deadly pendulums through obstacles and crush opponents.

Once you step outside the door of the train station, your moments to stop and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings are few and far between. Almost immediately you as Gordon are connected up with the Underground Railroad, populated with peoples not willing to submit peacefully to the Combine. You reconnect with old friends from the previous game and after an experiment accident, you find yourself on the run from Combine forces. The instant the crowbar returns to your hands is truly a sweet moment. From there you move through the urban landscape of City 17, hop an airboat to duke it out with Combine troops in flooded waterways, and explore the Lovecraftian ruins of a small town inhabited by alien hunters and a mad priest. The game keeps you engaged with a constantly changing backdrop of locations and a series of pretty memorable characters. I was particularly impressed by the voice actors, all of whom do an excellent job of getting across what their characters are about. Each of the non-player characters has a nice moment to talk to you and make an impression. Dr. Vance's daughter Alyx is actually the one who introduces you to the gravity gun, and the quirky time spent with her may be the funniest, best written part of the game.

The visuals in the game are astounding, but the auditory experience is fairly impressive as well. The musical moments in the game are few and far between, and are used to accentuate tense or impressive moments. The music tends towards electronic stings and they raise your heart rate by a good deal when they're used. The sound effects range from pretty standard clinks and clunks to the viscerally gripping howls of stalking predators. The atmosphere in the town of Ravenholme, where the predators live, is phenomenally creepy all around, and is conjured by the pervasive sound environment. The weapon sound effects are all very competently executed, with the satisfying blast of the revolver being a personal favorite.

Overall, the game is an incredible accomplishment. Valve has done an excellent job living up to the expectations their first title has prompted in the gaming community. The lack of closure in the game's story is the only real flaw in the plot, which otherwise provides excellent motivation to keep moving and find out what will happen next. Gameplay elements stay true to the previous game, providing action and some simple puzzle solving moments. The visuals and physics of the Source engine make for a beautiful and interactive world to move through. The deep audio environment keeps the player rooted in the moment, while the excellent voice acting makes the non-player characters come to life. The collaboration of individuals who created Half-Life 2 has proven again why video games are a unique art form. I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys first person shooters, horror and suspense, or engaging storylines.

Comments

I want to, but should I?

[Allen Zadr]

Damn. I wasn't planning on buying this game, until reading this review.

I do have a question though. As someone whom has *gasp* never played Half-Life, would I be lost trying to pick it up in it's second incarnation?

Re:I want to, but should I?

[Nos.]

Go ahead and pick it up. The story is nice, but you don't NEED to know the story of the original to enjoy this one. If you're that curious about the story, you may want to search around a bit, I'm sure someone has the basic story of the original posted somewhere. I played the first one not long after it first came out and frankly remember very little of it, yet still found the second to be very enjoyable. But even without the story to back you up, the plot line keeps you moving. The puzzles are interesting but not overly difficult. They are rarely time sensitive (you don't have an endless swarm of guys coming at you while trying to figure out how to open a gate for example).

My biggest complaint would have to be that the game was a bit short. Probably took me about 12-15 hours of gameplay to beat (on easy). I'll go back and play the harder difficulties now, but it did seem a little short for my tastes. Then again, I didn't buy it for the HL2 single player game. I bought it for the multitude of mods that are being worked on for it.

Re:I want to, but should I?

[dougmc]

As someone whom has *gasp* never played Half-Life, would I be lost trying to pick it up in it's second incarnation?

No -- it's still your basic FPS, you'd be fine, though you'd miss a lot of the story. And the story is very good for a FPS ...

However, if you buy the collector's edition, or the `HL2 Gold' or whatever pack on Steam, you'll get `Half Life Source', which is (I believe) the original Half Life re-released with the new graphics engine. You might want to go that route, and play through the first Half Life first.

If you do get HL1 to play it, forget about the expansion packs (Opposing Forces, Blue Shift.) They really didn't add anything signifigant to the story.

HL2, on the other hand, is really excellent.

I was one of the people who had lots of Steam problems (and yes, I did buy the retail edition.) I still don't like how it phones home every time I start HL2, but at least it's sped up greatly -- now HL2 starts in about 2 minutes rather than 8 or so minutes.

Re:I want to, but should I?

[Allen Zadr]

Good information (both of you). The local best buy has a 'Boxed Silver' that I happened to notice the other day - although, based on other user reports - I think I'd probably purchase online, directly through Steam.

Something else that isn't clear - are there any other on-going costs to this odd "steam" intallation? [ Subscription costs or anything else odd? ]. Can 'steam' be removed after the game is 'activated'?

Re:I want to, but should I?

[Ramadog]

However, once activated, you do not need an internet connection.

You are supposed to be able to play without an internet connection. This is a very touchy point with some people. I have had the game 5 days and only the last 2 of them have I been able to consistantly run the game without an internet connection. When I am not connected to the net I still have to wait 4 minutes for steam to timeout when I try running HL2. Was not impressed with the first 3 days of wasting the cost of a phone call to connect to the net just to play a single player game.

Going through the posts on the steam forums I have more success than some.

Fantastic game

[Anonymous Coward]

But having played FarCry to death, and revelled in the freedom it allows in terms of strategy and movement, especially in the outdoor levels, I feel something is lacking in HL2.

Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic game, I loved the Prison level and Ravenholme. I just think I was rather spoiled by FarCry.

Mods

[CrazyJim1]

I'm interested in the mods.

http://www.twilightwar.com/ is one I am very interested in

There needs to be a MMOFPS with more greed involved. Planetside doesn't cut it since you can't power your character up much. We need long term goals of: forming a good clan
Obtaining vehicles/equipment
Obtaining stats/levels
Creating a fortress

Heavy FPS fighting, and goal oriented tasks would keep your mind off the standard level grind found in current RPGS.

I'm not sure I have the coding power to pull this off though.

Re:Mods

[theclam159]

Regarding goal-oriented tasks in a FPS game, I think I've got a recommendation for you.

If you have the original Half-Life or bought Half-Life 2 Silver Edition, then check out the free mod Natural Selection:
http://www.naturalselection.com

Their site is down for today and maybe tomorrow, so here is a description:

It is a battle between Aliens and Marines, similiar to Starcraft (without the Protoss, though). The interesting thing about the gameplay is that you have an entire team based around incredible speed and melee attacks, versus a team based around teamwork and ranged attacks. Of course aliens have a few ranged attacks and require teamwork, but those don't play as large a role as they do for the marines. Aliens can move at about triple the speed of a normal character in a FPS game.

There are two game modes. The first, a simpler one meant for introducing people to the gameplay is called Combat. The marines start with their most basic weapons, and the aliens start as the most basic lifeform (kind of like a class, but lifeforms are incredibly different from each other, not just in statistics or weapon seleciton like classes usually are). As you and your teammates get kills, you get experience points that you can use to buy upgrades. For example, marines can upgrade the amount of armor they have or damage they do, they can get shotguns, grenade launchers, mines, jetpacks, motion tracking (a legal wallhack), automatic resupplies, etc. Aliens can get new abilities, celerity (improves your speed greatly), focus (doubles damage and halves your attack speed), redemption (if you are low on life, automatically teleports you to your base to heal), they can become a lerk (a support class that can fly and dispense clouds of gas to either deflect shots or poison enemies). The object of the game is to destroy a structure at each team's base.

The more involved game mode is called Classic (it was the original game mode). It involves RTS elements. Both teams start far away from each other on the map. The marines start with a command console. One marine can jump in the console and have a RTS-style overhead view of the map. He can drop Resource Towers (these give you resources that will allow you to build more stuff), armories (these will allow you to dispense weapons), siege turrets (these will destroy alien buildings, and even shoot through walls!), drop medpacks or ammo to marines in the field, etc. The aliens all start as skulks (small fast rat-like creatures that can run up walls and bite marines). The aliens can morph into gorges (these will allow you to place recourse nodes, offense chambers (attack turrets), movement chambers (these will restore energy-basically ammo-to all aliens near by and allow you to teleport to the farthest away hive), etc. They can also place hives (these will take a very long time to build, but will double your spawn rate, give you access to more upgrades and more abilities, and improve your armor). You can also change into one of 5 life forms like a fade (hit and run shock trooper that can move at incredible speed and dish out a ton of damage) or an onos (a huge rhinocerous creature that can take tremendous amount of damage, while trashing an enemy base).

It's not Massively Multiplayer (max 32 players, best with about 12-20), and it doesn't have vehicles, but it has everyone other element you wanted. It is very goal oriented, with a diverse set of equipment. It's got heavy fighting, lets you build bases (maybe not as big as fortresses, but it has mines, turrets, electrified buildings, teleportation gates and other goodies). It also has incredibly varied gameplay (you can command like an RTS, play as a marine in a very squad based environment, play as any of the 5 alien lifeforms, each with very different playstyle.

God, I sound like a fanboy.

Re:Mods

[Ark42]

No offense to the billions of CS players, but CS seemed really boring looking to me. Q2 CTF was the most fun I've ever had and one of the biggest reasons was that both teams had to play offense and defense, and the game was just fun besides that. RTCW:ET isn't fun because its ww2 based or even just because of the classes. The classes were a real nice bonus and the teamwork with having to do things with the engineers was really cool, but having one side defend while the other pushes forward really ruined ET for me.
Can you explain some more about DoD?
Does anybody know if/when TF 2 for HL 2 will be made?

Re:Mods

[Erik Hollensbe]

DoD is more CTF-ish. It's also pretty damn slow, so factor that in.. it's nothing like Quake CTF.

TF2 has been promised since long before HL2 was announced (IIRC, TF2 has been "in development" since original HL came out), so I wouldn't count on it. It's also the reason that I don't take anything valve says as "in the works" as anything more than a rumor until I see it.

Re:All Hail

[Kenja]

"if Steam stops 1/10 of the various hacked up cheatmod shit I'll be on it."

And if it causes the game to take hours to install (if you can actualy connect), slow to launch and pops up adds on your desktop? Steam is a joke, it has done nothing to stop pirates and will do nothing to stop cheaters.

Extremely impressive indeed

[carcosa30]

I have to say, I was floored by HL2.

I didn't like the first one very much. I wanted to like it, but it gave me severe nausea, worst ever in a shooter except for Kingpin.

But in halflife2, the engine nausea is gone, and I was very surprised to find that the game pulled me in to an extent I haven't seen since maybe Doom2.

In Halflife2, it's the storyline that does it. Very dark take on a police-state future, reminding me a bit of science fiction stories like "The Sheep Look Up."

And the use of the physics engine is nothing short of phenomenal.

One serious criticism I have of the game is how bloody linear it is. It's almost like a rail shooter at times. Even out in the open, you're limited to a thin strip of land that you can drive on, and there's only one way to go-- tunnels collapse behind you, and the way forward is usually so obvious that it might as well have neon arrows pointing in that direction.

The climb-and-jump puzzles are back, too, and in my view that's not a good thing. Don't like 'em. I'd much rather have open-ended gameplay and maps that allow you to go anywhere and take any of several routes to the finish rather than extremely linear chutes that funnel you toward the finish.

Of course, with more open-ended maps, you'd miss out on all kinds of really interesting storyline, like Father Grigory.

Oh, and like they said, the engine is totally insane-crazy. At times it's almost like you're in a movie. And like the first one, there are numerous ways to skin a cat in many of the tactical puzzles. Once you realize that, the game gets a lot easier.

I don't see a lot of replay value with this one due to the extreme linearity. I understand people replayed the first one again and again, but that doesn't float my boat, personally.

Expect the mods on this one to be awesome, though.

Re:Extremely impressive indeed

[cavemanf16]

HL2 isn't completely linear... I have already come across at least one "shortcut" route that took me through a completely different set of circumstances than the previous direction I took (and ultimately died trying). My brother has confirmed this to be the case in another area he was playing in the game. Keep your eyes peeled.

As for the mods, you are correct, they are awesome. Well, at least CS:Source is. I played the original CS endlessly for at least a couple of years. Only over the past year or so did my desire to play CS wane. But after playing through de_dust in CS:Source I am once again addicted! If you've seen the movie "Saving Private Ryan" then you have a good idea of what it feels like to play CS:Source. Bullets ricochet off of structures near you, dirt kicks up from the ground (and the buildings in some cases) when you're getting fired at, bodies react in true physics form (grenades sometimes launch people in the air as they die) all without losing the fun of playing what I consider to be the video game equivalent of paintball.

Yes, I really hate the Steam authentication and monitoring crap. It sucks, it really does. It's the price I'm willing to pay in order to enjoy this form of entertainment though. I was actually getting nauscious from playing it for 9 hours straight on Sat., in part I think because my brain was getting too used to the realistic physical movement portrayed in the game but couldn't reconcile those images with my inner ear complete equilibrium as I sat like a bump on a log! LOL

All i wanted was to play....

[Hexzero]

Talk about a good place to finally shout, rant and scream. I was not planning on buying the game, but that changed when I saw a couple screenshots in a review a couple days before release. *edit*(Yes I know the code was stolen and authentication was needed) Two quick points- 1. Valve/Steam authentication Sucked! The servers were completely bogged down and I had problems for more then 26 hours after purchasing the game online. Why didn't I just buy the game at the store? Well, I would of had to authenticate through Steam/Valve anyway, so I though I was cutting out the middle Man. Turns out the man didn't care to much about it's customers. Read through the forums on their website and you will see that there were problems galore. Halo2 didn't run into server problems on their big release. Why? Because they anticipated the number of servers that would of been required based on presales numbers. Microsoft did something correct for once.... Point #2 The game has some great graphics! Facial animations are done to perfection. The storyline is half decent.. Outside of that, there is not much more to the game. I beat it in a couple days of playing off and on when bored or between football games. The only thing I have to look forward to is the spam I have been spraying on Valve/Steam's boards.... Mods will be the only thing that make this engine truely great! Final Conclusion: Save your money until Mods are released. The game is great, but there will be better on the horizon.

Re:Steam-like online distrubtion is inevitable

[onethumb]

For those inclined not to click, the short story is thus:

- Half-Life 2 took tens of millions of $$ to make and 6 years.
- Valve only makes $5-10 per copy retail.
- With Steam, they can make closer to $25-30 per copy.

= We get better games if Steam is a success*
= If it's not, we'll see retail prices rise to $60-80 in the near future to compensate.

Long live Steam!

* If you buy into the more time + more money = better game. Given the right talent, I think it does, but there's always games like Rollercoaster Tycoon to prove us wrong...

Don

Half-life 2's invisible walls annoying...

[brxndxn]

I am loving Half Life 2 and I think the game really rocks.. Though, I'm annoyed with two things..

You cannot skip a part of the game or 'take shortcuts' if you find a faster way to do something like in normal FPs's.. As an example, I used the airboat to jump through a dock area without blowing up some strategic exploding barrels to form an entry. But, when I tried to complete the next jump, I hit an invisible wall in midair... until I completed the first part and the 'wall' dissappeared. It's happened elsewhere in the game.

Also, the characters have no interaction. Freeman never talks and the other characters are invincible. So, I usually pelt them with barrels and other debris using the gravity gun while they're talking to me. It gets pretty funny sometimes when you smack a guy in the head with an exploding barrel from across the room and he just keeps talking..

Doom3 Engine Comparisons?

[_bug_]

Could anyone whose played both Doom3 and HL2 care to offer any comparisons between the two, on an engine level. (Try to ignore story, if possible.)

I've only played D3, and the items listed as breakthroughs in HL2 seem to already exist in Doom3. So is it just hype, or is there a real difference?

About the only thing I've heard thus far is that HL2's engine seems to be more forgiving for older hardware. Any truth to that?

All I can say is...

[FortKnox]

.... gravity gun + sawblades + row of zombies == MAD FUN.

Seriously... I bought the CD, and had my issues with Steam the first day. Most people will bitch and moan about steam for months. I don't mind it so much, and the HL2 experience more than overshadows any steam issues.

Keep in mind... the people bitching about steam right now are the people who will bitch about it forever. The whole 'having to be online to play a single player game' isn't an issue for me, cause I got roadrunner on all the time, anyway...

Re:Steam-like online distrubtion is inevitable

[Tackhead]

> = We get better games if Steam is a success*
>
>= If it's not, we'll see retail prices rise to $60-80 in the near future to compensate.

I'd gladly pay $60-80 for a non-steam version of HL2.

> Long live Steam!

Because the day Steam's authentication servers go away, your $40 boxed retail version and your $30 pile of GCF files become worthless.

Re:My Thoughts, 3.5/5

[moonbender]

In terms of the game itself, I haven't played Half Life (1), so I really don't understand what is going on, or why. Vague references from the in game charecters hint at what is going on, but I really think I would have needed to play the first game to understand.

I have played the first game and I don't know what the hell is going on. It's got nothing to do with you, it's just that the story fucking sucks. Yes, HL2's story sucks, even if it's considered treason to say so. That said, I'm only at about 75 to 80% of the game (according to a friend who is done). But up to this point, there was essentially no story, and, what is far worse, no obvious motivation to what I'm doing.
Don't get me wrong, the game is a lot of fun! I don't care so much for the weapons, but the gameplay itself is top notch, the levels are great, the vehicles more fun than frustrating, and what they call interactivity, namely the ability to throw around stuff is well integrated into most aspects of the game.
However, the game seems very linear, which is a good thing since it's linearity is really the only thing giving the game direction. Up to now - after seeing $person in the prison - the main objectives were to get from A to B, from B to C, and from C to D, with increasingly more weapons and using various forms of transportation. Or, in other words, the first thing you really do in the game, that is, run away from Combine troopers in the only direction you can run (since all other directions are barred) is basically what you will be doing for the next 70% of the game. Only that it's in a ship or a car and you have to remove obstacles and open doors on your way.
There is some sort of storyline in the background, but it's fairly irrelevant to the gameplay itself, you could use any number of stories to fabricate the exact same gameplay, down to the buildings, vehicles, allies and enemies.

Compare this to a story based FPS like Deus Ex, where the story was a key part of the game. Even the original HL as I recall it integrated the story better into the game itself - hell, Doom 3 did. And you certainly were more aware of the story in both games, even if their storylines were cliched and bland.

My review:

[Mr. Flibble]

I finished the game on hard on Friday, here is my take.

Pros:
- Graphics and facial animations. Wow. I do mean WOW. (I would have liked more interactions with the characters in terms of plot and what the hell is going on... These moments were great.)

- Level design - the belivability of the world is unmatched. City 17 looks and feels like a real place.

- New weapons, the gravity gun.

- (Other "new" weapon near endgame, I won't mention the details of it here so as not to be a spoiler, but those of you have used it know!) That part was too fun for words.

Cons:

- The AI did not seem as good as in HL 1, rather, it does not seem to have the same level of self preservation.

- You should be able to give your team the order "STAY HERE AND DON'T FUCKING MOVE!"

- The levels while awesome, keep you confined to a narrow tunnel. There is no exploring a-la Far Cry. I would have liked to have seen this on the buggy level.

- Lack of plot. The plot is very thin, and comes in bits. I really wanted to know what was going on, and while you can piece together an idea from the clues Valve gives you, much is left unsaid and really needs the gaps filled in.

- The game is too damn short. It is about 1/3 as long as the first one.

My review:

9/10

A must play game.

Now this is interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I got nausea in the first part too, and that was actually the only game I remember I had this.

I haven't tried hl2 yet, so I can't say if I still have it there.

Re:My Thoughts, 3.5/5

[Anonymous Coward]

Fist of all, Steam doesn't connect every time you try to play, just the first. If you feel like you're being violated, then unplug your connection before you start Steam. It will give you the option of retrying or staying offline. You can still play, but don't expect updates or Counter Strike till you restart it.

As to the game, I agree that the loading and checkpointing kinda sucks, but that's how the origional was. Plus, it's unlike some games you can save at any time. Also, streaming the save files may not have been an option. Look at the size of the save games, their tiny compared to the physics data they require. My guess is there's some really heavy compression going on there. Forcing that at the same time as all the other CPU intensive stuff in the game would not have been cost effective, in terms of resouces.

Also, comparing H-L2 to Halo2 isn't quite right. Look at Bungie's turn around time compared to Valve's 6 years. HL1 was the first game to force everyone to use colored lighting. The lessons learned by Valve were more basic but numerous. Bungie got the chance to tweak and fix their gameplay system, while Valve was practically re-inventing.

Play-wise, the physics made for an awesome experience. After I finished, I went back to my favorite playgrounds and did as much damage as I could. Too bad you can't knock those clif-side houses into the water, maybe a clever map maker will make that come true.

Online connection is _not_ required

[Chuckaluphagus]

Since a lot of people seem to be commenting that you have to be online and connected to Steam to start even the single player Half-Life 2, I thought I'd test this. I don't lose internet connection often, but these things do happen once in a great while, and I'd hate not to be able to play when a backhoe in Ohio cuts through a major trunk.

So here's what I did:
1) In the Steam games list, I right-clicked on "Half-Life 2", opened up the options menu and clicked "Add a link to this game to your desktop".

2) I restarted my computer; I have Steam set to automatically start with Windows, but when it started I immediately right-clicked on the taskbar icon and chose "Exit" from the small list that appears.

3) I reached around the back of my computer and physically removed the network cable from the plug on the back panel. I have no wireless network card, therefore this meant my computer no longer had any network connection whatsoever.

4) I then double-clicked on the "Half-Life 2" icon on my desktop.

5) I got a pop-up that said Steam was loading, and then I got a second one that informed me that Steam was unable to connect to an online server, would I like to play Half-Life 2 in "Offline Mode"? I clicked "Yes", the game booted up and I preceded to have the bejeezus scared out of me by the zombies-on-speed in Ravenholm. (For those of you not there yet, do not play this section late at night, and the gravity gun+sawblade is your new best friend. Save your ammo for emergencies, and you will have those aplenty.)

So having no network connection didn't impede me from playing at all. I'm pleased to find this out, personally.

Two more things to note: First, if I go into the Half-Life 2 directory under my Steam install folder and run "hl2.exe" directly, I get an error message and the game does not load. Apparently it does have to go through some local Steam framework even if it doesn't need connectivity, but again this doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't mandate a connection. The desktop link provided through the options menu for Half-Life 2 in Steam does not execute "hl2.exe", but a different executable with a string of operators after the executable.

Second, there is no difference in my load times whether playing with a network connection or without. If, while online, Steam is re-validating the game files or somesuch, it produces no noticeable delay on my computer.

For anyone who cares, my computer is:
an Athlon XP Mobile 2500+ (Barton) oc'd to 2200 MHz on a 400 MHz FSB, so equivalent to an Athlon XP 3200+,
a half-gig of PC3200,
a Radeon 9600 Pro AIW,
Windows 2000 SP 4,

so nothing special for game-playing these days.

Re:Online connection is _not_ required

[glassware]

Hi there,

I'm curious to know why this worked. My DSL connection went out yesterday night (bummer, I know) and my working copy of Half-Life 2 turned into a sack of wet mice. Launching HL2 produced the screen that asks to "Retry or use offline mode?" However, no matter what button I pushed, it said "Steam is unable to contact the server. Please visit www.steampowered.com for more information." The suggestion that I should visit their website seemed to be a bit like pouring salt on my wound, but I digress.

What's the magic trick I need to make Steam recognize that my computer is offline? I tried two methods: first I used XP to disable the ethernet connection; second I pulled the cable out of the back of the PC. Neither worked.

"Steam... It's Safer Here"

[Paraplex]

I'm surprised noone has expressed concerns over constant connections to steam when you want to play HL2 SP...

I would have expected conspiracy loving /.ers and dystopia hating HL2 players to have raised the question of whether or not steam has the ability to log the use of the games we play?

Has anyone checked to see when/why steam accesses the internet, and what information, if any, is transmitted? (Eg, Time of day, hardware, IP address, Email address etc)

The "steam" model is very new, and I can think of several examples of its potential for exploitation. The ground rules have to be set... it doesn't matter how good the games are.

'plex
BTW the game is utterly brilliant... "best thing ever" (not best game ever.... best. thing. ever.)

HL2 is great but

[AbsurdProverb]

Personally I'm waiting for some mods to release before I cash in, upgrade the rig, and invest some time in Steam.

Specificly I'm waiting for the vaporware formerly known as Team Fortress 2. You might remember it. The mod/tc promised lip synch voice communication and revolutionary teamplay. Lofty ideas which usually find a resting place in the Vaporware pit. BTW how is Duke Nukem Forever doing?

TF originated from the great Team Fortress mod for Quake 1 and TF classic in HL1. Both were great mods for a long time until the grappling hook and no grav became popular.

Anyway I would rank Halo 2 a better MP experience at the moment and I have Snake Eater for the PS2 to keep me occupied on the story end. Anyway I'll start holding my breath for TF2 and HL3.

Re:Where are the negative reviews?

[eMartin]

Even the smallest level of interactivity- like bumping in to the computer monitor as seen in the E3 video, has been removed.

I was disappointed by that too. But, on the plus side, you CAN play with the mini teleporter in the corner of the office until it breaks down.

No way to say "wait here and DO NOT FOLLOW ME". Squads do not understand the concept of "huge open area surrounded by snipers"

Actually, you can. The C key tells them to go somewhere. You just can't get too close, because then they will automatically rejoin you (as if you hit C twice). There were a few areas where I just left them behind and cleared the way for them.

Of course that was before I realized that you just get more when they die, and having them come along is just better for you because the enemies have more to shoot at.

Water is pretty, but take a look around reality for five minutes and you may notice that not all water reflects in exactly the same way or moves at exactly the same speed.

I think most of the water looked great, but the only thing that really bothered me was the water by the beach. That was pathetic.

They've got this great water shader that makes realistic waves, but the water stands perfectly still where it touches the sand? And I'm not even expecting surf. Just a simple wake that moved in and out. Maybe a bit of a caustic effect on the sand below the water. Both could be done with simple animated textures.

One of the scenes that impressed me the most was the bridge (my fear of heights seriously kicked in when the train passed overhead), but the illusion was killed when I looked down and saw the water and sand.

Pacific Fighters (a flight sim) payed more attention to beach detail. It also did a better job of animated waves without noticable tiling.

"HL2's AI is an improvement over that of HL1"?!!?!

[Viewsonic]

Are you kidding? Half the time your own team blocked you into every corner in the building! The enemies blew themselves up constantly! half the time you could snipe at enemies from a mile away and they wouldn't react to being shot! The pathing they used was laughable and often go stuck. What game were you playing that the AI is "right where it should be"?

And the graphics weren't much better than HL1. Sure, they had higher textures, but the model detailing, especially on the zombies and other creatures were so low count that it felt like I was back playing Quake 1 again.

I can't honestly read what you wrote and comprehend WHY you wrote it unless you were blinded by the hype. Half Life 2 was an OKAY game, but nothing more. Don't even get me started on the frustrating "physics". It was NOT fun getting my air boat stuck on every little rock or stick.

Half Life: Reloaded

[syberanarchy]

First off, I am a semi-pro game reviewer, so take this for what it is worth.

Half Life 2 reminded me a lot of the Matrix series - the first one was just so gosh darn good, they had to grasp at straws for the sequel.

The first three chapters almost feel like a fanfic made by a kid who really liked the Matrix, to a point where he thought "HAY, THE MATRIX WOULD BE COOL MIXED WITH HALF LIFE."

Even the opening cinema amounts to "WAKE UP NEO...ERM...GORDON!" You spend the first three levels running from agent...er, I mean, Combine and Manhacks. You've got a pistol and crowbar, but there are so many enemies that it's easier to run.

After the thousand yard dash, you are thrown into a hoverboat for a terrible, lengthy vehicle sequence.

I'm currently on the fifth level, which seems to be more of the same. I hear it really picks up after Ravenholm, and I'll stick with it. But man, the first third of the game has been pretty unimpressive thus far.

If/When Valve goes out of business...

[_Shorty-dammit]

there's nothing stopping them from releasing Steam updates beforehand that get rid of the need to contact the Steam servers, and make all the games true stand-alone games. They could be around a long time. They could be gone in three years. Who knows. But there's certainly nothing stopping them from patching Steam before they have to pack it in. There *is* a backup utility built in now, and it will make CD or DVD sized backups for you. I'm actually curious to try it out now and see if a restore from the backups currently needs to contact the servers before you can play or not. But certainly if Valve is going to go by the wayside they'll be able to patch Steam so it's not reliant on Steam servers any longer.

An Eastern European's Report

[DimGeo]

What astounded me was the feeling of being home. The same old concrete blocks, the same old cars from my childhood (Trabant, Zaporozhets, Moskvich, Volga, even the ZIL and Kamaz trucks). It feels as if I am walking the streets of Sofia or Burgas (the numbers of the blocks remind me of my grandparent's place in Burgas). And that Bulgarian Cement sign that strikes you twice - at the beginning of the game right after the station, and in Ravenholme. The priest's name seemed Russian, however. And the coastline is to the north, here it is to the east. Interesting, is Victor Antonov a Bulgarian or a Russian?