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Source SDK Released Soon, HL2 High in Gamerankings
Biomemetic writes "Valve announced yesterday that they'll be releasing the Source SDK next week, along with a "surprise for the community". Incidentally, the sound stuttering bug (actually three bugs, to do with texture loading problems), has been solved and an update released through Steam." Relatedly, Highpriest writes "According to gamerankings.com, Half Life 2's average review is higher than Halo 2's. Half Life 2 has recieved a 96.6% overall rating wheras Halo 2 came in with a 95.1%."
I think you breezed through the game without bothering to even look at anything that wasn't on the rails you were following if you feel the story wasn't in-depth or well told. No offense, there is a wealth of things in the game that are there to be found, you just don't have your nose rubbed in them.
I think this needs a slight correction: it is the *best first-person shooter ever*. OK for that (although I don't find it such a killer after all). But not the *best game ever*. As an example, you cannot compare World of Warcraft with HL2 in terms of gaming. It's just not the same kind at all. You can compare the technicality of it, graphics, softaware performance, etc. but that's only part of game softwares. It is difficult to measure the player's immersion in the game between those 2 for instance.
That would be like comparing M$ Word with Eclipse: "Best software to type text with".
I found it way more fun - and easier - to drive all of the vehicles in Halo using the mouse and keyboard. Maybe that's just me though.
What you did, it's like watching a scary movie in the park on your laptop on a sunny afternoon with 20 friends huddled around you. Of course you won't get the full effect of the movie in that kind of situation. Same with this game. You have to treat a game like this as a movie, because that's what they're slowly becoming -- an interactive movie.
With that said, HL2 does have room for improvement, but not much. It really is a damn good game. I've yet to hear from anyone who's played it all the way through to be disappointed. The "disappointed" folks are like you, who are expecting this mind-blowing "i ate the red pill" kind of thing, and it's not that -- that's the HL:VR game, due to be released in 2055. Until then, HL2 is the best game out there.
The story might be all the great (the ending is supposed to be "bad", I'm about 2 chapters away so I can't judge it yet). But that's not really the beauty of the game. You load it up, get set, and start playing. But its more than playing. It is like you're in that world; you're in _a_ world. And its not that dissimilar from ours. Everything responds so realisitically. You go up to a combine soldier in the beginning and get into his face. He'll grab you by the collar and gave you a smack with his shockstickthinger. If we were in City 17 and you did that I guarentee you that'd they do the exact same thing. Shoot a barrel in the game from x angle and it will roll/move in y direction. Do it in real life and you have the same result. Put people (NPCs) in the situations they're put in the game and you'll get the emotions they display; anger, humor, hopelessness. You have NPCs that shrug, people who arch their eyebrows. You have hand guesture- someone pointing to someone else or laying their hand on their chest saying something sarcastic. You have AI that is supurb. Enemies that act as if they're who they are. Fighting a solider and a zombie are two completly different tasks. Brains vs brawn. Even breaking it down futher; zombies that will lunge slowly towards you trying to corner you so they can get you vs zombies that blitzkreig you with their friends as fast as they can. Its an amazing game. The plot might not be "good" but it is believable enough. but the biggest part is the enviroment, it is _right_.
[quotes] - a huge waste of money - it's hard not to expect at least a game worthy of $60. *shakes head* What exactly were you expecting for your $60??? I was expecting a computer game. And funnily enough I got one, one that is a lot of fun to play.