Half-Life 2
The most eagerly anticipated sequel ever? And then some, replies Sam in this preview.
So this is the biggie. The most anticipated PC sequel ever and the news is finally here. The rumours, guesses and plain old fantasies can now be laid to rest for we have some real solid information about how this game will redefine not just a genre but our concept of gaming in general. Forgive the hyperbole, but after reading the massive preview in the June issue of PC Zone I can honestly say that this appears to be one game that cannot be hyped enough.
Unfortunately I don’t have a team of lawyer’s working for me in the background, so I can’t let you see the nutty looking realism of the completely new graphics engine. There are sites out there with scans, which I recommend you track down rapido, but some of the pics in the Zone are new; the images of the emotional ranges on the faces of characters is stunning, looking damn close to those featured in Nvidia's Dawn demo. The lighting and textures look great, the models sturdy and lifelike and the environments detailed and atmospheric. Granted all this is from about 15 screenshots but they are mighty fine and according to the article itself the graphics are even more stellar when seen in motion.
Not much of the plot is given away in the preview, understandable as Valve has done such a great job keeping the world in the dark over this game’s development. We are told that the second instalment occurs some years after the first game, and will take place out of the Black Mesa compound, mostly being set in the north European setting of City 17. The events in Half-Life were just a taste of what the aliens had in store for Earth. The hordes of monsters that you slaughtered your way through over those many days of fevered excitement were just the scouting party. This time round it is a proper invasion, Reynolds-style.
Once again the player will reprise the role of that little ginger Gordon Freeman, and some of the NPCs from the last game will rejoin you in the adventure. I shudder to think how useless Barney will be unless he has spent the intervening years tied to a rowing machine, although Valve says that the NPCs will no longer be flummoxed by some crates forcing you to leave them behind. This time round all the character elements in the game will be totally mobile, meaning that baddies can follow you over gaps and up piles of crates, dogging you with their nasty AI till enough lead is pumped into their ugly alien hides. Variety will be well catered for with around 50 enemies to deal with, from old favourites like the head-crabs and zombies, to new baddies; the marines have been replaced by fully suited-up human agents of the alien invasion and the wow factor of the original’s big blue monsters has been replaced by a creature that looks like one of the massive striders from the War of the Worlds, which will be 90 feet tall in the game world. And is called a Strider, natch.
Comments
Why don't you get off you lazy asses and hurry up with it!
Hurry up
I think u guys are missing the BIGGEST point. NO SCRIPTED SEQUENCES!
for all the morons going onabout counterstrike shut the heck up counterstrike was a mod developed by a person then bought by valve. without half life itself we wouldnt have half the first person shooter with any value to them and ud still be stuck on doom copies.
i speak for all those who play half life death match and we are sick of this counterstrike crap. we expect half life2 to be like the first and not screwed over and made towards counterstrike especially when cs isnt even valves direct creation.
a second cs based ont he new engine is a good idea but it was half lifes originality of game play not cs that made it HUGE.
umm no
'[b] even though Valve showed the game at ATI's booth at E3 it's not going to be exclusive to ATI - or Nvidia.,/b]'
think you got some facts mixed up
umm no
' even though Valve showed the game at ATI's booth at E3 it's not going to be exclusive to ATI - or Nvidia.'
think you got some facts mixed up
umm no
' even though Valve showed the game at ATI's booth at E3 it's not going to be exclusive to ATI - or Nvidia.'
think you got some facts mixed up
sorry about the tripple post, something weird was happening
LOOKS GOOD=)
The preview is more than a little popular - apologies for the slow load times as we try and keep the server up.
No worrys jason!! preview is awsome!! got any idea when we can expect new screens?
scans for screenshots? cheap cheap cheap.
You seen any that arn't scans? Errrrr... nope - thats because there arn't any.
Oh yeah, apart from the two that we have in there.
The graphics look nice, but I'll be looking for the gameplay of the original HL. Without it, HL2 will be the year's biggest disappointment.
Cant wait try this one out, half life remains on of the best games ive ever played. hope to hear soon about a counter strike 2 also with the new game engine.
This preview is nothing more then me ripping off the great article in the newest UK PC Zone. It is here for those of you like me who can't wait more then one unnecessary minute for their fix of game. It's also here for those who can't, or won't, buy print magazines. It's here for those of us who really loved Half-Life and have been looking forward to the sequel ever since we completed those jarringly crap xen levels. Five months to go folks.
This is not the most anticipated sequel ever.
So what is then?
This comment is for the negative replies...
The original HL was a total pleasure to play due to the time taken to apply clever programming with a great story.
It is so obvious the designers & coders were not hacks just out of school throwing code together where ever the fancy took them.
Sorry kids, it true, experience counts. But on a positve note, learn from HL2 as much as you can.
The fact the first HL was planned properly, HL2 will not be any less. Also, think about the time it has taken for the HL sequel to arrive in comparison to other sequels.
Great ideas, do not have time limits... I can't wait !
Excellent comment, well made.
This is not the most anticipated sequel everSo what is then?
Duke Nukem Forever ;-)
half life was boring, the only reason it was big was because of counter strike. without that it would be another old boring game. i aint arsed about half life 2 its counter strike 2 i care about.
LOL - without Half-Life there would be no Counterstrike!
Half-Life got game of the year, rave reviews and record scores in tens of publications before Counterstrike was even conceived!
What is? I've lost count. It'll not be too long before another publication or gaming web - site will comment about the next amazing game coming out stating, "The most eagerly anticipated sequel ever..." It's called hype my friends. That's not to say that Half life 2 isn't going to be great, we all know that it will be.
wait, so is this game going to be making an appearance on the x-box too? the article didn't make that clear.
OLD SCANS MY "FRIENDS".......................
http://www.ntfs.org/index.php?action=news&catid=3#news5171
Yeah, they must be a good 4-5 days old. Practicaly ancient for something that only came out of the NDA on the day this article was published.
"It's called hype my friends. That's not to say that Half life 2 isn't going to be great, we all know that it will be. "
So there was a point there?
HL was brilliant. HL2 looks amazing but if the AI aint as good as the first 1 it will last as long as unreal2 did. Fingers are crossed that it plays as well as it looks.
Bring it on! it looks awsome! make sure HL2 comes with DOD tho!
Half-life and it's mods... cstrike and team fortress have lasted me 3 years of play(of course not straight play i have my life) and i am still not bored... this game will be GOD i am i expect a lot and i am sure i wont be disapointed as well as none of you guys... *sigh* new computer needed...
hl2 took long enough and therefore i think it will not be as bad as other hasty titles the game is important though ! if it is bad then everything else is useless
Well, everyone knows this game is going to rock, well hopefully. BUT look on the bright side: if the games sucks, someone will make a CS2 and all will be right in the world.
hi im not real sure about what im supposed to put here but im putting something here anyways so yeah... and half life 2 will kick ass!!!
..I'm more interested in any mods that this pearl of an engine can cough up..
sumfing like Natural Selection or Counterstrike, but even better 8)
Never liked hl itself, but the mods more then made sure the game was worth the purchase several times over..
Boo-yah Doc, boo-yah.
"From what the reporter says, the AI will be nothing short of godly, as will the physics."
These, Doc, are possibly two of the most important aspects of HL2, apart from the brand new engine built from the ground up, the animation system bought from the makers of Toy Story 2, the new method of scripting, the game being built for modders..........
what is it with all the little kids saying how crap HL2 is gonna be. If any of em could read, maybe we wouldn't have this negative bull. :D
i'm not saying that hl2 is gonna to crap, its just i am tired of upgrading my computer just to play one game.
Will this new version Half Life2 help in updateing day of defeat and the other internet half-life games.
Thank you god, our dreams are coming true.
Half-Life 2 Will and Better Be Good,
Im sure it will own over doom 3 and others for a while but till that happens.
HALF-LIFE RULES!
half life graphics sucks but, the story line is cool. why don't you guys get a life and quit playing video games like little kids and be a man!! SK8 FOR LIFE
Does anyone have a url for scanned pictures of the PCZone article?
Is this a bigger sequel then Metal Gear Soild 2?
Oh there is one other thing.
If anyone here as an Ati graphics card you can forget about playing HL2 as its an GeForce only game.
If I can find the link I will post it here latter.
One thing you didn't mention in the preview.
HL2 will only work on nVIDIA cards Geforces etc. Sorry Ati Radeon owners.
hello make the game in the vents almost loaded with head crabs.
ummm... what is this crazy talk about only GeForce cards run it? do you think Valve would be dumb enough to screw themselves like that? By the way...the demo at E3 was run on a 9800 pro 256Mb card.
Yes they would do if nVIDA negotiated a lucrative contract with the publishers.
REMEMBER UNREAL 2!
What are the chances of Half LIfe appearing on PS2? The PS2 is powerful enough, esp since the new model will see the gpu and cpu combined, effectively making the gpu run at 300 mhz, like the cpu. At the moment, the gpu is only 100mhz or thereabouts although clock speed doesn't really mean anything. The emotion engine is only a 300 mhz processor, yey performs 6.2 gflops, twice as many as a 3Gz Pentium 4 processor. Have Valve looked into the possibility of Half Life on PS2?
given the minimum specs for Half Life 2, it would seem quite possible to create a PS2 version of the game, given that the Emotion Engine is a very powerful processor that hasn't been fully tapped into yet, and the new version of the PS2 will have what in effect will be a more powerful GPU. Have Valve said anything about porting the game?
i hate u
this is a ace game whens it coming out i read it got hacked into ? :(
:-) of course its good looking its ace
hallo
i think that the first half life was good but half life 2 is going to be brilliant nice review
looks nice.... but dont think the gameplay is to nice =/
Personaly i look more forward to Counter-Strike 2 =))))
Yeah, it looks pretty cool, but I saw S.T.A.L.K.E.R. screens and trailer... well, to tell the truth HL2 unfortunately sucks... Pity. Maybe it will be great FPS, bu it will not be a leader in graphics. Vehicles and weapons are so bad.
can't wait twitching in exitment twitch twich muscle spasm can't wait twitch twitch yeah well you get the point i cna't wait
yeh it looks crap
sorry have 2 quote this:HL2 will only work on nVIDIA cards Geforces etc.
dude u odveously know jack sh** i am a computer enginner my profession is graphics card tweaking and games testing.Why would ATI send out HL2 voucher with the 9800XT classic if that card cant run it lol i have a 9800XT myself and it runs anything without spikes or glitches
also if u guys didnt know dont let the 9800xt (CLASSIC)
word turn u off it if is more powerfull and faster the the normal 9800XT
I personally think hl2 and d3 will both "pWnZ0R" :)
hl2 with the gameplay/physics and doom3 with those scary graphics.
as for leonardo (see above post), i was getting worried until i saw an msn e-mail address. I guess it's typical these days for any idiot to pump garbage into the 'net with some lame-ass isp. Doesn't he even know how steam works? If i ever give out my key (wait, ummmmm, my pirated version, lol), please
You --(x_x)--> Me
(that would be a cs headshot, if the ascii art isn't working)
this game is gonna rock on the xbox:-)
as well as on the pc. never played on half life 1 tryin to get it for pc though!! hows the story
i thought half-life: the game of the year edition, half-life: blue shift, half-life: counter strike and the army one dat i cant remember da name were brill so i fink half-life 2 will be too.
There has been alot of expectations for this game, some magazines even proclaim that it will clear the eyes of the industry and make it better.
There is too much riding on this game, VU knows it that's why they have been pumping so much money into this project, in doing this they have 'bought' innovation, i.e the lip-synching technology and facial animator, just to name a few. People have high expectations for this game, some requirements will be filled; but it will be a disapointment nonetheless. Not because it was a bad game, but because our expectations were just unreal.
And as for the port of the original Half Life, this would be extremely difficult to execute at such a pace; I have designed some games, and the act of porting an old game onto a new engine is not done by entering a few command lines; all the models need to be redone, the maps and textures need renewal as well.
look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadows of Chernoble
hmmmm... graphics looks co0L!! but i like the story better... i hope that there will be a book about the half-life saga. Or even better..... a MOVIE!!
Half-Life all sequel and expansion.... the best game ive ever played, thanks valve!
Lol this is funny I am just now reading this after about a year after half-life 2 has been released... and omg guys you were all idiots. hl2 came in a bundle with and ATI radeon card lmao and the graphics were upgraded way better and Counter-strike 2 no.... its Counter-strike:Source!!!! wow back then when you guys posted you were idiots....
CS:Source Rules way more than HL2!!!!!!!!