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Awesome game but getting it to run sucks!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First of all this review applies to those of us still living in the 90's with 56k dial-up modems...

Step 1 - Open the box to find 5 CD's in paper sleeves. I HATE paper sleeves! ... and no user manual.

Step 2 - Install the game. Do youself a favor and do a complete install even if you're not going to play the on-line only "Counter Strike" multiplayer game. Yes, you could save 944MB of disk space but there's a bug in the install program that blows up your install half way through disk 4.

Step 3 - You MUST go on-line to Valve's website and register the game. Something called "Steam" gets loaded on your PC and you're required to creat a "Steam" account in order to "decrypt" the game files.

Step 4 - Sit there and wait for a) The CD Key to get registered, b) the game files to get "Decrypted", c) "Updated" game files to get downloaded to your PC and d) Just when you think you're ready to play... Wait another 10 minutes whilst Steam "Prepares to play Half-Life 2".

When all is said-and-done you have almost 2 hours invested before the game is ready to play. Even then I had to establish an internet connection and log in to my "Steam" (which should be called "Steamed" since that's what I was) account. What I found is that once the game started I was able to pull the phone plug from my computer, clear the "Your internet connection has terminated" message, and continue playing. As long as you don't reboot, "Steam" still thinks it's logged in. There is a card inside the box that says something about playing the game in "off line" mode but don't bother, it doesn't work - at least not for me.

Now if you have broadband internet I would imaging the install time would be greatly reduced.

The +'s to the game...
Awesome graphics, the Havoc physics engine is amazing, the "Gravity" gun is a howl and you get to play catch with a huge robotic construct named "Dog". The interactive cut-scenes add some nice depth to the game as well.

The -'s to the game...
Though the sound effects and music are great, playing with the 5.1 surround sound option yields echoes, stuttered speech, and an annoying "scratchy"ness to almost everything. I set it to "Two speakers" and all that went away. It's a known issue by reading the forums on planethalflife.com.

Too many and often too long "Loading" screens.

A sequence of "Air boat" levels in which you drive around in this, well, air boat trying to get from point A to point Z with these helicopters shooting at you and dropping mines on you. The first level or two are really cool but man, does it get old fast. (probably just me... you might like it)

The box says it recommends 512MB of RAM but it will run much more smoothly with 728MB or more. Lots of swapfile activity even with 512.

It's definatley a keeper game once you get past that pain-in-the-arse install!!

Steam Install will make you want to break something

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: January 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game itself was great. But the AntiPiracy Program "Steam" is a Steaming Pile. First off the Install takes forever.
Say you pop in your disc to play your single player game, Well if Steam wants to update your halflife copy. Well you'll just have to wait to play your game, Steam has some updating to do.
One time I popped in my disc, half hour later the splash screen has no link for single player... what is this. I don't want to play online. I just want to play my game. This is so Frustrating.
Because of a few people pirating games, us paying customers have to suffer. I would pay twice as much for a game to Never have to go through anything like Steam ever again.

Yeah, 'steam' sucks, but the game is SO GOOD!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: December 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Another bar raising by valve. The AI, the vehicles, the environments and especially the directional sound and graphics
are so much better than anything out there and the control is really great too. I was playing with my bose noise cancelling headphones and those skeleton things would sneak up on me and then howl and I got so creeped out I had to go back to the speakers. UNBELIEVABLE!

A great thing about the game is it runs on my Intel 845 onboard graphic chip on my work PC so I don't have to pull out my ancient windows 98 system with my fancy graphics card unlike so many games out there (electronic arts) that require hardware T&L.

Ok this steam thing is obnoxious, and it hangs sometimes so the game won't load period, other times it is downloading crap without asking me, but even the puzzles in this game raise the bar using gravity and bouyancy and impact. FUN FUN FUN!

1 hour to install, then reboots every 3 minutes

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: December 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I may eventually get this game running right - but I don't think I'll feel bad about slamming it even if I do.

Took about an hour to get this game up and running with all the Steam junk and mandatory updates. You then get hit with popup ads pitching other sierra junk and end up with this ugly icon in your system tray. This stuff is a waking nightmare.

The game looks interesting - but crashes about 3 minutes into it. From poking around google this sounds like a common problem - but there isn't any clear solution. I've updated my video drivers / etc.

Doom 3 and many other games run on my system like champs.

If it was just Steam, or just the whole not-working bit - I might have some sympathy.

I am not buying any more Sierra games.

Valve has Done it Again!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: February 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Within minutes of beginning Half-Life 2, it dawned upon me that much like its predecessor, "Half-Life," the game is truly revolutionary, not only for its astounding graphics engine but for its truly cinematic scope.

The plot is engaging and immensely beguiling. In Half-Life 1, the theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman, under the orders of his superiors, activated an interdimensional rift at the Black Mesa research facility situated in the desert. From the depths of the rift entered a race of aliens known as the Nihilant, which proceeded to lay waste to the facility and threaten humanity. Freeman entered through the rift and succeeded in destroying the homeworld from which the aliens originated. However, upon arrival at the Black Mesa Research Facility, the military engaged in a vicious cover-up involving the extermination of all survivors. In Half-Life 2, Gordon Freeman, having returned to Earth from the homeworld of the Nihilant, discovers City 17, an Orwellian nightmare in which the citizens have been completely subjugated by an authoritarian regime known as the Combine. Exacerbating the problem, the aliens released from Black Mesa now run amok in City 17. Fans of the original Half-Life will be pleased to learn that the characters Barry Calhoun and Dr Kleiner return from the original game and are leaders of a small band of resistance against the dictatorial regime.

Highly detailed and with the most impressive physics engine I have ever seen in a game, Valve has created an environment in which gravity plays a pivotal and incredibly important role. Examples of this include stacking boxes to climb over a fence or through a window or floating barrels to raise a platform. The vast cityscapes and highly detailed facial features of the main characters are of a level never seen before. Unlike any other game presently, the features of the characters are truly lifelike, with visible wrinkles, expressions and pores. Other than the mesmeric and plentiful eye candy, the captivating plot engages successfully with the gamer, and I found the experience exceedingly satisfying. The musical score is excellent and seamlessly changes from that befitting a brooding atmosphere to a sequence of first person shooter action. It augments the gameplay well, though there are times where the score could use more variation.

It is, however, in the area of gameplay that Half-Life 2 truly excels. While Gordon Freeman is never seen and never speaks, this hardly detracts from the experience. Effortlessly shifting from moments of intense suspense and tension to mind-blowing action, as a first person shooter, Half-Life 2 is excellent. Here I must return to the game's amazing (I'm running out of superlatives here) physics engine. Freeman can pick up objects and shift them around, but it is the gravity gun that makes this area of the game truly unique. Using the gravity gun (in the game this is also known as the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator), Gordon Freeman can pick up objects and, with a single click, send them flinging away. Apart from being a handy tool in solving the game's many gravity-based puzzles, the practice of hurling barrels at unsuspecting zombies is quite gratifying!

My only gripe with Half-Life 2 is the annoying system by which one must connect to the internet and "log in" with Steam for the game to run. Apart from being intensely frustrating when notified that the servers are too busy to run the game, such an unwieldy system really eliminates those without an internet connection, and taints what would otherwise be an unbelievable addition to the Half-Life series.

A worthy sequel.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Half Life is my favorite game of all-time. So when HL2 was coming out, my expectations were high.

Thankfully, this game lives up to the hype.

The graphics are very good. I have seen many reviews stating that the games graphics look dated. Hogwash I say. There are very few games that compare graphically.

The sound, the story, and the physics (though overused a little) are also very good. Plus the game has several hours of playing time for the SP. The only other SP FPS game that had this many hours was the original HL. And the fact that there are alot of friends, enemies, weapons, and completely different locations to visit makes the SP very interesting. And some of the things you have to battle makes this a challenging and fun game.

One of the other problems I heard about was Steam. Steam is Valve's program for all of the games. I personally have had very little trouble with it and I like it. No more searching the interent trying to find the new patch or maps for the games. Steam automatically updates all of this for you (except for maps made by other servers).

As for the MP, CS:S is fun and they keep giving new maps every couple of months. The only real problem is cheaters. The anti cheat that Valve was supposed to release has not happened yet. But when it does, accounts caught cheating could be banned which i believe is a good thing. There are plenty of maps and servers to play and with the addition of new maps, it stays fairly fresh.

HL2DM is ok. There are not as many servers and most of them are very laggy which is strange considering I get excellent latency on CSS. There are also a bunch of maps (including old ones from HL like Gasworks and Crossroads) to play. I enjoy it when the latency is good, but it is pretty tough to find a good server.

The fact that the SP is so long and you get 2 MP games here that that alone makes it worth it. PErsonally, I love the game and can't wait until Aftermath (this is supposed to be another Steam update. Is it free? Hope so) comes out. Some people still hold a grudge against Valve because it took so long. But almost every game today has delays. I am just happy it came out. If you liked HL, you will definitely enjoy this.

frustration!!!!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

IVE BEEN READING OTHER REVIEWS AND I FEEL THE SAME WAY I WAITED SO LONG FOR THE GAME SO FINNEALY IT COMES OUT AND I PAY THE 54 DOLLAR PRICE WICH IS A JOKE IN MY BOOK BUT ANYWAY I GET IT HOME AND THERES 5 DISCS UM I THOUGHT VALVE HAD HEARD ABOUT DVD TECHNOLOGY WELL I GUESS NOT NO MATTER AFTER INSTALLING THE BEAST I HAD BEEN SITTING THERE SO LONG A NEEDED A CIGG THEN I COME BACK HOPING ALL THIS WAS WORTH IT AS I CLICK THE ICON TO BEGGIN PLAYING IT THEN INFORMS ME I MUST HAVE A INTERNET CONNECTION WICH AT THIS TIME I DONT HAVE IM SURE AT THIS POINT YOU CAN IMAGIN MY FRUSTRATION I WAS SO MAD I WANTED TO TAKE THE GAME THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW ANYWAY DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS I DID IT MAY BE AN IMPRESSIVE GAME BUT EVEN AFTER BUYING IT I DONT KNO DO YOURSELF A FAVOR FIND A DIFFERENT GAME THERES PLENTY OUT THERE I RECCOMEND MOA PACIFIC

Soulless and anticlimatic

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 19
Date: April 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved Half-Life. Loved it. First FPS to incorporate an actual plot, which made you feel the character's jeopardy, and a sense of accomplishment when you finally succeeded.

When I heard this was coming out, and saw screen caps, I was blown away. When I saw a video of the physics, I was floored. I NEVER purchase games new, especially since they'll be cheap eventually, and I can be patient. But as soon as they announced a release date, I put my cash down for a reservation.

I picked it up the first day it came out, gigling to myself about how awesome this was going to be. I had actually built a brand new computer, solely so I could run this game (that's how excited I was). And I was one of the lucky ones that installed hassle free. No steam problems at all.

So the game starts and it looks great. The mood is perfect. Very Orwellian. You play for about half an hour, and all of a sudden, this flimsy excuse comes up and now you have to run around shooting stuff. After a while, you get to your destination. You get a little story, and then another flimsy excuse to have to around and shoot stuff. Repeat for 10 hours (at most), and then get an ending that essentially says:

"Well, thanks for buying a game we couldn't think of a plot for (but it looks great), and didn't have time to flesh out (but what awesome physics!!!), and now you'll have to pay us $20 an expansion pack just to find out what's going on (and there will be plenty). Trust us, we can go on forever ripping you off. And we don't care, because as long as it looks pretty and bodies fall limp instead of backwards, we know we can gouge you."

My only hope is that people wake up and realize that games are more than graphics, the same way that films are more than budget. If movie goers were the same as gamers, Waterworld would be the biggest grossing movie of all time.

As a sidenote, I believe anybody who pirates the next expansion pack will be completely justified, and I hope Valve feels it. Screw them and their disgust of people who like quality games.

Horrible installation

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: October 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I loved the first Half-Life, and this one looks pretty awesome, but unfortunately it is marred by what could possibly be one of the worst installation procedures ever devised. You need to register online for the single-player game! What a pain. If you buy this be prepared to spend hours installling it. Really, really lame.

Buy CD, must download and internet, Steam has me Steamed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: July 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It is ironic that a game of this theme makes you sign up on their internet site and download large amounts of files even if you buy the cd from the store. I refuse to participate in that. I made the mistake of going along with that in Half-Life 1, but not again in Half-Life 2.

This thing, this albatross to a potentially enjoyable experience is called Steam.

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