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Really bad install, poor support

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 16 / 28
Date: January 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'd just gotten a really nice new video card, and was looking forward to the reportedly awesome graphics. After installing disc after disc, I start the game to get an obscure Steam error. It can't find a DLL. So I go to the web site looking for support, enter the exact message, and get no help. Find one page to re-install Steam, follow the instructions, no joy. Futz with it and the web site for another hour, find another page so that you basically install it manually. It finally works.

Sort of. I have a real firewall on my network, not some cheesy host-based firewall, and now it can't connect. This is because the network protocol design is about the worst that I've ever seen. Someone with 1/2 a brain could make all this work using ONE connection, preferably to a port that normally goes through firewalls. With this sort of junk design, am I going to expose this to the raw internet? I think not. I don't expose anything listening out through my firewall, and that's stuff that's built by people who know what they're doing. This shop wouldn't know an IP option if it bit them. (Yes, I am the same guy as wrote books on application and network security).

Does the app correctly figure out that the network is blocking them, and tell the user what's wrong? Nooooo. It just hangs indefinately. Given that the install is junk quality, and the network protocol and error handling is junk quality, I'm expecting the rest of the game to have similar low QA standards, so I lodge a complaint with support. I'd like my $$$ back because my local shop won't take back something that's been opened. 4 days (!!!) later, tech support gets around to responding. They won't take back the software, so I just sold it to someone here at work.

So it has a really bad installer, turns your firewall into swiss cheese, EVEN IF ALL YOU WANT IS TO PLAY ON YOUR OWN SYSTEM, and they have the worst tech support I've ever seen.

I'm really sympathetic to anti-piracy measures. I really am. I don't like people that steal software. I've made my living for a long time working with people who sell software. I just want to play my legally purchased game on my own computer, and if I could do that without mangling my firewall rules, that would be cool.

How's the game? I don't know. Never got that far. I hear it's nice. I do know I won't buy another game from this shop.

Great Game, Terrible Customer Support

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: September 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As of September 11th, you can't even play this edition of the game. There is some problem with the activation process that has yet to even be acknowledged by Valve's customer support. But the game itself is great (4/5 stars, would be 5/5 if customer support was decent), just make sure you don't get the GOTY edition.

Too short on game play and Valve is a pain.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: January 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Pros: The graphics on this game are spectacular.

Cons: The game play is too short. The Valve authentication process is a royal pain. Beware the key code on your new game maybe invalid.

Most of the press I read on this game stated that it was one of the best games ever made, so I am definitely in the minority with my poor opinion of the game. I was so disappointed when I completed the game after only a few hours play. I wondered why I just dropped the $60 on this game.

The worst part of the game is the authentication process. The authentication is called STEAM and it requires you to logon before you can play. It is supposed to cut down on pirating, but I doubt that has happened because the first copy I bought brand new from AMAZON came back that the Key code was already in use and I was not allowed to play the game. I had to go through a two-week process to get a new code before I could play it. Two weeks that required me to verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had truly bought the game before Valve software would issue me a valid code. That left a very bad taste in my mouth. I will not buy another game from Valve no matter how good the game. Overall, the game was a total disappointment.

Lousey Install, Great game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: February 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In my 10+ years of computer gaming this is by far the worst installation program I've ever had with a game. As everyone else mentioned, you have to have an internet connection in order to even play it since it connects every time during bootup. Steam (the install program) automatically tries to connect every time I boot up the computer and then offers me updated news articles about upcoming gaming that I'm not even interested in. If you can get by all that, then the game is awesome...a complete upgrade of the first half life with realistic effects like instant death on head shots, corpse floating in water, blood splatter, and so on. A bit of advice to Valve...ditch Steam because it is a total turn off for gamers. I will definantley be deleting this game off my computer when I finish it.

DO NOT BUY USED COPIES HERE AT AMAZON!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: December 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Buy a used copy of this game, and YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE IT FOR 2 MONTHS! Valve, the publisher of the game, has disabled the ability to buy a copy of the game used. Your Serial number WILL come up as "duplicate," and the s.o.b.'s will require you to MAIL in a form requesting another serial number (ALONG WITH ANOTHER $10, OF COURSE!). Of course, Valve will not reply for TWO MONTHS.

IF YOU BUY THIS GAME YOU ARE WARNED AND DESERVE TO GET TREATED LIKE GARBAGE BY VALVE AND THE SELLER.

It Kicks -- It Definately Kicks -- but they need better QE

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I finally broke down and bought HL2 -- I was waiting for it to get down to about 30 bucks, but I said what the hell and picked up a copy of the "Game of the Year Edition". First on opening the package, no manual, that was a bummer. I was hoping for some cool teasers & background story stuff to read (for how much I spent on the game). Thin. Ok -- install took awhile, but I'm used to installing Call of Duty 2 and Far Cry with all the stupid patches over and over again on a test machine, so HL2 wasn't that bad for the install. It was nasty though, that the application looked completely broken after install if I wasn't hooked to the WWW. They could have made that nicer -- explained that you need to be able to go online if the machine was not accessing the internet. Instead, if you are not capable of going online, the app launches, gives an error, and closes. Once I got online and the game updated itself, the graphics are detailed and rich, the world was amazing. I was coming from Call of Duty 2 and found that the combat was much easier, weapons (even pistols at long range) are strangely accurate, but overall the game was very engrossing. A nice mix of over-the-top atmosphere, combat, ambushing, urban spelunking, and problem solving. I'm glad I bought the game. They need to do better quality assurance on the install and internet connection requirements.

Unfathomably stupid setup.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'd like to write a review of the game itself, but unfortunately I can't even play it! Not only do you need to install the steam software to play online, but you have to install it for offline single player mode as well! Hey Valve, here's a newsbreak-not everybody has a high speed connection! When I purchased this game (for forty bucks), I knew I wouldn't be able to play online right now, but I figured I would be able to at least play the single player modes offline without installing Steam. So now what do I have? A forty dollar beer coaster. Thanks Valve. Needless to say, I won't be buying any Valve or Steam-related games ever again. You just lost a customer before even using your product. What a shame.

Steam and the Awful Install Ruin an Otherwise Great Game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: January 10, 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.

Sickingly Good Game.......... BUT STEAM IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF CRAP EVER MADE

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: December 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Once upon a Christmas, a boy got Half-Life 2:GOTY Edition. He installed Steam, and also the game that went with it. Unknown to the wretches of evil that is Steam, the game says install complete. But it isn't. STEAM MAKE YOU DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE FREAKING GAME!!!!!! This means the 5CD pack I bought was really just for the freaking CD-Key! I've played Half-Life 2 in stores, but i didn't get to try it out, because Steam is not good for 56k modem connections, and broadband is out of option. If there were any way to get updates on CD, I would buy it. But for now, BE CAREFUL ON WHAT YOU BUY FROM VALVE!! THE PACKAGE ONLY SAYS "INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED FOR ACTIVATION" BUT IT DOESN'T TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO UPDATE THE WHOLE PROGRAM! Valve, if you're reading this, please change Steam so we don't have to update the games in order to play them. Other than that, Half-Life 2 is the best game ever made.

Worth the wait

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In 1998, Half-Life sent a shock through the game industry. Combining great action and continuous and immersive storytelling, Half-Life went on to win more then 50 game-of-the-year awards and was even named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer. Ever since fans of the original heard about Half-Life 2 they have been hoping that it lives up quality of the first game. The good news is that it does. While it is not as groundbreaking as the original, the gameplay and storytelling surpass it in just about every way.

The game begins some unknown years after the events of Half-Life when the G-Man drops you off in the European city 17. While you were gone, the combine have managed to open portals all over the planet, and successfully conquer the world, and it is up to you to lead the resistance. The storyline is told flawlessly through various one sided conversations (your character does not speak) with NPC characters. The NPCs show genuine emotion and have superb voice acting and the facial animation is nothing short of breathtaking. Many of the characters from the previous game are back such as Barney and a few new characters are introduced as well. The game does a good job of genuinely making you care about City 17 and its inhabitants.

When you are not interacting with the games many characters, you will be engaged in fierce firefights with the many different types of combine enemies. Enemies range from small head crabs to massive striders. You have a wide range of weapons to use in your fight. Your standard pistols, submachine guns, and shotguns appear along with some more creative weapons. The gravity gun allows you to grab objects in the environment and shoot them at your foes with extreme force. From explosive barrels to a table, anything and everything is a potential weapon. Another weapon worth mentioning is the pheropods which allow you to summon and control vicious ant lions.

You will find yourself fighting in a variety of locations. You will find yourself in places like City 17, underneath a train bridge, and Ravenholm which is an abandoned mining town. Each location is visually appealing and features different gameplay.

The artificial intelligence in the game does its job pretty well and keeps the fighting fun and interesting. Unfortunately, the AI of your occasional teammates is not as good. They have a hard time hitting their targets and like to get in the way when fighting inside.

The game also includes vehicles, a buggy and an airboat, which are used during some long and extremely thrilling sequences. The vehicles are extremely fast and offer good control. Both eventually get weapons attached to them, allowing you to dispatch foes while driving around. The vehicle sequences do a great job of adding variety to the game.

The game itself is beautiful to look at. The source engine does a great job powering the game. The world looks believable and complex while characters and weapons look great. The only negative thing one could say about the graphics is that the lack of real time dynamic lighting. Realistic lighting would have gone a long way in improving the visuals.

The audio in the game is nearly perfect. The voice acting is convincing and the sound effects sound realistic. The ambient audio in the levels also sound great and convincing. The game's music is the only thing that could be improved. While its short techno riffs do kick in at appropriate times, the music often lasts too long. Also, the music isn't anything spectacular, but by no means bad.

The storyline in the game is probably its biggest disappointment. While Half-Life has an interesting storyline, a lot of it is easily missed when playing the game. While the basic storyline is easy to follow, there are a lot of small details that can be easily overlooked. Luckily there are excellent sites, like the Half-Life timeline, that can help you fill in the gaps in the story. Also, if you are one of those people that like questions answered, you may be disappointed by the ending of the game. The game ends in such a way that you will end up with more questions then you have answers.

But even still, Half-Life 2 is an excellent and compelling game. Combined with its amazing visuals and solid combat, Half-Life 2 is a game no action fan should miss.

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